CanadianContent discussion

As we move into the middle of August and prepare for September, I hope that our group gets more time to relax and read. How are the Cross Canada challenges coming along? Who is reading Holding Still For As Long As Possible?

Good morning CanLit lovers! I have quite a few books on the go at the moment, though not a lot of Canadian content.

In print, I just finished My Name Is Lucy Barton yesterday, and I have to admit that I've fallen in love with Elizabeth Strout's writing. I also read the first chapter of The Thirteenth Tale last night and it seems the writing in this book will prove quite beautiful as well.

I've taken to reading eBooks on my phone and iPad using the new Libby app. Unlike the Overdrive app, which only allows downloads to one device, you can read your loans on any device. I prefer print books, but having a book accessible on my phone allows me to read tidbits here and there throughout the day. It also comes in handy when I can't sleep and don't want to turn on a light. I know, I know - phones and tablets aren't exactly recommended to lull you to sleep, but it seems to work for me. This is how I read Kit's Law, and perhaps why it took so long for me to finish. I've just started Ru in this manner as well.

I'm also listening to two audiobooks at the moment, which is something I don't think I've done before. I was listening to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but after a busy, busy week, I was feeling extremely tired and felt I needed something more upbeat for driving. I'm now listening to Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I absolutely love Sophie Kinsella, with the exception of the Shopaholic series. She makes me laugh and I've recently discovered that audio is a perfect way to enjoy her books. I'm using this newfound knowledge to see if I can find some appreciation for the Shopaholic series after all. I first read Confessions of a Shopaholic when I was in university and excess spending wasn't a luxury I could afford. I thought perhaps that was why I didn't like it that much and would have more appreciation now that I'm older and have disposable income. I admit that I sometimes should be tightening those proverbial purse strings myself, but I just can't get my head around Becky Bloomwood and her frivolous spending.

I read The Thirteenth Tale a few years ago and I really liked it! A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one I've loved since I was a kid!

My Cross Canada challenge is going along really well though I did get stalled at New Brunswick. I started a David Allan Richards book and had to give it up because it was too grim. I didn't know what to replace it with but discovered The Town That Drowned by Riel Nason so I'm going to try to fit that in, though I haven't started it yet. For PEI, I'm dipping into Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. Both of these provinces have been difficult to find a book or author that interests me other than the Green Gable series so I gave in on that one. If I can get these two finished, I'll still have one left, for the Northwest Territories and I have Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay earmarked for it. I really don't know if I'll finish all of these three by the end of August but I'll be close and I will finish the challenge in September.

This month was our LGBTQ month, so I had always planned for a long overdue reread of Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. This will also cover one of two remaining Bingo squares, the one for favourite book. I have the hard cover from when it was first released and I'm making my way through that. I'm also reading the monthly group read, Holding Still For As Long As Possible by Zoe Whittall which I am liking.

As I said, I'm dipping into Chronicles of Avonlea and my other August book is an ARC of First Snow, Last Light by Wayne Johnston. I've read The Colony of Unrequited Dreams but not The Custodian of Paradise yet.

And finally, I really wish all these blogs and websites wouldn't keep posting reading lists and new books for (whichever season), because I keep finding more I might want to read when I have a very full library of ebooks I can always dip into.

Last week I finished The Diplomat's Daughter. I decided to pick that one up after really enjoying Tanabe's The Gilded Years. The Diplomat's Daughter was set in WWII. Although the writing flows easily and was entertaining, I think the ambitious topic was too much. With so many outstanding WWII books available, this one simply came up short. That said, it was still entertaining and the main character shared many characteristics with the main character in Gilded Years. In short, I am not disappointed to have read it but I preferred The Gilded Years.

Next, I'm into The Address by Fiona Davis. After enjoying one of her other books - The Doll House, I decided to try another. Davis writes the human stories behind notable NYC architecture. The Address centers around The Dakota whereas the Doll House was centered around The Barbizon Hotel for Women where many famous women lived. I am hopeful that The Address will continue to delight. The books have a lot of factual content interspersed within the fiction and it's always fun for me to do the "post-game" analysis and google what bits were true and what were embellished.

Happy reading all.

Happy Friday, everyone!

This week I finished Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, which I had mixed feelings about. I think I admired the bravery of this book rather than enjoyed actually reading it. Some of it was very powerful, but some of it felt self-indulgent. I love Roxane Gay, so it pained me to feel this way.

I also read Autumn, which I liked a lot. This has been described as the first post-Brexit novel, but the sociopolitical content applied equally to what is going on in the U.S. right now. Ali Smith's writing style is unusual but I really enjoy her if I can read her in big chunks, and I read this quickly over last weekend so that was perfect.

