A Year of Books

Everyone knows that I LOVE Canada Reads!! It is a fabulous way to connect, share a love of reading and read new genres, new authors and new styles of writing. Each of these 5 books was new to me because of Canada Reads and have stretched my mind, bringing me into discomfort at times, causing me to think and reflect and helped me to learn more about the experiences of Canadians. The 4 day event, hosted by the CBC, is a cross between a book awards show and a game show and explodes 5 books into the public domain and onto best-seller lists!

This year’s theme is: One Book to Carry Us Forward

Prior to the show, I was reflecting that the best book does not always win, the panelists and audience need to have open minds and open hearts, that strategy and communication counts and that I am really missing the opportunity to attend the finale in person. Canada Reads had been recorded with a live studio audience and I had attended with kindred book friends prior to the pandemic.

A few thoughts from today:

I loved the comments of Shut Up You’re Pretty being a “mosaic of a life we can all contribute to”, that Bad Cree can help “right the wrongs of the past“, that Meet me at the Lake was a “promise of hope and eventual happy endings” , that The Future “enables us to see what is ugly as beautiful” and that Dennison Avenue required us to “put down the book and reflect on the beauty”.

I appreciated that Dallas Soonias shared that the books were accessible in audio which helped him read the books as he struggles with dyslexia and that Heather connected with The Future after her experience as a runaway and child who experienced abuse. It was interesting to learn that 25% of Canadian book sales are romance novels which speaks to encouraging readers of this genre to join the Canada Reads discussion. It was great to identify the similarities, in that all books dealt with the importance of community and had themes of the experience of seniors and what they have to offer.

As always, the first show sped by and a book was chosen to be voted off the panel. This year 4 votes were for Meet Me at the Lake and one for The Future. Was this a surprise? No, this would have been my vote as well but I am glad that there was a diversity of book genres. I thought Mirian Njoh provided a very thoughtful defence to her novel and although I personally did not care for the book, think some of the themes identified in the questions at the end could have strengthened the novel if they had been incorporated.

Here is my Goodreads review of Meet Me at the Lake:

This was my last of the 5 short-listed books and I should note that I LOVE that Canada Reads introduces books that I might not normally read and books that others enjoy. it is wonderful to be introduced to a variety of new authors, writing styles and genres. Although romance is not my favourite, I am looking forward to the discussion.

As for this book, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at some of the descriptions, Stephen King in his book On Writing would definitely be cringing (perhaps that is not the point and I should have just got into the flow of the beach type read and suspended my critical eye…) but really??? here are some examples:

“how dark his eyes are, black as a crows wing”
or
“the air tasted of vending machine sandwiches, diesel fumes and misery”…. what??
or
“she had a round face with hazel doe eyes and a tiny cherry of a nose that under most circumstances made her seem deceptively innocent”
or 
“bottom lashes were an exaggerated curve, as black as the lake at midnight”

I think I might have liked the story if the writers notes at the end, were more incorporated into the story, dealing with more of the serious issues on PPD and anxiety.

I am looking forward to the debates… I know that the best book does not always win but the defenders are always interesting and it always gets more Canadians interested in reading!! Let the games begin!!!

goodreads 2024

Today was a great start to Canada Reads 2024 and I look forward to what I will learn and reflect tomorrow!!

The world needs more positivity these days!! As I hibernate, I have been enjoying these books with ideas for building relationships, enhancing conversations and collaborating for a world that supports people!

If I were to prioritize one book, I would suggest Conversations Worth Having which is full of ideas to build on strengths and promote positivity!

After reading The Break (for Canada Reads 2017), I have looked forward to another book by Katherena Vermette. Her words are powerful as she weaves the story of the Stranger Family. My favourite character became Cedar-Sage as I got drawn into the family drama and struggles.

The Strangers is not a “happy tale” but gritty and raw, dealing with addictions and mental health, yet there is hope as Cedar-Sage emerges from foster care, rebuilds relationships and learns about her family history.

Vermette is a brilliant, character-based storyteller who keeps a reader engaged until the end… it would be great to have sequel to follow Cedar-Sage and Phoenix as they move into adulthood.

The powerful words of Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, have stayed with me as I think of suffering, resilience and hope, but honestly, I had trouble focusing on these lectures. They are newly published in English and maybe my timing was not right for reading this book as I struggled to remain engaged with his powerful words.

If you have not read Man’s Search for Meaning, I would definitely pick that book up!

Although I found the content interesting, I struggled through parts of this book. Starting with his family’s immigration to Canada in 1832, it read like a who’s who of Canadian art. It provided a timeline and thoughts of the many individuals that he connected with, which made it a bit disjointed to follow. 

Perhaps, it would have been more compelling if I had a greater knowledge of the artists but it felt like a lot of name dropping and facts, with less of the story of Tom Thomson. Perhaps it was not the book but my expectations (from the title) and that I was hoping to address the “mystery” of his death while the book abruptly ended and did not deal with the “mystery” of his death. Likely it is that this was not so much the story of his life but a list of events within his life.

The book does leave me looking for more. His beautiful paintings live on and the mystery surrounding his tragic death lives on.

Sadly, I have read a lot of diet and “healthy eating” books over the years. I was a teen in the 80s thinking about my weight, eating salads and got caught up in the sugar free era of diet Cokes and sugar free yogurt. This book is a no nonsense, healthy antidote to all of the diet industry books and programs that have caused stress and unreasonable expectations for a generation of Canadians.

The book speaks to moderation, eating less processed food, keeping balance in mind and including lots of veggies. It discourages restrictive diets that makes us want eat more and it encourages readers to rethink their relationship with food.

This book is written by a registered dietician from Toronto and explains science in an easy to understand way with a bit of humour and a lot of common sense!!

Robert’s Rules of Order is not the most exciting book to read. It is dry and very specific but it is a helpful read for anyone that sits on a board. It helps provide structure and fairness to proceedings and lays out direction for things like meetings, debates, bylaws and minutes.

It is a handy refresher for meetings and a resource to keep handy!!