Songs for the Cold of Heart is a big book. It took me over a week to read it. But I loved every minute of it. What a ride. Louis "the Horse" Lamontagne from Riviére-du-Loup Quebec, and his daughter Madeleine, are at the heart of this story. However, there are so many other wonderful characters … Continue reading Shadow Giller: Songs for the Cold of Heart by Eric DuPont, translated by Peter McCambridge
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq What a physically beautiful book this is, with its white jacket and red edging. I hate to take it back to the library. There are snippets of beauty between the covers, too - but like the long bright summer days and the cold dark winters of the north, the moments … Continue reading Two From the Giller Longlist: “Split Tooth” and “Vi”
When I saw this book at the library and read that it was about a "grotesque fat woman getting larger every day", I immediately thought of Melanie's quest for fat-positive books which prompted me to bring this one home and read it. I have to admit that, from the blurb on the back of the … Continue reading Mile End by Lise Tremblay, translated by Gail Scott
It's 1967 in the vacation cottage community of Boundary; an idyllic place to bring your family for the summer. Until a teenage girl goes missing. And then another. Replacing the peacefulness of the place with terror. Who is responsible? is it one of the community members, or the ghost of an old man who used … Continue reading Boundary: The Last Summer by Andrée A. Michaud
The first thing I noticed about The Party Wall, even before reading the first page, was the story/character sequence; ABACADABACADA. Intriguing, right? Then, after about four stories into it, I had no idea where any of it was going (a good thing). Even more enticing are the little clues giving us hints as to when … Continue reading Shadow Giller: The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
Once there was a boy who grew up feeling like he couldn't do anything right. No one would give him the time of day, and everything that went wrong was blamed on him. So he went far away, deep into the woods, to live by himself. On the same day there was a girl who was … Continue reading The Douglas Notebooks: A Fable by Christine Eddie
Back in January, my heart was stolen by And the Birds Rained Down. So I was very happy to get my hands on Twenty-One Cardinals, also translated from French by Rhonda Mullins. There are 21 kids in the Cardinal family. The two dozen eggs in the morning, the hundred pounds of potatoes in the cellar, the morning … Continue reading Twenty-One Cardinals by Jocelyne Saucier
