What Canadian Literature are You Reading in 2020?

Please add what you are reading in 2020!

Thanks for starting this. I always love to see what Canadian literature others are reading.

I'd have to figure out what the Canadian books in my collection are! I know I've got a couple older Scotiabank and CanadaReads award nominees and winners in my hidden shelf. It will be luck if I pull those out. Nostalgia and Fifteen Dogs are in there.

Yesterday I got a head start on Solomon Gursky Was Here, by Mordecai Richler. It will be my bus book for the foreseeable future, because my copy is a huge hardcover edition belonging to my parents.

>4 rabbitprincess: I did a fair chunk of reading on the bus when I was at uni. I think my next Canadian book is likely to be that Robertson Davies book I skipped last year, The Manticore.

Finished a great book yesterday-a memoir, which is not my typical reading fare. So interesting and positive and uplifting (no pun intended) even for a non-space junkie such as me. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

>6 ted74ca: positive and uplifting! Col Hadfield is the best, a real role model. I loved his memoir!

I loved his children's book. The Darkest Dark

I'm reading Little Fish by Casey Plett.

>8 mdoris: That's the book that got my older nephew into his current space craze. I actually bought it for his younger brother who had some issues with the dark, but his older brother picked it up and suddenly being an astronaut was everything. His little brother then followed him into it. Big brother saved up money for a Lego Saturn V, Little bro has a playmobile space shuttle, and they both have seen Apollo 13 movie a couple and can demonstrate on said Lego rocket what went wrong. Wow, these kids!

I picked up another book to read but decided I didn't wanna, so now it's Abalone Summer. A book I bought at a book fair back in elementary school and have been toting around for over 20 years now. About time I got to it. I forgot that it took place in the west coast and actually refers to Haida Gwai, before the place was regular called it.

Reading through Abalone Summer here and there and it's interesting to read, but less for the story and more for the age it shows. It still uses terms like Queen Charlotte Islands rather than Haida Gwaii, and references Canadian Airlines which has been gone for some years. Also of note is the fact that he brings a Swiss army knife through security and the security guy tells him to "keep it in his pocket" and put in in his luggage next time. No one has a cel phone either. It's all kids hanging out and the closest relevant parent yells information out at them. "Jim! Your mom called! You need to go home for dinner!"

I remember those days. :)

I'm enjoying The Ivory Swing by Janette Turner Hospital.

I'm reading Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig after hearing about it on CBC Radio.

I'm reading a play, Indian Arm by Hiro Kanagawa.

I'm re-reading Women Talking by Miriam Toews for a book club.

I've had Station Eleven recommended to be, so I think I'll see if I can pick that up along the way. Still glaring at Abalone Summer though.

I just finished listening to Aria by Nazanine Hozar who was born in Iran but now lives in BC. The story is about a girl born in Tehran who was abandoned by her mother just after birth but rescued by an army truck driver who was passing by late at night. He named the girl Aria and he treated her like his own child. Unfortunately his wife was violent and abusive to Aria when the husband had to be away from the house for his duties in the army. Eventually Aria is again rescued and goes to live with a well-off woman who lost her own child in infancy. From then on Aria blossoms and has a real family and friends but life in Tehran changes when the Shah is ousted and the Muslim clerics take over the government of Iran. I thought this was a really interesting book and quite well-written for a first novel. Hope Hozar has more books in her.

I'm about to start Judith by Aritha van Herk.

I consider Emma Donoghue a Canadian writer so even though her latest book Akin takes place mostly in France I thought I would write about it here. It was a real pleasure to read but then I've enjoyed everything by Donoghue that I have read. This one stands out because the two main characters are male. I checked the other books written by Donoghue that I have read and this is the only one that features male characters. And they are two very different characters. Noah is a seventy-nine year old former chemistry professor and Michael is an eleven year old boy from a rough New York neighbourhood. The two are going to spend a week together in Nice, France even though they have never met each other. Read the book if you want to know why.

