Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

A CBC Radio One recommendation that didn't disappoint. 

Here's a summary thanks to Goodreads.com: 

I've gone. I've never seen the water, so I've gone there. I will try to remember to come back.
Etta's greatest unfulfilled wish, living in the rolling farmland of Saskatchewan, is to see the sea. And so, at the age of eighty-two she gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2,000 miles to water.  

Meanwhile her husband Otto waits patiently at home, left only with his memories. Their neighbour Russell remembers too, but differently - and he still loves Etta as much as he did more than fifty years ago, before she married Otto.

I gave this novel to my mom for Christmas 2015. It was recommended by CBC's Book Reviews as one of the top 100 novels of 2015. I would rate this one as one of the top 25 books in 2015, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My mother who is almost 80 also enjoyed it very much.

The enduring love that Russell held for Etta was delicious and sweet. It is a true, gentle love story. It's creative and original in nature. We never quite know who James is...and I still don't.

I recommend it as a very enjoyable read.  

Canada Reads 2016 #3: Birdie

 To date, my favorite novel in 2016's Canada Reads competition.

Here's a summary provided by Goodreads.com:

Birdie is a darkly comic and moving first novel about the universal experience of recovering from wounds of the past, informed by the lore and knowledge of Cree traditions. Bernice Meetoos, a Cree woman, leaves her home in Northern Alberta following tragedy and travels to Gibsons, BC. She is on something of a vision quest, seeking to understand the messages from The Frugal Gourmet (one of the only television shows available on CBC North) that come to her in her dreams. She is also driven by the leftover teenaged desire to meet Pat Johns, who played Jesse on The Beachcombers, because he is, as she says, a working, healthy Indian man. Bernice heads for Molly’s Reach to find answers but they are not the ones she expected.

With the arrival in Gibsons of her Auntie Val and her cousin Skinny Freda, Bernice finds the strength to face the past and draw the lessons from her dreams that she was never fully taught in life. Part road trip, dream quest and travelogue, the novel touches on the universality of women's experience, regardless of culture or race. 

Slow to start, and a challenge to understand. The story is somewhat segmented at first, and it takes some time to figure out the narrative. That being said, the level of creativity in this novel is commendable. It's unlike anything I've ever read, and I found it really engaging.

Layered with Cree language and beautiful imagery.  I loved the author's playful creation of compound words.

I hope that Canada and the world get the opportunity to discover this story, and this author. It is a special book.

Canada Reads 2016: Book #2: The Hero's Walk

This year's Canada Reads theme is Starting Over.

Anita Rau Badami's novel is not only about starting over; it is a story of hope, renewal, forging on, and looking to the future. 

Here's a brief summary from Goodreads.com:

As The Hero's Walk opens, Sripathi's life is already in a state of thorough disrepair. His mother, a domineering, half-senile octogenarian, sits like a tyrant at the top of his household, frightening off his sister's suitors, chastising him for not having become a doctor, and brandishing her hypochondria and paranoia with sinister abandon. It is Sripathi's children, however, who pose the biggest problems: Arun, his son, is becoming dangerously involved in political activism, and Maya, his daughter, broke off her arranged engagement to a local man in order to wed a white Canadian. Sripathi's troubles come to a head when Maya and her husband are killed in an automobile accident, leaving their 7- year-old daughter, Nandana, without Canadian kin. Sripathi travels to Canada and brings his granddaughter home, while his family is shaken by a series of calamities that may, eventually, bring peace to their lives.  

A strand of Jasmine flower

This novel was a pleasure to read. It is beautifully written with rich, complicated characters. They are well developed and help create interest. There is a gentle plot that is enriched with a few other captivating sub-plots. Badami develops great setting: I could almost smell the strands of jasmine blossom and feel the breeze out on Sripathi's veranda. And while the initial conflict of the death of Sripathi's daughter is a tragedy, the novel does not wallow in doom and gloom.

It's a great read, and entertaining. 

One of the most beautiful scenes is that of the turtles laying eggs on the beach.

When I was a child, my best friends mother told us stories of her as a young girl in Pakistan and how her family would go to the beach to watch the turtles lay their eggs. 

What a Book: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Seldom am I engaged with a book so much that it troubles me after I've put it down. Such is the case with Celest Ng's novel, Everything I Never Told You.

