CanadianContent discussion

Greetings readers!

February is flying by! The days are getting longer and the excitement of Canada Reads is growing!

Have you checked out the Canada Reads threads? Feel free to add your comments on each of the books. How is your reading coming? Will you finish all 5?

What else have you been reading? What is next?

Happy reading everyone!

Happy Friday! I've come to a halt on my Canada Reads prep with 3/5 books read. I do plan to read Small Game Hunting and We Have Always Been Here (my remaining two), but I keep putting them off. The former, I already tried once and quit, and the latter just doesn't sound like it will hold my interest. Time to buckle down I guess!

In audiobooks this week, I finished Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know, and now I'm listening to The Good Earth.

My current read is Daisy Jones & The Six, which is just so readable. It's not exactly a typical page-turner - it's not suspenseful like that, but I could easily finish it in a day if only I had that kind of time for reading right now.

Happy Friday!

This week I finished reading Friday Black, an interesting, disturbing, and very of-the-moment collection of stories. I also finished Son of a Trickster, which puts me at 3/5 for Canada Reads. In some ways I liked Son of a Trickster more than expected (I really liked Jared and the sarcastic humour), but in other ways it wasn't for me, as I expected. Once the novel turned to the spirit world, it lost me for the most part.

I'm currently reading Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen for the Tournament of Books. It's an odd novel based on a real-life case from the 1720s in which a woman seemed to give birth to a litter of rabbits.

In audio, I'm listening to Jackpot, which is a fun YA novel by an author I enjoy.

Next up for Canada Reads for me will be From the Ashes, which I hope to start over the weekend.

So since last week, I re-read The Blue Castle, prompted by last week's discussion thread. I also finished The Nightingale, The Toll, and Everything I Never Told You, which I didn't like until close to the very end, when I swung around to loving it.

For Canada Reads, I'm 4/5, although I'd like to reread Son of a Trickster as I don't remember it well. I'm hoping to get to We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir, but it will depend on if my library gets their order in quickly enough!

I'm also still following up on some things from the longest, so The Dishwasher is my current read.

Happy Friday!

I haven't read much the last few weeks, but caught up some this week. First book was The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. It was amazing! It is one of those books that goes back and forth from the past and present. The granddaughter of a Polish immigrant helps her grandmother with wartime questions while also dealing her marriage and family including a gifted child and one on the autism scale. It was handled so well and kept me up all night to finish.

The second book was Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club. I got this book last year, but had put off reading it. If it wasn't a Canada Reads book, I would have DNF'd it. I really did not enjoy it at all.

Yesterday I finished We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir. It was a quick, easy read. I liked it, Interesting topic that I knew nothing about.

Happy Friday!

I have been at a work conference for 3 days so had lots of time listening to audiobooks while taking the Go Train. I finished Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family and am finishing up Open Book, the new memoir by Jessica Simpson.
I am also finishing up The Things We Cannot Say for my in-person book club and enjoying it.
@Lisa, I DNS Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club, gave up about 10 pages in. Radicalized has just arrived so will be reading that next!
Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday to all.

Quiet reading week here. I read and loved Charlotte Wood's The Weekend and tried but failed to re-read Atwood's Bodily Harm. Definitely not her best work!

For our Indigenous Reads challenge, I read a children's book: a terrific retelling of Little Red Riding Hood that teaches children to trust their instincts. It's called The Girl and the Wolf and is by Katherena Vermette, who wrote The Break.

I'm about to start The Glass Woman. I've read the first few pages and it looks very atmospheric.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

@Lisa @May, I already DNF’d Small Game Hunting in the fall, but I’m going to give it one more try before Canada Reads.

Wishing everyone a good weekend.

I haven't been reading much this week.
I did finish one book, A Thread of Grace. I've always enjoyed the books that Mary Doria Russell writes but not this one. The story is well written and starts out good. The prologue is truly chilling. But after a good start, it didn't draw me in very much and I was disappointed in the ending.

I'm still listening to Written in My Own Heart's Blood, which is very good. I am just over the half way mark.

Happy Friday to all- I just finished Radicalized today. They were just ok for me, I would say that the topics were relevant to our world's social issues, I just did not love any of them, they could of each been shorter.

I am debating what to read next as I want to give Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Cluban honest try but the first part of the book has already been a struggle for me. I am not getting into it. I am also dragging through an audio copy of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk for my in person book club and the reader is ruining it for me. 4 more hours to go...ugh.

I need a good book to pick me back up and I think I will re-read Son of A Trickster, I recall that I did truly enjoy it the first time around, so hope it can be a turning point for me.

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "@Lisa @May, I already DNF’d Small Game Hunting in the fall, but I’m going to give it one more try before Canada Reads."

Here's my logic: if I hate a book so much 10 pages in, it is not worth my time. Reading is supposed to be pleasurable, right? If I have to struggle until the second half, based on most of the feedback I see, how can this book be a book that all Canadians should read? Kudos to you to re-try it :)

I'm with you, May. I have over 500 books on my TBR and at least 100 of them are sure to stimulate and delight and inform. Life is too short to struggle through books that don't captivate me in some way.

I need to get better at giving up on books early. I didn’t make it through even one chapter of Rachel Cusk’s Transit because I just knew it wasn’t for me, so I consider that a wise decision. But still, way too often, I push myself through award or buzz books that I shouldn’t.

I will admit that I’m intrigued by the comments about Small Game Hunting but it’s a good point that if the book requires trudging through a bunch of pages to get to some payoff it may not be the book all Canadians should read.

