Keith's Odyssey to Planet Fitness: Hot and smoky reads

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Hot and smoky reads

That was a bit of an abrupt transition. We went from lots of rain and cool, to smoky and hot. Not so much fun to be out and around in.

But at least we're not part of the huge evacuation in France and Spain. If I'm reading the news correctly, more than 250,000 people are on the move to escape wildfires. To put it in perspective for us Canadians, that's the entire population of Saskatoon, or Kitchener. Let's all hope that situation gets better soon. I fear climate change is just getting started.

La Calle by Alex Webb. I'd seen other of his work and put this one on hold. It's a really interesting book format, in that the covers are almost like pressed cardboard, and they're cut flush to the pages. The photos are fascinating, in that there's a street scene, and something to set off the street scene, though you might have to look to find it. Or maybe you have to look to find the street scene.

Einstein in Kafkaland by Ken Krimstein. So it turns out they were both in Prague at the same time. At first I thought it was an historical 'what if', but I guess not. It's a graphical novel, which I'm not especially fond of. I kind of blew through it in a couple of sittings, and didn't think much of it.

Dear New York, by Brandon Stanton. (Here, if you're curious.) Lots of lovely photos, and lots of sad stories. I'm not really a street photographer, but every now and then I wander around, looking at people and thinking about how I'd take their photo. To be blunt, most people in Calgary dress boring. I might take a photo of their face because it's interesting, but how they dress? Meh.

Plus a few re-reads of some Georgette Heyer novels. One of the situations in what I'm working on is similar to one of hers, and I wanted to revisit. I'm fully aware they are mostly written from an upper class perspective, where when something happens, they just assume someone else will stop what they were doing, and tend to their wants.

Plus one of our summer students is into science fiction, and we had a great chat the other night in between her giving out popsicles to neighbourhood kids. Or anyone else that wandered by. She's a Star Trek fan, and when I mentioned a trove of books in the basement from well before she was born, she asked for titles so she could look for them. Done. I've re-read a few of those as well. She's just starting to work her way through SG 1, so that restricted our conversation a bit.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)