Amazing read: The Innocents by Michael Crummey

>23 ted74ca: Oh good, I have it on reserve at the library and hoping it will come in soon.

I have The Innocents on the TBR shelves; I'm waiting to see if my book club will read it before I start it.

I'm reading This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone for a book club.

Enjoying Canadian fiction this week for sure-just finished The Antagonist by Lynn Coady and really liked it.

>23 ted74ca: and >26 ted74ca: I've read both those books and I agree they were excellent.

I just finished reading Vinyl Cafe Unplugged by the late and lamented Stuart McLean. Really great stories. It won the Leacock Award for Humour in 2001 and I can see why.

>27 gypsysmom: I, too, miss Stuart McLean so very much. Sunday noontimes/early afternoons on CBC radio just aren't the same for me now. I've been gifted 2 of his books but haven't had the heart to start them yet, nor to listen to my collection of CDs...

>27 gypsysmom: I miss him too. It was sad not to have a Christmas show to go to but nice to have the Christmas stories on CD. Sniff...

when I read Stuart McLean's books, I can still here his voice...the distinctive way he paused at key points....

Every Christmas I think of the Vinyl Cafe story "Dave on the Roof", particularly the line "Dave....don't lick the clothesline." My favourite story of his :)

>28 ted74ca:
>29 Yells:
>30 LynnB:
>31 rabbitprincess:
I go back to the days when Stuart McLean made regular appearances on Peter Gzowski's Morningside program. The episode when he brought a cricket into the studio still cracks me up when I remember it because both McLean and Gzowski giggle uncontrollably. You can listen to the episode here: https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/a-sleeping-cricket-with-stuart-mclean

Whatever you might feel about CBC you have to admit that they have given us wonderful listening moments.

>32 gypsysmom: How fun was that! Just had a great belly laugh for the day. With thanks......

CBC Radio is one of my favourite things in the world! I could do without the TV station, though.

>34 LynnB: I've been listening to CBC radio for decades now-only radio station I listen to. Programming quality is still good, but far too many repeat broadcasts, in my opinion.

>32 gypsysmom:. Morningside was my first real exposure to CBC radio, when I was a mother at home with young children. I love the cricket episode, too. Both Peter and Stuart are Canadian icons, both gone far too soon.

On Saturdays, it is almost impossible to get me to leave the house...The House, Day 6, Because News, Under the Influence, Quirks and Quarks, the Debaters.....I'm in heaven every Saturday morning.

>37 LynnB: I was never a big CBC fan growing up but I discovered podcasts a few years ago and I am now a huge fan to Under the Influence (your teeth look whiter than new, new, new!!), Writers & Company and a few others. I've become a CBC/NPR junkie these days.

Speaking of Vinyl Cafe, I have a question for all you fans. Years ago at one of his Christmas shows, he read a story about Morley and a dead raccoon in a Holt Renfrew bag. Has anyone seen this story written down in any of his collections? I have most of his books and CDs but I can't find this story anywhere. I bought the two new CD collections that came out this Christmas (or at least I think they are new) but it wasn't there either. I'd love to hear that story again!

>39 Yells: Wikipedia has a list of all the collected stories here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dave_and_Morley_stories

I don't see anything about racoons but it might be under something else. Take a look.

>40 gypsysmom: Thanks! I never thought to look there :) I'll have to troll through what I have and compare it to the list.

I just finished Son of a Trickster in prep for Canada Reads. I liked it but wasn't wowed. I am curious to see how it gets defended.

Yells and gypsymom, post your thoughts on the Canada Reads thread.

I'll be getting to the Canada Reads books soon...they are neatly lined up on the shelf waiting.

I'm about to start Claire's Head by Catherine Bush

I’m quite enjoying listening to Miriam Toews Women Talking

>47 raidergirl3: I will never forget that book. It was amazing.

