In which there is talk of the slim stories which have travelled with me within the city, while bulkier volumes stayed home. Amitav Ghosh's Flood of Fire and Paul Auster's 4 3 2 1are awkward travelling companions. As are some of the skinnies in my current stack, like Iris Murdoch's
The thing with an explosion is that it comes out of nowhere. And that's exactly what happens in Alison Watt's debut novel. Even though I knew that the 1917 event was at the heart of this Halifax story, I was completely absorbed in Clare and Fred's ordinary workday at
Your airway is the width of your smallest finger: you can see how things can go wrong. "Airway first. Breathing next. Medicine is life caring for itself. To me, it's the greatest story." James Maskalyk's story is structured from "A is for Airway" through "XY is for a man"
"Everything about the restaurant business is made harder by being in it as a woman. And speaking out about that only makes it worse." And, yet, she is doing just that. Speaking out and putting herself out there, in I Hear She's a Real Bitch. Readers meet Jen Agg
A Chevy truck, a Thermos of coffee, date squares and bologna sandwiches: I Am a Truck begins with the basics. A fishing trip which, both Agathe and Réjean know, is not a fishing trip. Both are aware that he is lying, but it's a charade which Agathe is content
