A very simple act of reconciliation is reading and discussing books by (and, to some extent, about) First Nations and Indigenous and Metis and Inuit peoples; for bookworms, this is an action within reach every day... but particularly today, on Orange-Shirt Day, or Truth & Reconciliation Day. An official
Partly because the humidity makes it hard to inhabit my own skin, this summer was a tough one for me. It felt like I started to read a dozen different collections of short stories—but never finished one. I’ve written about Carleigh Baker’s Last Woman (2024) and the Russian stories
Earlier in June, I was saying that I had read another seven books towards this challenge, and here they are. By Ojibwe/Cree, Dene/Métis, Swampy Cree-Beaver Clan of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Secwépemc, Haisla/Heiltsuk, Couchiching First Nation/Ojibwe] authors. Nope, I’m not deliberately selecting different nations; that’s happening by-the-by. For those
Over the weekend, I’ve been reading Ananda Devi, recipient of the 2024 Neustadt Prize (which some call the American Nobel). Three of her books have made their way to me via various Ontario libraries this month: Eve Our of Her Ruins from Don Mills Library in Toronto, Manger L’Autre
Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning (2016) is a doorstopper of a book that grew out of his desire to write an introductory chapter to a book about Black Studies programs in American (i.e. in the United States) universities and colleges. When his chapter was 90 pages long,
