CanadianContent discussion

Good morning readers!!! As we work though our TBR piles what are you reading? I wish that I could just stay home and hibernate with a book today as there is a bit of snow on the ground in Southern Ontario (hopefully the last of it) but I can't complain when I hear of the snow our readers have in Newfoundland!! I am looking forward to hearing what everyone has read and is planning on into the week. Have a great day!

Good morning and happy Friday! This week I'm reading LONG DIVISION, which has an intriguing plot, but I'm struggling with the writing style as it's written in the vernacular of a Mississippi teen.

After a two month break, I'm finally back to listening to THE BOOK OF NEGROES. I had to put it on hold as my Overdrive loan expired and between library holds and other audiobooks, I just haven't gotten back to it until now. I really enjoyed the early chapters of this book. It's my first time reading fiction about the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans. Every other book I've read about slavery focuses on people already enslaved or at least already in North America (as in TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE). This part of the story really interested me.

I hate to complain about the weather, but it is still very much winter here in NL. Everything is snow covered and everyday is cold, cold. We are currently excited at the prospect of temps rising to 8 degrees next week. Sad.

In NS we're finally getting plus temperatures but with it, rain like a monsoon today!
I've finished a few books this week and have cracked open a new set. That's what happens when I read several at the same time, I finish them all within a day or two of each other if they're similar lengths. Then it'll be another week or more before I get through what I've started now since I "share" my reading time, one day with one book, the next with another and if i have a paper book on the go, that'll be my "in bed" read usually. Unless a particular book draws me in so much I can't put it down!

So this week i'm nearly at the end of Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Will probably finish that tonight. Newly opened are: Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill, The Muse: A Novel by Jessie Burton, Kin by Lesley Crewe and Impact to Contact: The Shag Harbour Incident by Graham Simms which will likely be one I'll dip in and out of. I've had it on the TBR pile since last Sept. when I bought it at the UFO museum in Shag Harbour, NS!

Happy Friday everyone!!
@Susan, totally agree, definitely reading weather today, but alas, money needs to be earned to buy those books, so the office is the place to be for me.
Not much to report. This week I only managed to finish In the Woods, my first book for the Mount TBR challenge. OMG, I wanted it to pick up so badly and it only did at the end. I had really hoped for a good murder mystery, but this was not the one.
Now I'm starting The Handmaid's Tale, my first read, can you believe that? It was recommended to me by my chiropractor long time ago. Now that the mini-series is coming out, I figure I'll give it a try.
Have a great weekend. Hope you are doing better with the TBR Challenge than me!

Happy Friday, everyone!

I feel like I had a slow reading week. The only book I finished was Scott Pilgrim, Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness, which was a lot of fun.

For Mount TBR I'm reading The Long Song, which I've had sitting on my shelves for ages. I'm finding it slow and am reading it in dribs and drabs. I also started reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, which I've been meaning to read for a long time. It blew my mind on page 1 and I'm reading it slowly to make sure I understand and absorb the information being shared.

I also continue with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which is proving to be a great read.

We are getting some beautiful weather in Winnipeg, bright and sunny if only +6, but tomorrow they are predicting a whopping +20.

I have four Canadian books on the go right now.
When Everything Feels Like the Movies, I have had this on my TBR ever since it was a Canada Reads contender. It is extremely well written, and really puts the reader out of their comfort zone, but I do think it has some very important messages in it.

The Wonder-I am really enjoying this

Ape House, I am listening to this one on Audio, it was a bit of a slow start, but now I am really enjoying it. Very different from Water for Elephants.

I also started into which I am embarrassed to say I accidently downloaded, thinking it was , but when I saw it was written by a Canadian author I decided to still read it.

Howdy from freezing, rainy Thousand Islands, Ontario! Brrrrrr......

Man, it's been busy around here, between kids, work, and hubby's work. (He's off next Thursday for his implanted hearing device, if anyone remembers that, so he's working long and hard now to make up for that upcoming absence.)

So my reading has been awful. STILL working through Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood in paper.

In audio I've started two: The Tao of Pooh, which I read in university and remember enjoying, and The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. I do like his writing and am enjoying the story, but unfortunately it's close enough in plot to Cat's Eye that I'm blurring the two stories. Ugh. I usually don't take on similar books at the same time for this reason, but I didn't realize I'd have that problem with these two books.

