A surprisingly pleasant read about the intersecting story lines of occupants in a high-rise apartment. And one of the story lines involves Ian, a goldfish! Somer is a Calgary author, a new find.
Wild Rose by Sharon Butala
Butala
writes wonderfully about the beauty of Saskatchewan, especially her descriptions of the grasslands flowing in the wind (e.g. Perfection of the Morning). This book describes the adventures of a French-Canadian newly-wed couple as they travel west from Quebec to homestead in Saskatchewan in the early 1880s. Butala’s description of the isolation and hardship of homesteading is beautifully written and compelling; the bitter cold of winter is especially evocative. The core of the book is a story of resilience for a headstrong young woman, Sophie. This is a great read. (As an aside, Butala has recently relocated to Calgary).
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25842762-wild-rose
Birdie by Tracey Lindberg
This is a really excellent FIRST novel that was undersold in the recent Canada Reads competition. At its heart, this is a book about sisterhood among disparate characters. It is a gritty story with graphic instances of abuse that understandably produces attachment disorder. The story is non-linear with reality and dissociative dream-like states; Bernice wills herself to disappear at one point. This is an excellent book that everyone should read.
The Illegal by Lawrence Hill
This is a no-brainer since The Illegal has just won the annual Canada Reads competition; happily, I am going to listen to Hill talk about literature at the Banff Centre on April 8. The Illegal is so topical, as it deals with illegal immigrants without documentation. Keita is a runner who literally is running for his life in much of the book. The book is set in a fictional location is the near future and the story telling is compelling with an illegal refugee trying to survive in a world of violence and corruption. The other characters in this novel are vivid and interesting and complex. This is masterful writing; as an aside, Hill is the only 2-time winner of Canada Reads (he won in 2009 for Book of Negroes).
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
Most of you know that I rarely read non-fiction, but this book was a very rewarding excursion into the world of non-fiction literature. MacDonald has written a really excellent book with three interacting themes: (i) the human emotion of grief precipitated by the the death of her father, with a detailed description of her emotional paralysis; (ii) an intense human-bird relationship because she decides to train a goshawk as a coping mechanism; and (iii) an examination of the author TH White who had a tortured life and wrote a book about training a goshawk in the 1930s. (TH White wrote the exceptional novel called The Once And Future King, a book that I rank in the top-ten books that I have read in my entire life). MacDonald’s book is wonderfully introspective about both the psychology of humans and birds, and the physiology of birds in relation to flight. A section of the book about the shared responsibility of hunting and killing is truly remarkable. This is a great read.
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
When this book was published about two years ago under somewhat mysterious circumstances, the reviews seemed mediocre to me. In fact, this is a really excellent book set about 20 years after the events described in To Kill A Mockingbird. This book is mostly about Jean Louise (Scout), now 26 years old, living in NY and visiting Macomb to see her elderly father Atticus. There is a heartbreakingly sad story at age 11, and a brilliantly funny episode from her high school grad. But the core of this book is about Scout’s relationship with Atticus, her saintly and principled father in the context of race relations. A wonderful read.
A Week In December by Sebastian Faulks
Faulks is a wonderful writer (Birdsong, On Green Dolphin Street) and his latest book is a worthwhile addition. The premise is simple: a diverse group of people are selected to attend a London party, so the book details the back stories. What is fascinating is the diversity: a Polish footballer playing for a new London team; a pot-head son of someone who is receiving an OBE and who needs a crash course in contemporary literature; a greedy hedge-fund manager (so lots about shady banking), and the list goes on – there is a related story of a woman Underground driver, a literate lawyer, and importantly a radicalized British-Muslim young man so a home-grown terrorist attack is planned. There is a wonderful rant about the decline of teaching in schools and so much more. Such rich story-telling – highly recommended.
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
This is one of Irving’s best books, with some familiar themes: a circus lion (Fourth Hand), a transgender character (In One Person) in an inventive story. This book details the life of Juan Diego in Mexico, Iowa and finally in a trip to the Philippines. Much of the back story is related as fractured dreams (which have an interesting and manipulatable cause). And there are magical/mystical elements involving mind reading by several characters, and some religious aspects, especially the competition between Virgin Mary and Our Lady of Guadalupe statues. This is a very entertaining and provocative read, and is highly recommended.
The Mountains Can Wait by Sarah Leipciger
There are two fine elements in this book. First, it is a BC book: Prince George, tree planting, Vancouver Island. The description of the physical environment is excellent. And second, this is a guy book, with a well-described look at male relationships, especially a father-son relationship with communication issues at its core. Overall, a very good read.
What David Read 