Thanks to my book club friend Mary Anne, I was lent this novel after our last book club meeting. With my ongoing resolution to not purchase books, a lent book is such a wonderful gift! This novel was no exception...In fact it was a treat because it was such an engaging story.

Here's a quick synopsis from iTunes Preview:

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party.

When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened.

This story is so much more than a "Who Dunn It?" mystery. As iTunes says, it is a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another. I would also add that it explores relationships among siblings, and how each one's experiences interpreted so differently for the others in the family.

I found this novel very unsettling; incredibly well written and Ng manages to painted such a foreboding atmosphere within this family. Here's a little chat with the author:

I think this novel could make a great movie also. Enjoy and Thank You Mary Anne!

All the Light We Cannot See

2015 Winner of the Pulitzer

What a way to start our 2016 Book Club reading.

We were really fortunate to have chosen All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

Here's a quick summary:

"From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. 

When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge." 


http://www.anthonydoerr.com/books/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/

The book club's discussion today was very fruitful too. Of all attendees, only one hadn't read the novel...Most of the other ladies enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Author...Hope He's Busy Writing
More Fiction for ME!!!

Perfect Place for This Perfect Book

We agreed that is was a rich story that was cleverly woven together. The shifts in time were interesting, and the wide range of characters with different experiences and perspectives was fascinating.

The only lady that didn't enjoy it, indicated that she had heard many stories about traumas of WW2, and as such, didn't enjoy the story. She also mentioned that her reading of the story was often interrupted. In my opinion, it's hard to enjoy any novel that requires some attentive reading if you are constantly having to put it down and attend to other things.

Personally, I devoured this novel over the Christmas break and savoured the last 40-50 pages on the trip down to Playa Del Carmen in Mexico.

The Girl on the Train

Read it in November.

Enjoyed it...

Will write more about it soon...

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch--The Painting that is used
as the novel's central theme 

If I could only take 3 books with me to a deserted island for a one year stint, one of those books would surely be The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. This novel is not to be missed, and is so rich with detail and plot, that it could be re-read and enjoyed anew many, many times over.


Here's a summary by Goodreads:

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

Here is the author speaking about her novel:

Notice in the painting above: The goldfinch sits on a perch and is trapped by a delicate but undeniable chain on his right claw. The Goldfinch somehow is able to chain Theo Decker throughout his life also. Loved it. It's winding and  fraught with tension. The characters are well developed and the settings are so well drawn that you can almost smell and taste them. The writing is beautiful, and insightful. It is memorable and certainly one that I recommend.  

The Book Thief Stole My Heart

The last novel for the year for my monthly book club, and I believe we may have saved the best for last with The Book Thief.

Summary thanks to Goodreads:

"It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down."

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.  The group discussed this novel over lunch at our annual Christmas Book Exchange party. The vast majority of the ladies loved it, finding little fault with the writing or the gripping story.

I thought that it read like poetry at times; Zusak's prose is so beautiful. With Death as the narrator, The Book Thief is a creative and unique wartime story was written from the perspective of a young German girl.

Here is the author with his thoughts:

This novel should be mandatory reading in high school. It is not to be missed. 

Vaughan Public Library....Vaughan Reads: Flee, Fly, Flown by Janet Hepburn

I love my local library.  The Vaughan Public Library is a wonderful community resource, that runs a wide variety of programs. I've participated in many; some when my children were infants and I wanted a mom and baby morning out, some when I wanted to chat about a book that was read by others.  My public library is a treasure, and I am grateful that I have access to it.

Most recently, I am participating in the Vaughan Reads program which runs every year, and offers a city-wide book reading opportunity. This year's title is Flee, Fly, Flown by Janet Hepburn, and I can't wait to attend the author's reading and discussion group this November 19 at Pierre Burton Library.

Here's Amazon's summary of Flee, Fly, Flown:

Lillian and Audrey hatch a plot to escape from Tranquil Meadows Nursing Home, "borrow" a car, and spend their hastily planned vacation time driving to destinations west. They set out on their journey having forgotten that their memory problems might make driving and following directions difficult. Then they meet up with the unsuspecting Rayne, a young man also heading west in hope of reconciling with his family. Without minimizing the realities of old age, dementia, and frailty, Lillian and Audrey's story is rich with laughter, adventure, and hope.

 I found this novel to be a heart warming story of friendship, adventure and the struggle to maintain dignity while enduring the ravages of dementia. Hepburn successfully builds authentic characters with rich histories.

