Crime Novel ('tis the season...)

I cannot believe Christmastime started and I have not given any new reading suggestion, as I usually do. For me, 'tis the season to be reading,as the holidays give me the opportunity to read a lot, particularly crime fiction. And I know I plugged this one back in 2016, but this was late in the season and I thought I would mentionit early on this year so you can have time to get your hands on it. Anyway, there are novels I stumble upon, there are others I specifically choose to read around Christmas. Deon Meyer's Icarus belongs to the latter. To this day, it remains one of my best seasonal reads. For the reasons stated in 2016, among them it gives a new perspective to the holiday, being set in summery South Africa. If you are a bit tired of sugary Christmas stories and would rather have yours with sex and violence, but with character and soul, this is the novel for you.

Calendrier de l'Avent géant

Ma mère et mon pèreont fait une visite à Québec, je crois qu'ils y sont encore. Mais enfin bref, ils sont allés dans un marché de Noël, un marché allemand comme il y en a pleins ces temps-ci partout, sauf peut-être en Allemagne. Mon père m'a envoyé plusieurs photos, dont celle-ci d'un calendrier de l'Avent en bois(?) gigantesque. Je n'en sais pas plus, mais je trouve ça magnifique.

The town's Christmas tree

Two days ago, we went to the year's Christmas market downtown. It was the first time we went there since we became parents. They had blocked the main street to have stands. We did not buy much, but it was fun, although too crowded. I did not take many pictures, that said I tthought I had to take one of the town's official Christmas tree. It's not as nice as the one my parents have at home, although it's way bigger, but it's a lovely Christmas tree in any case. So I decided to share the picture here.

Le Polar de l'Avent (chapitre de quête)

J'ai blogué par le passé sur ce roman publié par Série Noire. Le polar de l'Avent, donc lecture parfaite pour ce temps-ci de l'année. Je ne l'ai vu qu'une seule fois à Olivieri et j'ai commis l'erreur de ne pas l'acheter. Je ne l'ai toujours pas et donc je ne commencerai pas à le lire cette année, ça ira à l'an prochain au plus tôt. Cela dit, j'ai fait quelques progrès dans ma quête. les Rois Mages ont suivi l'étoile, moi je google. Enfin bref, je sais qu'il y en a au moins une copie sur Amazon.ca et quelques unes usagées sur amazon.uk. Je vais voir si je veux prendre le risque d'en acheter un de seconde main. Si cela était, je le lirais pour l'Avent 2023. Enfin rbef, je crois que ma quête touche peut-être bien à sa fin.

Waiting for the Radio Times Christmas Edition

This year, we are again spending Christmas here in the UK, we will not go home to Québec, as I had wanted. It was a difficult decision to make, but the right one. That said, it's not because I will feel homesick that I will not enjoy myself here. When I spent the festive season in the UK, I make sure to buy the Christmas edition of Radio Times. It is a double issue, covering the whole two weeks of Christmastime, showing both radio and television schedules for the holidays. It's not that I watch all that much tellie, but it's just a nice edition that puts you in the Christmas mood. And it always has some interesting articles, if nothing else. Looking online, I found out that it will be out on the 13th of December. Not so long to wait.

Le calendrier de l'Avent cette année

Nous avions failli l'oublier, mais nous en avons: trois calendriers de l'Avent, tous les mêmes (le temps pressait), celui de Cadbury's. C'est pas aussi beau que les calendriers nostalgiques que j'achetais, mais il y a un Père Noël, des sapins, un bonhomme de neige et le reste. Avec des activités dans le dos du calendrier. Wolfie aime bien et grâce au calendrier, il n'a pas été dur à sortir du lit ces deux derniers jours. Un miracle de Noël.

Wolfie's New Penguin

We are the first day of Advent, Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and we are now the happy new owner of a penguin. Long story short, last weekend, we went to WHSmith to buy a few things. And my wife and Wolfie saw this cute Penguin, with a Christmas jumper. My wife said: "Should we buy it? It's half price!" I replied: "Isn't it a bit early? Wolfie has lots of teddies already. And it's probably still going to be half price in two weeks anyway." WOlfie was not listening. He held the penguin in his hands and said: "I'm calling him Antarctica." So my wife: "Well, not he already has a name, so..." So of course we bought it and she uttered a new great unknown line. Now the penguin changed name twice since we purchased him, from Antarctica to North Pole to Poppy, or maybe he has all these three names. Be that as it may, this is Wolfie's new penguin and our new addition to the family's menagerie. He cost us about £5 or something, a bargain, so I can't complain.

"De bon matin, j'ai rencontré le train..."

Nous sommes le premier jour de l'Avent. Donc, Noël s'en vient et je peux commencer à écouter de la musique de Noël sans m'agacer moi-même. Je commence aujourd'hui l'Avent en partageant La marche des rois. Tradition oblige. J'accompagne aussi ce billet avec une photo de la crèche chez mes parents. Parce que ça aussi, c'est une tradition.

A Walk Among the Tombstones (#Noirvember)

I seldom read Lawrence Block and it is a shame, as he is an amazing crime writer and he always delivers. I plan to change this in the coming year. I thought about this when I stumbled upon an adaptation of A Walk Among the Tombstones on Netflix. So I have started watching it as part of my #Noirvember season. I cannot judge how faithful the film is, but so far it is very Noir indeed and very enjoyable. And it features Liam Neeson as private eye and reformed alcoholic Matt Scudder and I think it's a pretty good casting. Neeson delivers anyway. So yes, I will read more of Block in the next year, especially during #Noirvember of course.

