CanadianContent discussion

Good morning readers!!

Welcome to our first full week of the new year and decade!!

I hope that everyone has enjoyed the secret sender threads over the holidays and would like to thank Allison and Allison for this year's organization (and Natasha for previous work on this great initiative). It has been a lot of great fun and great books! Check out the thread for a list of all the books sent in 2019... if you dare to add to your TBR list! Check out the 2020 thread and add your name if you want to join in on the fun this year.

As we delve into our books of 2020, take advantage of the 2020 BINGO challenge, the 2020 Indigenous Challenge (thanks Storyheart!) or some of the monthly challenges and monthly group reads.

As always, what have you been reading? What is next from the TBR pile?

have a great week!!

❀ Susan wrote: "I hope that everyone has enjoyed the secret sender threads over the holidays and would like to thank Allison and Allison for this year's organization (and Natasha for previous work on this great initiative). "

Thanks @Susan!

"Allison and Allison," I like that. Perhaps we should start a partnership of some kind. Literary agents perhaps?

Happy Friday folks! It's a whole new year of reading. Yay!

This week I finished Evvie Drake Starts Over, which I thought was just okay, and now I'm on to Reproduction. I'm using it for bingo G1 - a book recommended by a newspaper review.

I've been listening to two books this week: Dare to Lead and The Giver of Stars. I was a bit disappointed with the former. Could I finally be Brené Brown'd out? Doubt it lol. Still love her. I'm only about halfway through The Giver of Stars, so the verdict's not in yet.

Happy Friday!

This week I finished The Lost Girls of Paris, which I thought was terribly written. Now I need to figure out a diplomatic way to say I hated it at book club next week. I also finished Your House Will Pay, which was just okay. It's an interesting idea, to examine the effects of a murder on the victim's and perpetrator's families decades later, but it didn't quite come together for me. I think the book was trying too hard and then didn't get where it maybe should have.

I also read Nothing to See Here. I was going to avoid this one despite the good reviews because I really didn't like The Family Fang, but then it made the Tournament of Books shortlist. To my surprise, I liked it! I mostly listened to it on audiobook, which was well done and quite funny.

I think I will be starting something for bingo next. I wish the Canada Reads longlist was out already to help me pick my next read! :-)

Happy Friday from soaking wet Vancouver. We're in the middle of a torrential rainstorm

This week, I finished my first book for the Indigenous challenge and I just loved it: Birdie. It was a difficult read emotionally but I loved the structure, the Cree language and story-telling elements and Lindberg's poetic language and imagery. Having said that, I can't understand how the publisher could bill it as a 'funny' book. To me, there was nothing funny about it.

Now I'm half-way through Frankissstein: A Love Story and am loving it so far. It's even made me change my mind a little about AI.

Happy weekend to you all.

Story❤ wrote: "Now I'm half-way through Frankissstein: A Love Story and am loving it so far. It's even made me change my mind a little about AI."

Interested to hear your thoughts on this one.

Happy Friday from Sunny BDA.

Currently reading for my BDA book club: Switch Bitch - very dark.

For the on my TBR list for more than a year for January and also one that covers the Indigenous Challenge - reading and listening on Audio book - Indian Horse

also reading: The Fat Girl's Guide to Loving Your Body; Vegetables Unleashed: A Cookbook and Unstoppable: A 90-Day Plan to Biohack Your Mind and Body for Success.

Also listening to on audio: Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life; and Hum Little Birdie: A Novel of Cain City

Happy new year all! I can’t remember when I last posted in this section but because of my work and audiobooks I’ve read more than usual over the last while. I’m trying to listen to many of the paper books I have on my shelves so I can then pass them on. My work really allows me to do a lot of listening and it’s made my life so much more joyful.

I started out with Call Me By Your Name which I hated from the first paragraph. So overwrought and annoying,really a bad experience.

Then I moved onto The Mars Room which I knew nothing about and I had a copy. It’s a very interesting book about a women)s prison,funny in parts in the beginning but very violent and very sad as it moves along. But I did think it was done well. Talks about poverty and incarceration,very sad and powerful.

