The following are a handful of good books I read in the fall of 2024. Two of these are set on the Canadian prairies, two were on the Giller Prize shortlist, and one was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. This Bright Dust by Nina Berkhout (Goose Lane Editions) I used to cry easily while reading; … Continue reading From the Library: dust, hair, smoke, and blood
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice Moon of the Turning Leaves is the sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow and will be one of my best books of the year. Crusted Snow left us with the small northern Anishinaabe community leaving their houses and heading into the woods to return to a … Continue reading From the Library: dystopian future, spiritual horror, and irrational fears
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 Sentence by Louise Erdrich
These three books took me from rural Ontario to Trinidad to the moon! Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline Inspired by the traditional story of the Rogarou--"a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Metis communities"--Dimaline has written a book unlike any other I've read. At night, he roamed the roads that connected … Continue reading From the Library: Cherie Dimaline, Ingrid Persaud, and Emily St. John Mandel
I'm excited to tell you about this excellent batch of books. Just look at them. This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs--opium, caffeine, and mescaline--and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. I always like Michael Pollan and … Continue reading What I’ve Been Listening To: mind-altering plants, mind-altering essays, and some tips for a better life
A wide-ranging trio of books; a fascinating Atlantic Canadian memoir, a heartbreakingly good novel about residential school trauma, and a joy-of-a linked story collection. The Dome Chronicles by Garry Leeson (2019) The Dome Chronicles doesn't look like the type of book I normally gravitate towards - physically, it's tall and wide and floppy, kind of … Continue reading From the Library: Michelle Good, Garry Leeson, and Carol Bruneau
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’
Evan is a young Anishinaabe man who belongs to a small community in Northern Ontario. The North wasn't always a part of their territory, but the community is working to make it their new home, and working to bring back the language and many of the traditional ways. When the community first loses internet and … Continue reading Two Post-Apocalyptic Books Worth Reading: “Moon of the Crusted Snow” and “The Marrow Thieves”
Consumed by Ink 