Anyway... nothing completed, but a few on the go.

I am wrapping up Here Comes the Sun. The Author will be in Bermuda next Wednesday. I am so excited. Will take lots of notes so I can do a proper write up for @Susan.

My BDA book club is reading The Underground Railroad this month. It just won the Tournament of Books.

Also chugging along with Lullabies for Little Criminals: A Novel, which is quite interesting.

Upcoming reads are: I, Lucifer, Do Not Say We Have Nothing and Exit West and finishing The Hate U Give

Hi everyone!

@Susan, I hope The Long Song picks up for you - I really enjoyed the voice of the main character. I'm also always so happy to hear someone is reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness: it's a book that has really affected and changed my outlook, and I think it's so important.

@Rainey, I'll be interested in your thoughts on Here Comes the Sun, and to hear about meeting the author.

I spent most of this week reading In the Darkroom, which was just fantastic. I think it will be one of my best reads of the year for sure.

I've now begun The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, which is interesting so far.

I am very much enjoying We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves -- thank you to Natasha for having a warning against reading any reviews. I did not see that coming at 1/3 of the book. I didn't even read the book jacket. So happy to read it without knowing about Fern. Wow!

I just saw a trailer for the redo of Anne of green gables - Anne. I'm hoping it's good.

Talie wrote: "I am very much enjoying We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves -- thank you to Natasha for having a warning against reading any reviews. I did not see that coming at 1/3 of the book..."

@Talie, I had the exact same experience with We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves! I had no idea. It's so much better going into that book completely unaware of anything.

I loved that book!

Allison wrote: "Talie wrote: "I am very much enjoying We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves -- thank you to Natasha for having a warning against reading any reviews. I did not see that coming at 1..."

Shoot - Allison I think it was your "STOP" that made me stop from looking at the reviews. The thank you is for you! It's so good -- and still more than half to go. Enjoying it a lot.

In general, I think I always enjoy a book more if I know very little about it going in.

I'm not get much reading done lately because I'm distracted by live Puppy TV, lol. But I did re-read (twice) Atonement for my book club. I was blown away when I read it the first time last year and at that time I declared Gaétan Soucy by new favorite Quebec author but after really delving into the book (and reading another of his) I think I can say he is my favorite Canadian author. Sadly he has only written 4 books and passed away in 2013.

In audio, I'm listening to Flowers in the Attic, one of those books that's been on my TBR pile for decades, lol. And boy, I thought my family was dysfunctional, lol.

Recovering from the flu. Got caught up on a few books I had wanted to read. I read The Book of Night Women by Marlon James, Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older, Shadow Rider by Christine Feehan, Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo and The Break by Katherena Vermette. All of them so different, but I really enjoyed them all, especially the last two. Able to check off a few more categories on my book challenges.

Today I finally received The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead from the library. I am just a couple of chapters in. I hope it isn't too much like The Book of Night Women.

Lisa wrote: "Recovering from the flu. Got caught up on a few books I had wanted to read. I read The Book of Night Women by Marlon James, Shadowshaper by [author:Dan..."

Wow, that's a lot of reading Lisa!!

Heather(Gibby) wrote: "In general, I think I always enjoy a book more if I know very little about it going in."
So true, but kinda tricky, as I get a lot my what to read next ideas from peoples comments and reviews. I did enjoy We are all completely beside ourselves.

@ Emmkay, you are reading 3 books on my tbr, 2 of which I had almost forgotten about until i tried to add them and was told they were already listed.

Never made it into town last week, but spent my time on lighter reads.I read Sleeping Giants which took me a while to get into because of the format. Now I cant wait to read the sequel and have a hold on it.
The Goat Lady's Daughter by Rosella M. Leslie is set near the town where I am now writing this, and upcoast a bit. It may not be steller writing but I really enjoyed reading about the life of the old timers.

The big surprise:Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones This was recently recommended to me and I thank whoever it was that inspired me to grab it. Not my genre! horror, but then its not really horror, more social commentary and wild humor. I am going to recommend this book to everybody.

I am still reading Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations, a few a day. I am glad I bought the book and do believe its the most beautiful book ever.

@ Diane, I too seem to finish a set of books around the same time, and have more than one on the go. I tend to divide my day between them but its strange how that works out, for some books I limit myself to a chapter or two (short stories, non fiction) yet it still seems to work out that there is a little pause when I am between titles.

