CURRENT READING LIST

01

The Glass Hotel     by Emily St. John Mandel

In this fictional book, the characters are connected through their association with the remote Glass Hotel. While the plot is good, it's not a hard-hitting, exciting rush--the novel is more about a feeling of a time and places (or times and places) and it really achieves that sense of being in the spaces it describes.

Read it: Yes!

​

02

From the Ashes     by Jesse Thistle

A powerful memoir about long way around--the hard path as Jesse describes his experience growing up as an Indigenous kid separating from his heritage (and his mother), as the child of an addict father, and of being an addict himself. It's a hard book to take. You know he's going to get well, but still seem to hold your breath as he goes through various life-threatening events. It is a very valuable read.

Read it: Yes!

​

03

Primates of Park Avenue     by Wednesday Martin

This memoir of being a mother in the Upper East Side of Manhattan is fascinating because Martin uses her deep knowledge of anthropology to interpret the life she finds herself in. It gave me some perspectives on myself, as I (being a single mother and a non-conforming writer who does not aspire to the standard white-picket life) struggle to fit in with the families within my neighbourhood. The perspective also complements books such as The Nanny Diaries which I also enjoyed.

Read it: Yes.

​

​

04

The Queen's Gambit     by Walter Tevis

Of course I binge-watched the Netflix series before coming across this book offered for free on Audible. I enjoyed the series, though I found the writing to be a bit obvious toward the final episodes. The book is good, though sometimes I felt that I wanted to get on with it. I think I would have breezed through the descriptions of the games if I had been reading it. As an audiobook, the descriptions were comfortable and almost rhythmic, and by the end predictable in these rhythms--but I didn't mind that. What bothered me about this book was the inaccurate and gratuitous descriptions of women's bodies or actions. There is an assault that has no impact on the plot or the characters; this is a problem because the assault therefore becomes about titillating the reader--I don't want to be titillated by gratuitous sexual violence. And at another point, a girl's growing breasts are described as "solid cones." This description had no impact on the plot and threw me out of the story. It made me wonder if Tevis had ever seen a woman's breasts. Ignoring these gross imperfections, the rest of the story is fine.

Read it: Maybe.

​

05

Anxious People     by Fredrik Backman

On pause. I have been listening to the audiobook (which is my primary way of consuming fiction these days). I am not sure I will continue with this book. Yes, it has made me laugh out loud a couple times as I walk down the street and I appreciate what it is doing with the multiple characters, but the style is getting old and a bit repetitive. I just want to get on with the actual story now and I am already hours in. If I was reading this, I would be skipping pages by now. Will there be an exciting twist? Perhaps. But I am so bored of the style I can't be bothered to get there.

Read it: Maybe.

​

06

Little By Little     by Jean Little

I read this memoir, by writer Jean Little, countless times in my youth, but recently reread it after finding it in a "little-library" while walking. If you are a writer of youth fiction or like reading the genre, I highly recommend anything she has written. Jean Little's books are typically written in the style appropriate for a ten year old, yet they are always beautiful and poignant; she writes about disability, loss and resilience in an almost understated way that is beautiful and calm. Little By Little describes her early life from first memories until early adulthood, growing up with severe sight limitations and being excluded by children as a result. The driving theme is her passion for books and desire to be a writer at a young ages. Writers, young people who do not fit in socially, or anyone really, will enjoy this quick read.

Read it: Absolutely!

​

07

The Diviners     by Margaret Laurence

I have read this book countless times in my life and each time it changes or I catch more meaning from it. I first read The Diviners, along with the rest of Laurence's Manawaka Series, in high school. The Diviners follows the life and memories of Morag Gunn, so when I do reread it, I connect with a different part of her life. I had to buy a new copy of the novel because it had broken in two along the spine to the point where it was too awkward to hold. The story is beautiful and poignant, but also the imagery is stunning. It's highly captivating and powerful. The story is a bit older but remains relevant.

Read it: Oh yes!

​

08

In Five Years     by Rebecca Serle

A friend passed along this book with some warning that it had an emotional end, but she wasn't sure about the rest of the book. She was a little vague about how she felt because she didn't want to give anything away. Now that we have both read it, we have had a vociferous discussion about its occasional merits, but general problems. My friend was particularly mad about being led on a journey then being forced into a specific emotional reaction at the end. It was like reading two separate books. The last quarter would have made a good novel if it had been expanded upon, but you have to wade through inconsistent images, inconsistent characters, clunky, forced language, brand names, and irrelevant literary ruses. Among the many promises the novel fails to deliver, the protagonist seems like she will "live her life by numbers," but then doesn't follow her own rule--this ruse is introduced then quickly dropped. The entire thing felt like a second draft of a pantser (a person who writes by the seat of their pants, rather than carefully plots) novel. There is a book in there, but you get a small taste of it toward the end rather than a meal.

