Showing posts with label can lit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label can lit. Show all posts

3 Aug 2023

We Can(ada) Read: Books That Capture The Essence of Canada

03 August 8 Comments

We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

Books That Capture The Essence of Canada

THE BREAK

Author: Katherena Vermette
Series: N/A
Publisher: Anansi Press
Publication Date: September 17, 2016

Portrayal of Canada
A powerful intergenerational family saga, The Break showcases Vermette’s abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature.

Through the various perspectives of the characters is a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg’s North End is exposed.

This was nominated for the CBC Canada Reads in 2017 and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2016.

THE BIRTH HOUSE

Author: Ami McKay
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: February 14, 2006

Portrayal of Canada
Spanning the 20th century Ami McKay takes a primitive and superstitious rural community in Nova Scotia and creates a rich tableau of characters to tell the story of childbirth from its most secretive early practices to modern maternity as we know it.

Hauntingly written and alive with historical detail, 'The Birth House' is an unforgettable, page-turning debut.

This won the Atlantic Independent Booksellers’ Choice Award (2007), Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book & Book Design (2007), OLA Evergreen Award (2007).

LATE NIGHTS ON AIR

Author: Elizabeth Hay
Series: N/A
Publisher: Emblem Editions
Publication Date: September 18, 2007

Portrayal of Canada
Harry Boyd, a hard-bitten refugee from failure in Toronto television, has returned to a small radio station in the Canadian North. There, in Yellowknife, in the summer of 1975, he falls in love with a voice on air, though the real woman, Dido Paris, is both a surprise and even more than he imagined.

One summer, on a canoe trip four of them make into the Arctic wilderness (following in the steps of the legendary Englishman John Hornby, who, along with his small party, starved to death in the barrens in 1927), they find the balance of love shifting, much as the balance of power in the North is being changed by the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, which threatens to displace Native people from their land.

This won the Scotiabank Giller Prize (2007) and Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book (2008).

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Author: Alice Munro
Series: N/A
Publisher: Vintage
Publication Date: January 1, 1977

Portrayal of Canada
Born into the back streets of a small Canadian town, Rose battled incessantly with her practical and shrewd stepmother, Flo, who cowed her with tales of her own past and warnings of the dangerous world outside. But Rose was ambitious - she won a scholarship and left for Toronto where she married Patrick. She was his Beggar Maid, 'meek and voluptuous, with her shy white feet', and he was her knight, content to sit and adore her.

This won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Governor General's Literary Award in 1978.

THE SUMMER OF BITTER AND SWEET

Author: Jen Ferguson
Series: N/A
Publisher: Heartdrum
Publication Date: May 10, 2022

Portrayal of Canada
Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She’ll be working in her family’s ice cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend—whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort—and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word.

In this complex and emotionally resonant novel, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person—and the sweetness that can still live alongside the bitterest truth.

This was an Audie Award Nominee for Young Adult (2023), Lambda Literary Award Nominee for LGBTQ+ Young Adult (2023), and Governor General's Literary Awards / Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général for Young People's Literature- Text (English-language) (2022).

What's the last book by a Canadian you read?

4 May 2023

We Can(ada) Read: LOOKING FOR JANE by Heather Marshall

04 May 2 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

LOOKING FOR JANE

Author: Heather Marshall
Series: N/A
Source: Audible
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: March 1, 2022

Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Representation: N/A

Summary:
A debut about three women whose lives are bound together by a long-lost letter, a mother’s love, and a secret network of women fighting for the right to choose—inspired by true stories.

2017: When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane.

1971: As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had.

1980: After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters
Content Warningabortion, suicide, suicide attempt, pregnancy, miscarriage, forced institutionalization, medical trauma, death, emotional abuse, infertility, grief, sexual violence, misogyny, religious bigotry, abandonment, cancer, police brutality, child trafficking.

Looking for Jane is a historical fiction novel based on the real Jane Collective, an underground network of courageous women, including some doctors and nurses, who provided safe abortions in the late 60s, 70s and early 80s.