>48 mdoris: I’m adding it to my own list of Feminist Fiction along with Carol Shields’ Unless and Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale.

>49 raidergirl3: Just finished Power Shift The Longest Revolution Sally Armstrong's CBC Massey lecture. There's lots of ammunition for concerns in this one!

>50 mdoris: I'll definitely keep an eye out for that one, Mary. I loved Armstrong's The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor, a fictionalized account of her great (?) grandmother living on the Mirimichi.

Now reading Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada, by Anna Brownell Jameson.

I'm reading Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson for Canada Reads.

>47 raidergirl3: I've had that on my mp3 player queue for some time now but haven't quite been in the mood for it. I'm glad to know you enjoyed it. That should move it up the ranks for me.

Just finished Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny. I was sad to read on Penny's Facebook page that her long time editor, Hope Dellon, died recently.

>54 gypsysmom: I did like it, though I thought the end kind of fizzled out. But it could be I wasn't listening as well as I could have at the end. Although I love audiobooks, sometimes my listening skills aren't the best, and I get distracted, missing important information, lol.

>56 raidergirl3: I am the same way and I quite often find myself reversing through whole chapters because something doesn't make sense. I do try to listen to the ending of an audiobook when I am alert and not trying to do something else. I started Women Talking two nights ago but haven't really listened to much yet.

I really like this debut novel An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim. It's very timely, set in a US/America ravaged by a flu pandemic.

I'm about to complete my Canada Reads reading with Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles.

I'm reading Sweeter Life by Tim Wynveen.

Found a new-to-me Canadian mystery series-just finished Fire In the Stars by Barbara Fradkin

Finally getting to Reproduction by Ian Williams

I'm reading Vi by Kim Thuy.

I'm reading Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.

I'm mildly annoyed at myself. I won a copy of We Contain Multitudes from Early Reviewers but I passed due to icky circumstances (was too late to cancel) and I've decided I want to read it now but can't find a darn copy! Doesn't help that the libraries and my favourite book stores are closed right now. Doh.

WeeTurtle, you can get it from abebooks.com. Abe is a network of thousands of independent book stores around the world.

>66 LynnB: Thanks! I was going to try and order from a new place to get some of the books I can't find locally, but I forgot the names of the places I heard here.

I am reading in german "Die Würdigung des Bisons" by Judith Silverthorne (Author), Mike Keepness (Illustrator), Ray Lavallee (Narrator); it is very interesting. It is a legend of amerindiens Plain Cree.

I am reading Rue Deschambault by Gabrielle Roy in french!

>69 LynnB: Très bien! :)

I'm re-reading Accusation by Catherine Bush

I have the posthumously published The Merry Heart, a collection of Robertson Davies' essays and speeches about reading and writing, on my coffee table to chip away at gradually.

I just finished listening to Days by Moonlight by Andre Alexis. It's a quite bizarre road trip book set in Southern Ontario. I'm still processing how I felt about it so I haven't done my review yet. Anyone else?

I'm re-reading And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier.

I'm re-reading Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner.

>75 LynnB: I enjoyed Nikolski when I read it years ago, and then I read this book review, and theory of the book, of it on a blog and it made me like it even more.

http://www.vestige.org/2010/02/23/7_-_nikolski_by_nicolas_dickne/

thanx! I'll check it out after my re-read. Which these days, doesn't take long.

I am reading Red River Girl by Joanna Jolly. It is a most insightful.

>76 raidergirl3:: thanx, raidergirl3. I enjoyed both the re-read and that article. And, Nikolski DID win Canada Reads that year.

I'm reading Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

I'm reading Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline.

Just finished reading When Days Are Long: Nurse in the North, by Amy Wilson.

Next up in CanLit: The Stone Angel, by Margaret Laurence.

I'm reading A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

Decided to finally read my old copy of Margaret Atwood's Survival about Canadian Literature. It's the middle edition, so still written in the 70s but an updated forward. We're a depressed lot.

