Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion Knopf, 1987 I first read this as a teenager. I’d already been reading a lot of adult literature, even if I was still regularly re-reading childhood favourites like the Anne books and still discovering some classics like K.M. Peyton’s Flambards stories and
Robert Kroetsch’s What the Crow Said General, 1978. Some students are introduced to Robert Kroetsch in university; his novel Badlands was on my introductory English course, but apparently the professor opted for another work. So I discovered What the Crow Said thanks to a list compiled by Aritha van Herk.
I didn’t fall in love with a book during this Canada Reads. Last year I fell in love with Nikolski (and, hey, it even won), and I’ve fallen for others throughout my long relationship with Canada Reads. It’s hard not to hope for that. But of course the odds are
If I was coming into these debates not having read these books, I think I’d be readily swayed by Lorne Cardinal’s defense of Carol Shields’ novel, Unless. (With Sara Quin weighing in on the other end of the table.) I’m not just saying that because Unless is one of my
Launching with an hour-long show is great. A half-hour launch leaves a scrambled sense of the panelists, and their passion for their chosen works is nothing but a blur before it’s time to relegate one of those to the sidelines. Did the montages for each book make the best use
