Now that I’ve been at this for 2 years, and have quite a few more Canadian books under my belt, I’ve had a hankering to focus in even more on books from Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland).
There are already many books from this region that have become some of my favourites since starting my blog (and before). I’ll be keeping track on the Reading Atlantic Canada page that is now on my menu.
Here are a few of my favourites:
- Caught and February by Lisa Moore
- River Thieves, Wreckage, Galore, and Sweetland by Michael Crummey
- When the Saints by Sarah Mian
- Every Little Thing and Away from Everywhere by Chad Pelley
- A Measure of Light and The Sea Captain’s Wife by Beth Powning
- The Blue Tattoo by Steven Laffoley
- Fallsy Downsies by Stephanie Domet
- The Nymph and the Lamp by Thomas Raddall
- The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong
Possible Awards list to read from:
I thought it might be fun to read from an award list, and the one I’ve been eyeing is the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. This one also supplies me with an easy-to-access list of all the winners (since 1991), many of which have been on my list for a while. A good place to start! Any other suggestions?
Other plans for 2016:
- I’m hoping to finish off my A-Z CanLit Project this year.
- I’m going to give #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks a try – a challenge going on over at Estella’s Revenge. Almost all my reading lately has been from the library, which I love to use, but it’s getting a bit ridiculous when I have so many of my own books. I am going to try to control myself. I will still have to use the library a little, though, so my librarians don’t get worried about me.
Here’s some of what I have to look forward to if I put Reading Atlantic Canada together with #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks:
Unread Atlantic Canadian books. Who knew I had so many until I gathered them all up?
What about you? Any new reading plans for 2016? Anyone who wants to join me in reading books from Atlantic Canada are more than welcome!
Consumed by Ink 
I also loved those two Lisa Moore books. My knowledge of Atlantic Canada lit is pretty limited, though I have read one Wayne Johnston novel and John Gimlette’s travel book.
Good luck with those wondrous stacks of books! I need to do another inventory of my owned but unread books soon…
I think it’s about time for another book by Lisa Moore, don’t you?
It was a lot of fun going through my stacks pulling out the Atlantic Canadian authors. Not as much fun putting them all back. In hindsight, I should have rearranged all my books, so that I could have kept these ones together. But, then I wouldn’t have the fun of hunting them up again. 🙂
I’m really enjoying Sweetland right now – beautiful writing and I love the relationship between Moses and Jesse.
Yay! Glad to hear it! You might also like Galore… 🙂
I loved February and River Thieves, and also enjoyed Sweetland although not quite as much. No reading plans as such for 2016 for me but I do like the ReadMyOwnDamnBooks hashtag!
ReadMyOwnDamnBooks just seemed so perfect for me – I feel like I’m always saying I should read more of my own books!
I think it’s better than #tbr20. Got a bit of exhortation going on ther!
Yes, I get to make my own rules (which, of course, means I can also change them and bend them whenever I *need* to. 🙂
Gosh, you really like the challenges. I have thought of joining some, but I’m afraid that doing too many challenges will make it too hard to get through the books I own. I guess ReadMyOwnDamnBooks wouldn’t be such a challenge for me. I buy lots more books than I get from the library.
I’m the opposite – I read mostly library books (even though I own so many books). But, I don’t buy books as I want them, I get them at book sales in bunches for $1-$2 each. I do love to just look at them, but I should probably also read a few. 🙂
Reading Atlantic Canada isn’t really a challenge, more of a project going forward, if that makes sense.
Yes, it does. Good luck. I know you’ve done well on your Canada project.
I don’t know much about Atlantic Canada, but I love the idea of “reading” a region. I might take this idea!
I love the idea, too, and I’ve seen it around. Last month there was one for Germany and Australia, and next year there’s one for New England. It seemed like a good time to add my own to the mix. 🙂
I’ll read Atlantic Canada with you!
Yay! 🙂
Oh, 2016. Finish my commentary on the Hamster. Continue to work on my novel. Two novels I definitely want to read. Deep River by Shusaku Endo actually will be a re-reading and Every Blade of Grass. Right now I am reading a book on Alfred Hitchcock. Mostly more of the same. I finally this year have disciplined myself to a writing regiment. I write the first thing in the morning at least for an hour, starting with a visual prompt. I do the visual prompt for at least 100 words.
I was just thinking that no matter what part of the world you select, there are bound to be novels written about that area.
A very good reason why reading is a great way to see the world (especially if you can’t afford to travel)!
It sounds like you have lots of plans to keep you busy next year. It’s a good idea to have at least have some kind of schedule, I find, or I could end up spending all my time reading other people’s blogs and never get my own posts done!
Lovely idea…as I work my way up through Maine with Reading New England, why not continue going north? thanks for recommending some of your favorites.
That’s what I was thinking too, about New England – it’s really not that far away. 🙂
And, thanks for the project title idea, by the way. I have been thinking about focusing in on Atlantic Canada for a while now, but hadn’t given it a name/title until I saw your Reading New England. Thanks!
I’m planning to #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks as well. I think it will be better if I don’t make too many plans and just participate in events as they come along. I will read New England and my German literature, of course. And hopefully, some of your Atlantic Canadians are available at the library, so I can join you. (I just checked out Sweetland.)
