Quick post about book club...

While my cat is contentedly watching the birdies and squirrelies at the patio door this morning, I thought I’d take a minute to write a quick post about last Saturday’s book club discussion. 

We read and discussed the YA novel The Winnowing by Canadian author Vikki Vansickle, a dystopian story set in Darby, New Mexico in 1989.  A fertility crisis happened after WWII, and with no babies being conceived anywhere in the few years after the end of the war, scientists were getting desperate.  Then a group of scientists known as the Barton Five created SuperGen, a hormone drug that was given to women wanting to get pregnant… and it worked!  But there’s something a bit unusual about these children:  when they reach adolescence, they start to have strange experiences, like vivid dreams which they refer to as “going ACES”, and they develop nearly super-human abilities, or “imps”, such as the ability to run quickly when you weren’t able to run at all before.  When this happens, these children are sent to the Barton Clinic to undergo a surgery called “winnowing”, which basically cuts these dreams and abilities from the individual’s brain, leaving them with no memory of the surgery but basically normal.  When our main character, twelve-year-old Marivic, experiences her first vivid dream, she asks her grandfather, Gumps, to bring her to Barton to join her friend Saren, who went there the night before, but he seems reluctant and has her dropped off there that night by a friend.  Marivic and Saren, along with a couple of other youths, begin to question this whole process, and what begins as a routine admission for assessment and surgery turns into the uncovering of a huge governmental conspiracy.  I’ve read this before on my own and with my student book club, but I forgot many of the details, so I was blown away once again by the excellence of this novel, especially considering Vansickle usually writes coming-of-age stories and romantic teen books.  Not all of my members loved the book, but they all finished it and we had a great discussion about so many topics.  One of the main things we discussed was how our response to things we don’t know about is often fear, when it should be curiosity, and how that’s so applicable today, especially in the US.  We compared this novel to others that we’ve read, but which I can’t tell you about for fear of giving away the big secret, and we discussed the characters of Marivic, Saren, Abbot, Ren, and others, and what roles they played in the novel.  It was a great book, and I would highly recommend this to anyone if you’re in the mood for an easy read that has a lasting impact on the way you see things. 

That’s all for today!  Enjoy this beautiful summer day! 

Bye for now…

Julie

Long overdue...

It’s official, my summer break has begun, which hopefully means more time for reading and blogging!  I didn’t really plan to write this morning, but I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity while my cat sits in front of the open patio door watching the birds and squirrels to tell you about two books I read recently. 

The first is the latest book by Lisa Jewell and a total departure from her usual domestic thrillers, Breaking the Dark, the first in the “Jessica Jones” series.  In case you, like me, have never heard of Jessica Jones, she’s a minor superhero in the Marvel comics.  In this novel, she’s been disgraced and is now living in New York as a private investigator, stumbling from one day to the next and one drunken night to the next.  When she’s contacted by a distraught mother who is convinced her twin teens, recently returned from a month in the English countryside with their father, have been replaced, Jessica nearly doesn’t take the case, but after looking at photos of the kids with their flawless skin and vacant eyes, she reluctantly accepts.  Jessica goes undercover and travels to the small village where their father lives, where she finds that all is not what it seems and she’s drawn into the dark, duplicitous world of an online influencer whose dirty little secret needs to be revealed before more people are killed in the name of perfection.  I don’t want to give anything away because, while this story is totally far-fetched, it’s actually not as unbelievable as it may at first seem, and the best part about the book is the slow reveal of each piece of the puzzle until it forms the whole picture.  It was not the kind of book I would normally read but it was so well-written that it had me gripped from the opening pages to the final paragraph. 

