This book is missing a few things: fully-developed characters, a narrative arc, a sense of cohesiveness. What is this book about? I don't really know. Yet I still read it. In fact, I read it with great interest, wondering what the author was going to come up with next. Writing is hard work, often unrewarding, … Continue reading Q&A with Jeff Bursey, Author of Unidentified man at left of photo
Inspired by Eva's post, I decided to finally give audio books a try. I started with non-fiction and have continued with it since I had very bad luck with the one fiction title I tried listening to. And it's a great way to fit more nonfiction into my reading. To my great delight, I have … Continue reading What I’ve Been Listening To: Women’s Stories, Living in the Woods, MS, Missing Youth, and a Self-Help Journey
I decided to put a hold on this book after my interview with Chris Benjamin; Doing Time is one of the books he had recently read and recommended. (He had also spoke highly of Carol Bruneau's Brighten the Corner Where You Are, and that turned out well!) I was surprised by how invested in this … Continue reading Doing Time: Writing Workshops in Prison by Carole Glasser Langille
The Golden Gift of Grey is set in the midwestern United States - a far cry from the first two stories in this volume, both about small town fishing and mining families in Cape Breton. However, there are many similarities between this, The Boat, and The Vastness of the Dark, some of which are identified … Continue reading Alistair MacLeod Short Story: The Golden Gift of Grey (1971)
The Atlantic Book Awards Festival and Gala take place from May 6th to May 13th. I tried to read as many of the books as I could before then--and I'm happy with the number I was able to read--but getting them all written about was a different matter altogether. So, here are a bunch of … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards: Mothers and Daughters, Nuns, Opiates, Stonings, and Missing Left Arms
Much has been made of Maud Lewis and her art over the years: baby books, art, biographies, even a movie. She is well-known here in Nova Scotia - I remember learning about her in school over 30 years ago. Since then, more has come to light about her life, or, more likely, more has been … Continue reading Brighten the Corner Where You Are by Carol Bruneau
I have discovered that reading poetry is a good way to add even more local books and authors to my stacks. Some writers I would miss entirely otherwise. Even better, I enjoy reading the poetry (even if some of it goes right over my head). All three of these volumes are written by Indigenous women … Continue reading Poetry: Arielle Twist, shalan joudry, and Rebecca Thomas
(The highlighted titles will take you to reviews written by myself or the folks at the Miramichi Reader who are way ahead of me!) Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short FictionBoy with a Problem by Chris Benjamin (Pottersfield Press)Winter Road by Wayne Curtis (Pottersfield Press)The Appendage Formerly Known as Your Left Arm by Julie Curwin (Boularderie Island Press) Ann … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards Shortlist 2021
It's been a while since I read and wrote about one of Alistair MacLeod's stories, even though my plan had been to go through them all. That's why I was especially pleased to see that Marcie at Buried in Print has chosen Alistair MacLeod for her newest short story project. Last week we read The … Continue reading The Vastness of the Dark: A Short Story by Alistair MacLeod (1971)
I have been fully embracing this new cli-fi trend. For one thing, it gives me ideas as to what to do if the world goes down. After reading Blaze Island, I'm thinking a sparsely populated island somewhere up North sounds like a good idea. Miranda's father thought so, too. But his reasons for moving to … Continue reading Blaze Island by Catherine Bush
