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
In March 2015, Sandra Phinney was reading a blog post by Melanie Chambers that explained her summer plans to explore her city of Toronto as a tourist. Sandra contacted her to let her know she was inspired to do the same in her home town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. And that's how The July Project … Continue reading Waking Up in My Own Backyard by Sandra Phinney
I usually opt for fiction to gain understanding and empathy for topics that are far from my own experience, but sometimes I come across works of nonfiction that are just as moving. I found Homes to be especially powerful, perhaps because the story is told from the perspective of the boy who lived it. In 2010, … Continue reading Refugees: ‘The Boat People’ by Sharon Bala and ‘Homes’ by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung
Looking for an indigenous book or author who makes you laugh instead of cry? Who is able to poke fun at herself, her family, and life on the Reserve while at the same time so obviously showing her love and pride for the same things? This book quickly wormed its way into my heart and … Continue reading Nobody Cries at Bingo by Dawn Dumont (2011)
Love and learning are similar, in that they can never be wasted. I could have been a lab girl. Except that I imagined my 'lab' would be the ocean. But after reading Lab Girl, I'm not so sure I would have been cut out for it. The amount of time, energy and dedication that has … Continue reading Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
I loved you so much that I was happy to be deported with you. But You Did Not Come Back is Marceline Loridan-Ivens's very personal memoir about her time in the death camps and how it overshadowed the rest of her life. She writes it in the form of a letter to her father who … Continue reading But You Did Not Come Back: A Memoir of the Holocaust by Marceline Loridan-Ivens
My husband and I often talk about living a simpler life; growing a lot of our own food, raising our own chickens, owning less stuff. But, like most people, we find it hard to be serious about making the switch; to give up an already established good life for one that is a big question … Continue reading A Profession of Hope: Farming on the Edge of the Grizzly Trail by Jenna Butler
I want something. This is no ordinary wanting. This is the wanting that has no end... And there's fear behind the wanting - the fear that if the wanting gets denied there will only be pain and the fear itself left. So, why did I want to read a book about an alcoholic mother? … Continue reading Drunk Mom by Jowita Bydlowska
Gillian Deacon is an award-winning broadcaster for CBC Radio, and an environmental writer and advocate. She is the author of the bestsellers There's Lead in Your Lipstick and Green For Life. She grew up in a home that encouraged always being the best you could be, which is exactly how she decided to live her life. … Continue reading Naked Imperfection by Gillian Deacon
This book has been on my to-read list since it first came out. I love the title, and the story of this man's life intrigued me. It took me a while, but I finally got to it. In the meantime, I have seen other great reviews for this book. I've provided links to them at … Continue reading The World’s Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
