July 2017: What We're Reading

Happy Canada Day! Thought I choose a Canadian classic: As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross.

Happy Canada Day!

I am celebrating 30 years of Rebus by reading one of his more recent entries: Even Dogs in the Wild.

I celebrated Canada Day by starting Canada by Myers.

I have to work all the Canada Day weekend, so no reading for me. Finished late last week the latest in a mystery series I enjoy: The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths.

I'm reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

Cool Water / Dianne Warren
4 stars

Juliet is a small town (just over 1,000 people) in Southern Saskatchewan, near Swift Current. This book follows some of the town residents (and local farmers) for one day. We meet Lee, who has taken over his “family” farm (we learn early on, that Lester and Astrid were not his biological parents); Norval, the town banker, whose daughter, just out of high school, is pregnant and is getting married… neither she nor her fiance are particularly responsible; Blaine, whose farm has failed and he is having trouble making ends meet for him and his family, including six children; and more.

I really enjoyed this. I grew up in a small town/farming community in Southern Sask, and loved reading about the area, though this town was meant to be (I believe it’s a fictional town) just north of the Trans-Canada highway by the sand dunes, whereas I lived a ways south of the highway. Either way, it’s not fast-paced, but I was drawn in and interested in the characters, anyway. It actually reminded me a bit of Kent Haruf’s books and his small town characters. It does switch between characters quite frequently, but – for the most part – I was able to fairly quickly figure out who was who and whose perspective we were getting each time.

Finished the latest suspense novel from a writer who lives on Vancouver Island as I do-Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens.

>7 ted74ca: Still Missing by her made my favourites list the year I read it (a year or two ago). I have one more by her on my tbr (Those Girls), but I'm sure I'll end up reading more than only those two!

>7 ted74ca: Hi Terry, I 'm a BIG user too of the Vancouver Island library system. Isn't it fabulous!

I'm reading The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman for a book club discussion.

I'm reading The Sacrifice by Joyce Carol Oates.

I'm reading The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.

Continuing my trip through Promise Falls with Far from True, by Linwood Barclay.

>9 mdoris:. A fellow Vancouver Island bibliophile! Nice to "meet" you! I moved back to VI after 40 years of living in the Lower Mainland (I grew up in Chemainus) and do a LOT of reading, esp. in the dark, rainy winters here in Port Alberni. The library has been a lifesaver.

Just finished a historical fiction novel : Belgravia by Julian Fellowes, writer of of the Downton Abbey TV series, which I loved.

I'm reading England, England by Julian Barnes.

>14 ted74ca:, Hi Terry, I am a ferry ride away from Chemainus at our place for the summer and doing a make over on an old house in the Courtenay area that will be our off season place having been also 36 years in the Lower Mainland. Nice to meet you too! I agree the library has been a life saver and I am a BIG fan! I will be returning about 6 books on Monday and picking up another 6 waiting patiently for me. Reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles.

>17 mdoris: .Wow! That's amazing, Mary. And we "meet" on this website, of all places. Is your summer place on Thetis, by any chance? I worked there at the marina restaurant as a waitress, when in high school, a "few" decades ago. And I have a good friend from my high school years, now returned from Alberta, who is building a house and a horse riding facility in Courtenay.

Two crime fiction novels finished this week, both set in Edinburgh. One by the "master", Ian Rankin, entitled A Question of Blood and the other by a newer Scottish crime writer, James Oswald: the second one in this series: The Book of Souls.

>19 ted74ca: Have you read His Bloody Project? It is a Scottish mystery that I thought was wonderful.

With some trepidation, I'm starting The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Mom and Sister recommended it -- I'm worried it might be too "made-for-TV movie"-like.

>21 LynnB:, I can't get on with the romance genre but this is my wife's favourite book, so I gave it a go. It has enough genuine moments that I actually liked a good deal of it, although I can't stomach anything else by Sparks that I've sampled.

>20 mdoris:. I haven't read it yet, but just requested it from the library as it sounds intriguing. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll let you know if I like it.

Read Into the Water by Paula Hawkins today. A bit confusing at first, but I really liked it once I figured things out.

I'm reading Red Star Tattoo: My Life as a Girl Revolutionary by Sonja Larsen.

Just finished and really enjoyed The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe. As mentioned in my review, this is a page-turner that the Canadian setting made even better. I feel like dropping by Tim's for a double-double.

Obi Simic Getting Over Yonder, a debut novel about a black Canadian struggling to find her place in Canada. Discovered through Q&Q.

Finally getting to one of the big Canlit books I put on my 2017 to-read list: Two Solitudes, by Hugh MacLennan.

I'm reading What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.

I'm reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Just a run of the mill crime fiction novel for this weekend's read: An Unhallowed Grave by Kate Ellis

I have just finished Sister Kate by Jean Bradford and have started My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Stout.

I'm reading Belonging by Isabel Huggan which is quietly charming. I thought it would be mostly about her time in France, but I've just finished chapters on her experiences in Kenya and the Phillipines and enjoyed them a great deal.

Also reading The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier which is moving very slowly for me, because I am trying to pay attention.

More crime fiction for me : The Colour of Blood by Declan Hughes

I´m enjoying Nutshell by Ian McEwan.

As Seen on TV / Sarah Mlynowski
3.75 stars

Sunny is leaving Florida for New York City to move in with her boyfriend, but at the last minute, her job falls through. When a friend offers to help get her a spot on a reality tv show, Party Girls, Sunny is hesitant, but it’s a job to keep her going for a few weeks until she find a real job. Unfortunately, Sunny gets all caught up in being a star and being on tv, and she forgets what’s important.

I quite enjoyed this (overall). Sunny was very unlikeable in the middle of the story, though, when she was all caught up in herself, her image, and the show. What an awful reality show, though! I enjoyed the few parts where there were roommates watching the show, so there was a bit of an outsider’s perspective on the show itself.

I've spent over 13 hours in airports or on airplanes, so got a lot of reading done: Sitting in the Club Car Drinking Rum and Karma-Kola: A Manual of Etiquette for Ladies Crossing Canada by Train by Paulette Jiles; Today Will be Different by Maria Semple and am currently reading The Wonder by Emma Donoghue.

I'm reading How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution by Joel Pollak and Larry Schweikart.