I have only about 200 pages left in Black Eagle Grey Falcon (Rebecca West), and I am still loving it, and I am still gathering up more words to look up - coming soon. And I am coming to the end of my screenwriting course, not sure how much longer it will be, another week maybe? Ongoing homework and angst. But I am beginning to catch up with the backlog of books I keep acquiring and reading - eventually.

I just finished Strange Shores (2010 Reykjavik and then 2013, 2014), by Arnaldur Indriðason (tr. Victoria Cribb). I've read a number of books by this writer, considered by many to be the king of Icelandic crime fiction. His approach is painstaking like that of his protagonist, Detective Erlendur. It seems slow and unexciting but he builds his cases with patience and details until the suspense is killing even when you guess what is going to happen next, but only just. You've been manipulated to that point, and then you have to move along patiently until the discovery and the conclusion - just as you thought. This time there is a larger, more final conclusion and a deeply emotional closure. i think it is one of Indriðason's best.

Next up are two historical thrillers by Jane Thynne (1961), given to me by my partner, Carolyn Gossage, for me to pick up ambience from the WWII era to enrich my take on the screenplay I am writing based on her wonderful non-fiction book, The Accidental Captives. I'm a bee buzzing from flower to flower, no time to stop. But I have to finish my current course screenplay.

And I have to watch the Blue Jays game.

I'm reading too much on FaceBook and it's making me sick - almost. Or something is. The warnings and advice, the statistics and imperatives don't add up to a healthy lifestyle. Talk about irritable bowel (one of the threats)! I have an irritated mind.

One constant, nagging theme keeps popping up: Five Things You Should Never Eat. I think banana is one of them but I'll never know. If you make the mistake of clicking on to find out what you shouldn't eat, you find yourself locked in a looong lecture, talktalktalktalk, but no information. Other dire threats also lead to lecture-time, usually by a GENUWINE CERTIFIED (certifiable?) DOCTOR who is going to let you in on his secret before his next best-selling book is published, and why not buy this magic pill, potion, elixir, whatever while you wait?

Fresh news emerges daily from the latest surveys, reports and interviews as experts try to figure out what to recommend you do to ensure a long, healthy life. If you follow them all, you'll find that there is very little out there that you can put in your mouth that is safe.

I went on the Whole30 regime. It's not a diet; you are told not to weigh yourself while you are changing your life in 30 days. (I lost six pounds and then 2 more.) It should be called Whole45 or Whole50 because when you are sort of finished, you have to introduce everything you cut out gradually, one or two days at a time, while you find out what was causing you trouble before, if you were in trouble. If you weren't you will be when you're though. It's a lot of no-nos: no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol, no legumes, no gluten - no bread! It's sort of like the Paleo Diet (eat fish, meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables), but it gets sticky about sugar. I found myself reading all the small print on jar labels to see if there was sugar in the condiments and sauces. I had to take my reading glasses to go grocery shopping.

I'm a pretty good cook and I am an eclectic and enthusiastic foodie. Now, I'm not so sure. I keep thinking of all the warnings. Is nothing safe? I just read today that KD mac and cheese is bad for you. This is terrible news, especially for Canadians whose annual consumption of this product is the largest in the world. Apparently there's something in the powdered cheese mix that is very very bad. Cheese is not born grated; it is thrust upon you. So be careful.

I keep quoting Michael Pullan's advice: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables. Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Note: I am some people's grandmother so pay close attention to me!

That's all for now.