I spent a ridiculous amount of time touching this cover (and wishing the hole in the centre was actually cut) Esi Edugyan's Half-Blood Blues Thomas Allen Publishers, 2011 In the opening pages of Esi Edugyan’s second novel, readers meet Heiro, Chip, Delilah and Sid, and are immersed in
You might remember that I've been sampling books from Indie presses that have been shortlisted for this year's ReLit Awards. Not just novels, but short stories, even poetry (which is adventurous for me). For a month of Sundays (at least), I'm Buried in ReLit Print. Last weekend's samples? (You can check them out
Oh, they're wonderful. Library and college booksales. NCL lovelies (Sinclair Ross' The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories; Robertson Davies' Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack; Ethel Wilson's Swamp Angel...an old addiction) John Wyndhams (Day of the Triffids* and The Chrysalids: why don't I already have these? Maybe because that BBC mini-series* in
I’d’ve thought it more your style to sneak in. I mean, it’s not like those leaves turn colour overnight: it happens on the sly, doesn’t it. But nobody could’ve missed your arrival today. Oh, sure, the sky was grey in the morning. There was even a skitter of
Zsuzsi Gartner’s Better Living through Plastic Explosives Penguin, 2011 I was stunned by All the Anxious Girls on Earth when it was published in 1999 (tell me: how has it happened that a dozen years have passed since then?). Partly because I read it all-in-a-rush. Partly because the stories are
