If you follow the shadow jury at Kevin from Canada, you may already know that we chose two shadow winners this year - The Innocents by Michael Crummey and Reproduction by Ian Williams. I am happy to say that Ian Williams took home the Giller Prize this year for Reproduction! Congratulations to all the finalists … Continue reading 2019 Prize Lists and Prize Winners
I didn't get far into Lampedusa before realizing why this book was selected as one of the finalists. For someone who has never been to Sicily (1950s Sicily), I felt completely immersed in it - the atmosphere, the architecture, the societal structure. Aristocracy in Sicily? I hadn't given it a thought. And that's what this … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Lampedusa by Steven Price
The Testaments. What can I say that hasn't already been said? Missed all the hoopla around The Testaments? Want to know more about it before (or after) reading it? I've collected a few items for your perusal... (Some of these articles may contain spoilers.) CBC: Margaret Atwood unveils The Testaments, sequel to The Handmaid's Tale The … Continue reading #MARM: Intro to The Testaments Read-Along – No Spoilers!
Although David Bezmozgis has been on the Giller list before (with Free World in 2011 and The Betrayers in 2014), this is the first of his books I've read. And the only short story collection on the shortlist this year. (Here is my chance to put a plug in for K.D. Miller's Late Breaking - … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Immigrant City by David Bezmozgis
If you follow my blog regularly, Lauren Carter's name might sound familiar. I read and reviewed her first novel Swarm when my blog was just a baby, and more recently wrote about her poetry book, Following Sea. This Has Nothing To Do With You was just launched on the 22nd of October, and it would … Continue reading This Has Nothing To Do With You by Lauren Carter
This is a humdinger of a book. Not so much the length, rather what's found between the covers. Megan Gail Coles gives us warning before the narrative begins: "This might hurt a little. Be brave." It will storm again today as surely as the nearly forty will go out again in four days' time. The … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Small Game Hunting At the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles
“Don't let the bastards grind you down.” “When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.” "Sanity is a valuable possession; I hoard it the way people once hoarded money. I save it, so I will have enough, when the time comes.” … Continue reading #MARM: Intro to The Handmaid’s Tale Read-Along – Spoiler Free!
With an interviewer at the Quill & Quire, Alix Ohlin talks about how most of her stories and writing come about organically - without a lot of outlining. However, when beginning this book she knew she wanted to write a love story between two sisters. And she knew she wanted to address “questions of identity connected … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin
Anyone who has read this book will understand when I say that I don't know where to start with this, and I don't know where it's going to go. Let's start with structure. Reproduction is a literary structural feat. I didn't even realize the extent of it until I did some homework. Part 1 of … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Reproduction by Ian Williams
Margaret Atwood Reading Month is hosted by Marcie at BuriedInPrint and myself, and inspired by decades of reading Margaret Atwood’s words: journalism and fiction, poetry and comics. From November 1, 2019 through November 30, 2019 we’ll be reading Margaret Atwood, and we invite you to join. (On the 18th, Margaret Atwood celebrates her 80th birthday … Continue reading Margaret Atwood Reading Month: November 2019 #MARM
Consumed by Ink 