This year my daughter is doing a better job taking part in MARM than I am - her grade 12 English class is reading The Handmaid's Tale. I thought this might be a good chance for me to ask her a few questions. First I asked what she likes about The Handmaid's Tale, and she … Continue reading #MARM: Margaret Atwood Reading Month 2022
As MacLeod has proven before in his stories, he does not shy away from the harsh realities of life. And, as Marcie has already pointed out, Winter Dog is not an easy story to read. But there are so many great reasons you should read it anyway. Like the tender telling of the excited children … Continue reading Alistair MacLeod Short Story: Winter Dog (1981)
This story is about 30 pages long and--plotwise--almost nothing happens. But the beauty of the story is in the seasonal rhythms and the ordinary routines of every day; the cyclical nature of a farm and the abundance of hope that year-after-year, the farm will sustain the lives of everyone involved, human and animal. SPOILER: There's … Continue reading Alistair MacLeod Short Story: Second Spring (1980)
There are spoilers ahead, but this short Christmas story doesn't need to be 'unspoiled' to enjoy over and over. The narrator of To Every Thing There Is a Season is looking back at the Christmas he was a boy of eleven. Christmas is a time of both past and present and often the two are … Continue reading Alistair MacLeod Short Story: To Every Thing There Is A Season (1977)
As I'm not co-hosting MARM this year, I was determined to at least participate. This, of course, allows for a much more relaxed timeline (I had until the end of November!) and Dearly is all I have to show for it. But I was happy to finally read it - it escaped me last year … Continue reading #MARM: Margaret Atwood Reading Month 2021
When I learned that author Jane Doucet was from my neck of the woods, I made it my mission to read her books. Happily for me, her books are so much fun that it was a piece of cake! Jane Doucet "never planned to write fiction, but when she looked for a lighthearted novel about … Continue reading Jane Doucet: ‘The Pregnant Pause’ and ‘Fishnets & Fantasies’
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 twelve stories in Boy With A Problem tap into "the heart of our deeply human fear of failing to truly connect with others." Smart, compassionate, and insightful, Benjamin is able to say things through his stories without actually saying them. Gemma Marr, in her review at The Miramichi Reader, mentions the "one-sentence insights" that … Continue reading Q&A with Chris Benjamin, author of Boy With A Problem
In this November 2020, the third Margaret Atwood Reading Month unfolded with participants from many places, some reading her for the first time, many returning to her work to try new and backlisted works, others exploring other #MARM content online (interviews, films, TV, etc.). In the National Geographic atlas, in which the world map folds … Continue reading #MARM 2020 Wrap-Up
This was a slow week for me MARM-wise. I read some more from Waltzing Again as well as a few things on the internet to juice up my listicle - the only new square I have crossed off this week. (I have colour-coded my grid for you this week... I think it looks much better!) … Continue reading #MARM 2020: Week 4
Consumed by Ink 