Little Fortress by Laisha Rosnau Little Fortress is based on the true story of the Caetanis, a family of Italian nobility that came to the west coast of Canada as a result of the rise of fascism. After the death of the Duke in 1934, his wife Ofelia went into seclusion and took their daughter … Continue reading Women’s Voices in Historical Fiction: Little Fortress by Laisha Rosnau and A Roll of the Bones by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole
Watching You Without Me by Lynn Coady I have loved Lynn Coady's short stories, but had yet to read one of her novels. As is often the case, I am starting from most recent and will be working my way back. Watching You Without Me is narrated by Karen, who is telling her own story … Continue reading Three Recent Library Reads: Boundaries, Lung Transplants, and Dirty Dishes
Based on true events, Five Wives is a fictional account of the five women whose missionary husbands were killed in the rain forest of Ecuador in 1956. You think you have surrendered everything, but there is always something more. My expectations going into the novel were not quite met - the description on the fly-leaf … Continue reading Five Wives by Joan Thomas
My last post focused on Best Atlantic Canadian Reads of 2019. Here’s everything else… Best Books (in addition to Best of Atlantic Canada 2019, in no particular order) Fiction: Quarry by Catherine Graham This Has Nothing To Do With You by Lauren Carter - I also read her recent poetry collection this year, Following Sea. … Continue reading Highlights of 2019: Part 2
Four years ago I decided to challenge myself to read more books from Atlantic Canada. As a result, I have read 100 books from Atlantic Canada in the last four years. You can check out results of previous years here: 2018, 2017, 2016. #of Atlantic Canadian books read: 25 (last year, 23) % of books … Continue reading Highlights of 2019 Part 1: Atlantic Canada
This year there are 9 Canadian books on the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award longlist. The ones I've read: Catching the Light by Susan Sinnott - winner of the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature 2019 (my review) French Exit by Patrick deWitt - finalist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize (my review) The Boat People by Sharon … Continue reading Canadian Books on the International Dublin Literary Award Longlist 2020
Literary Wives is an on-line book group that examines the meaning and role of wife in different books. Every other month, 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 of … Continue reading #LiteraryWives: The Home-maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Thanks to everyone who participated in Margaret Atwood Reading Month and contributed their enthusiasm, interest and experience to making the event a success. Last year, MARM consisted of five weeks with five themes: Beginnings, Cover Images, Favourites, Quotations, and Endings. This year, with the release of the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, we decided on … Continue reading Margaret Atwood Reading Month: Wrap-Up 2019 #MARM
Outcast by Darren Greer Tyler is an art student living in Toronto with his friend Randy. Randy is not the easiest guy to live with, but the two of them are inseparable. One thing about Randy is that he's smart - beyond smart, brilliant. Which comes in handy when Tyler starts getting weird messages in … Continue reading Novellas in November 2019
I just recently finished my re-read of The Handmaid's Tale. As always, it was entertaining and thought-provoking. As Marcie says at Buried in Print, "For readers who read primarily for entertainment: this is a page-turner. And for readers who read primarily for information: the story being based on real-life events, invites historians and social scientists … Continue reading #MARM: A 17-Year-Old’s Perspective of The Handmaid’s Tale
Consumed by Ink 