CanadianContent discussion

It is hard to believe that February is over! Those of us in Southern Ontario have enjoyed some mild spring like weather so hopefully we can look forward to the end of winter. Will March bring snow and storms? or will we quietly move into spring? I don't know but I know that whatever the weather we may be experiencing, it is a great month for reading!!! Canada Reads is ramping up, CBC has been posting many interesting clips and our discussions have been interesting so far! The Break is our book of the month and perhaps some of us will enjoy some extra time reading over March Break!

What have you finished reading last week and what are you reading going into the first full week of March?

Happy Friday everyone!!
I'm happy to have completed 5 books for the Black History Month Challenge. This week I finished my in-person book club read The Pearl That Broke Its Shell. It has been on my TBR for a while. The moderator set up a webcast with the author on Wednesday, so I had added background information while reading the book, which made it much more enjoyable. I have Nadia Hashimi's other books too, and will be looking forward to reading them soon!
I only have Company Town to read for Canada Reads, and I have already read The Break, so I will have time to participate in some of the other groups' group reads, two of which I nominated: Lab Girl ,A Gentleman in Moscow and Truly Madly Guilty.
This weekend I will be reading Broken Promise, book one of the Promise Falls series by Linwood Barclay. Just feel like having the mystery novel fix :)
Have a great weekend!!

I am so glad it's Friday!! Been a very looooong week.

Reading-wise, my week was mostly occupied with Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class. I was interested to learn more about how important these individuals were to labour history, the development of a middle class, and the civil rights movement.

I'm now halfway through Leave Me, which is a light interlude so far, and much needed.

I finished 3 books in the last week:

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel - YA really enjoyed it. Well Written from a YA perspective. This was for the Read Harder Challenge and the Bingo Challenge (LGBTQ square).

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, which I read for work. I am going on a Executive Assistant course this month and in some of the pre-work I had to ask my boss about her day and have her recommend 3 business books for me to read. This was one of them. I quite enjoyed it actually as the lessons are told in the form of a novel.

The last one I read is book one in a series Queen of the Trailer Park. Its translated from French to English. Its a fun light book - glad I got the series (3 books so far), on sale for $3 bucks on Amazon. There are some issues with the meaning sometimes, but once I realized it was translated, it made sense.

Currently Reading:

The Hate U Give - NPR interview http://www.npr.org/2017/02/26/5173052....

This is a quote from the book "ANGIE THOMAS (author): (Reading) When I was 12, my parents had two talks with me. One was the usual birds and the bees. The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me". Being Black and living in a country where Blacks are the majority, my son's (who is 25), encounters with Police are vastly different. The Police here also don't carry guns. I must say though that EVERY time he travels to the US with his friends we do have THAT TALK about how to deal with Police encounters, and also about racism.

Here Comes the Sun for my BDA book clubs March pick - author coming to BDA in April. So So Good.

My Name Is Lucy Barton for my BDA book clubs February pick (almost done).

I am also reading The Right To Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet for Canada Reads. I am leaving The Break for my business trip on the 20th.

Bbbbbrrrrrr.... So much for that mild March weather in Ontario! It's -15 right now!

I finished Nostalgia this week. In the end, I did like it. It wasn't warm & fuzzy, but I did like the ideas and questions behind the story. It was oddly relatable, I guess in a macro, societal way. I think it will generate some good discussion for Canada Reads.

I quickly picked up the 3rd of the Griffin & Sabine trilogy when I had a quiet evening on the weekend, The Golden Mean. It was as magical as the other two books, but left me really, really hanging. So... I tracked down a copy of a 2016 *New Addition* to the trilogy (is it still a trilogy then?) called The Pharos Gate: Griffin & Sabine's Lost Correspondence, which apparently fills some gaps. I'm really looking forward to reading this one sooner than later.

I also finished an amazing story as my final Black History read, called 'Til the Well Runs Dry. I just loved this book! And in audio, it's done in an addictive Trinidadian accent that I couldn't wait to get back to each day. The story is long and complex and strong and fantastic. I found the author's email online and wrote to her, telling her how much I loved it, and she wrote back! We had a really nice exchange, where she confirmed that she's working on a new book. I'll definitely be picking it up when it comes! (Oh, the pressure!) I really recommend this book.

Here comes the weekend, where we are hockey-heavy, finishing up the season! (Thank god.. oh, sorry, did I say that out loud? Bad mother.)

Happy Friday!