This week I have startedMindfulness for Bipolar Disorder: How Mindfulness and Neuroscience Can Help You Manage Your Bipolar Symptoms by William R. Marchand Before jumping to conclusions, I have never been diagnosed, but I am a Gemini with mood swings, and I am systematically reading all the books on mindfulness in both libraries. This one has a pretty interesting approach and Ive learned some new things.

Also reading through the works of Anthony Doerr Memory Wall is short stories that will surely excite lovers of the genre and anybody else who loves gorgeous writing.

By the luck of the draw, received Chogyam Trungpa First Thought, Best Thought: 108 Poems instead of another with similar title @MaryAnne trying again to get hold of it, but in the meantime pleasantly surprised by this collection.

Recently I recommended Marge Piercy to someone, which caused me to notice I havent read anything recent by her. So I ordered Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York and am quite enjoying it.

@Allison, In the 2nd hand shop for just a peek, saw The Book of Awesome for $1. Of course I bought it.

Stay well fellow bookies! May the rain not wet your enthusiasm

In the end, it turned out to be a beautiful (albeit windy) spring day in southern ontario. the snow quickly melted and the sun came out!

I hear you @May, no hibernating for me either... work calls!

@Heather (Gibby) - i have read both the Bear books - i hesitated on both of them... one because of the "uniqueness" of the relationship (creepy) and one because of the children's situation but have to say that i am glad that i read them both!

I have had a quiet week too. I finished an ARC of The Best of Adam Sharp which was a palate cleansing type of read. I enjoyed it but it was not stellar and i have to admit, you could tell that the spicy scenes were written by a male author. I did appreciate the chance to review an ARC for sure but it was not as good as the The Rosie Project series he wrote.

I also finished listening to Hatchet, a YA story which I enjoyed (YA seems to lend itself to audio) and am starting listening to Lion.

I am almost done my reread of Fifteen Dogs, am determined to slowly finish The Right To Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet and am not sure what is next...

@Susan, I loved The Rosie Project!
You'll enjoy this. A co-worker is going away for 2 weeks and instead of going to the library to get some books for the trip, she asked me to pick out books for her from my library! That just made my week!

@May - that is so awesome!! i would love that but it is a great responsibility!!!

I love the challenge! And she was very specific: no chicklit, no sci-fi, no fantasies, nothing over 350 pages, no hardcover :)

Well I thought I had a good reading week given my recent slumps, but you are are so impressive!

I did manage to add two books to my Mount TBR challenge shelf this week - "The Hidden Keys" by Andre Alexis and "My Name is Lucy Barton" by Elizabeth Strout. The writing was so beautiful in both books, I felt myself drawn to them and compelled to keep reading. I didn't initially figure out the mystery in Alwxis' book, but it didn't seem to matter because of the characters he created, especially the main protagonist. Tancred and Willow were wonderfully written and though it was my first Alexis book, I have a whole new level of appreciation for the fluidity of his writing. The same can be said of Strout - she's created an irrepressibly unforgettable character in Lucy Barton. The pacing of the book took some getting used to, but the story didn't ever disappoint.

I'm not sure what's next - I only finished the Strout book about an hour ago. "Fifteen Dogs" is a priority, as is "Nostalgia" but I don't know if I'm ready to dive back into Canada Reads territory. I do have "Lullabies for Little Criminals" on my nightstand so perhaps that will draw me in. The only thing I know for sure is that I am not lacking choice. :)

We have a crazy windstorm in Vancouver that has been knocking out power over parts of the city so I guess it's a good thing I just finished my book. It's a collection of short stories by China Miéville - Three Moments of an Explosion. I love his novels, which are kind-bendingly weird, so had high hopes for the collection. Most of the stories were excellent, one gave me nightmares, but a quite a few were duds.
I also reread The Crow Road by Ian Banks. I'd first read it some time in the 90s. It's been taking space on my bookshelf ever since so I decided I had to reread or give it away. I'm glad I did, it's a fun read with engaging characters.
I feel badly that I've just joined the group and have read nothing but British authors this week. I did finish Company Town last week so hope that makes up for it!

@Diane: I'm still hoping to win a copy of Pachinko. The queue at the library is slowly getting shorter, so there's hope on that front, too.

