In which I chat about reading Dr. Brinkley's Tower in a single day. (You can't build a tower that quickly, but you can read about it.) Admittedly, I shuffled this volume amongst my stack of current reads for weeks before I started reading. (There is always a book in there that
Tonight's the night. The 2011 Giller Prize. On Sunday, I finished my last of the sixteen longlisted books. The links to my responses are below, with musings on: G for Giller-bility I for Inner workings L for Language L for Locale E for Engagement and R for Readers wanted. Spoiler-free
Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table McClelland & Stewart, 2011 You can learn a lot from reading novels. For instance, in reading this one, you could learn the following: How to spell Egypt (Ever Grasping Your Precious Tits); The way to a first-class breakfast on a cruise even if you're not
Guy Vanderhaeghe's A Good Man McClelland & Stewart, 2011 Sebastian Barry has said that a good historical novel is about "retrieving the present moment".* That is true of Guy Vanderhaeghe's A Good Man. From the beautiful but austere cover art of the frontier, to the detailed descriptions of fort and
Marina Endicott's The Little Shadows Random House - Doubleday, 2011 Last Sunday, Marina Endicott appeared with Nicole Lundrigan, Riel Nason and Miriam Toews at a round table, moderated by the (talented) Susan G. Cole, at the 32nd annual International Festival of Authors. Sometimes in a round table session, one author