This week I finished Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, which was an odd novel that did a pretty good job of depicting grief. I also finished The Position, which I struggled with but ultimately gave 3 stars. I nearly quit this book a few times - there were a lot of eye-rolling moments for me.

I'm still dipping into Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? when I need a burst of humour. Yesterday I started The Break, which drew me in immediately. I think this will be the book to break my reading slump. I'm also reading The Throwback Special on audio, which gave me a few LOL moments on my walk yesterday.

@Allison, that is so neat that you were able to make a connection with the author just like that! A few years ago, my kiddo emailed an author after reading his book and heard right back as well, and they exchanged a few emails. It was such a special experience to connect that way.

@Emmkay, yeah, it was really neat! Great experience for your child, too, I'm sure!

@Susan, I really liked The Throwback Special! It was far better than I expected it to be. I think I automatically set the bar really low after reading its description (ha!) but it was good!

May wrote: "This weekend I will be reading Broken Promise, book one of the Promise Falls series by Linwood Barclay. Just feel like having the mystery novel fix :)"

I'd love to hear how you like Broken Promise. I won it in a giveaway a while back but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Allison wrote: "Bbbbbrrrrrr.... So much for that mild March weather in Ontario! It's -15 right now!

I also finished an amazing story as my final Black History read, called 'Til the Well Runs Dry...."

I have this on my TBR - will have to bump it up.

Rainey wrote: "The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, which I read for work. I am going on a Executive Assistant course this month and in some of the pre-work I had to ask my boss about her day and have her recommend 3 business books for me to read. This was one of them. I quite enjoyed it actually as the lessons are told in the form of a novel. "

I listened to the audiobook The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement a couple of years ago and really liked it. I was even able to use it toward required PD hours!

Rainey wrote: "I must say though that EVERY time he travels to the US with his friends we do have THAT TALK about how to deal with Police encounters, and also about racism..."

Ugh, @Rainey, that is such an interesting observation, that the Bermuda experience is so different for your son.

I recently read something about the difference in police experience when they don't carry guns. The UK police are the same in that they don't carry guns, and they approach their jobs as being helpers, rather than "catching" the bad guy. I have to say that here, I'm finding Canadian policing inching toward the US feel (I lived in Philadelphia for awhile -- that's my main experience base). Here I have seen a big growth in unmarked cars, police "hiding" to catch speeders, body armour, huge officers dressed in black... much more of this "gonna catch you attitude" that the UK is trying to stay away from by dressing their officers in neon, having them openly in public to be seen and apparently helpful.

From a black perspective, this trend must be even more scary, especially in the US. Although it's sad that you have to have that conversation with your son, I know I'd do the exact same thing in your shoes. Recently black friends of ours asked us to care for their two young sons for the day as they made a quick trip over the border. They just wanted to avoid the kids having any negative exposure, if they could. So sad.

Huge topic, obviously.

EDITED TO ADD: it's a huge topic that I'm obviously no expert in! Was just struck by your comment and what came to mind for you while reading The Hate U Give.

@Allison, I met the author at Word on the Street last summer and he mentioned book 3 was coming out, so I went and got the first 2 books. It looks like a fast read :)

Happy Friday! I spent most of this week slogging my way through Winter, the final book in The Lunar Chronicles. I really enjoyed the first three, but this one one was just too long - either significant chunks should have been cut out or it could have been two books. Also, I know there's a fairy tale element to the story, but the ending was a little too "happily ever after" for my taste.

I'm excited to get back to some "real world" reading now with The Break. I'm just a few chapters in, but really liking it so far.

I finished listening to Hag-Seed and really enjoyed it. Not all books work in audio format, but this one certainly does. The narrator is great and the writing style blends perfectly with his delivery. I really enjoyed the lighthearted tone of the novel. Have any of you read other books from the Hogarth Shakespeare series? I wonder if they're all as good as this one or if it's just Margaret Atwood that makes it so much fun!

My current listen is The Choices We Make and is this month's pick for my book club. I love that the author, Karma Brown, is Canadian as I seldom can sell the other members on CanLit. The funny thing is this book wasn't even my suggestion!

Happy Friday everyone, hoping for Spring weather someday...

This week I started Company Town and Nostalgia. I received an ARC of Setting Free the Kites that I hope to get to sometime this weekend.

Cheers to sunny weather ahead!

Allison wrote: "Rainey wrote: "I must say though that EVERY time he travels to the US with his friends we do have THAT TALK about how to deal with Police encounters, and also about racism..."

Ugh, @Rainey, that i..."

