I usually opt for fiction to gain understanding and empathy for topics that are far from my own experience, but sometimes I come across works of nonfiction that are just as moving. I found Homes to be especially powerful, perhaps because the story is told from the perspective of the boy who lived it. In 2010, … Continue reading Refugees: ‘The Boat People’ by Sharon Bala and ‘Homes’ by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung
Category: Canadian Non-Fiction
Rock Paper Sex: The Oldest Profession in Canada’s Oldest City by Kerri Cull
Here's what I got out of this book: Sex workers are everywhere, there are so many more than I would ever have thought, they come in all shapes and sizes and ages and genders, they could be anyone (maybe someone you know or work with). There is no one truth about sex work or the … Continue reading Rock Paper Sex: The Oldest Profession in Canada’s Oldest City by Kerri Cull
Literature on the Black Loyalists of Nova Scotia
This spring and summer I got reading about Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia, inspired mostly by reading Lawrence Hill's Black Berry, Sweet Juice and by the subsequent discussion I had with my sister. Around the same time I also read Steal Away Home by Karolyn Smardz Frost. All of this made me want to know … Continue reading Literature on the Black Loyalists of Nova Scotia
Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada by Lawrence Hill (And an interview with my sister)
A couple of years ago, I asked my family about their favourite books, and this is one of the books my sister Kate recommended. She sounded so passionate about it that I have had every intention of reading it ever since. Maybe it's all the global conversations happening right now about race and discrimination, or … Continue reading Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada by Lawrence Hill (And an interview with my sister)
“Everything written by any woman was written by all women…”: Heather O’Neill, Scaachi Koul, and Erin Wunker
Notes From A Feminist Killjoy by Erin Wunker I finished this excellent book a couple of months ago, and I still find myself looking at things differently than I did before reading it. I underlined so many parts that I'm surprised at myself for not writing about it yet. But when I saw that Notes … Continue reading “Everything written by any woman was written by all women…”: Heather O’Neill, Scaachi Koul, and Erin Wunker
Steal Away Home: One Woman’s Epic Flight to Freedom – And Her Long Road Back to the South by Karolyn Smardz Frost
Karolyn Smardz Frost spent ten years researching for and writing this book, and it shows. The story centers around a woman named Cecelia Jane Reynolds, but there are many, many other interesting and amazing people and events happening in this book. So many names and dates, and I wanted to absorb and remember every one … Continue reading Steal Away Home: One Woman’s Epic Flight to Freedom – And Her Long Road Back to the South by Karolyn Smardz Frost
A Round-Up of Short Works: William Trevor, Robert J. Wiersema, and Lawrence Hill
Nights at the Alexandra by William Trevor This book was recommended to me by Don at Uncle Bardie's Stories & Such. And I am very grateful. A few years ago, I read Trevor's Love and Summer, which I thought was good but not quite enough to send me running to read more of his books. … Continue reading A Round-Up of Short Works: William Trevor, Robert J. Wiersema, and Lawrence Hill
Lines of Flight: An Atomic Memoir by Julie Salverson
I went into this book knowing that I would find it interesting, but did not expect to love it as much as I did. Salverson has taken the topic of the 'atomic highway' and used it to write an intimate and moving memoir about guilt and innocence, trauma and recovery. Julie Salverson has an interesting … Continue reading Lines of Flight: An Atomic Memoir by Julie Salverson
Field Notes: A City Girl’s Search for Heart and Home in Rural Nova Scotia by Sara Jewell
This book was just what I needed after my string of amazing Giller reads. Engaging, but completely different. In 2006, when Sara Jewell's marriage ended, her first thought was to go to Pugwash, a small community in Cumberland County Nova Scotia where she had spent her summers as a child. She ended up staying, and … Continue reading Field Notes: A City Girl’s Search for Heart and Home in Rural Nova Scotia by Sara Jewell
boobs: Women Explore What It Means To Have Breasts, edited by Ruth Daniell
Do you or someone you know have breasts? How can you be so interested in them?... No, but seriously. They're just breasts. Every second person in the world has them... But they're odd looking. They're for milk. Your mother has them. You've seen a thousand of them. What's all the fuss about? -- Notting Hill … Continue reading boobs: Women Explore What It Means To Have Breasts, edited by Ruth Daniell
Consumed by Ink 