The next book I read was one I picked up from a Little Free Library in my neighbourhood, which had a really interesting cover. Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon tells the story of an artist in New York trying to make it in the early ‘90s.  Lu Rile is a photographer who is literally a starving artist, as she works part-time at a Whole Foods and is just managing to survive by stealing food from her workplace so she can not spend money for food in order to pay her rent.  She lives in an old abandoned factory with a bunch of other artists, and while these are not official apartments, the owner of the building continues to charge rent but refuses to offer even the most basic maintenance.  She needs a big break, and has been taking self-portraits every day for over a year.  At the start of the novel, she’s setting up for Self-Portrait #399 in her run-down apartment, a photo of her leaping in front of her window to simulate flying, but what she also catches in the faintest image of a boy falling from the roof, the young son of the artist couple who lives on the floor above her.  It’s a brilliant photo, the kind of photo that could launch her career as an artist and get her taken seriously in the artistic community, but how can she exploit her neighbours’ grief and tragedy?  This dilemma is made more difficult as she becomes close to Kate, the boy’s mother, while she navigates her grief.  To complicate things even further, the owner of the building wants to sell and is trying to force everyone out, but some of the artists have been there for decades and feel they have legitimate squatters’ rights to remain.  And Lu needs money to help her elderly father with his cataract surgery.  Lu’s moral struggles are mirrored by the deterioration of the building in which she lives, and I as the reader was pulled down into the depths of this ethical dilemma. And even as I knew what the outcome would be, I travelled the winding road to reach this final decision along with Lu.  And while I may not agree with her choices, when considering her situation and putting myself in her shoes, it was a sobering moment when I realized that I may have made the same choice, too.  I found this book to be extremely engaging, the type of book I would certainly have enjoyed reading when I was in my twenties and trying to make a go of things in Toronto, but I was still able to relate to Lu even decades after moving on from those years of struggle.  It was a coming-of-age story and a look at the effects of gentrification, and offered real insight into the struggles that artists face when trying to break into the market, to get recognition for their work and make a living doing what they love instead of working menial jobs to make ends meet.  I really enjoyed it and would never have discovered this little gem if not for the Free Little Library, one of many in my neighbourhood.  So if you’re passing one of these little libraries, it’s always a good idea to check the contents… you never know what might be inside! 

That’s all for today!  Have a wonderful rest of the week and remember to keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Short post on a Monday evening...

It’s after 8pm and I’m settling in for the evening, but I wanted to take advantage of this cat-free time (Riley is too busy watching the birdies and squirrellies from the open patio door to want to sit on my lap) to tell you very briefly about the amazing book I finished reading yesterday. 

My book club will meet on Saturday to discuss Women Talking by award-winning Canadian author Miriam Toews, and while I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of this author’s novels, I thought this one was stellar, so powerful, disturbing, insightful, and ultimately hopeful.  This novel centres on a group of women in a fictional Mennonite colony in Bolivia who have been systematically drugged and raped over the course of years.  The offending men have been moved to a city jail for their own protection but will be released on bail in just a couple of days, so the women meet in a farm hayloft to discuss their options for how to proceed.  They can neither read nor write, and they don't speak the language of the country they live in, but an archaic dialect of low German, and yet they must discuss their future and decide on a plan of action. They have three options:  Do Nothing, Stay and Fight, or Leave.  Their discussion, as recorded by one of their ex-communicated brothers, is presented in this novel, which the author states is “both a reaction through fiction to… true-life events, and an act of female imagination”.  This novel was inspired by real events which occurred in the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia from about 2005-2009.  The fact that these events took place at all, and continued to take place even after the offenders were jailed, is horrifying and deeply disturbing, but these are remote communities completely isolated from the rest of the country and basically left alone and ignored by the government, so things are obviously allowed to happen under the cover of secrecy.  This book brings to light these events, although this is a fictionalized version of the story of these very real, very tormented victims of an authoritarian patriarchal community.  As beautifully written as it was disturbing, this brilliant, sparse, yet deeply moving novel is a must-read for any serious readers of fine Canadian literature.  But be warned that the subject matter is serious and some scenes may be disturbing to some readers and evoke personal trauma.  I loved, loved, loved this book and am very happy to have added it to our book club list, or it may have gone unread by me forever.  This doesn’t do the book or the story justice, but I have to close now, as it’s nearing my bedtime. 

Take care and enjoy the warmer days ahead!

Bye for now... Julie

Short summaries of a few books on a bright sunny Sunday morning…

It’s been a while since I’ve written, and I have three books to talk about today, so I’m really only going to give short summaries and comments about each one, as I have lots still to do today and want to take advantage of the lovely sunny weather.  Unfortunately, I won't be doing justice to any of these amazing books, so you'll just have to read them for yourself!

The first book I want to mention is The Death of Us by Abigail Dean.  This novel tells the story of a survivor of a serial killer known as the South London Invader, and explores the lifelong impact this crime has had on her life and marriage, and on the lives of other survivors.  This book is told in a series of flashbacks and traces the history of the marriage of Isabelle and Edward from their initial meeting to their marriage, then their attack and the subsequent dissolution of their marriage. These flashbacks are also interspersed with present-day chapters as the serial killer is being sentenced, and victim impact statements are being read.  I loved this book because it explored the continued impact of the attack on a victim, a survivor and maybe someone we might view as one of the “lucky ones”, because unless we’ve been there ourselves, we can’t know how such an attack could traumatize us and change our lives.  It also focused on the evasion of capture of the attacker, someone who moved from rape and torture to murder, and how each new crime reopened the wounds that may have begun to heal for past victims, making it impossible for them to move on.  I also thought that the way the author portrayed Isabelle and Edward was perfect, having Isabelle’s chapters written in the first person and speaking directly to the rapist/murderer, while Edward’s chapters were written in the third person, thereby distancing him from the crime, or at least that’s what it seemed like to me.  I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy complex mysteries, but this is not a traditional courtroom drama or a police procedural. Rather, it is a hybrid that is also a psychological exploration of two individuals who are at once lovers, victims and strangers. 