Finally I started Then She Was Gone. It seems like every woman mystery writer is writing about missing children these days. I was at the book store and came close to running out because there are way too many titles in this genre. This one was ok,the suspense builds in the latter part and the ending is a nice surprise but it’s mass market escapist fiction and not great literature. The author Lisa Jewell seems to be very big now.

I’ve chosen my next audio book for work, I’ve chosen my first bingo pick and I want to do a read a long with a group starting Middlemarch. I read it as a student and there is nothing like reading a solid classic work of literature.

Excited to start the Canada Bingo challenge. Decided to read "No Great Mischief" by Alistair MacLeod as book that has been on my TBR list for more than a year.
Finished my first book of the year "Still Me" by Jojo Moyes. This was a fun book but of the three the first one was best.
Started a two month journey to read the Illiad, so far it has been a great experience.
My audiobook of Pillars of the Earth expired and is not available now so back to reading it. Need to find another audiobook. Any suggestions? Would be great if it was Canadian.

Happy Friday!!

I bought and finished the last quarter of Greenwood by Michael Christie on New Year;s Day. It was a five star listen/read for me! Great start to the year for me!

I also read Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. It has been on my TBR forever. It was a quick and fun read.

Happy New Year everyone!
This week it was all about holiday reads: Christmas Shopaholic, A Wedding in December, The Bride Test and an audiobook Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Currently reading The Other Wife and have the audiobook Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family.

Happy New Year!

This week I finished Margaret Atwood's In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination and thoroughly enjoyed it. It starts by telling of her childhood & university experiences with old-time sci-fi and her love for the genre. Following this is a section of her essays on specific sci-fi books, many of which I hadn't heard of before (TBR list swells some more). Then a collection of 5 short sci-fi stories.
This was a really interesting book.

I'm now reading The 42nd Parallel and will be starting When The Saints soon.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "Story❤ wrote: "Now I'm half-way through Frankissstein: A Love Story and am loving it so far. It's even made me change my mind a little about AI."

Interested to hear your thoughts on this one."

I'll keep you posted :)

Lisa wrote: "Happy Friday!!

I bought and finished the last quarter of Greenwood by Michael Christie on New Year;s Day. It was a five star listen/read for me! Great start to the..."

So excited to hear you liked Greenwood! I've got the audio on hold but it's going to be a long wait.

Happy New Year everyone! it has been a long while since I've posted. My reading took a massive dip during my pregnancy (I was so exhausted by the end), but I hope to rectify that now that our little lady has made her debut. Charlotte Gillian Davidson arrived three weeks early on December 21st, in time for Christmas, and we are quite smitten. She has that newborn sleepiness still happening, and so I'm taking advantage and reading while she rests cozily in my arms. I've just started Educated by Tara Westover which a lot of my colleagues at the hospital have read and recommended. I like her writing, but it feels like something is missing for me. Regardless, it feels good to be reading again, and to be snuggling a baby too!!

Happy New Year!!! Life is returning to normal around here. All my family has gone home and I am caught up on laundry, so it is time to settle into reading. Since I last checked in, I finished The Boleyn King, which was ok, but I don't feel the need to continue with the series. I then read By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz. I avoided this one last year during Canada Reads, as I feel I have read enough concentration camp books, and they are hard on one's mental health. This one was very good though, and I am glad I read it. I'm now ready for something more relaxing, so I am going to sink my teeth into my Secret Santa gift, The Starless Sea.

Congratulations, Colleen, on the new addition to your family. Charlotte sounds so perfect. Enjoy the snuggles.

Congratulations, Colleen! "Charlotte Gillian"--what a lovely name for your lovely daughter.

Congratulations Colleen!! Enjoy the baby snuggles!

Congratulations, Colleen!

@Colleen, congratulations!!

Happy Friday and Happy New Year 2020 everyone!
@Colleen- Congratulations, a sweet baby girl is a precious gift.

I was half a book short of meeting my goal of 60 books for 2019, so my first book of 2020 is by my favorite Canadian author of all time, Richard Wagamese One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet. I love the photos in this book that accompany such meaningful words. I will surely miss his writings.