The novel takes place mostly in Toronto Ontario (Canada), but partly in Ottawa Ontario and follows three women in different timelines, from about 1960 to 2017, whose lives become entwined. Be aware that there is mention of abortion and suicide but as the author says, the book is "about motherhood".

This is an absolutely amazing debut novel which I highly recommend no matter what your views are. The writing is fantastic and incidents have a ring of truth to them since the author did extensive research into maternity homes, abortion, and the effect on mostly young girls.

I really didn't expect to find a twist in this book but at about 90% I was totally astounded to find I had been under an incorrect assumption all along. It's not often a book brings me to tears but this one did, as did the author's notes.

What a great historical fiction novel that seamlessly intertwined three narratives and the fight for a choice in Canada. I highly recommend this!

Are you going to pick this up?

20 Apr 2023

We Can(ada) Read: THE SUMMER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jen Ferguson

20 April 7 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

THE SUMMER OF BITTER AND SWEET

Author: Jen Ferguson
Series: N/A
Source: ARC from Publisher
Publisher: HarperCollins US
Publication Date: August 3, 2022

Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Representation: Asexual, Bipolar, Cis Girl, Demisexual, Native/Indigenous

Summary:
In this complex and emotionally resonant novel, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person—and the sweetness that can still live alongside the bitterest truth.

Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She’ll be working in her family’s ice cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend—whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort—and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word.

But when she gets a letter from her biological father—a man she hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life—Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him, no matter how much he insists.

While King’s friendship makes Lou feel safer and warmer than she would have thought possible, when her family’s business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can’t ignore her father forever.
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.

Content Warningdirectly from the author: There are discussions about and references to a violent sexual assault; instances of intimate partner abuse; instances of racism and physical assault toward Indigenous and Black teens; discussions of drug use; under-aged alcohol use. Additional from my reading: acephobia, blood, bullying, gaslighting, medical content, mental illness, abortion, emotional abuse, and sexual violence..

I always try to read Canadian (hence, We Can(ada) Read) but this was a great look at the other side of Canadian culture that isn't always talked about. I appreciated the prairie setting and getting to explore that during the course of this book.

However, as someone bipolar and bisexual, I wasn't a huge fan of the representation of Florence being the bisexual slut during her manic period. I know that is the case for some people and that it is something to watch for, but it just felt like it was overdone and could cause more stigma and stereotypes than there already are.

On the positive side though, which seems really weird to say, I think a lot of people look at Canada and think that we're just so nice here, but there is a lot of racism, prejudice, and systemic barriers, especially for Indigenous people. I think this was a good exploration of what it means to be Indigenous in Canada, how that affects your mental health, and why people keep secrets.

Some of the writing didn't always mesh with me, especially with the amount of insinuating about the previous fallout. I thought there was a lot of lying in this that didn't quite make sense and I would have liked there to be a bit more nuance to the storytelling around the 2SMMIWG secondary plot.

I do recommend this but I think it could have used a bit more refining.

Are you going to pick this up?

13 Apr 2023

We Can(ada) Read: SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING by Kelley Armstrong

13 April 3 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: N/A
Source: ARC from publisher
Publisher: Tundra Book Group
Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Representation: one POV (not main) is someone exploring their lesbian identity, lesbian love interest for that POV (not main)

Summary:
Blythe and her friends—Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya—have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school and falling in and out of love with each other. But an act of violence has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker . . . and unexpected bursts of aggression and disturbing nightmares have started to become more frequent in their lives.

The strange happenings culminate in a shocking event at school: Gabrielle is found covered in blood in front of their deceased principal, with no memory of what happened.

Cracks in their friendship, as well as in their own memories, start appearing, threatening to expose long-forgotten secrets which could change the group’s lives forever. How can Blythe and her friends trust each other when they can’t even trust their own memories?
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.