Continuing with Man Booker reading, I'm now well into History of Wolves. I'm enjoying it but this doesn't seem like a Booker novel to me. It's a coming of age story that has some dark content.

I got halfway through Holding Still For As Long As Possible and put it aside. Real life was stressful and I was having a hard time caring about the characters in this book. Maybe I'm just not the right age for this one. I'm going to go back to it once I finish History of Wolves.

Good morning everyone, hope all is well with each of you.

My reading has been going very slowly this week, and I haven't been able to dig into any Canadian lit. I have been slogging through Walden which , although it has some moments of brilliance, I am finding quite a slog.

I also started into I Capture the Castle which has captured my interest so far.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "In print, I just finished My Name Is Lucy Barton yesterday, and I have to admit that I've fallen in love with Elizabeth Strout's writing...."

I love Elizabeth Strout. Have you read her other books? They are all wonderful. I was just listening to a Just the Right Book podcast this morning that had her on, talking about My Name Is Lucy Barton and Anything Is Possible (the two books go hand in hand).

If you want to listen to the episode. I absolutely love this podcast.
http://www.bookpodcast.com/ep-36-eliz...

May I add that listening to this podcast makes me really want to read Winesburg, Ohio. Has anyone else read it? It is said that it has influenced writers like Hemingway, Faulkner, Updike, Oates and Carver.

Actually, listening to this podcast makes me add lots of books to my TBR mountain.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "I'm also listening to two audiobooks at the moment, which is something I don't think I've done before. I was listening to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but after a busy, busy week, I was feeling extremely tired and felt I needed something more upbeat for driving. .."

I LOVED A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I also am in need of some lighter fare so I've just downloaded Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple who wrote Where'd You Go, Bernadette.

@Susan, I enjoy Ali Smith as well! I'm looking forward to reading Autumn and am glad to know you're liking it so far.

I have had a busy stretch lately, and have been snatching a bit of time here and there to read. I finished A Stranger in the House, which was a giveaway, and readable but pretty lame. I also finished I Capture the Castle - funny that you're reading it now as well, Heather! It was lovely and a good summer read. If I'd read it when I was 13 I would have been in heaven, but it was also very enjoyable as an adult.

I have two on the go right now. I'm almost done with American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World, which I thought I'd read given the upcoming total eclipse. It makes me wish I were going to see it! And I'm reading I'll Eat When I'm Dead, which I got as a giveaway, but I'm not far in as it's hard for me to read more than one book at a time.

I am still listening to Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy which is really infuriating me. How the government, and law enforcers, and others in power can commit such heinous crimes and not be held accountable discourages my faith in mankind. We are putting the wrong people behind bars.

For the prison book club I'm reading Bastards which is about a really warped family who gave away all of their children. It's a memoir which reminds me a bit of The Glass Castle but written by a less talented author.

Hence my need for lighter fare to read....

Yes, re Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, Louise! It's very powerful. I found it a really good chaser to The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, which was excellent as well, the difference being that Blood in the Water is able to focus on a single significant event and its fallout in impressive detail. The author really builds her case brick by brick.

@Louise, I listen to the podcast as well, but as you say, it really contributes to the mounting TBR list. I'm a little behind so I haven't listened to the Elizabeth Strout episode yet.

As for your lighter fare, I enjoyed Today Will Be Different on audio. I'm beginning to think these lighter books are a perfect way to end the day on my drive home.

@Louise, I also listened to Anything Is Possible a few months ago. So that one and My Name Is Lucy Barton are my only two Elizabeth Strout books so far. The next one I want to try is Olive Kitteridge.

My gosh that podcast site looks absolutely amazing! I think I"ll be spending time there perusing the archives!

Good morning everyone. It's going to be a hot sunny day out here in Alberta.

I finished reading Ragged Company. I know a lot of people loved this book but I was really disappointed with it. I skimmed the last 1/3 of the book and returned it to the library. Some helpful library patron marked all the editing mistakes in my copy in pen. ha!

I'm 2/3 of the way through The Vegetarian. This is an intense book! It's strange, but I'm really enjoying it.

I'm picking my way through We All Love the Beautiful Girls. Everyone's lives are falling apart and I'm not 100% committed to following on the journey right now. I'll probably try and take a big crack at it this weekend.

I have Clara Callan and A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder ready to pick up at the library, I'm really excited to read both of these books.

Good morning everyone! I think I must be one of the minority who really did not appreciate My Name Is Lucy Barton but I wonder if the audio version was not the best way to enjoy it!

@Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ I loved The Thirteenth Tale!

@Diane - i may be finishing in September also. I am almost finished The Tin Flute for Quebec and have MB, NS, NB and Nunavut to go.

@Susan - i have Holding Still For As Long As Possible from the library but have not started it yet.

@Louise - I will have to check out that podcast! I have to say that I struggled with Where'd You Go, Bernadette but it is a great time to read some lighter fare.

Last week, I finished The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know which had some interesting insights on confidence for women. I enjoyed the chapters on learning through failure and helping instil confidence in kids the best. I also finished my giveaway ARC of Uncommon Type: Some Stories, a collection of short stories by Tom Hank's. I found it a bit hard to finish but in fairness to Hank's i had recently been reading Alice Munro. All the stories had some mention of a typewriter.

I hope the finish The Tin Flute today - it is a sad story of a family living in poverty in Montreal during WW2 and have started reading the short stories of Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Atwood.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "Good morning CanLit lovers! I have quite a few books on the go at the moment, though not a lot of Canadian content.

In print, I just finished My Name Is Lucy Barton yesterday, and..."

@Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ - All I learned was that Becky was rewarded for all her shopping because it landed her a husband. haha!

@Megan - I am sorry that you are not loving Ragged Company - I am one that did enjoy it and it certainly makes me think differently about the homeless. although we had to suspend our belief about the likelihood of finding a ticket like that, I really liked how he incorporated parts of his own life into the story.

I have to say that The Vegetarian has stuck with me. I had no expectations when I picked it up from the library and was shocked by some of the content. I didn't love it but it is one of those books, like Bear, that is unforgettable.

i look forward to hearing what you think of Clara Callan which is on my TBR shelf. :)

Good morning everyone!! Expecting a rainy weekend here - so no outdoor chores and lots of time for reading!!

My one Can-Lit read was a good choice. I selected Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077 by Craig Davidson for an offsite summer book club outing. I enjoyed this memoir and 10 of the other 11 members either liked it or loved it. It was the perfect summer choice. Humourous, insightful, frank, touching, informational, unusual structure. Worth reading.

Read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine for a nice light read. Good 3 star debut novel by Scottish author Gail Honeyman with some quirky characters, chuckles and messages.

I too am in the I love Elizabeth Strout camp and was disappointed that Anything Is Possible didn't make the Manbooker long list.

Like you Susan have been reading some of the long listed Manbooker books.
>>Liked but didn't love Autumn by Ali Smith. Great writing but took a while for me to get into. Plan to do a reread at some point as I'm wondering if it was just me.
>>Days Without End by Sebastian Barry was a mixed bag as well. Didn't grab me at the beginning and the violence and war was relentless. Grabbed me in in the second half when more humanity was introduced. Great writing however. Birdsong by the same author which I read years ago and still remember was a wonderful book about World War 1 recommended to me - realistic and focusing on the human aspect of war. Barry is definitely a wonderful writer. Couldn't figure out why an Irish writer was writing about and American war. Go figure.
>>Am currently reading History of Wolves and quite liking it.

@ Diane - will be interested in reading what you think about The Town That Drowned. Considered it for Cross Canada myself. You sure do have a lot of books on the go!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Glad to hear that you and your book club enjoyed Precious Cargo. I have had this one waiting since meeting Craig Davidson last year. he was so enthusiastic talking about the kids on his bus!

@ ❀ Susan. Thanks. It's different. The kids are so great!! Could have been selected as an out of my comfort zone book.....because it forced me to think like a teenager!! My memory isn't that lo-o-o-n-g!! Was impressed with Davidson's humility, candour and insight as well. Hope you enjoy the book when you get a chance to read it.

Megan wrote: "All I learned was that Becky was rewarded for all her shopping because it landed her a husband. haha! "

She has this uncanny ability to have things work out in her favour, that's for sure. What she needs more than anything is a rich husband, so I'd say it's a good thing this works out for her!

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "Megan wrote: "All I learned was that Becky was rewarded for all her shopping because it landed her a husband. haha! "

She has this uncanny ability to have things work out in her favour, that's for..."

Although I had an acquaintance who would put clothes on layaway at Holt Renfrew and was in massive debt on clothes, beauty products, etc. and she ended up marrying rich, so maybe there's something to it...... ;)

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "@Louise, I also listened to Anything Is Possible a few months ago. So that one and My Name Is Lucy Barton are my only two Elizabeth Strout books so far. The next one I want to try is Olive Kitteridge. ."

You will love it. The Burgess Boys is excellent also.

