CanadianContent discussion

Greetings readers! my sincere apologies for a late post. My days (and evenings) have been a bit hectic lately.

I hope that everyone is safe and well.

What have you finished? What are you reading and what is next?

happy Mother's Day to those that celebrate!

Take care to all!

Hi everyone, how are each of you doing? I am checking in as these are tough times all across our group and our nations. I started reading Ivan Coyote's Rebent Sinner, I love their writing so much. I cannot stop... I also have started Elinor Florence's Bird's Eye View for my local book club read (so happy to have this author connection Elinor!). I am still taking in small bits of Halfbreed by Maria Campbell. A tough, but necessary book to read. I wish all the Mothers in the group a special day on Sunday! take care all.

Happy Weekend!
I'll be thinking of my Mom this Sunday. She's gone now, so I can't spend the day with her, but I do have her memories. It will be a good day.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms.

Wanda, Halfbreed sounds very interesting. Thanks! I'll look for a copy.

I finished all the books I mentioned last week as being "really close": Ilsa, The Cancer Code and Dombey and Son. I enjoyed them all, although Ilsa slowed a bit at the end.

I'm now reading Murder in a Cold Climate, which is proving interesting in how Life in the North is being described. It's truly a different way of staying alive.
In audio, I'm listening to Louise Penny's All the Devils are Here and enjoying a visit with Inspector Gamache again.

Good morning,

It’s been a busy week for me with too little time to read. I am still listening to Fingersmith, but hoping to finish in the coming days. I’m currently reading The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, which I’ve heard compared to Daisy Jones & The Six, but so far it isn’t nearly as engaging. I really hope it hooks me soon.

Have a nice weekend!

A busy week has meant little reading for me. I finished The Happiest Man on Earth which was an tale of the adversity of Eddie Jaku and how he survived the Holocaust and went on to be the self-proclaimed happiest man on earth. He is now a centenarian and within the last year moved to assisted care because he wife needed more help.

I am in the middle of The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War and while I am not so interested in the logistics of the airforce in WW2, I have learned things that I did not know and in Malcolm Gladwell style, it does make a reader ponder!

My local library ordered The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World for me so I have started that and I am still plugging along with Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art but questioning a lot of the "science".

@Wanda - so nice that you are reading Elinor's book for book club. I took a while reading Halfbreed as well as I needed to digest it in small amounts.

@Petra - Murder in a Cold Climate sounds interesting!

@AllisonHikes - are you getting more listening time in now that you have a new job? I have not listened to any books now that I work from home!

@Susan, I am no longer working from home so, yes, I have more time for audiobooks driving to and fro. I was able to quickly get through The Dutch House this week as a refresher for book club, and I loved it just as much the second time around!

Hi Everyone!

Haven't posted for a bit, but I have read some excellent books!

For our local book club (zoom) we read Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. I really enjoyed the different slant of this book. It was more brief on the details of their time in residential school and more focused on the different ways they coped after. It really brought out more empathy for the survivors. The lady leading our zoom had mentioned she had a surprise for us. And she did! Michelle Good joined us on the zoom! It was wonderful to have her perspective and answer our questions. This was a five star read for me. Michelle mentioned she is currently working on a new book, so I look forward to that. And awesome news that this book is a finalist for the 2020 GG Literary Award. Next up for this book club is Galore which I know many of you enjoyed.

Next up was Know My Name by Chanel Miller. I highly recommend it. It is amazing how a victim of sexual assault has to relive the assault over and over and their lives turned upside down not only as a result of the assault, but the way the justice system works.

I then listened to Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq. I was not aware of throat singing before and when I first started listening, I was thrown off by the sounds between chapters. I didn't really understand what I was hearing. Once I knew, I had more appreciation for it. This book really blurs the lines between mystic experience and reality. It was bit hard to follow. I originally gave it three stars, but the more the story stuck with me and I thought about it, I upgraded to four stars.

After such deep topics, I needed something lighter this week. I read The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. Excellent mystery as expected.

Lots of updates for my Bingo challenge!!

Happy weekend!

