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December 2020 Reading Round-Up
Of the 42 books I read in December, my favourites include: short story collections; novels for adults and for children; science nonfiction in audio format; history and memoir in comics format; and picture books. The Bass Rock by Evie WyldTwo main storylines plus two minor ones entwine in a c...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Of the 42 books I read in December, my favourites include: short story collections; novels for adults and for children; science nonfiction in audio format; history and memoir in comics format; and picture books. The Bass Rock by Evie WyldTwo main storylines plus two minor ones entwine in a c...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Best Books of 2020
My favourite book of 2020 is one that I read as part of the Shadow Giller project: Noopiming by Leanne Betamosake Simpson. A link to my review is here. I tend to place myself within characters when I read, and I guess that in this time of stay-at-home-to-control-the-spread-of-Covid, I could reall...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
My favourite book of 2020 is one that I read as part of the Shadow Giller project: Noopiming by Leanne Betamosake Simpson. A link to my review is here. I tend to place myself within characters when I read, and I guess that in this time of stay-at-home-to-control-the-spread-of-Covid, I could reall...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
November 2020 Reading Round-Up
November has been a fantastic reading month! Here are some highlights:Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana HeadleyAudiobook [4 hr] read by JD Jackson and the author“Holy hell, Beowulf, how‘d it go out there?” He “battled like a brawler” with monsters, that‘s how. This hero is “hashtag: ble...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
November has been a fantastic reading month! Here are some highlights:Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana HeadleyAudiobook [4 hr] read by JD Jackson and the author“Holy hell, Beowulf, how‘d it go out there?” He “battled like a brawler” with monsters, that‘s how. This hero is “hashtag: ble...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Shadow Giller Jury Selects a Winner for 2020
No discussion was necessary because our Shadow Giller jury was unanimous in our choice of a winner this year:How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham ThammavongsaMy thoughts: These quiet stories, told with compassion and humour, feature Laotian refugees and immigrants. They are bus drivers, beau...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
No discussion was necessary because our Shadow Giller jury was unanimous in our choice of a winner this year:How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham ThammavongsaMy thoughts: These quiet stories, told with compassion and humour, feature Laotian refugees and immigrants. They are bus drivers, beau...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
October 2020 Reading Round-Up
While healing from broken toes on both feet (too much exuberance; don't ask me more) and repetitive strain in both arms (too much blogging of reviews as a Giller shadow juror), I've had plenty of time to read in October. I've been fussy, too, abandoning a couple of books that weren't holding my i...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
While healing from broken toes on both feet (too much exuberance; don't ask me more) and repetitive strain in both arms (too much blogging of reviews as a Giller shadow juror), I've had plenty of time to read in October. I've been fussy, too, abandoning a couple of books that weren't holding my i...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Always Brave, Sometimes Kind by Katie Bickell
Always Brave, Sometimes Kind by Katie BickellBrindle and Glass, September 2020A jigsaw puzzle of a novel that appeals to my social justice warrior self.Set in various parts of Alberta, we follow about 40 recurring characters as their lives intersect over the decades between 1994 and 2016. Painted...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Always Brave, Sometimes Kind by Katie BickellBrindle and Glass, September 2020A jigsaw puzzle of a novel that appeals to my social justice warrior self.Set in various parts of Alberta, we follow about 40 recurring characters as their lives intersect over the decades between 1994 and 2016. Painted...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Tim Hortons References: The Cup Overflows!