Margaret Atwood once said in great world literature, the hero makes it. In great Canadian literature, the hero makes it back.

>84 WeeTurtle: Added that to my to-read list! I really liked her Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature.

Well I just finished Reproduction by Ian Williams which won the 2019 Scotiabank Giller prize although I am at a loss as to why it did when there were far better books (IMHO) on the short list.

Because my life is all about piling up the re-reads, I've started a re-read of Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen. I last read it in 2015, so not *that* long ago, but I watched the 1995 movie recently and thought I'd like to read the book again.

Edit: Shoot! Sense and Sensibility is NOT Canadian Literature. I thought I was on the main "what are you reading" thread!

Next up in CanLit for me will likely be a re-read of Microserfs, by Douglas Coupland.

I finished two Canadian books recently:
The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton, a forensic accountant mystery; it was good but I won’t rush to read the next in the series
The Innocents by Michael Crummey which was very good. It was shortlisted for the Giller and maybe should have won >87 gypsysmom:
A brother and sister are orphaned and try to eke out a life in an isolated outport of Newfoundland. Good story-telling, historical, and tragic altogether.

@87 gypseymom I agree 100%. The book was a technical marvel, with exact numbers of pairs, quatrains, lines etc (one of the LT reviewers explains this). But as a story, it was lacking. Well-developed characters, good writing and an interesting story -- that's what makes a winner in my opinion. Not techno-craft

>89 raidergirl3: and >90 LynnB: Glad that other people were as underwhelmed as I was.

I'm reading Broken Man on a Halifax Pier by Lesley Choyce

>92 LynnB: now I’ll have that song in my head all night!

Reading A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder which is a bit like reading Verne or Wells. Some disturbingly racist bits in it.

I washed out the bad taste left in my mouth by Reproduction by reading Wild Dogs by Helen Humphreys. Humphreys is a wonderful writer; I have loved every book of hers that I have read. This one is an exploration of love and friendship and communication and every word was perfect.

For those who can't stop singing Barrett's Privateers, try this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI8P5Fhc5yU

I'm reading Immigrant City, a short story collection by David Bezmozgis

Frahealee, you make me want to pick up my copy of storm glass! I am trying to read my Canadian Poetry roughly oldest to newest and am currently about halfway through the New Canadian Library Poetry of Mid-Century 1940/1960. Also slowly working through back issues of Descant, Grain and The Fiddlehead. I will get there eventually!

I'm re-reading When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid for a book club.

I’m listening to The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.

Also reading through Descant 55 and Descant 53

Edit: finished Descant 55 and found that it contains a great short story Domain by the author of Creation. It is set at a Lake Joe in northern Ontario, where two families are sharing an island with remote cottages. The cottages used to be grand, but have fallen into disuse. One couple is visiting just before it is being sold, and the husband seems to be living in the shadow of how things used to be. Great descriptions of the remote location, and nature ( including mice) moving back in.

I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

I just read Cereus Blooms at Night by Shani Mootoo which was one of the books on the CBC List of 100 Novels that Make Us Proud to be Canadian. And I thought it deserved to be on that list. It is set on a fictional Caribbean island so there's no Canadian content in terms of setting but there is a connection to Canada and Mootoo now lives in Canada. It's a powerful story about family and sexuality and friendship. I recommend it.

I'm reading The Very Marrow of our Bones by Christine Higdon

>104 LynnB: That looks interesting. Please let us know what you think of it.

I finished Elephants in My Backyard by Rajiv Surendra, a memoir about the actor trying to get the main role in Life of Pi. Now I want to see the movie or reread the book.

On to another memoir, Causeway by Linden MacIntyre.

Next up in CanLit is Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, by Margaret Atwood. I'm reading the A List reprint published by House of Anansi in 2012 (the book was originally published in 1972).

>105 gypsysmom:: The Very Marrow of Our Bones was really, really good! Wonderful story about the impacts of secrets.