Hey all, this week I was out of town with hubby, so not too much reading, but I did finish Split Tooth which had some wonderful parts to it, and also some that I just could not relate to. It is a mixture of short stories and poetry, and she does write beautifully.
I also finished The Age of Hope which was my January book for reading a book that has been on my TBR for a long time. I was a great fun read , especially because it is set in and around Winnipeg where I live.

I am still waiting for the last two Canada Reads books to become available at the library.

I haven't checked in for a while as I have been busy traveling back and forth to visit my elderly parents, who live four hours away from me. My mom has been in the hospital, and my dad is now alone in a senior's lodge, and is very bored and lonely as his hearing and eyesight are not good and he struggles with social interactions.

I did manage to finish Reproduction, but didn't really enjoy it. I then read Truth Be Told: My Journey Through Life and the Law, which was an interesting read about a remarkable woman. I'm now reading Five Wives, which is quite good, but maybe is not what I need to be reading at a busy and stressful time. It had a waiting list and can't be renewed, so I have to finish.

I just finished reading THE YOUTH OF GOD by Hassan Ghedi Santur. I was caught up in the story of Nuur and couldn't put the book down. I thought the characters were multi-dimensional and gave the book 4.5 rounded up.
I finished the audio of AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins and started the audio HOME FOR UNWANTED GIRLS.
I read the mystery SOMEONE WE KNOW by Shari Lapena (Canadian author) 4 stars, and HARD OL' SPOT, a collection of short stories by Canadian authors. These short stories are dark, and not happy stories.
I read KELLY HOPPEN: HOW TO ACHIEVE THE HOME OF YOUR DREAMS by Kelly Hoppen about designing your home, including all the steps from start to finish, and LILLIAN BOXFISH TAKES A WALK by Kathleen Rooney 4 stars
For Canada Reads 2020 I have read 2/5 - Son of a Trickster and Radicalized. I have the other 3 on hold at the library.

Recently finished 1 more of the Canada Reads Final Five.

Finished From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle. Enjoyed it and was surprised by how easy it was to read despite the difficult subject matter and the fact that it’s Thistle’s first book. Am still waffling between 3 & 4 stars. Although Thistle is Metis, this book could be about anyone. It’s certainly an eye opener about poverty and childhood negligence and trauma and the devastation of drug and alchohol abuse and the insufficient supports to assist addicts in addressing this health issue. Not surprising that homelessness is on the up-rise in Canada.

Am going to do a reread of Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson. Only rated it 3 stars when I read it 3 years ago and want to make sure my headspace wasn’t the issue. I “might” get my hold on Radicalized in time for the debates if the library's order for additional copies comes in, although I'm not very hopeful. I also want to finish the second half of Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club. Will likely start again at the beginning of reading. Unfortunately will need to download an ebook if my laptop will handle it. Not a big fan of that format.

I recently read Commonwealth by Ann Patchett for an in-person book club. Had heard so many good things about her writing and ended up being slightly disappointed. Results seem so much better when I have zero expectations. There was lots of interesting discussion. I though the book good but had expecting great. (my issue) There were lots of interesting characters and shifts in time over 50 years. Very layered. Might improve by re-reading. Patchett definitely writes well.

Am currently reading How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir by Amber Dawn for a Bingo Square. Would fit into many bingo squares for me I4, G3, G5, O1 & O5 so I’ve got lots of flexibility.

I am in the camp that has difficulty not finishing a book. I've had a few books that not until I was 150 pages or 200 pages in that the book really grabbed be and it ended up an excellent read. Not sure my "must finish" policy is serving me well. Also I am in the "never skip or scan" group. I don't want to miss what important phrase or information the author provides. I read quickly and scan newspapers and articles.....I "think" it's just my way of showing the author respect for all the hard work I suspect goes into every book. Who knows??

Enjoy what reading is up next week!!

Hi all,

It has been a quiet reading week for me. i did finish The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last which was about the importance of diagnostic screening to find abnormal cells before they grow and spread rather than the sometimes futile task of the treatment of advanced cancers with trial medications. It was interesting to note that these treatments often only extends lives weeks to months despite the horrible side effects of the trials. The book was a lot of science but also shared some patient stories.

I too am working through the Canada Reads and am on 4/5 Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club. I have noted elsewhere that it is a challenging read. I did read the first 35 pages 3 times but am now engaged in the character's sad lives. After reading The Wake: The Deadly Legacy of a Newfoundland Tsunami, The Innocent and Our Homesick Songs in the past few months, I would love some suggestions for happier books set in Newfoundland!

so... interesting discussion about Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club and having struggled at the beginning would recommend persistence as the book will certainly stick with you! I just finished it and it really is a powerful read. Readers can picture the characters and at the end, like a train wreck, not be able to look away.

Thanks for sharing that last comment Susan. I was not looking forward to reading it, but now have hope that it will be doable. :)

Just like she says at the beginning: "this might hurt a little, be brave"

❀ Susan wrote: "I would love some suggestions for happier books set in Newfoundland!"

Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir

Louise wrote: "❀ Susan wrote: "I would love some suggestions for happier books set in Newfoundland!"

Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir"

I laughed a lot listening to that one.

@ Susan G - Can't comment on Son of a Critch: A Childish Newfoundland Memoir as I haven't read it. Fyi, I posted my recommendation of The Agony of Bun O'Keefe with some reasons why in the Canada Reads Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club thread which is where I first saw your post for a feel good story set in Newfoundland. Son of a Critch looks like a good choice for a happier Newfoundland book as well.

Finally managed to get my hands on Lampedusa by Steven Price here in the U.S. Looking forward to it.

@Derrik, I recently finished Lampedusa, hope you enjoy it as much as I did

@Wanda I urge you to read The Leopard if you haven't.

thanks for the happier NFLD book suggestions!! i will see if i can source them out!