Jonny Appleseed and Joshua Whitehead made Canadian history this year - by winning the 2021 Canada Reads debates, they became the first Indigenous and Indigiqueer book and author to win Canada Reads. “This means the world to me,” Whitehead said. “I’m holding this as a legacy and a fire to keep burning for all Indigenous … Continue reading Joshua Whitehead: ‘Jonny Appleseed’ and ‘Love After the End’
The five contenders for Canada Reads 2019, in order in which I read them (or didn't). The theme: One Book to Move You. Brother by David Chariandy -- defended by Lisa Ray, model and actress I'm happy that Brother is a part of Canada Reads this year. I read this book when it was longlisted … Continue reading Canada Reads 2019 Mini Reviews
[Goodreads synopsis] When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime. In a series of shifting narratives, people who … Continue reading The Break by Katherena Vermette
To keep a boy out of hot water, put him on ice. Not all Canadians are big hockey fans, and I am in the camp that is not. So, a book about hockey and a bunch of ancient hockey players? It doesn't sound very appealing to me, but I put my qulams aside and trusted … Continue reading King Leary by Paul Quarrington
... Mom said that in Jasper there used to be two sure signs that winter was over. One was the glacier lily poking up through the snow, and the other was Doctor Byrne stepping off the train. Icefields takes us to Jasper Alberta, where in 1898 Doctor Edward Byrne falls into an ice crevasse. While … Continue reading Icefields by Thomas Wharton
I put in a request for this book as soon as it made the Top 5 cut for the 2015 Canada Reads debate. It finally arrived, too late for the debates, but never too late for driving home its urgent message. By now, most of you have probably heard of this book, or have already … Continue reading When Everything Feels Like The Movies by Raziel Reid
This book made my heart sing. I discovered it on the 2015 Canada Reads List , and devoured it. When it was over, I felt elated. And The Birds Rained Down is about 3 old men living in the woods. And, when I say old, I mean the youngest is 86 and the oldest is … Continue reading And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins
The Canada Reads 2014 competition, led by Jian Ghomeshi, took place this week. If you are interested, here is a quick sum-up. The theme this year was to find the one book that could change Canada as a nation. The Contenders: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, defended by Stephen Lewis Cockroach by … Continue reading Canada Reads Competition 2014
This is the first book that I have read by Camilla Gibb, and I can't believe that I have waited so long to read it! I find this book hard to describe, because it goes back and forth in time so much, and because it is about so many different things. But I will do … Continue reading Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb; As Sweet as it Sounds
Half-Blood Blues tells the story of a group of jazz musicians, called the Hot-time Swingers, and their time on the jazz scene in Berlin and Paris in the late 1930s. While in Paris, the young up-and-coming trumpet star, Hieronymus Falk, gets taken by the Nazis and is presumed dead. 50 years later, Sid relives the events that take … Continue reading Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Consumed by Ink 