On audio, I am listening to The Wives, which seems to have a bunch of hype and truly feels like a cross between Fifty Shades and the reality show, Sister Wives. Cheezy and will likely make the author a lot of money, such fluff.

My library loan of Empire of Wild just arrived today so I hope to get reading it asap. Will also add this to our Indigenous challenge. Cheers everyone!

Happy New Year, all! I got the opportunity to start and finish a book in four days, for fun, over the holidays - an unusual feat for me. Unfortunately, while Jill by N. Joy had a lot of potential, it was badly in need of editing and came off as a very amateurish effort. I did finish it - so that's something. I don't recommend it, however. I am planning to start Magpie, and I am also in the middle of proofreading a delightful fiction about Blackbeard, so it's going to be a fun reading week, I think, even though I'm back to work. I do like getting paid to read!

Congrats Colleen - so exciting!!

i ended off the year with The Shape of Family (an easy read but with a serious story of a family broken apart by loss and each dealing with their own struggles individually), Reproduction (which was uniquely written and leaving me puzzling on some of the connections) and Where the Crawdads Sing (which was an excellent last book of 2019 and i really enjoyed).

I have started The Mysterious Affair at Styles as I begin to work through the Agatha Christie collection and am hoping to begin From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way although I am having difficulty loading my library ebook on my kobo for some reason.

Congratulations Colleen. The photos I’ve seen of your baby girl are so sweet. Kudos to you for fitting in reading time. I recall that I watched way too much TV when mine were infants.

I was mainly listening to audiobooks over the holidays as I was doing baking, cleaning, decorating, cooking, wrapping etc, not much time to sit and read a hard copy book.
So now I am finally digging into There There which I won in a Goodreads giveaway. This is an excellent read, and although it is not Canadian, I think it speaks well to the indigenous experience trying to live life in an urban environment.

Okay one of my New Year's Resolutions is to try to keep up with these weekly threads. I started the year by re-reading a classic, Wuthering Heights. OMG, it was sooooo good. I enjoyed it so much more than when I read it as a teenager, many many years ago, lol.

In audio I am about 3/4 through Cutting for Stone and I HATE IT!!! I have heard so many good things about it, I was sure I was going to love it. OMG what a disappointment. I'm either bored or totally grossed out. But I'm hellbent on finishing it because I keep thinking the ending must be amazing for people to love this book so much.

And now I just started reading The Death Of Donna Whalen by Michael Winter which he calls documentary fiction. It is based on a real life murder that took place in Newfoundland and he uses all the court records, witness accounts, etc verbatim but changes the names and places. It does give you a feel for the place but I am still early in the book.

Colleen wrote: "Happy New Year everyone! it has been a long while since I've posted. My reading took a massive dip during my pregnancy (I was so exhausted by the end), but I hope to rectify that now that our littl..."

Congratulations Colleen!!! I felt the same way about Educated. It was interesting but there was definitely something lacking. I finally decided it was authenticity. Her whole family lived in denial so why should she be any different. I question her ability to see things as they really were.

Alan wrote: "I’ve chosen my next audio book for work, I’ve chosen my first bingo pick and I want to do a read a long with a group starting Middlemarch. I read it as a student and there is nothing like reading a solid classic work of literature.."

This is so true Alan. I want to try to read (or re-read) more classics this year. I read Middlemarch (for the first time) just a few months ago, and I just re-read Wuthering Heights. It's a great feeling when you pick up a book that you just KNOW is going to be great, and a worthy read.

❀ Susan wrote: "I have started The Mysterious Affair at Styles as I begin to work through the Agatha Christie collection and am hoping to begin From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way although I am having difficulty loading my library ebook on my kobo for some reason.."

Oooh, Agatha Christie, one of my guilty pleasures. I also have From the Ashes on my radar. Look forward to hearing what you think about it.

Louise wrote: "Okay one of my New Year's Resolutions is to try to keep up with these weekly threads. I started the year by re-reading a classic, Wuthering Heights. OMG, it was sooooo good. I enjoyed i..."

I read WH a couple of years ago, for the first time, and loved it, too. So much crazy dysfunction! LOL. I don't understand, though, why it's considered a romance. It's a book I will return to one day. It was a fun read, in it's dysfunctionality.