>108 LynnB: Thanks for reporting back. Off to see if I can find a copy.

Still reading crime fiction, but at least this one's Canadian: A Better Man by Louise Penny

Read A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder, a Canadian science fiction tale from the 1800s. Has a cool bit of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells feel to it, but you can also feel the racism.

>111 Cecrow: I got a copy of that from a used book store (sadly no longer in business) near where I worked. I also thought it was like Jules Verne but I found out that Verne's novels were not translated into English until the 1880s and so it is unlikely that De Mille was familiar with them. The introduction to the book says that he was probably influenced by Swift's Gulliver's Travel and Samuel Butler's Erewhon.

>112 gypsysmom:, seems he predated H. Rider Hagard's work too, which he also bears comparison to.

I'm reading A Case for Dr. Palindrome by Colin Brezicki.

I just finished a good YA book I got from YA Sync summer giveaway that I assume is Canadian because it was set in Canada, Easy Prey by Catherine Lo. It was about teens and posting private pics on the internet, a very timely subject as I believe the laws surrounding this issue are being changed. It was done quite well, showing the different types of people involved, and the different sides (well, I guess there are sides) that can occur.

Non fiction for a change for me-a beautifully written account of the author's journey to find meaning or an explanation for the death of his only brother by suicide. To the River: Losing My Brother by Don Gillmor

Just finished Tom Wilson's memoir, Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home.

I'm about to start Sweeter Than All the World by Rudy Wiebe

>118 LynnB: I have loved Rudy Wiebe books but have not read that one. I will be interested to know what you think of it!

Since I last posted about my reads I have read Juliana and the Medicine Fish by Jake MacDonald, a writer from Manitoba who tragically died in an accident in Mexico this January. This book was picked quite a few years ago for the Manitoba One Book program but I didn't get around to reading it then. It is a YA novel about a teenaged girl whose parents separate; she goes to live with her mom in Winnipeg and the father stays at the fishing lodge he operates on Lake of the Woods. In the summer break Juliana goes back to the lodge and enters a fishing contest that has a lucrative prize for record catches. The lodge is in financial difficulty and if she can catch it the prize money would get the lodge into the black.

I also just finished Cory Doctorow's Radicalized which was one of the 5 books in this year's Canada Reads. It got turfed the first day but I thought it was very prescient and also a good read.

>107 rabbitprincess: I'm part way into that one as well. I have I think the second edition which is the 1970s text but with a new introduction. I know it's been reprinted again since then.

I've also unearthed Arrival: the story of CanLit which I picked up a year back or so, which has been in my other home space. I'll need to speed up with Survival I think but the little I've read has been interesting. I'm still in the wilderness chunk. I also found some older writing magazines I got in Uni some years ago.

I'm reading The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman

I'm about to start Aria by Nazanine Hozar for a book club that isn't meeting during the pandemic.

My most recent CanLit read was Helen McNicoll: Life & Work, by Samantha Burton. McNicoll was an Impressionist painter whose career was cut short by her death at the age of 35. Beautiful paintings, very sunny colour palettes. If you like Impressionist art, you might like her.

<124> What's the text like? Is it a narrative or more of an academic, foot note sort?

>125 WeeTurtle: The text has endnotes but I found it written in a reasonably accessible style. Short chapters to talk about her life, key works, influences, and legacy.

>126 rabbitprincess: It sounds interesting. I have a little book on the works of Emily Carr but it's mostly images (which I bought it for) with some context added.

>127 WeeTurtle: It's kind of like an exhibition catalogue in book form, that level of writing. But a lot shorter than some I've seen, and a lot lighter!

>123 LynnB:, sounds like that one could have waited? ;)

>123 LynnB: I really liked that book which I listened to right after I had listened to The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali. Both books are set in Tehran in roughly the same time period but Akin seemed much more realistic to me.

I just started listening to Rick Mercer Final Report which is narrated by the man himself. My goodness I miss his rants. I can only imagine what he would do with the present situation.

