American Gods – Neil Gaiman (the author’s preferred text). This is a fascinating book about America, an imaginative fantasy with old gods and new gods and their conflict. How can you not love a book with a central character named Shadow? Gaiman’s writing reminded me of Stephen King’s The Stand (this is meant to be a compliment). Gaiman readily acknowledges that reaction to this book has been mixed: some readers love the book and some hate it! Mark me down in the “loved the book” camp.
Category: Location / Setting
A Good Death – Gil Courtemanche
A Good Death – Gil Courtemanche (perhaps best known for A Sunday At The Pool In Kigali). This is a very well-written story of a dysfunctional large family in Montreal. The patriarch has always been a mean—spirited nasty individual who now has had a stroke with the onset of Parkinson’s. Some members of his family speculate that everyone would be better off if he died. The question of how his death might be facilitated becomes an important theme. His eldest son states that “you can only kill individuals that you love or hate. In this case, the son has never loved his irascible father but can’t hate him because of his illness. This dilemma is resolved in an interesting ending.
The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
A tough war story about soldiers in Viet Nam. A chapter about the author’s reaction to being drafted is brilliant. A central theme is keeping the dead “alive” with dreams and stories. Powerful storytelling (this book came from a “50 books that everyone must read” list).
Frog Music – Emma Donoghue
This is a very different book from Room. Frog music is set in 1896 San Francisco, a time of small pox and rampant racism towards Chinese immigrants. There are two compelling women characters: Blanche is a dancer/prostitute and Jenny is a cross-dressing free spirit. Essentially, the book is a murder mystery and is very entertaining.
Remarkable Creatures – Tracy Chevalier
This is the story of two women in the early 1800s in Lyme Regis England. They are both fossil hunters and remarkable finders, but this is in the era before extinction is proposed, and the issues of taking women seriously is paramount. A very good read. (thanks Thea).
The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)
This is the second book about Cormoran Strike, a hard-boiled private investigator in the Mickey Spillane mode. This book is set in the vicious world of publishing. Excellent plot with ongoing development of the relationship between Cormoran and his trusty secretary, Robin. The story takes place in London, and you can feel the cold of an English winter.
Holding Still For As Long As Possible by Zoe Whittall
Another book from the CBC list; also Whittall was at a Walrus Talks panel discussion at Blue Metropolis. This is a relationship book about 20-somethings that is not preoccupied by drugs. Notably, there is a central trans-gender character, and this characteristic is treated without emphasis, just as it should be.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6606825-holding-still-for-as-long-as-possible?from_search=true
Certainty by Madeleine Thien
This is a great book, really two love stories spanning two generations set in North Borneo (WWII, now Malaysia), Vancouver and The Netherlands. It is a compelling story of secrets and sorrows of the past, and grief and loss (a phrase: “ routine .. to keep their thoughts contained”). This may be the only time I have recommended two books by the same author in a single month.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/474662.Certainty?from_search=true
The Great Man – Kate Christensen
On one level, this is a great book about art in NY. But at its core, this is about relationships – the three women who were intimately involved in the life of a painter who has just died: his sister, wife and long-time lover. The story revolves around the different viewpoints of these three strong women, mostly from when they are old (70s-80s).
What David Read 