I really enjoyed the quest theme of making a trek through northern Ontario. This novel reminded my of Margaret Lawrence's Stone Angel. I recommend it.

The Shipping News for a Second Time!

My family and I traveled to Newfoundland for a summer vacation this year. In preparation for this trip, I began to re-read this lovely novel that takes place in a small fictional fishing village. As a rule, I do not read a novel twice: there are too many books and just not enough time. But I made an exception on this one, and I'm glad that I did.

From my journal entry in May of 1995, I read Annie Proux's Pulitzer Prize winner and enjoyed it.  As  previously mentioned, I have kept a journal of my reading since January 1989.  It was great to flip back through the pages an find my note on this great book. Here's what I said about this novel nearly 20 years ago:

"A fabulous read about a small family that leaves their painful life in the US, and makes the small town life of Newfoundland their new home.  The story centres around the father Quoyle, who works at a small local newspaper covering the comings and goings of fishing boats in and around the island.

It's a terrific look at life in a small, isolated fishing village. There's a great perspective, since the novel is written from the outsiders point of view...like standing outside a cosy, warm home and watching a pleasant scene."

Now that I have visited Newfoundland, my second reading of this lovely novel was much enriched. References to fishing activities and coastal ways of live make more sense. I feel like I might have passed through Quoyle's adopted fishing village, and I know how the island looks when the fog rolls in. I understand what a salt box home is, and I have stood on a fishing slip. Here are a few of my pictures to Newfoundland, which might interest you and lead you to read this Pulitzer Prize winning novel.

Claudio and Trinity, Trinity Bay

Tiny Fishing Village in the Trinity Bay area

Near Bonavista

Trinity at Dusk

Woody Point, Gros Morne National Park

Old Saltbox Home at Woody Point

Socks for Sale at Trout River

Time with Dad in Twillingate 

"Iceberg Straight Ahead"

Low Tide in Wesleyville

The Rosie Project: Fun, Quirky Novel.

If you are an avid reader you may relate to my recent sentiment. I've had a stretch of reading that has left me flat.  I didn't feel up to blogging about those books; maybe I will get inspired in time, but I've been feeling a bit worn out with my reading and I have been in desperate need of a pick-me-up.

Just my luck, to find The Rosie Project waiting for me on my shelf, and it was just what the doctor ordered!!!

This is a quirky, creative and off beat novel about an autistic geneticist who decides that he needs to find a suitable wife, and thus begins The Wife Project. He carefully crafts a 300 point questionnaire which is scientifically based, and .

It's origins as a screen-play are evident. There are scenes in the novel that are clearly included for dramatic, visual impact. The slug out with Don and Rosie's father comes to mind most clearly.

Comical moments, where I did laugh out loud. Don practicing various sexual acts with a skeleton in his office, as the Dean pokes her head in …assumes that he is fixing the model.

Anyway, there are many laugh out loud moments and it really is an entertaining read.

A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute

Thanks to Goodreads, let's get a quick summary of this novel:

"Nevil Shute’s most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback.

Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life. Jean travels leads her to a desolate Australian outpost called Willstown, where she finds a challenge that will draw on all the resourcefulness and spirit that carried her through her war-time ordeals." 

An Author's Note follows this novel in which Shute suggests that he will come under fire for inventing the march of death for women prisoners in Malaya during the Second World War. History does not tell of this plight in Malaya in 1942. However, Shute explains that the real live experiences of the Dutch Mrs J.G. Geysel-Vonck in Palembang Sumatra was his starting point. Shute understood that Mrs. Geysel walked over 1200 miles carrying her baby  as a homeless prisoner of war. 

It was eventually discovered that Mrs. Geysel didn't actually make the long trek by foot, but was shunted from prisoner camp to prisoner camp by truck. Given Shute's Author's Note, I suspect that he knew that eventually, the historical accuracy of his inspiration would come to light. Even so, this work of fiction is captivating.

Shute also tells the reader that he has never previously used actual historical events in his novels, but has done so in A Town Like Alice because in his words: "...I have been unable to resist the appeal of this true story, and because I want to pay what tribute is within my power to the most gallant lady I have ever met."  in incredible tribute: The fictional story of a woman of strength, endurance, direction and humility. 

Loved this story and I don't fault Shute for his creative liberties. It's fiction and it's enjoyable reading. I highly recommend it.