The family stories in contemporary CanLit are not all that different from the stories and novels read by my grandmother’s generation. The women in my family did not read obsessively, no, but regularly, yes. What else was there to do in the evenings when your favourite show was in reruns
Maybe it was because I read this one immediately following Tales of Burning Love, so I was more completely immersed in Erdrich-ness than I have been, yet, in this reading project. Or, maybe its more prominent air of mysticism charmed me from the first whiff. Either way, I loved
Only ten this year, so far. Without my Alice Munro project to steer me, I am not reading as many short story collections now. Over the summer, I read Cherie Dimaline's A Gentle Habit (2015) as part of All Lit Up's summer bookclub. Dimaline is a member of the Georgian
Lynda Barry says a “happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad it’s there”. But there’s more to it, she says: “The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble in the story, your kingdom isn’t dead.”* Doubleday Canada, 2015 If one reads a
Jessamy is eight years old. When readers meet her, she is in a closet. She doesn't mind readers knowing, but she is hesitant to admit it to her mother, who has believed her to be outside. This is but the tip of the iceberg which comprises Jessamy's interior truth, and