Agree that its a huge topic as well. Hubby lived in Toronto for years and had several negative experiences with Canadian Police so it is not limited to just the US, but is still not to the degree of uneasiness that he experiences whenever in the US.

My reading this week: Well into Purity by Jonathan Franzen which I'm liking, Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All by Jonas Jonasson which is funny and quirky as were the others by him I read, and trudging through Hit & Mrs. by Lesley Crewe which I'm not enjoying as much as the first book by her that I read. I have others of hers as well but we'll see. I think judging from the book descriptions, this is more like a Hit and Miss for her. I have Company Town to start next as well as Heather O'Neill's new book.

Happy Friday Everyone! I finished two books this week. My bedtime "light" read was Poles Apart by Terry Fallis. It was pretty good. Even though it was chock full of convenient coincidences that made the plot less than plausible, I was fully entertained, which is all I wanted from it.

My second book I finished was The City of Falling Angels. I had chosen this one because my husband and I are travelling to Italy later this month, so many of my recent reads have been about Italy. This particular book is about the city of Venice, its people, its culture, its art and architecture and its history. I liked it, even though I think Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story was a much better story.

I'm reading Ross King's Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling now, to prepare myself for the glory of the Sistine Chapel.

Counting my blessings.

Earlier in the week I finished What Is the What which is an account of a Lost boy of Sudan's trek out of south Sudan, and time in a refugee camp, to settling in America.

Next I devoured The Break , I still have about 5 pages left, which I will finish on my lunch hour today.

I am also listening to The Silver Star which I am not finding as good as previous books by Jeannette Walls

Hoping to dive into Company Town next.

Happy Friday! Lots of great reads happening as always. :)

I'm still working on Two-Gun & Sun. I've had a sick toddler this week so reading has been on the back burner. I'm really enjoying this book though.

I have Americanah sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm a bit overwhelmed as it's really long and there's no renewing it at the library because it has holds.

I am still finding it slow going with reading, but I did finish Half Blood Blues and Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada for the Black History Month Challenge. I struggled mightily with the first book because I couldn't like or root for the characters, who with the exception of Erntz, seemed wholly motivated by selfishness. Well, I have to admit I did struggle with "the kid's" motivations throughout the book because the author gave us so very little of his voice. I tried looking at it from different perspectives. I don't even know if the war excuses that self-preservation instinct because of the conversation that occurs in Poland between Sid and Thomas. It left me feeling empty. On the other hand, I'm happy I finished the challenge with Lawrence Hill, who was engaging, informative, and as always, worth the effort.

I've been attempting to ramp up my Canada Reads 2017 reading to be ready for March 27th. I'm 25% through Nostalgia and up next is The Break, which I'll have to read quickly because my library hold expires in five days. There's on person ahead of my (for 2.5) weeks for The Right To Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, so I should have that book any day now. And Shvaughn gifted me Fifteen Dogs, so that will likely be the last book I read because I won't have time constraints.

So I guess I'm about to see if powering my way through the books will end the slump because I have a very clear deadline. :)

Ive snuck into the library...books to return, books to pick up, and a an overdue phone bill to pay. I am recovering slowly, but really needed to get out for a bit. So many new titles you guys!
I am reading The Best Kind of People at last and liking it, with issues. Elena Ferrante sLa frantumaglia is proving a bit too dense for me at the moment, but Im pecking at it.
Then there is Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. I have both the book and the cd, and at the peak of my sick it was quite soothing to listen to her. Comparing with the book though, missed quite a bit as I would doze off then startle awake. Not quite a fair test.
I have another set of CDs to take home today, by Pema Chödrön, and also Americanah (yes its big) and 3 books of poetry including Katherena Vermettes.
Hope everyone has a warm weekend and out of reading slumps and not sick!

@Allison - I guess I spoke to soon about the mild weather... today is freezing!

@May - I am glad that you finally got to meet Nadia Hashimi - i was so impressed with her!! I enjoyed her first 2 books and have A House Without Windows on my shelf from Christmas.

@Rainey - I am so sad that you have to prepare your son for travels in the US. I always warn our kids to be careful what you say to people in the US because you never know who has a gun but don't need to worry about the police. It brings me back to Small Great Things and is such an important topic to discuss.

@Magdelanye - i got to meet Elizabeth Gilbert in Toronto last year but have to say that I struggled with her views on creativity and how the universe provides ideas that "sit on your shoulder". This being said, I did enjoy her presentation and admire her creativity and honesty!