The next book I want to mention is The Last Flight by Julie Clark, which is the book my Friends Book Club will be discussing tomorrow night.  I just finished reading it about 15 minutes ago and I really enjoyed it.  This book tells the story of Eva and Claire, two women who need to disappear for different reasons.  They meet at JFK seemingly at random and decide to swap plane tickets, neither woman knowing what they are walking into by taking on the other woman’s identity.  Told in alternating chapters, what unfolds is the history of one woman and the future of the other, leading to a satisfying ending that neatly ties up all loose ends, and that was, while not entirely surprising for this reader, at least complex enough to keep me interested until the very last paragraph.  I don't want to tell you too much, because part of the thrill of this book is the way the author carefully reveals the details of each woman's life and future. I think it would make a great movie, and I can’t wait to hear what my book club members think about it. 

And the last book I’ll mention is How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley, a book that my Volunteer Book Club discussed yesterday (so many book clubs, so little time!!).  I was unable to get a print copy in time so I listened to the audiobook and flew through it in just a few days.  This delightful novel tells the story of an unlikely group of seniors and a few young people, all with interesting, unique backstories, who come together to save their community centre from destruction in order to build luxury condos.  Daphne, Anna, Ruby, Art, Lydia, Ziggy and Lucky are just a few of the interesting characters we meet in this book that explores the invisibility of seniors in our society and suggests ways to exploit this to full advantage.  Since this book club is made up of seniors, we could all relate to it and everyone loved it.  We thought that, while it was over-the-top and unbelievable, it was so engaging and the characters so fun and likable that it was a great read.  This book came to my attention last summer when I was visiting an old friend.  On the last day of my trip, she took me to the Prairie Oak bookstore, a beautiful independent bookstore and restaurant in Winnipeg.  While we were browsing the shelves, she pointed out this book, with its bright, colourful, engaging cover, and I thought it would be perfect for my book group, which it was.  So thank you for bringing this book to my attention, Michelle!  It was one of the best books we’ve read this year. 

That’s all for today.  Get outside and enjoy the sunshine! 

Bye for now… Julie

While Riley’s sleeping somewhere else…

I thought I’d take advantage of this small window of opportunity while Riley is sleeping somewhere else to write a quick post.  I’ve been trying to read Silver Birch books one week then a book of my choice the next week, alternating as often as I can whenever possible.  Last week I flew through the newest book by Canadian lawyer-author Robert Rotenberg, a spy thriller called One Minute More.  Set in 1988, just days before the G7 Summit meeting in Toronto, the Metro Toronto Police Chief gets a tip that there will be an assassination attempt on the world leaders, so he sends Detective Ari Green to check out the cross-border Fourth of July parade in a sleepy Quebec-Vermont area.  What he thinks is a long shot turns out to be 100% accurate, but with nothing much to go on, Green searches for a clue to two sudden deaths that look like natural causes but are very likely linked to this tip.  What follows is a wild ride told from various characters’ perspectives and count down to the very minute of the G7 leaders’ appearance on the balcony of University of Toronto’s prestigious Hart House.  It was truly unputdownable, and an interesting way for Roterberg to give a whole detailed backstory to one of the main characters in his series.  I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it if you want something fast-paced, a story that will pull you along and keep you up late reading well past your bedtime - make sure you have ample reading time each time you pick it up! 

That’s all for now.  Take care and Happy (post) Easter!

Bye for now... Julie

It's been a while...

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written, but it’s due to a combination of things:  work has been rather chaotic with some unpleasant issues I’ve been caught up in dealing with, leaving me feeling drained, as well as being that time again when I start reading Silver Birch nominee contenders, which I can’t tell you about.  I also blame Riley, as he wants to sit on my lap any time I’m in my reading chair, impeding my ability to type.  Now it’s nearly 8pm and I’m finally sitting down (without Riley!) after a long and busy day, so this will be brief, although I have two books to mention. 