I'm reading The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

I'm reading Any Night of the Week, by Jonny Dovercourt, a history of the Toronto music scene from 1957 to 2001.

Next up in CanLit: Les Belles-Soeurs, by Michel Tremblay. This will be my first time reading it in French.

The first edition I read of the play was a translation into Scots, and it is definitely an experience to see characters with very French-Canadian names such as Germaine and Lisette and Gabrielle saying "Ah'm fair peched" and "Whit's that yer daein?"

Finished Les Belles-Soeurs and am continuing the Montreal theme with a biography of Toe Blake: Winning is Everything, by Paul Logothetis. This is apparently the first-ever biography of Hector "Toe" Blake and it was published fresh this year.

>134 rabbitprincess: I can only imagine what that first edition of Les Belles-Soeurs was like. LOL

>136 gypsysmom: I will never get rid of my copy because I feel like if I do, nobody else will believe that it actually exists! Haha.

>137 rabbitprincess: LOL!!

Devoured Gil Adamson’s latest novel, Ridgerunner. It is a follow-up to her previous novel, The Outlander. Both are excellent.

>139 rabbitprincess: ooh! The Outlander definitely ended on a cliffhanger! It’s been ten years or so since I read it, but I still remember it was good.

>140 raidergirl3: I now have to read The Outlander again!

I'm re-reading Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley.

Just finished The Innocents by Michael Crummey and I thought it was amazing!

>143 mdoris:: That is on my TBR shelves....my book club is reading it in the fall, so I am impatiently waiting to get at it!

>142 LynnB: Hi Lynn I'm not a book re-reader as I am such a slow reader but if I was faster I would read all the Timothy Findley books again!

>139 rabbitprincess: That book went on to my TBR list as soon as I saw it mentioned but since that was during the lockdown I couldn't get it from the library and I haven't checked since they reopened. Maybe I should just buy a copy!

>146 gypsysmom: Gil Adamson is an auto-buy author for me, so I preordered it through my local indie. Also I knew my mum would want to read it, so I'd get the mileage out of it. She did request it from her library but it only just came this week... and I brought her my copy already!

I just finished Emma Donoghue’s The Pull of the Stars. (I’m considering her Canadian)
It was very, very good. The pandemic in 1918 Ireland is central, but so much more about women, and Ireland, and women. Loved it.

>148 raidergirl3: Definitely Emma Donoghue is Canadian! I haven't read that one although I can see I need to since I love her writing and I love books set in Ireland

I'm reading The Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie

I'm reading The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies

I'm reading Watching You Without Me by Lynn Coady.

>152 LynnB: Is that her most recent one that is on the Giller Prize long list? Please let us know what you think.

>153 gypsysmom: Watching You Without Me won the Giller Prize. I enjoyed it...a slow build to a dramatic situation.

Currently reading All Things Consoled: A Daughter's Memoir, by Elizabeth Hay. This is a hard read emotionally. Her mother is reminding me of my grandma.

>154 LynnB: You have confused me. The 2020 Giller Prize hasn't been awarded yet and I was sure Watching You Without Me was picked for the longlist. I don't think even the short list has been announced yet although it should be soon. However, I'm glad to know that you enjoyed it and I'll be looking to read it soon.

>157 gypsysmom: I have a paperback copy of Watching You Without Me, which was published in 2019. On the cover, it says "Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize".

I went on-line and saw that Reproduction won for 2019. So, I joined your state of confusion. I think that the blurb on my book cover refers to the author...not the book. Ms. Coady won the prize in 2013 for Hellgoing. (thank you, Uncle Google!) Which I haven't read...have you? Recommend it?

I'm reading Break in Case of Emergency by Brian Francis.