The best thing about this book is that I felt better about the quality and depth of my own writing.

Read it: No. There are better things out there.

​

09

Wenjack     by Joseph Boyden

A deceptively simple book, this was a short but powerful read. It builds the story through a poetic narrative of the imagined journey and death of real-life Chanie Wenjack who was twelve-years-old when he ran away from the residential school where he had been forcibly taken. A beautiful read by itself, the novella is more powerful when considered as part of the greater conversation about Chanie Wenjack and the impact of residential schools on Indigenous people within Canada. I was fairly familiar with the background before reading this book, which made it easy to fall into and almost dwell in the language and story. I recommend it to anyone, but understanding the background will help, so I am including a video link with this review with the author talking about the book and background. I also recommend Gord Downie's Secret Path.

Read it: Yes. It's good and important.

​

10

The Best Kind of People     by Zoe Whittall

I picked up this book and started reading it then stopped and gave it away. Then I saw it in a little library and picked it up again. It starts off decently enough, then there is 300 pages of atmosphere and feelings before anything happens again. Once something else happens, the writing is a little heavy-handed. I think it wanted to explore the variations of relationships (sexual predator or consensual or power related?) between adults and older children. Or maybe it was just trying to take a scandalizing topic and make it a story as if the topic would make it compelling alone--it doesn't.

Read it: No. It's boring.

​

11

The Edible Woman     by Margaret Atwood

Atwood is probably my favourite author. I don't like her all her books, but several of hers are in my top favourites. I have reread The Edible Woman a couple times in the past, but it has been a while. I read it because I found it recently in a little library (as I did The Handmaid's Tale...I don't know where my own copy disappeared to) and I reference it briefly in my current WIP, so I figured I should reread it just to make sure it was the right book. It isn't my favourite of Atwood's, but I really like it. Written in the sixties, the themes are slightly time-dated and yet the experience of being a woman, being erased/being a tool of the patriarchy remains. It's a good read in general and classic Atwood style.

Read it: Yes.

​

12

Fifth Business    by Robertson Davies

Another re-read. Late high school through early university, I went through a big Robertson Davies spree. I read a lot of his work. I find his life fascinating, since I seem to have accidentally followed him around Ontario and England, living in the same towns/cities as he did. For those who know Davies' work, being in the space is very relevant since he has a tendency to create fictional worlds that are pretty much like the real ones. I first read Fifth Business for my OAC (grade 13) English class in Chatham Ontario, not far from Blenheim Ontario where Davies' spent his early years and which is the basis for his fictional town of Deptford. I still love this book. The writing is both straightforward and complex. It is easy to enjoy on so many levels, so while it is still very accessible, every time I reread it I find a new depth.

Read it: Absolutely.

​

13

The Great Gatsby     by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I reread this book every few years and with the recent summer heatwave, it is time to pick up this summer read. I was trying to understand my attraction to this book, but I can't understand my own feelings toward it. I do not aspire to the wealthy lifestyle of Gatsby and think Nick is a of a knob, though he seems to epitomize my feelings toward the characters--mixed, confused, fascinated. Perhaps it is the tight, prose writing-style that pulls me in. I really feel like I am there despite the sparse descriptions. In any case, it is worth reading at least once if you haven't before. It is a classic and it doesn't take long to read.

Read it: Obviously yes.

​

14

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

by Caroline Criado Perez

Non-fiction about the failure of our society to even gather data about women let alone implement the findings, this book is a must read for anyone interested in data and data justice. Women reading it will understand it implicitly and men should read it to help realize how automatic their bias is. Data bias has had an obvious impact in my life and it is really awesome to have the research confirm my experience. 

Read it: Yes!

​

15

Mrs D is Going Without     by Lotta Dann

A memoir about a "housewife's" journey into sobriety. Pretty good, I think anyone could enjoy this book. As I reconsider my own relationship to alcohol, I am finding it very useful and interesting.

Read it: Yes if the subject interests you.

​

16

This Naked Mind     by Annie Grace

In the same vein as Mrs D is Going Without, Grace's book is not a memoir but a prescriptive book on controlling alcohol from her perspective and experience. I find there is a lot of padding in this book and the content is a bit superficial for my taste (the evidence is rehashed from other works which Grace has read), but at the same time, I wouldn't dismiss the usefulness of the lessons or the book's helpfulness for someone like me who would like to have a healthier relationship (perhaps no relationship) with alcohol.

Read it: Maybe. It might be useful.