Monthly Archives: January 2011

Collected Essex County

Posted on January 30, 2011 by

Collected Essex County by Jeff Lemire. Top Shelf Productions 2009. Collected Essex County is the first graphic novel I have read. I picked it up because it is on the Canada Reads 2011 list. Essex County will be defended by … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada Reads 2011, Graphic Novel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Room

Posted on January 29, 2011 by

Room by Emma Donoghue. HarperCollins 2010. Room, by Irish-Canadian Emma Donoghue, was longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the 2010 Governor General Literary Awards. I felt some trepidation about reading this novel as the story revolves … Continue reading →

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The Best Laid Plans

Posted on January 26, 2011 by

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. 2007. The Best Laid Plans, a political satire by Terry Fallis, won the 2008 Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. I picked it up because it is one of five … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada Reads 2011, humour | 4 Comments

The Trouble with Billionaires

Posted on January 22, 2011 by

The Trouble with Billionaires by Linda McQuaig & Neil Brooks. Viking Canada 2010. “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” — Plutarch The Trouble with Billionaires focuses on the way in … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction, Social commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks

Posted on January 16, 2011 by

The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks by Stuart McLean. Penguin Canada 2010. When our family got together on Christmas Eve, while we were recovering from a bountiful dinner, I got out Stuart McLean’s Home from the Vinyl Cafe: A Year of Stories, … Continue reading →

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Cool Water

Posted on January 11, 2011 by

Cool Water by Dianne Warren. HarperCollins 2010. The Governor General’s Literary Awards are awarded annually to the best English-language and French-language books in each of seven literary categories. The winner of each category receives $25,000 and publishers of winning titles … Continue reading →

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The Help

Posted on January 9, 2011 by

The Help: a novel by Kathryn Stockett. G.P.Putnam’s Sons 2009. I read The Help for the most frivolous of reasons. I noticed it advertised on the Amazon website and the cover art caught my eye, three birds perched against a … Continue reading →

Posted in Social commentary | Tagged , , | 4 Comments