Ooh… Sweetland is a great one to start with! I hope you love it!
I’m with you on not making too many plans. The ones I have on my agenda right now, besides my own, are Germany (with you!), New England, Ireland, and the Virginia Wolf readalong. All of these should be easy to join in on, and I probably even have several books that apply to them in my own stacks (which is good for #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks). So, I’m all set! I’m sure other things will pop up that I would like to join in on, but I’ll figure them out as they come.
I keep saying that I don’t think I have that many of my own books that I still have to read but that’s probably because I haven’t gone around and rounded them all up! I did decide this morning that after this batch of library books I’m going to lay off the library until the new year. I have loads of books to get me through the holidays and it will be nice not to feel the pressure to read and return. Plus, Christmas is coming so I know there are new books coming my way.
I keep thinking that it’s too soon to make reading plans for next year but really, it’s December. If not now, when!?
I keep meaning to read Sweetland and then not doing it. I see it EVERY time I’m at the library.
Get it!! (Except, now that I yell that at you, I’m worried that you won’t like it. There have been a few ‘meh’ reviews on it out there.)
My reading Atlantic Canada plans have actually been in the works for a while, but I was kind of waiting to finish my A-Z project. then I thought, why wait? When I started seeing other blogger’s plans around, I got inspired. The Reading AC thing, for me, though, will just be on-going. It’s not a challenge and there’s no sign-up or anything. Just something I want to focus on a bit more from here on in. Until I don’t anymore.
I will hold you completely responsible if I end up reading it and hating it. Consider yourself warned. 🙂
That’s a much better way of thinking about a “challenge.” Something to be aware of, something to focus on but no pressure.
Sweetland was one of my favourite books last year. If you read it and hate it, I’ll take some of the blame for recommending it, just so Naomi doesn’t have to take all the responsibility….
Oh, good – thanks, Sarah! 🙂
I’m afraid my knowledge of this region (and Canadian literature in general) is very poor, so I look forward to discovering a little more about this place as
I’m afraid my knowledge of this region (and Canadian literature in general) is very poor, so I look forward to discovering a little more about this place as you continue your reading. Best of luck with your plans for 2016. 🙂
Thanks, Jacqui! I think it will be fun!
I don’t know if you’ve read it before but I’d like to read your thoughts on Ernest Buckler’s The Mountain and the Valley. It used to be a standard part of the Canadian canon but you hardly see it any more. It is a book very close to my heart (I wrote my Master’s thesis on it). I also believe that he’s from your neck of the woods. – Kirt (I feel like we may have discussed this before (getting old))
I haven’t read it yet, but it is in my house somewhere and I have every intention of read it. I will try to bump it up now that I know there is someone out there who might like to talk about it! Thanks, Kirt!
The Buckler novel is one which I read out of a sense of duty, and I ended up just loving it. I’d love to have an excuse to reread. And, more generally, I now want to check my own shelves and see how many AtlanticCanLit books I have been neglecting on my own shelves. What a great idea to make a project out of it. I’m game!
Yay! I’d love to know which ones you find on your shelf! 🙂
Seriously – #readmyowndamnbooks is a MUST for me. Will I do it? I TRY, I do. Every year! 🙂 Also just installed a wall o shelves that are holding alllll kinds of my own books (includes 10 ft of Canlit!), so really should reach for the next read from my own shelf! I’m partial to Linden MacIntyre myself, but there are so many goodies to turn to – Wayne Johnston, Alistair MacLeod, Donna Morrissey….they certainly have a wealth of fantastic authors to choose from! Love it.
I still have Lyndon MacIntyre to look forward to, and I haven’t read anything yet by Donna Morrissey either. The more I look, the more I find!
I know what you mean about trying to read your own books every year. I thought maybe if I announced it on the internet, I would feel more determined… or something. We’ll see. 🙂
I would love to see your wall o shelves!
I’d love to hear what you think of Donna Morrissey’s novels, Naomi. I haven’t read them all, but so far the one I liked best was The Deception of Livvy Higgs. Linden MacIntyre’s memoir, Causeway, is another favourite.
I think I have Kit’s Law, but I’m sure many of her others will be easy to find. Of Linden MacIntyre’s, I have A Bishop’s Man, Why Men Lie, and The Long Stretch.
YAY! Glad you’re gonna read your own damn books with us!
🙂
I love reading lists and reading challenges, even if I tend to fail miserably at them 😉 I’ve really admired the way you’ve created a wonderful blog out of your project to read Canadian literature and it’s fun to read about your plans for 2016. I definitely did not meet my reading standards this year and I’m hoping to get back into things in 2016. I think I need to do #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks as well! Otherwise, the challenge that piqued my interest last year and that I assume will be going on again next year is the Read Harder challenge over at Book Riot. http://bookriot.com/2014/12/15/book-riot-2015-read-harder-challenge/
I’ll need to poke around the internet for more ideas 🙂
Thank you Cecilia – I have been having a lot of fun over here! I just wish there was more time to read even more books (but, don’t we all?).
I like the sound of the Read Harder challenge, as well. It has some good topics that would broaden my reading for sure! I also love the challenges for reading from other parts of the world, even though I also want to focus on my own. Sigh… There really are so many great things going on, and I often feel tempted to join everything!