La cabane sous la neige

Photo prise par mon père récemment, encore une fois sur le lot de mes oncles. C'est leur chalet, enfin leur campement. Une cabane dans les arbres (bon sur piloris, mais c'est tout comme), c'est pas mal idyllique. Je n'ai jamais été dans le lot en hiver. À l'intérieur, le confort est assez réduit (enfin selon mon souvenir), mais c'est quand même situé dans un coin magnifique.

Foggy Hill

 This morning, we dod the school run, as usual. But we witnessed something rather strange. When we left home, it was sunny outside. The school where Wolfie goes is on the top of a hill. After parking on a street midway across the hill, we started walking up to school and saw that the top was actually foggy. It was beautiful and eerie. I could even say that it looked a bit surreal and actually magical. And that's it. That's my anecdote for the day.

Hiver

Photo prise par mon père dans le lot de mes oncles. Rien d'autre à dire: quand les Fêtes arrivent et je vois ça, j'ai le mal du pays.

Christmas Books

I found this image via d by Books Are My Bag and I am sharing it today because I think it needs to be promoted. If you bookshop for Christmas, whether it's for you or for your loved ones, please do this in your nearest bookshop, not via Amazon. Today we went to the locak bookshop, sadly the free guide (which looks absolutely gorgeous) was not there yet. Maybe it's still a bit early.

23 décembre - Le film

Je sais que mon lectorat québécois doit déjà être au courant, mais il y a maintenant un film sorti en salle qui s'appelle 23 décembre. Exactement comme 23 Décembre de Beau Dommage. Je ne le verrai pas cette année, malheureusement, mais j'espère me rattraper pour Noël prochain.D'ici là, voici la bande annonce. La chanson de Beau Dommage n'y figure pas, mais elle doit forcément faire partie du film à un moment donné.

Dead at Daybreak (#Noirvember)

There are only a few days left to #Noirvember and I haven't exatly binge read crime fiction as I wanted. That said, I have been wanting to make a few suggestions before the end of the month. Recently, I bought Dead at Daybreak, the first crime novel I read of Deon Meyer. Details about it here. Anyway, I read it in French about fifteen years ago or so, I thought it would be time to revisit it. Not this month as I hoped, but some time after the new year. It struck me that it would make a perfect #Noirvember read (for this year or the next) and for those who never South African crime fiction, a great starting point.

Complainte Pour Sainte Catherine

Nous sommes la Sainte-Catherine, alors je crois que c'est le temps de partager ceci à nouveau:

Plugging Krav Maga

I haven't blogged about Krav Maga in a long while, partially because I haven't gone back to it, to my great shame. But a few years ago, I started thinking about it again. I was buying a few things at a nearby corner shop, when a mother and her daughter walked in. The daughter must have been around ten, twelve top and she was wearing a Jujutsu uniform, with belt and all. I don't know if she was coming back or going to practice, must be back as it was not very early and they didn't seem to be in any rush. So anyway, I told them that if the girl was interested in self-defence, there was local Krav Maga lessons given nearby and that it was a great method, very efficient. I don't do Krav Maga anymore, but I am still evangelising. At some point, I ought to preach by example and get back to it.

Une anecdote sur le bureau et le rasage

 Petite anecdote humoristique qui je l'espère vous fera bien rire. Ca s'est passé lors d'une conversation entre ma mère et moi via Facetime hier. Je vais la raconter comme une comédie en un acte et une scène, à la manière de ce billet datant de 2020. J'en ferai peut-être d'autres ainsi.

Personnages:
-Moi: votre humble narrateur et bloguer, 45 ans, marié à une Anglaise, père d'un garçon, travaillent de la maison depuis le début de la pandémie, sauf un jour par mois où il doit se rendre au bureau.
-Ma mère: donc, ma mère, qui lit ce blogue parfois, je vais pas dire son âge, mariée, mère de trois garçons et grand-mère gâteau. 

Moi: "Bon, finalement, je n'aurai pas besoin d'aller au bureau demain, ce n'est pas nécessaire."

Ma mère: "Tant mieux, ce sera moins épuisant." 

Moi:"Oui c'est certain que je n'avais pas envie de me taper tout le voyagement."

Ma mère: "Et puis il aurait fallu te raser."

Moi: "Oui, c'est certain."

Ma mère: "On dirait qu'il vous faut tous une bonne raison pour vous raser la barbe, votre père, tes frères et toi. Avoir de la barbe n'en étant pas une."

Morale de l'histoire: je ferais mieux de me raser avant notre prochaine conversation.

20 years of mince pies (an anniversary)

 I met my wife 20 years ago today, around this time in the evening. I lived and I was eating a mince pie. You can read more about it in this post. Because it is an important anniversary, every year since then, I eat a mince pie in the evening. At least one. Even though I don't like them all that much.

Le Salon du Livre de Montréal

Petite plogue pour ceux qui peuvent: le Salon du livre de Montréal commence demain. Je le confesse, je ne l'ai jamais autant aimé que celui du Sag-Lac, mais c'est sans doute parce que je n'ai pas le même rapport nostalgique avec. Si je pouvais y être cette année, j'y serais.