Diane wrote: "My gosh that podcast site looks absolutely amazing! I think I"ll be spending time there perusing the archives!"

I've gone back and listened to every episode from the beginning. Roxanne is a great interviewer and I love how she asks everyone on the show "what book changed your life?"

❀ Susan wrote: "Good morning everyone! I think I must be one of the minority who really did not appreciate My Name Is Lucy Barton but I wonder if the audio version was not the best way to enjoy it!..."

I listened to it in audio but I also listened to it twice and got more out of it the second time. You really need to pay attention to what is being said. It's not a plot driven book so those are harder to do in audio. You have to be in a certain frame of mind too.

❀ Susan wrote: "I hope the finish The Tin Flute today - it is a sad story of a family living in poverty in Montreal during WW2 and have started reading the short stories of Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Atwood..."

The Tin Flute has been on my TBR mountain forever. How do you like it? And YAY for getting into short stories lately :-). After reading Munro and Atwood you're going to have to give Mavis Gallant and Alistair MacLeod a try next. Then if you want to branch out into non-Canadian, Irish writer William Trevor is the master of the short story format.

Louise wrote: "❀ Susan wrote: "I hope the finish The Tin Flute today - it is a sad story of a family living in poverty in Montreal during WW2 and have started reading the short stories of Stone Mattress: Nine Tal..."

Paris Stories is brilliant!

❀ Susan wrote: "@Megan - I am sorry that you are not loving Ragged Company - I am one that did enjoy it and it certainly makes me think differently about the homeless. although we had to suspend our belief about the likelihood of finding a ticket like that, I really liked how he incorporated parts of his own life into the story..."

I could buy that they might find a ticket and win big. That is the gist of lottery tickets, the unlikelihood of winning. I could not buy into the characters though. They were caricatures more than real flawed humans and that was my problem with the book. They didn't feel real. However I did enjoy the depiction of their homeless lives and the relationships they formed, although I had some trouble with the nature of the relationships too. A little bit too much "feel good lovin'" going on, lol.

Mj wrote: "Like you Susan have been reading some of the long listed Manbooker books.."

There is a FABULOUS online book group on yahoo that discusses Man Booker books. I've been in this group for over 10 years now; it's my favorite online book club. Each year we read the 6 short listers, then nominate and vote for, any book from previous years' short and longlists, to fill the other 6 months of the year. We are also allowed to nominate any book written by the International Booker winner. It is an extremely intelligent, well-read group of people and the discussions are indepth and fascinating. Give it a try. We are about to start Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh on the 15th. And next month we're doing a Canadian book, St. Urbain's Horseman by Mordecai Richler, and another Canadian book in December (Madeleine Thien's). Group members are from all over the world so it's super interesting to hear the different perspectives. Here is a blurb about the group:

Our discussion starts on the 15th of the month, and continue until the 14th of the following month.

No spoiler warnings are needed; each participating member is presumed to have completed the book - or nearly so - at the start of the discussion period.

Check it out: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/B...

Happy Friday! Wow, this thread has been active today!
Last week I finished 2 new YA books Midnight at the Electric and I See London, I See France in paper. Also, finished Binge and Diana in audio.
Finally started The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane and about half way through and enjoying it.
Kudos to all of you completing the Cross Country Challenge!
@Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺, I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale!
So jealous to see all of you reading great books! My mind is just so lazy right now, all I want to read is fluff, Lol!
Have a great weekend!

❀ Susan wrote: "@Megan - I am sorry that you are not loving Ragged Company - I am one that did enjoy it and it certainly makes me think differently about the homeless. although we had to suspend our belief about t..."

I'm really looking forward to reading One Native Life and I loved Indian Horse.

I'm using Clara Callan for my Giller bingo square. I've been meaning to read this book for years, years!

@ May - fluff's good. It's great for refuelling. Isn't it nice that we usually know intuitively what kind of book is best for us in the moment? You've been reading/listening to tons of books. In this warm, humid weather it makes sense to take it easier....including book choices.

@Mj, I'm also trying out the Libby app for Overdrive that my library system uses. Being able to listen to audiobooks on my phone is pretty awesome! Memoirs, non-fictions work for me as far as audiobooks go, but I'd like to read my fictions.

@ May - am not an audio person myself but Allison hikes the bookwoods, who sometimes listens to audios seem to be a big fan of this new Libby application. She mentioned in a post I read that she enjoys the ability to sometimes listen on her phone.

Mj wrote: "@ May - am not an audio person myself but Allison hikes the bookwoods, who sometimes listens to audios seem to be a big fan of this new Libby application. She mentioned in a post I read that she en..."

