2020 ATLANTIC BOOK AWARDS and FESTIVAL SHORTLIST (The highlighted titles will take you to reviews written by myself or some of my other blogging friends. More to come!) 1. Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction A Dark House and Other Stories by Ian Colford (Vagrant Press – a Nimbus imprint) DIG by Terry Doyle(Breakwater Books) Nosy White … Continue reading Atlantic Book Awards Shortlist 2020
Literary Wives is an on-line book group that examines the meaning and role of wife in different books. Four times a year, we post and discuss a book with this question in mind: What does this book say about wives or about the experience of being a wife? Don’t forget to check out the other members … Continue reading #LiteraryWives: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
I have been reading more short stories than usual during the pandemic. I've found them both comforting and easier to concentrate on. But I'm also so far behind on my blogging that I'm going to lump them all together into one post, even though they all deserve their own. Please forgive me short story writers! … Continue reading Short Stories: Ian Colford, David Bergen, Terry Doyle, L.M. Montgomery, and Best Canadian Stories 2019
During my visit to Mabel Murple's Book Shoppe and Dreamery last summer, Sheree Fitch spoke about her upcoming poetry book. She hasn't written one for adults since In This House Are Many Women (1994). People have asked her why, and she's said that it's because she didn't feel like she had anything more to say. … Continue reading You Won’t Always Be This Sad by Sheree Fitch
I compiled this list for my library's blog, and thought I'd share it here as well. Mother's Day is coming up... which got me thinking about mothers in recent books I've read (plus a couple of classics). Here's what I came up with... Mothers who advocate for their children: Love Lives Here by Amanda … Continue reading Mothers in Literature: A List
These three books couldn't be more different. There is one thing they have in common, though - they are all written by Nova Scotians. Portia White: A Portrait in Words by George Elliott Clarke I have written about George Elliott Clarke before - sometimes I love his words, sometimes I don't understand them, and … Continue reading An Opera Singer, A Coffee Franchise Contest, and OCD
The Lost Sister by Andrea Gunraj A book about sisters is always appealing, but what made this one even more so for me is that part of the story is inspired by Garnet Smith's childhood experiences while living at the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children. A book about this Home came out not long … Continue reading Connections: ‘The Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children’ and ‘The Lost Sister’
We All Will Be Received by Leslie Vryenhoek After loving Vryenhoek's first novel, I was looking forward to this one - and, once again (as I suspected), I was wholly enthralled by the lives of her characters. Disappearing would be as simple as sliding off the edge, as stretching one leg forward and following it … Continue reading Women Who Disappear: We All Will Be Received by Leslie Vryenhoek and Proof I Was Here by Becky Blake
It's been almost a month since my last post. I've missed you. In light of the times we're living in right now - #Covid19 #Pandemic2020 - and because it's poetry month, I was motivated to play with my books. Here's what I came up with... Little Fortress Another day, inside. The hours... an ocean of … Continue reading Book Spine Poetry: April 2020
Literary Wives is an on-line book group that examines the meaning and role of wife in different books. Four times a year, we post and discuss a book with this question in mind: What does this book say about wives or about the experience of being a wife? Don’t forget to check out the other … Continue reading #LiteraryWives: War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen
Consumed by Ink 