Enjoy a little book tour via a collection of Tim Hortons references. I took this photo exactly one year ago, while in Toronto for Thanksgiving.(Can you spot the Tim Hortons?) Our food stores can't be beat. It's true that the Bay closed down with its reall...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Enjoy a little book tour via a collection of Tim Hortons references. I took this photo exactly one year ago, while in Toronto for Thanksgiving.(Can you spot the Tim Hortons?) Our food stores can't be beat. It's true that the Bay closed down with its reall...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Giller Shortlist Prediction 2020
I hope these six titles will be on the official Giller prize shortlist:The official shortlist announcement will be tomorrow, October 5, 2020; watch it streamed live online at 8 a.m. MDT. -----------This post is part of a series. I'm on the Shadow Giller jury this year, so I've bee...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
I hope these six titles will be on the official Giller prize shortlist:The official shortlist announcement will be tomorrow, October 5, 2020; watch it streamed live online at 8 a.m. MDT. -----------This post is part of a series. I'm on the Shadow Giller jury this year, so I've bee...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
September 2020 Reading Round-Up
I've encountered a bumper crop of great reads in September! Here are brief reviews and passages from of some of my favourite audiobooks, novels, comics, memoirs and other nonfiction.My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn ShaplandA thoughtful memoir by lesbian archivist Jenn Shapland, who do...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
I've encountered a bumper crop of great reads in September! Here are brief reviews and passages from of some of my favourite audiobooks, novels, comics, memoirs and other nonfiction.My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn ShaplandA thoughtful memoir by lesbian archivist Jenn Shapland, who do...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Consent by Annabel Lyon
Consent by Annabel LyonRandom House Canada, September 2020Two pairs of sisters, two stories that intersect.In one storyline, there are identical twins Saskia and Jenny, who are nothing alike in personality. Jenny is a sociopath from childhood onward. "That's boring...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Consent by Annabel LyonRandom House Canada, September 2020Two pairs of sisters, two stories that intersect.In one storyline, there are identical twins Saskia and Jenny, who are nothing alike in personality. Jenny is a sociopath from childhood onward. "That's boring...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
The Shadow Knows... A Discussion about the Giller Longlist
My friend Shawn Mooney is originally from Saskatchewan and has been living in Tokyo for eleven years. He chatted with me about the Scotiabank Giller longlist recently, then posted our discussion on his Shawn the Book Maniac booktube channel:Link: https://youtu.be/N3QiNt3Uq-M-----------This p...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
My friend Shawn Mooney is originally from Saskatchewan and has been living in Tokyo for eleven years. He chatted with me about the Scotiabank Giller longlist recently, then posted our discussion on his Shawn the Book Maniac booktube channel:Link: https://youtu.be/N3QiNt3Uq-M-----------This p...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Clyde Fans by Seth
Clyde Fans by SethDrawn and Quarterly, May 2019An ambitious, insightful "picture novel" about the inner lives of two brothers who own a family business.Let's get format out of the way first. 2020 is the first year that graphic novels are eligible for the Scotiabank Giller prize, and the jurors ha...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Clyde Fans by SethDrawn and Quarterly, May 2019An ambitious, insightful "picture novel" about the inner lives of two brothers who own a family business.Let's get format out of the way first. 2020 is the first year that graphic novels are eligible for the Scotiabank Giller prize, and the jurors ha...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Here the Dark by David Bergen
Here the Dark: A Novella and Stories by David BergenBiblioasis, March 2020 If this collection of stories hadn't been on the Giller longlist, I would have abandoned it unfinished. I would therefore have missed the best part, the novella at the end, which is the title story. I remain mystified...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
Here the Dark: A Novella and Stories by David BergenBiblioasis, March 2020 If this collection of stories hadn't been on the Giller longlist, I would have abandoned it unfinished. I would therefore have missed the best part, the novella at the end, which is the title story. I remain mystified...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
All I Ask by Eva Crocker
All I Ask by Eva CrockerHouse of Anansi, August 2020A sexy, realistic portrayal of the complicated lives of contemporary women in their twenties.The first-person narrator is Stacey, a shy and awkward aspiring actor. She has part-time jobs that barely pay enough to get by in her shared accommodati...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
All I Ask by Eva CrockerHouse of Anansi, August 2020A sexy, realistic portrayal of the complicated lives of contemporary women in their twenties.The first-person narrator is Stacey, a shy and awkward aspiring actor. She has part-time jobs that barely pay enough to get by in her shared accommodati...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
The Baudelaire Fractal by Lisa Robertson
The Baudelaire Fractal by Lisa RobertsonCoach House Books, January 2020A feminist, philosophical novel about gender and creativity.Poet Lisa Robertson's first novel is a tour-de-force that's hard to describe. It's semi-autobiographical and reads like a memoir, looking back on the travels of her s...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
The Baudelaire Fractal by Lisa RobertsonCoach House Books, January 2020A feminist, philosophical novel about gender and creativity.Poet Lisa Robertson's first novel is a tour-de-force that's hard to describe. It's semi-autobiographical and reads like a memoir, looking back on the travels of her s...
Published at Lindy Reads and Reviews
