In My World

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY to 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 by Lucy E.M. Black, published by Now or Never Publications. (@lucyemblack) Told in Black's signature luminous prose, The Brickworks tells the story of Alistair and Brodie, two ambitious Scottish immigrants to North America at the turn of the century. This is an unforgettable story of hardship and triumph from one of the most fiercely gifted writers of historical fiction in Canada. "Wonderfully researched and lovingly told, Black again pulls the curtain back on lesser explored moments in history weaving a compassionate tapestry of determination, innovation, and love that fits well into the tradition of beloved national storytellers Michael Ondaatje and Genevieve Graham."—Rachel McMillan, author of, The London Restoration and The Mozart Code 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 is now available wherever books are sold. Congratulations , Lucy! 🧱 📖 @river_street_writes #brickworks #canlit #fiction #historicfiction #canadianbooks ...

  You can get your copy of 18 anywhere books are sold! 📕 @river_street_writes @noraannruth @academicstudiespress #translation #shortstories #fiction #shortfiction #jewishstories #jewishliterature #yiddish #hebrew #spanish #literature #jewishlife #jewishculture #bookstagram #bookish #bookcover 

Happy Publication Day to Newfoundland writer and performer 𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐲 (@meghan_greeley) whose novel,  𝑱𝒂𝒘𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆 , is released today with Saskatchewan’s award-winning 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 (@radiantpress)!  𝑱𝒂𝒘𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆 is a  passionate story about queer love and loneliness told by a young, closeted queer woman whose jaw is literally wired shut.  With only one minute to speak on a submission video to win a one-way trip to Mars—a location she views as the ultimate escape—the woman barricades herself in a cottage by the sea and prepares to try to record. Here, she he examines her fixation on the colour red, shame, guilt, a dramatic breakup with her boyfriend, and the breakdown of her relationship with her best friend.    “Meghan Greeley’s 𝑱𝒂𝒘𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆   is the most tender love letter you’ll ever read. It’s about queer desire, friendship, being hurt, being open, wising up. Greeley belongs in the line up with A...

Happy Publication Day to BC author and artist 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 (@colleen_v_brown) whose memoir, 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, is released today with Saskatchewan’s award-winning 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 (@radiantpress)! 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 is a stunning and shattering memoir of Brown's mother's life, which had been brutally distorted by the spectacle of her murder by a serial killer. It’s a book that, through Colleen’s struggle to piece together her mother’s life, calls out the dehumanizing effects of our society’s true crime obsession, as well as the difficulties of making sense of someone's humanity through the lens of the criminal justice system. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤: While in the middle of a divorce and in the process of reinventing herself, Doris Brown died suddenly in 1974. Two years later, a serial killer confes...

I slowly read through Angel Witness by Gail McNaughton  for a couple of months to fully enjoy it and just wanted to say a few words.  This is not a book you will read through quickly.  This is a book that you can enjoy and savour.  Artist and author Gail McNaughton has compiled a wonderful collection of photos, art, poetry and prose into an inspirational book which has been a pleasure to read. I am honoured to have one of my Alma College fire photos featured in Angel Witness .  I have to say that my favourite poem is "Come Out of the Box". If you love art and poetry and angels, you are going to love this book.  

I had such a great time reading this book. It is a series of stories about some of the funniest, oddest and most interesting events. I was not familiar with any of the stories which I found very surprising considering the amount of reading I do.    Terry Boyle's writing is just ripe with description and you can frequently sense that his tongue is in his cheek as he tells some of the most ridiculous true stories from Ontario's history. I loved the story about the bridge built across Rice Lake. The lake freezes every winter and all that nasty ice made the bridge so fragile that when British royalty came to visit alternate means of transportation had to be found rather than risk the royal visitor's life. When the train reached the other side of the lake, the Prince of Wales hopped back on. We had the opposite problem here in St. Thomas. We had a temporary bridge that was put in at Dalewood Dam many, many years ago and just refused to break so we could get a permanen...

When I saw this book at the library I just had to pick it up. Seriously, who can resist this amazing title? When the owner of Woefield Farm passes on, the farm is left to his niece, a truly naive and urban young lady who is determined to make the farm pay for itself using environmentally and organically sound farming principles.  She can't accept that the farm has never been successful and the only things that grow are rocks.  She is assisted in her vision by the old farm hand that comes with the place, a young girl who raises chickens and a boy who has avoided town since an embarrassing incident involving the drama teacher. I laughed out loud so many times as I read.  The characters are wonderful misfits who come together whether they want to or not.  Each chapter is told by a different character which seems rather tricky, but it really works. . . . and the things they do to that poor sheep . . .

I did enjoy this book. It was fairly well written . . . by a Canadian author. I get it that the main theme of the book was the enslavement of all the women, no matter what their position -- the wife, the house slaves, the little indentured servant and the field slaves. Some of it was a little weird and melodramatic. I did come to love some of the characters, especially Mama Mae, Belle and Lavinia.  I think it was an interesting device to have the story told in two different voices and I appreciated the author's ability to show the same events through two very different sets of eyes.  I believe that is my favourite part of this novel. So I don't give it a 10 . . . but it is definitely an interesting read.

This is going to be a very short review.  I picked up The Refugee:  Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada by Benjamin Drew  at Chapters a while ago.  I love history books, especially when there is a local connection.  I tried to read this book but, instead of sweeping me into the past with tales of hardship and salvation won, it was a repetitive and very obviously edited litany of slavery is bad and Canada is good.  On this concept, I think we are all in agreement.  This book was an editorial of why Canada is good and the United States is bad.  Perhaps the book would have improved if I had continued reading but I just couldn't force myself to carry on.  That's all I have to say.

  I read this book and loved it.  It was so totally ridiculously out of control and funny.  I think it would make a great movie or situation comedy. Sylvia Mulholland's Woman's Work will likely strike a chord with any woman who has juggled family, career, and home ownership and wondered in the process whether a course in time management might be not only helpful but essential. Mulholland, a Toronto lawyer and frequent contributor on women's topics to The Globe & Mail's Facts & Arguments page, knows of what she speaks. The novel is in many respects unapologetically autobiographical. Claire, the novel's protagonist, is a lawyer too. Her husband, like Mulholland's, is a plastic surgeon who used to play semi-pro hockey in Sweden. Fortunately, in this particular novel, the personal experience is put to good use. The plot is rather simple. Claire is thirty-nine and married to Ben, who is seven years younger. After giving birth to her son Harry, she returns to ...

Room is a novel by Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother. I think Donoghue put a lot of though and effort into creating Jack's "voice." And just as the cover says, the book is absolutely riveting. Room won or was nominated for many literary awards and was also made into a movie. 

Surfacing was Margaret Atwood's second novel and was published in 1972.  I actually have a 1972 copy of the novel.  The pages are browned and getting brittle.  Hard for someone my age to understand that 1972 was a long time ago because it doesn't feel that way to me.  But it was a long time ago. I read Surfacing by Margaret Atwood a while back but I still remember it well.  Yes, I know, you either love or hate Atwood.  I prefer to judge on individual books and this one was exciting and stressful and very real to me.   The main character, who remains nameless, is summoned to her home town in northern Quebec to find her missing father.  She travels with her lover and another couple.  Atwood dealt with issues of mental health, the environment and nationalism through her characters. I think this is an excellent read.  Not an easy read.  But worth it.