Louise wrote: I am about 3é4 through Cutting for Stone and I HATE IT!!! I have heard so many good things about it, I was sure I was going to love it. OMG what a disappointment. I'm either bored or totally grossed out. But I'm hellbent on finishing it because I keep thinking the ending must be amazing for people to love this book so much."

If it's any comfort, I hated Cutting for Stone so much I hurled my copy of the book across the room in a rage. I call books like that "misery porn" and hate that the author of this one didn't grant his impoverished characters even one minute of simple grace or happiness. (I don't normally abuse books but this one made me sooooo angry.)

Petra wrote: "I don't understand, though, why it's considered a romance. It's a book I will return to one day. It was a fun read, in it's dysfunctionality.."

I see it as a romance. They loved each so much in their warped way.

Story❤ wrote: " I call books like that "misery porn"."

PERFECT description!!! And why all the minute details on medical stuff? I have to tune all that out.

My bookclub loved cutting for stone. we hated the ending but loved it.

Louise wrote: "I see it as a romance. They loved each so much in their warped way. ..."

I didn't see the love, I guess. Just the dysfunction. Love involves some degree of gentleness. This family has and had none of that. When I reread this, I'll keep an open mind and look for love.

LOL - i am in the loved Cutting Stone camp but perhaps being a nurse gives me a different perspective on some of the medical stuff.

From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way was an eye opening story. it is hard to imagine living as the author did but inspiring to see him fight his way back and become an author and university graduate/assistant professor.

I admit that i did not love WH in high school so maybe it is time for a revisit of this classic!

@Louise - we will be happy to have you back!!!

❀ Susan wrote: "LOL - i am in the loved Cutting Stone camp but perhaps being a nurse gives me a different perspective on some of the medical stuff.

It wasn't the medical stuff that bothered me, it was the idea that their lives were an unrelenting stream of misery. Even the poorest person has moments of happiness.

I've had Cutting for Stone since it first came out and always looked forward to reading it, but now I'm not so sure.

I first read Wuthering Heights in university for a Victorian lit. class. It was totally beyond me. Then I read it again about three years ago and I thought-these people are sick-Heathcliff is psychotic. Doesn't he kill a cat? I didn't think it was any fun in the least and as for a romance-really turned me off. But it's stood the
test of time so...

@Alan - i think that this is one book with mixed reviews and you need to give it a try to see. i actually loved the book!

As for Wuthering Heights, someday, it is on my TBR to re-read but I remember not caring for it in highschool. i don't remember the killing a cat part but that was quite a while ago now

WH wasn't on the curriculum when I was in high school. I can't see teens liking it much, though. It's dark, abusive, the dialect can be difficult at first. I'm glad I didn't read it at that time. I don't think I would have liked it (although I may be mistaken).
After I settled in that this was about a totally dysfunctional family, I really enjoyed it. It's so over the top crazy.

Petra wrote: "WH wasn't on the curriculum when I was in high school. I can't see teens liking it much, though. It's dark, abusive, the dialect can be difficult at first. I'm glad I didn't read it at that time. I..."

Wuthering Heights was my first classical read in high school and I loved it. I vividly remember writing an essay defending Heathcliff and being furious because the teacher x'ed it out despite saying repeatedly if what we wrote was backed up it would not be marked wrong.

Good or bad it started my love for the classics.

Keep meaning to reread this to see how i would feel fifty years later. Hopefully this year but right now way to many books on the go.

Hello belatedly, everyone, and Happy New Year!

I think I will try to start participating in these weekly chats again. I do enjoy reading through them and seeing what everyone has been up to/reading.

Congratulations, Colleen!

I read Wuthering Heights as a teen and didn't care for it. I loved Jane Eyre, I loved The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - but Emily's contribution to the Bronte oeuvre was just so dark and utterly unromantic, I couldn't understand it at all. I should probably revisit it now and see what I think as an adult!

I had the chance to do a lot of reading over the holidays (yay!) as we were all sick (boo!). Am now reading The Testaments, but have not got very far into it as my work started 2020 with quite a bang. I think that come February I'll have more time, but all my library holds are rolling in now....