The first is my book club selection for today’s meeting, The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo.  This Reese Witherspoon Book Club recommendation clocked in at 859 pages in my large-print library copy, which is daunting even when there’s nothing else going on.  However, I persevered and got through it and found that, once I reached the end, it was actually all worth it.  This books tells the multi-generational story of Marilyn and David Sorenson, a couple who met and married young and had daughter after daughter after daughter and did their best to raise them all and keep their marriage going and keep their sanity.  They seem to have the perfect, idyllic relationship and family, but no family is perfect and this one is no exception, containing a fairly complex level of dysfunction for just about all members.  David and Marilyn have reached the stage when finally, after their last, late daughter has moved out, they are officially empty-nesters… which lasts about five minutes because an unexpected guest is thrust upon them, a heretofore unknown member of the family who turns up (mostly) unexpectedly and shakes up the already fragile relationships between parents and children, sister and sister, husband and wife, and mother and father.  I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll stop the summary here.  I will say that all of the members of the book club thought this was far too long, that we didn’t need so much back-story for every character, including each of the four daughters as well as Marilyn and David, and the unexpected visitor.  It was also confusing, as it flipped back and forth in time, not only for one story line but for all of them!  My book club members didn’t love this book, but it generated such great conversation that, by the end of our time, we agreed that it may have been “the most fun we ever had”. 

I also finished a super-quick, super-creepy read this morning, We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin, a combination cult/apocalyptic/horror/conspiracy thriller centred around a family who may be the target of conspiracy theorists convinced that they are not just members of a Satanic cult but that the grandfather, former 70s-rock-band member Nathan Russo, may be the leader of said cult.  This book opens with Meg and Justin driving their daughter Lily to university when a tan Mazda carrying several skinheads distracts Meg by peering out their windows, ogling them and trying to film them.  Meg loses control of the vehicle and Justin dies as a result of the accident.  A few months later, Meg returns to work at the Secret Garden, her bookstore that was a gift from her parents when she and Justin agreed to take it over decades earlier, after Nathan stopped playing and became something of a recluse. But her first day back is anything but peaceful.  She finds creepy comments under her Facebook posts, then a strange customer behaves bizarrely in the children’s section, muttering threats and curses under her breath while seemingly searching for or trying to confirm something.  Meg doesn’t really think much about it until strange things begin happening to Lily as well, and she begins to come around to her father’s way of thinking that they are always being watched.  When a major incident occurs at the Secret Garden, she can’t deny the possibility that her father may have been right all these years, and she begins to also understand how difficult it is to carry on living your life when you don’t know who to trust.  This was an unputdownable bit of something different, as I don’t read many conspiracy theory/doomsday/apocalypse books.  Come to think of it, a few titles come to mind that I’ve read and enjoyed, like The Leftovers by Tom Perotta and  The Rapture by Liz Jensen.  This one reminded me of The Rapture meets Rosemary’s Baby.  Anyway, it’s not one I would necessarily recommend to everyone, but it was exactly what I needed.  Now I’ve got to read some more Silver Birch contenders, so I may not write for a while. 

That’s all for tonight.  Happy Spring!

Bye for now...Julie

Quick post on a sunny, springlike Thursday morning...

It’s a rare moment when my cat is not sitting on me, but this won’t last so I thought I’d write a quick post about the excellent book I read last week who;e I still have free movement of both my arms! 

I read Susan Rieger’s novel Like Mother, Like Mother, a book I first noticed when I was wandering around an Indigo store during the Christmas break.  I got it from the library and picked it up from my pile, unsure of whether I would like it or not, but it sucked me in and kept me hooked until the very last, very satisfying page.  It tells the story of three generations of Pereira women, beginning with Lila, the youngest of three children growing up in Detroit in the 1960s in the care of an abusive father and a mother who has been committed to a mental institution.  Lila grows up to become a strong, independent female reporter, then executive editor of the newspaper for which she works.  To outsiders, she appears to be a success story, but she knows she’s always been lacking in the motherhood department.  As a mother of three daughters, she never worried about her two oldest, Stella and Ava, born so close together that they were practically twins, and nicknamed “the Starbirds”.  But her youngest daughter Grace, born so much later than the others, has always been a concern for Lila.  She left the parenting responsibilities to her husband Joe, who filled the role beautifully, but it wasn’t the same as having a mother who would attend PTA meetings and graduations and eat dinner with the family regularly.  When Grace eventually publishes a bestselling novel loosely based on her experiences growing up with a distant mother, she realizes how little she actually knows about her, and she goes on a quest to find out the truth that lies below the stories she and Lila have been told.  This book was fantastic!  I don’t want to give anything away, since part of the fun was digging into and peeling back the complex layers of family relationships and experiences slowly, one layer at a time, until the characters, and you the reader, finally reach the core.  Oh, here comes my cat, so I better end now, but I’ll close by saying, “Read this book!” 

Bye for now… Julie