April seems to have just flown by. But I must say, I'm enjoying the longer days (especially longer when you live North of 60) and the break in those frigid temperatures-- it's supposed to hit the double digits, the positive double digits, by week's end. I'll believe it when I see it, but it's hard not to be happier and more optimistic in the spring is it not? Let's see.. segue... segue... Oh, longer days will mean more reading time, right? And speaking of reading, check out these highlights (imho) from the April roundup: 1. Amy reads a fascinating sounding book called Places Far From Ellesmere, which author Anita van Herke labels as geografictione.
2. Both Shan and Luanne review Will Ferguson's latest, 419.
3. Christa reviews Linden MacIntyre's Why Men Lie? which is not, as the title suggest, some sort of dating book. Instead Christa refers to it as a sort of companion piece to The Bishop's Man. MacIntyre is visiting Yellowknife in June for the Northwords Writers Festival.
Of course, I enjoyed reading all your reviews last month, as I hope you all did as well. What reviews stood out for you?
Moving onto the prizes, last month I asked put readers on a scavenger hunt to learn a little about some of the Canadian Book Challenge participants. Below are the clues and answers:
1. "A small-town, country girl. A teacher and an artist." - Melissa
2. "...a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries." Bill
3. "a software developer and mother of two who enjoys reading, knitting and playing word games." - Paulina
4. "live[s] in Toronto, Canada, with [her] husband, Gord, and [their] two kitties, Morgan and Crumpet." - Teena
And while I had many entries, I could only randomly choose one winner, and a hearty congratulations goes out to Anita. For her efforts, Anita wins the following fantastic prize pack kindly donated by Harbour Publishing:
1. The Odious Child and Other Stories (by Carloyn Black)
2. The Year of Broken Glass by Joe Denham
3. A Walk with the Rainy Sisters by Stephen Hume
Which brings us to the latest contest. This month I've drawn inspiration from Melwyk at The Indextrious Reader. Melwyk has themed her selections for the Canadian Book Challenge as "Small-Press Palooza." With that in mind, I've taken a partial list of small presses in Canada and included them below, most of which are gleaned from Melwyk's blog, but I've thrown in a few more as well. To win next month's prize, Jocelyne Allen's You and the Pirates, donated by the Workhorsery, all you have to do is check out the links below and in the comment section below tell me three books, chosen from 3 separate small Canadian publishers, as well as why you'd like to read them. A random winner will be chosen from all those who enter:
1. The Workhorsery2.Cormorant Books
3. Coteau Books
4. Lazara Press
5. Goose Lane Editions
6. Brick Books
7. Brindle and Glass
8. Vehicule Press
9. Thistledown Press
10. Breakwater Books
11. Theytus Books
12. Arbeiter Ring Publishing
13. Arsenal Pulp Press
Don't forget to add your May review links at the roundup post!
11 comments:
Very cool contest, John ;) I won't be entering since that would seem self-interested... also, since I already bought You and the Pirates last year on your recommendation! thanks for the shout-out here, I was very pleasantly surprised to see it this morning.
Congratulations Anita!!
I only got #4 right ... cuz it's me!!! Hee hee!
Well done, Anita. And give it up for small presses!
I completely forgot to save my entry. I went through most of the publishers and beefed up my wishlist earlier in the month. Such at adding:
The Weeping Chair by Donald Ward from Thistledown Press
The Tattoo by Pan Bouyoucas from Cormorant Books
Suspicion by Rachel Wyatt from Coteau Books
From Brindle % Glass I'd like to read Northern Kids from Edmontonian Linda Goyette. Her Edmonton version has long been on my wishlist, I love kids nonfiction and Linda Goyette is an amazing writer.
From Thistledown Press I would choose Marty Chan's A Close Shave. Like Linda Goyette, he is one of Edmonton's sparkling literati, but also one of the funniest humans on the planet. His twitter feed alone is worth signing up for an account. https://twitter.com/#!/marty_chan
From Arsenal Pulp I would choose One in Every Crowd. Teddy Rose has recommended Coyote's work quite passionately this year and I am now intrigued.
I would choose:
One in Every Crowd from Arsenol Pulp Press, because I have been meaning to read Ivan Coyote's work for quite a while.
Time in the Suburbs from Arbeiter Ring because I am enthralled by city planning. Seriously.
Mennonites Don't Dance from Thistledown because it's a great title, and because I grew up around many Mennonites and am interested in the culture.
John, you are an enabler. I've spent hours and hours at these links. For a person with a book addiction, that is very dangerous and, in fact, I've now got a shopping list that covers both sides of a sheet of paper. I'm very tempted to give you my whole list just so you can see what you've done! To be fair, some of the books on the list, including You and the Pirates have been on such a list before so I can't really blame you for "creating" the monster. My three:
1. From Theytus Books, I'd pick Red Rooms by Cherie Dimaline. It's a story about a chambermaid in a hotel who imagines the lives of various guests. I think that has such creative potential that I'm very curious to read it. Incidentally, from Theytus Books also comes Midnight Sweatlodge by Waubgeshig Rice, which I've read and highly recommend.
2. From Thistledown Press, I'd pick Mennonites Don't Dance by Darcie Friesen simply because it's been on my to-buy list for so long, I'm embarrassed that I haven't bought and read it by now.
3. From Lazara Press, I'd pick either Taxi! or Hey, Waitress by Helen Potrebenko or frankly, both! They are books told from the working woman's perspective which I'm told (but am not convinced) was unusual for the time. I haven't been to Vancouver, where the stories are set, in a very long time, but would have been there at the time they were written. So I am intrigued not only with the stories for their own sake but also to compare whether they reflect the Vancouver I remember.
Thank you for reminding us to enter. We really don't deserve you! These are my choices:
1. From Goose Lane Editions - The Town That Drowned by Riel Nason because I just watched a tv interview with her and it sounds great. She's won one award for it and is in the running for The Commonwealth Book Prize. And it's practically set in my backyard.
2. From Thistledown Press - The Edge of the Sea, because I'm can't resist books about the sea and it's set on Prince Edward Island which again is in my neck of the woods.
3. Vehicule Press - No Ordinary Hotel
by Adrian Walter because it's about the history of The Ritz Carlton in Montreal. I love Montreal, I love hotels and I love history. This is kind of the perfect book.
Thanks, Dianne (Ordinary Reader)
I'm interested in The Town that Drowns. Any writer who stuns themselves is as good a sales pitch as I need.
VGA - Writing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, because I've spent a little time down there and it's a fascinating place.
Pitouie- A book about waste management on an island. Cool and timely.
That was difficult selecting just three titles.
from Theytus Books, Midnight Sweatlodge by Waubgeshig Ria
from Arbeiter Ring Pub, Dancing on Our Turtles Back bu Leanne Simpson
from Breakwater Books, The Beotthuk by Ingeeborge Marshall
I enjoy reading books by First Nations authors, though they can be difficult to come by in the usual book stores.
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