@Wanda, I'm glad you're enjoying Rebent Sinner. I have that waiting for me at the library and I'm looking forward to it.

This week I finished Malarky, which was a difficult read at times but I enjoyed it. The writing style is a bit challenging and I was confused at certain moments but overall it was a good read.

Other than that, I continue to struggle with my fiction reading. I read the short novel At Night All Blood is Black, which is shortlisted for the International Booker. It was about the madness of war, and although it was well done I didn't enjoy it. I also started and abandoned The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories, shortlisted for the same award. I finished The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, which was just okay.

I'm currently reading Skippy Dies, a campus novel that I've had on my shelves for years. People love this book and it is a chunky novel that I hoped would sweep me up, but so far it is fairly slow going.

My current nonfiction read is The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir, which is really compelling so far.

Happy weekend!

Wow, some serious reading is going on here!!
I finished I Found You and Relax, Dammit!: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety in audiobook.
Almost finished Girl in Translation and half way through iistening to My Year Abroad.

Lisa wrote: "Hi Everyone!

Haven't posted for a bit, but I have read some excellent books!

For our local book club (zoom) we read Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. I really..."

I enjoyed the Flavia series, but since the writing wasn't always consistent, I switched to the audio books starting at the fifth. I miss them now that the series has ended, but given the fact that Alan Bradley turns 83 this year (not sure if he's had his birthday or not, but he's born the same year as my mother) and that Flavia is growing up, I can see it was time--there is no way to keep up the precocious pre-teen stuff once she hits her teens :)

@Lisa - that is so awesome. what a great surprise and always so nice to gain additional insight from authors.

I'm a week late with my monthly update as life happened. I haven't had a lot of time to read, but I've managed to finish several books.
From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way - a difficult read as the subject matter was pretty disturbing.
Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants - I really enjoyed this book about Chinese immigrants and the restaurants they run in small towns all over Canada. I grew up eating this "fake" Chinese food, and often wondered how these family's came to be where they were.
Lost Roses - prequel to Lilac Girls, which I also enjoyed very much.
Swallows and Amazons - an old children's adventure book that my mom enjoyed in her childhood.
The Huntress - one of my best reads of 2021 so far.
The Secret River - a very good Australian novel about the displacement of the aboriginal people by settlers.

I'm currently reading The Testaments for my book club. I'm not always a fan of Margaret Atwood, but so far this one is pretty good.

Wanda wrote: "Hi everyone, how are each of you doing? I am checking in as these are tough times all across our group and our nations. I started reading Ivan Coyote's Rebent Sinner, I love their writing so much. ..."

Thank you so much, Wanda! I look forward to Zooming with your club next month!

I've been reading so much lately across several genres. I finished Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice for my own book club (would make a great movie); plus The Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson (very good, but with hideous descriptions of the rape and torture of slaves); plus September by Rosamund Pilcher (a charming old favourite about a family in Scotland); and The Lost Man by Jane Harper (her fourth mystery and the best one yet.) I'm about to begin Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp for my Retro Reads group on Goodreads. And I'm reading the fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire aloud to my seven-year-old granddaughter. I'm also soaking up as much sunshine as possible now that spring is finally here!

I am currently listening to Barney's Version which I can acknowledge is very well written. However I am finding the story itself very unengaging, and find my mind wandering quite a bit.

I treated myself and bought a copy of Moon of the Crusted Snow yesterday so I cannot wait to dig into that one.

@Heather (Gibby), I would highly recommend both reading and listening to the audio book of Moon of the Crusted Snow. The Indigenous reader on the audio version makes it an enhanced experience.

Wanda wrote: "@Heather (Gibby), I would highly recommend both reading and listening to the audio book of Moon of the Crusted Snow. The Indigenous reader on the audio version makes it an enhanced experience."

Our Zoom book club discussed it yesterday and we all agreed it was excellent and provided lots of discussion points!

@Elinor, it would make a good book club discussion! I have shared with others, it is a book that I couldn't put down.

@Elinor and @Wanda ~ Moon of the Crusted Snow was a book that I enjoyed so much that I gave it to my husband to read. We had a great discussion about it. I agree that it would be a great book for a book club.