The Lynn Coady is on the current longlist and if it wasn’t for the Emma Donaghue.i
think it would have a great chance of winning. I was planning on starting my seventh long listed book today-there is still time I hope. This is the first collection by a Montreal writer. Is it better to read The Outlander before Ridgerunner? The first is available on audio but not the second. I wrote to audible and in response got a bit of a crabby answer. I think three of the Giller nominees were hugely reduced on Kobo two weeks ago.
I have Clyde Fans on hold at the library and the Zuszi Gartner on my overdrive so I’m going a bit insane. The long listed Annabel Lyon comes out on audio on Tuesday.

Word on the street is being shown on you tube. The first writer I saw was Andrew Pyper. I loved Lost Girls but he lost me with his subsequent books.

>158 LynnB: No I haven't read Hellgoing but I have enjoyed two of her other books Saints of Big Harbour and The Antagonist. Watching You Without Me is on the 2020 longlist for the Giller Prize. The shortlist will be announced on October 5.

I recently finished The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp. This is a book I missed when it came out in 1996 because I was back in school and starting a new career and I missed a whole lot of great books in those years. When this book showed up on the CBC list of 100 Novels that Make you Proud to be Canadian I vowed I would read it and I finally have. I can see why it made that list although I am not sure I would have enjoyed it in 1996. There is a lot of promiscuity and drug use in the book and I think I was more straight-laced back then. Now I see it as a reflection of life for young people especially those who are disadvantaged and as Van Camp says in his foreword to the 20th anniversary edition it is "ultimately a story of hope and resilience and how love can save lives."

I'm going to start The Lost Highway by David Adams Richards

I’m reading Dominoes at the Crossroads-a Giller longlist title and I really don’t like it. Very didactic and dull.

I'm about to start The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy. I believe it's the only book by her I haven't read. The subject didn't appeal to me, but my book club has decided to read it, so here I go............

>165 LynnB: I remember loving that book when I read it many, many years ago.

I'm reading Cote-des-Neiges by Alice Parizeau en francais.

Started reading Barney's Version and I'm glad I flipped ahead because I discovered my copy is missing thirty pages, now I have to track down a 2nd copy.

>168 Cecrow: How frustrating! Hope you get another copy soon.

>168 Cecrow: Yikes! That is annoying.

Indians on Vacation by Thomas King is great. I gave it 5 stars which I don't do very often. It has King's trademark humour but also deals with a lot of contemporary issues like reconciliation and refugees and climate change. Highly recommended.

>171 gypsysmom: It was great. I could easily have spent another 200 pages with Bird and Mimi.

I've started a re-read of jPod, by Douglas Coupland. I read it so long ago that it might almost be a first read!

>172 rabbitprincess: I agree. I adored Mimi and Bird's health issues and Eugene and the other demons make Bird seem so real.

I'm reading The Little Shadows by Marina Endicott

I'm reading A Delhi Obsession by M.G. Vassanji.

I've started The Innocents by Michael Crummy.

>177 LynnB: I loved The Innocents!

>177 LynnB:, 178 Me too. It will be at the top for reads this year for me.

I'm reading The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel.

Finally reading The Orenda after seeing it on many others' shelves for years now.

I'm reading Songs for the End of the World by Saleema Nawaz

Oh there's a lot here.

Not Wanted on the Voyage is something I've wanted to read for a while but I can't find a copy. I forgot about it. Maybe I can check around again.

Ridgerunner is on my reading list, but do I need to read The Outlander first?

I'm re-reading Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley.

>179 mdoris:
I did put The Innocents as my top book of the year. The Causeway by Linden MacIntyre was also in my top 5 list. Good showing from the East Coast

>183 WeeTurtle: I just started reading Ridgerunner. I don't think there is any need to read The Outlander first. But it is great. I had trouble tearing myself away from it this morning to go get a shower.

Finally reading Waubgeshig Rice's Moon of the Crusted Snow.

>187 rabbitprincess: I listened to that and I really liked it.

Finished Ridgerunner last night and I loved it. I think it will make it onto my Top 5 of 2020 Books.