@Heather: I have The Bear on my ereader for some time now but haven't gotten to it. Hope you enjoy it.
I got a chuckle out of your story about obtaining this one.

@Allison: I recently finished the audio of The Marriage Plot. I enjoyed it but thought that the story has been told many times before.

The only book I finished last week was an audio: In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox. It was kind of a dud. The narration was dull, as if she was just reading out loud.

This weekend (maybe even today) I will finish In the Memory of the Forest, which I'm really enjoying. It's listed as a mystery but the murder is such a small part of the story. The back story of the past, guilt and memory is rich and intriguing.
Still reading Proust. It's slow going....not from disinterest; it's just the way this book is.

I finished salt fish girl, son of a trickster and milk and honey. I broke my wrist so I need to get my kobo out. I haven't touched it in a about a year!

@ Megan Yikes! Hope you are not in too much discomfort. What did you think of those books?
@MaryAnne, OK, I'm going to perdue the Lu.
should I read the prequel first?

I have good pain killers thankfully!!
I'm really slow with typing...
Salt fish girl I didn't really enjoy. It felt really disjointed.
Son of a trickster was good. It took my until about half way to get really into it. Teenage boys drive me insane. Haha!
Milk and honey was raw and brilliant.

Ouch Megan!! What happened?? Hopefully your recovery period isn't too long. Did you read enough spirit world in the second half of Son of a Trickster? Or was it just an ok book for you? Am curious to read what you think. Get well soon!!

@mj climbing around the playground with Mr 2 year old
I'm not as agile as he is!!
I really wish the spirit world had come into play earlier.. It felt like I read two different books. There were some cohesion issues for me for sure. I think it's still worth reading.

@ Megan - again heal quickly. I agree that Son of a Trickster is worth reading. There were parts of the book that I really enjoyed and others not so much. Overall however, I didn't enjoy it as much as Monkey Beach despite Eden Robinson's comments about being in a much more positive headspace when writing Son of a Trickster hence raising my expectations.

I thought it started pretty positively and really liked the main character and his relationships but got tired of the drinking, drugs etc. causing it to deteriorate pretty quickly - not that I didn't understand why. I found it rather depressing except for the love interest, the elderly neighbours and a couple of other relationships but like you said - it's definitely worth reading. Like The Break where you get a sense for the Metis environment in North Winnipeg, in Son of a Trickster I though you got a grim and likely realistic look at many aboriginal youth's environments in Canada and strong indications of why many of these youth are substance dependent and their suicide rates are so high. Good info but tough to read.

@mj mrs.jaks is about the only redeemable character. I totally agree with you assessment

Hoping you heal quickly Megan.

Magdelanye wrote:
@MaryAnne, OK, I'm going to perdue the Lu.
should I read the prequel first?"
I did not read the prequel, just the 3 main ones. Mind you it is not the best dystopic series that I would recommend.
Partials by Dan Wells is a more complex world with a trilogy and prequel.
Fragments is the 2nd in the series and Ruins is the 3rd, with Isolation as the prequel.

@ Megan Do heal quickly.
I too wish the spirit world had come in earlier in Son of a Trickster.

Happy weekend! It's been a whirlwind week. It was the last week of classes, last week of work, I was finishing my thesis, another paper and then there was the office end of the year party last night. I have no idea how I survived the whole week.

Last week I finished:

- King's Shield by Sherwood Smith. I started this book in Jan but put it down to read other things. I really like Smith's world building but also like that I can put these massive novels down and pick them up later without any problems.

- The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking. This one was ok. It reminded me a lot of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-up in that it was a neat concept but then got really repetitive.

- A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson. This was such a good fantasy novella with so much world building, characterization and history so well written in such a small book.

- Paper Girls, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan. A graphic novel. I've been really enjoying this series although it's not that far along but plan to continue with it.

- The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco. YA and horror aren't my usual genres but I enjoyed this one. It was interesting to read a book from the perspective of a ghost.

- Difficult Women by Roxane Gay. This was a pretty good, but dark collection of short stories. I didn't enjoy every single one but I think there was some that'll stick with me.

- The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj. A really neat sci-fi novel consisting of connected short stories. Reminded me a lot of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.

I know it looks like I've been reading a lot but most of these were short reads or books I'd been reading on and off for months.

This weekend I'm working my way through Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis as they're due back at the library very soon.

@ Meagan - I hope you have a quick recovery!