For me, I finally finished listening to Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do about It and although I learned a lot about what to eat, not to eat and avoid, the booked need a LOT more editing!!! I will never look at parmesan cheese (sprinkled kind), olive oil, sea food or frozen pizzas the same way again!! Lessons learned - read the labels well!

For book club we read Faithful which was the story of a young adult coming to terms with a car accident which left her friend in a permanently vegetative state. She stopped living her life as she struggled and postcards kept arriving that helped her learn to live again. It was a alight and quick read but so different from The Dovekeepers.

I am in the midst of Company Town and will likely start Nostalgia next.

This week I read In-Between Days: A Memoir About Living with Cancer. A quick and moving read.

I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays from Contemporary Afghanistan, which I picked up today, looks like another quick and moving read, in a very different way.

I have started listening to the audio book Last Night in Montreal.

Currently reading The Lonely Hearts Hotel which came highly recommended to me.

@CynthiaA Terry Fallis will be speaking at McMaster university in Hamilton tomorrow evening. I am hoping to attend. I read Poles Apart when it first came out and am interested in hearing him discuss how his experiences at McMaster inspired him to write the book.

@Susan, Nadia is amazing! I'm so glad to view the webcast.
Here's the link for the FB video in case anyone would like to read the book and like some background information:
https://www.facebook.com/TheGirlyBook...

I just finished Next Episode - the translation that came out after the CBC Reads. It's a difficult book to read as it's a book within a book written by a mad-man in prison. There is such devotion to his country [Quebec] and his lover. It's incredibly sad to learn that the author took his own life making clear how personal some topics in this book personal were to him.

Fortunately I'm also reading Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight by Ursula K. Le Guin the compilation of a few shorts stories and poems taking the point of view of animals or nature. This gives insight into the message she tries to put into her science fiction - nature is vital to our survival we shouldn't take it for granted.

Last week I finished Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. It’s a very powerful memoir with a mixture of extremely strong and good writing. It's very feminist and inclusive in its approach of sharing a message of survival, identity, finding oneself and building a new life with the support of a loving network. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is very frank, graphic and raw about her survival of sexual and physical abuse. I also got a strong sense of what it’s like to live homeless and in poverty from her memoir.

I also finished Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, which I chose for a book club. I very much enjoyed it - particularly its incredibly strong writing and very fresh approach. It’s almost as if the author wrote a number of compelling short stories with the same characters but different beginnings, middles and endings, then cut up these various parts, and mixed up the various parts between the different short stories as well as mixing up the physical time lines so that endings came before beginnings and the middle of one story became the middle of another. It took some getting used and can understand why some readers might have given the book lower ratings but from my perspective it kept me interested, very engaged and on my toes. What I liked most and deliciously savoured was the writing itself. It’s one of few books, I think I need to read again soon and plan to do so shortly and…..then follow up at some later date with A God in Ruins, the follow-up to Ursula Todd's life.

I just started The Break and hope to finish this weekend. I also need to read The Postmistress by Sarah Blake for another book club by Friday.
Hoping I might finish Company Town as well or at least get started.

Ditto Magdelanye’s message for everyone to get better soon (including yourself Magdelanye) or to stay healthy if that's where your at and for all of us to read a great book that breaks the reading slump cycle or sustains a positive reading trend. Our recent blast of cold and snow is making it perfect for staying inside, resting, relaxing and reading!! A book lover’s nirvana!! Have a great reading weekend and week everyone!!

Happy Saturday!

I finished 4 books last week.

- Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath. I've been a big fan of Rejected Princesses since it was just a blog and it was great to read the collection. Lots of new stories that aren't on the website.

- Ru by Kim Thúy. I'd been wanting to read more in French but having not done so in a long time, find it difficult to focus on the words on the page. So I thought I'd try audiobooks even though I'm not a huge fan of them. I've found that I sometimes prefer reading in French genres I don't normally read in English, like crime novels. I was right and enjoyed the French audiobook version of Ru which was narrated by the author. I didn't get everything but it was still an enjoyable way to spend an evening.

- Accessing the Future: A Disability-Themed Anthology of Speculative Fiction, edited by Kathryn Allan and Djibril al-Ayad. This was one of the best anthologies I've ever read. It's labelled as speculative fiction but it's pretty much all sci-fi. Highly recommended.

- Lettres à un Jeune Poète by Rainer Maria Rilke. Another audiobook. I'd had this one on my computer for years and finally decided to listen to it after my success with Ru. Found this one a lot easier to follow, although that's probably due to the content seeing as it's just a compilation of letters.

My ebook copy of The Break is due soon so I'm going to try and finish that one this weekend but I'm not sure if I'm feeling it. It's been good so far but nothing has really grabbed me.