Content Warningdeath, fire, depictions of death, suicide attempt, suicidal ideation, involuntary hospitalization, death of a loved one, police manipulation, anxiety attacks, religious persecution, mentions of pedophilia.

I went into this thinking it was going to be a murder mystery and we had to solve whodunnit but it was so much more than that! A combination of paranoia, determining what is real and not real, and learning the truth which was so interesting. It kept me guessing until the very end and I couldn't read fast enough.

I thought there were a lot of really good elements in here but I wasn't a huge fan of the few chapters from another POV that wasn't Blythe's. They didn't feel natural and ended up feeling more like filler so that we could "get the truth." However, we were figuring out the truth along the way and it kinda detracted from that for me.

Otherwise I thought it was well paced, well written, and had such amazing plot devices worked in that if I talked about, it would spoil the book for you. I just thought it was so well done and the characters were well developed. I liked mixing in the typical teenage angst with this large, looming plot because it felt so realistic.

I highly recommend!

Are you going to pick this up?

30 Mar 2023

We Can(ada) Read: HENCH by Natalie Zina Walschots

30 March 0 Comments

We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

HENCH

Author: Natalie Zina Walschots
Series: N/A
Source: Audiobook from Audible; eARC from publisher
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: September 22, 2020

Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Representation: LGBT side character

Summary:
Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?

 As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured.  And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.

So, of course, then she gets laid off.

With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.

Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing.  And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.

It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.

A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics. 
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.

Content WarningPost Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Medical experimentation, Chronic illness & pain, Body horror, including eyeball trauma, Murder, Torture, Kidnapping.

I wanted this to be SO much better than it ended up being. It was missing something - and it could have been that it had such long chapters instead of breaking up the action a bit more. I loved this take on superheroes and villains but it just didn't quite connect with me the way I wanted it to.

This also just felt like it was missing the point the whole time - was it a sarcastic take or an introspective one? Was it to showcase that there are morally grey in every person or that the "bad guys" just have a bad reputation? It took the idea of The Boys and Vicious together but created something that was almost unreadable for me.

Not sure I recommend this one!

Are you going to pick this up?

19 Jan 2023

We Can(ada) Read: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Maggie Knox

19 January 0 Comments

We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Author: Maggie Knox
Series: N/A
Source: Audiobook from Audible
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: October 4, 2022

Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Representation: N/A

Summary:
True love wasn't on their holiday wish list.

When Sadie and Max are selected as contestants on the famed reality singing show Starmaker, each thinks they've finally gotten their big Nashville break. But then they're paired up for duet week and stun the world with their romantic onstage chemistry. With fans going wild for #Saxie the network demands that they remain a duo on and offstage, or exit the competition. Faking a relationship until their final performance in the Starmaker holiday special shouldn't be too hard, except for one small problem--Sadie and Max can't stand each other.

But with their dreams just within reach, they agree to the ruse. Will their fake relationship be exposed before they can win? Or will an unexpected trip to Banff spark real feelings by the Christmas finale?
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD
Content Warning: death of a loved one, death of a grandparent, grief, stalking, alcohol consumption, sexual content, creepy men.

This could have been a four star read if the conflict and resolution had been a bit more interesting. But I thought there were a lot of easy "cop-out" moments in this that took away from the story because I was so focused on the plotholes. I also think it's a little strange that we missed an entire year of each of their lives - there was no moments in the in between to keep us intrigued in their relationship or the characters.

This didn't feel like a "holiday" romance novel, except that it took place around Christmas. I felt like this could have taken place at any moment in time and it would have been the same novel, so I'm not sure how I feel about it being a "Christmas romance novel."

But the premise was cute enough and there were some heavier topics discussed in this around grief and how the music industry treats women that I could give it some passes. I liked Sadie and Max both as individual characters and a couple. I thought that their best personality traits were perfect for the other person and I am glad that they got together at the end.

If you were a fan of Maggie Knox's other books, you'll probably enjoy this one too!

Are you going to pick this up?