A totally new territory I'm happy to explore, since I'm able to get through a book a day almost :)

wondering if there's any correlation between the emerging factions...I did end up loving both Ragged Company and the 13th tale, and Lucy Barton, not at all.

Last week's stellar read was Arundhati Roy's the Ministry of Utmost Happiness, which i read on the heels of her nf Capitalism: a ghost story. Neither of these books were easy reads; both were very worth the effort.Interested to note that it took less time to read the long fiction than the book of essays, which was about 1/4 the length.
Alongside these. in roughly the same timeframe, I was reading Moshin Hamid, the essays collected under the title Discontent and its Civilizations, and his latest novel Exit West. These I found equally gripping and can highly recommend.
More comprehensible because more familiar, I then read Sonja Larsons memoir, Red Star Tattoo whitch was almost comic relief, tho in fact a rather distressing tale of faith and exploitation.

Quite appropriate that my morning nf is by the Indian writer Pankaj Mishra. An End To Sufferring is his fascinating study of the Buddha in the world. I've another week to go with this one. Now I'm keen to find his fiction, which isn't in our system.
For something completely different, I enjoyed the memoir Romancing Maryjane written by a local man about his abortive attempt to grow marijuana as a business. Not really recommended...growing a huge crop for resale that is. The book is way better than I thought it would be and is another contender for my BC cross Canada Read. Yes!
After a hiatus I am back at it, and now in the midst of the devastating Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell. It seems like there's no end to the indignities humans can inflict on each other.
Short Stories this week courtesy of Steven Heighton, The Dead Are More Visible. Really looking forward to meeting him in a few weeks.
Last night I did meet Jane Urquart, and we had a brief but intense chat. Will write of this in the authors thread.

Thinking of Rainey, hoping she can get some bit of solace from reading again.
May all be well as we can be!I enjoy reading about people are reading, but on my phone makes it impossible to adequately comment

May wrote: "A totally new territory I'm happy to explore, since I'm able to get through a book a day almost :) "

Wow, May, that's impressive. I really just listen while I'm driving. I find it's the only way to give an audiobook my full attention. If driving conditions aren't great because of the weather, I usually have to turn it off so I can concentrate more actively on the road.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: " I really just listen while I'm driving. I find it's the only way to give an audiobook my full attention. If driving conditions aren't great because of the weather, I usually have to turn it off so I can concentrate more actively on the road. .."

Walking dogs is also another great way to listen to audiobooks and while doing mindless chores like folding laundry, washing windows, etc.

I love audio books when driving... by myself! I can't seem to listen to them at home as there are too many distractions with my family.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "May wrote: "A totally new territory I'm happy to explore, since I'm able to get through a book a day almost :) "

Wow, May, that's impressive. I really just listen while I'm driving. I find it's th..."

I speed up the audiobooks to 1.5x speed and a 6-hour book is done in no time :)

I think it was Louise who mentioned reading Eileen for the booker
prize group-I was also a member of that group for years, have to rejoin. Eileen is quite the book, I was very surprised it was nominated for a Booker,but it is a very very strange book. Enjoy-if you can...very strange..well done though.
Someone else-was it Louise again-mentioned Winesburg, Ohio.
That is probably one of my all-time favourite books. It's a collection of linked stories and it's a masterpiece and hugely influential in American lit. A wonderful book-very moving.

Holy crow, May, 1.5x speed! Some friends recently were agreeing that 1.25x is the way to go but I tried it and felt like my brain was spinning. :-)

Susan wrote: "Holy crow, May, 1.5x speed! Some friends recently were agreeing that 1.25x is the way to go but I tried it and felt like my brain was spinning. :-)"

Lol!

My phone was set to play 1.25 for the longest time I hadn't realized it, and I always thought the books were just shorter than the estimated length that was published. Now when I play at normal speed they seem slow to me.

Alan wrote: "I think it was Louise who mentioned reading Eileen for the booker
prize group-I was also a member of that group for years, have to rejoin. Eileen is quite the book, I was very surprised it was nomi..."

Yes, that was me on both counts :-). I just started Winesburg, Ohio today and am still waiting for Eileen from the library and I'll be late now as discussion starts tomorrow. You really should re-join the group!

I'm not a book audio listener but they say the brain processes info way faster than people can speak so speeding up audio to listen to books makes sense. Wish there was a similar switch when listening to people speak in real life. :-)

I tried fictions on audio and I didn't like it at all, so only memoirs and non-fictions for me as the information is generally very straight forward for my brain to process.

What I can't do in audio is short stories. Mysteries and thrillers are the easiest for me in audio but I don't actually read many.