There's just such disappointment when the sound of the narrator's voice completely ruins what could be a good and promising book...

I'm giving up on An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny in audio. It's like fingernails on a chalk board to me. Bummer! Was looking for an uplifting story for a change, but I just can't do it...

@ Allison - if it makes you feel better, I read the book and only rated it 3 stars. Thought it would be uplifting as well but was disappointed. I liked the message but the writing not so much, I found it very "documentary"ish in parts. While I could relate to Maurice the 11 year-old pan handler, I made zero connection with Laura Schroff, the author which is not usually the case in a memoir. If she was the narrator on the audio I can understand why you stopped listening and put it in the abandoned pile.

Hmmm... Okay, well that does make me feel better, so thank you, @MJ. In fact, the author wasn't the narrator in this case!

I'm a bit gun-shy to take on any more really heavy reads right now, having finished up Black History Month followed by The Break, so for my next audio I've chosen a science-y non-fiction called A Brief History of Creation: Science and the Search for the Origin of Life. Not too heavy on the emotions, but feeds the brain!

@ Allison - I hear you. Been looking for some uplifting books myself. Here are some ideas for uplifting books. Unfortunately neither of them are Can Lit but great reads nonetheless.

1. I really liked The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag. It was my first book of magic realism. I didn't realize it it when I started in but just loved it. It was one of my few 5 star books that year. It's a book lover's delight and all about the possibilities if one’s heart is open and one is willing to accept the support that is offered. The book is very bright, positive and uplifting.

Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

2. You might also like The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius by Kristine Barnett. I read it and loved it as do most people I've mentioned it to. It's based on a true story about a mom who goes to bat for her autistic child - takes him out of school and starts teaching him and more importantly reaching him herself with great success, so much so, she was constantly asked to work with other people's children. It's very inspirational. Her success was a result of finding out what the child was passionate about and then building activities around their likes and loves.

My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

3. Here's an excellent link to positive books. The freelance author, Marianne Goss from Chicago, calls them feel good fiction with substance. Once the link is open (you'll see some background info), click on the upbeat reading link for a whole slew of books. Only a few are Canadian but all are by fairly well known and respected authors. Click on the book name and Goss will tell you more about it.

http://www.positivelygoodreads.com/in...

4. I was able to retrieve Page 1 of 2 (all that was archived) in the Palate Cleanse Discussion thread from another book club. It's on my hard drive. If you're interested I could download it to a document and do some editing and put it into an easy to read file. I can send it to you using your personal email if you wish, because Goodreads mail doesn't support uploading files that I know of. Just let me know if you're interested.

Happy Reading!!

Oh, @Allison, if you're looking for something lighter that's a good time, you might also give Dawn Dumont a try - humour is such a personal thing, but I really enjoyed both her books! I hear you on the heavy reads...

Cool list! Thanks, @MJ. I have to admit, some of the choices of upbeat books are surprising, and not sure I'd agree: The Cider House Rules, for instance, which I loved, but upbeat!? To Kill a Mockingbird? Interesting choices! It's a very long list, which is a great resource, so thank you!

I remember the Palate Cleansing List. Terry Fallis was on it, Susan Juby, Barbara Kingsolver. I forget the others, but it was definitely a cool list to have.

Emmkay wrote: "Oh, @Allison, if you're looking for something lighter that's a good time, you might also give Dawn Dumont a try - humour is such a personal thing, but I really enjoyed both her boo..."

Will look her up -- thank you, @Emmkay!

I do have a small section on my shelf of "humour reads" but for some reason I never get to them... I should!

@ Allison - agree that some books of the supposed upbeat list are questionable but many are not....that's why the specific links are great. Same was true for the palate cleanse list. I remember one person's recommendation for a positive read that was considered depressing by another. It's all in the eye of the beholder I guess.

Emmkay's suggestion for Dawn Dumont's books seems like a great one. Have only heard positive things about how much fun and funny her books are. Have her books on my possibility list based on reader recommendations.

I can personally almost guarantee that The House at the End of Hope Street and The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius are upbeat. I think you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find anyone who would consider them negative in any respect.

Hope you find a great read that's perfect for you that is psychologically uplifting!!

Oh, I meant to mention earlier that even before you suggested The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius, I'd actually looked it up today to see if I could find it in audio! I couldn't, but the fact that you suggested it strengthened my belief that it would be a good one. Will keep an eye out for it, and will look up the other one -- I haven't heard of it!