It's not quite spring, but it seems wrong to call it winter, but the
first half of 2013 has a lot of great Canadian reading to catch your
attention. Here's a few.
Every Little Thing (M) by
Chad Pelley
(March 28): East Coast represent: Newfoundland author Pelley is back
with is second novel this spring. "Every Little Thing explores how lives
are shaped by the butterfly effect of decisions that go desperately
wrong. After a shocking family tragedy, Cohen Davies feels isolated,
guilty, and numb to everything except the allure of his new neighbour,
Allie Crosbie. She’s a free spirit, and he sees in her the perfect place
to bury his troubles. But when Allie’s father asks an unfathomable
favour, Cohen’s decision to help him sets off a chain reaction of
irrevocable events that leave one man dead, one man assaulted, and Cohen
incarcerated. In the aftermath, Allie will reveal a shocking secret of
her own. "
And while we're doing shout-outs, if you're looking for more
blogs about reading, Pelley maintains one with an East Coast focus:
Salty Ink.
Roost (M) by
Ali Bryan
(April 1) "Claudia, single mom of two, pines for her past independent
life. Her ex, after all, has moved on to a new wardrobe, new hobbies
and—worst of all—new adult friends. But in Claudia's house she's still
finding bananas in the sock drawer, cigarettes taped to wrestling
figures, and colourful doodles on her MasterCard bills. Then Claudia
receives the unexpected news that her mother has died. Shared through
the hilarious, honest, and often poignant perspective of a single
mother, Roost is the story of a woman learning about motherhood while
grieving the loss of her own mother. And as she begins to mend, she's
also learning that she might be able to accept her home—even as it is."
Hungry Ghosts (M) by
Shyam Selvadurai
(April 2). CanLit fans may remember Shyam Selvadurai's earlier titles
Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, but it's been a few years since we've
heard from this talented author. "In Buddhist myth, the dead may be
reborn as "hungry ghosts"—spirits with stomach so large they can never
be full—if they have desired too much during their lives. It is the duty
of the living relatives to free those doomed to this fate by doing kind
deeds and creating good karma. In Shyam Selvadurai’s sweeping new
novel, his first in more than a decade, he creates an unforgettable
ghost, a powerful Sri Lankan matriarch whose wily ways, insatiable
longing for land, houses, money and control, and tragic blindness to the
human needs of those around her parallels the volatile political
situation of her war-torn country."
The Unfinished Child (M) by
Theresa Shea
(April 2). First novelist Shea takes on a modern and very personal
topic in this new book: "When Marie MacPherson, a mother of two, finds
herself unexpectedly pregnant at thirty-nine, she feels guilty. Her best
friend, Elizabeth, has never been able to conceive, despite years of
fertility treatments. Marie's dilemma is further complicated when she
becomes convinced something is wrong with her baby. She then enters the
world of genetic testing and is entirely unprepared for the decision
that lies ahead."
While I was writing this CanLit post, I was listening to this new Canadian CD from the library's music collection:
Animator (M) by
The Luyas.
A great collection… I have read Hungry Ghosts, it is one of the best.
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