Ibis3’s Comments (group member since Sep 06, 2010)

Ibis3’s comments from the CanLit Challenge group.

I actually ended up liking it quite a bit. Lots of meat in the story. It dragged a bit at times though and ended kind of abruptly for me. Why did you find Hoda unlikeable (if you can remember)?

This isn't a formal request for nominations, but if you have any Challenge book that you've been wanting to read for a long time, I'm game for suggestions.

I usually alternate between the earliest in chronological order on the list and something...well, not. Sometimes it's because someone has given a book to me via BookCrossing etc., sometimes it's because I like to read a book before watching an adaptation of it, sometimes it's because there's an anniversary or other commemoration of a book or event. Sometimes it's because I just have a hankering to finally read a book I've heard a lot about.

But I have nothing specific in mind to read in between Emily Climbs and Settlers of the Marsh (probably sometime in the late summer). And I have to pick something soon because I want to buy it in my next Chapters order. Any suggestions?

I'm now reading both The Tin Flute and The Invasion of Canada. It's always interesting for me to read books set in Montreal around the middle of the last century because it gives me insight into the world my mother grew up in. She was born in 1942 and her family lived in Pointe-aux-Trembles until they moved to Moose Jaw when she was 9 or so. I asked her what neighbourhood my (maternal) grandmother lived in before her marriage and she thinks it was in Hochelaga. More research needed!

As for the War of 1812, I'm also by coincidence currently listening to The Fortune of War and recently finished Sharpe's Sword (Peninsular War=close enough), so I'm getting lots of context for the fictional accounts.

Looking forward to this one. Anyone else reading it?

Here's the open thread for this month's book. Enjoy.

I'm reading Emily of New Moon. It's very quick reading. Just started yesterday and I'm already a third done.

I got some feedback that people like these BotMs even if there's not much discussion, so I'm doing another poll for May. There's not much time, so the nominations won't be open for long...

If you nominated a book for any previous month, please feel free to nominate it for May.

The nomination period will end and the poll will go up on the 18th of April.

Eligible are

1)Any Challenge book that already has a discussion thread in the group forum.

OR

2) Any fiction or non-fiction book written by a Canadian, set in Canada, or about Canada that is not on the Challenge list (i.e. the canlit-challenge group bookshelf).

I will be posting another nomination thread for a June BotM in a couple of weeks.

If you have any comments or suggestions about how to get more people participating, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Looking forward to reading this for the bicentennial anniversary.

I just started this yesterday and I'm already a third of the way through.

Unlike Anne Of Green Gables, I never read this one as a girl, so I'm getting it fresh with adult eyes. Still, the similarities to Anne are obvious: a young, imaginative, wild girl is orphaned and must go and live in a beautiful place with a strict older, unmarried, childless woman and an unmarried, childless man who's more of a kindred spirit. She's never been in school and rarely to church and so must be civilised by her new environment. At this point in the story, I'm unsure if she'll manage to soften Aunt Elizabeth like Anne did for Marilla.

One interesting thing is that there are two atheist characters--a father and daughter. This is practically unheard of in children's literature--especially of that time, so I'm curious to see how they are treated by Montgomery. Will they be shown to be moral despite their lack of belief in the Christian god (Ilse has already stuck up for Emily, so maybe; then again the doctor is also described as a misogynist, so maybe not), or will there be a "moralistic" conversion? Are they really infidels or are they of the "just angry at God" variety of caricature?

Ondaatje's follow up to The English Patient. What do you think?

The shortlist for the Charles Taylor Prize (sort of like the Giller for non-fiction books) was announced a couple of weeks ago. Here it is:

Into The Silence: The Great War, Mallory, And The Conquest Of Everest, Wade Davis

Eating Dirt, Charlotte Gill

The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit, Jj Lee

Afflictions and Departures, Madeline Sonik

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A True Story of Resilience and Recovery, Andrew Westoll

Anyone read or planning to read any of the shortlisted books?

I'm listening to A Mixture of Frailties. Robertson Davies? Great as usual.

Hello to all new members!

@Dawn I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the new additions to your reading menu. I haven't been disappointed since I expanded my palette.

@Alissa Glad to see you liked The Tin Flute. I promise to join you soon (my copy has been duly ordered from Chapters and is likely sitting in my mailbox right now).

@Terry A Fine Balance is on the CanLit list, so it will come up eventually. Perhaps in the fall?

@Christina There's a thread for this year's Canada Reads books. I'd love to hear your impressions about them.

@Lynn Oooh sounds good. If you want to share your thoughts about Moodie and Parr Traill, there are threads for their books.

@Sheila Awesome. Glad to see that the Book of the Month has been a catalyst. If you like The Cat's Table, maybe you'll be interested in February's BotM, Anil's Ghost.

Should be starting this next week. Is anyone else reading this one with me? Are you going to try it en français?

My favourite fiction was Leaven of Malice, in which Robertson Davies hits his stride. Funny, with fantastic characters and a whole town (aka Kingston) of 1950s Canada come to life.

My favourite non-fiction was Vimy. This was just brilliant. Pierre Berton gives us a soldier's eye view of not just the battle itself, but the whole prelude and the aftermath. At the same time, he tells us why this was such a crucial event in the history of Canada, even though it didn't mean very much to the outcome of the war itself. Brilliant on every level. The only downside? There wasn't quite enough of it.

I ought to be starting this in a couple of days. I'll be listening to the audiobook. Looking forward to it.

This is not turning out to be very successful so far, but I'm going to give it one more try.

If you nominated a book for January, please feel free to nominate it for February.

The nomination period will end and the poll will go up on the 12th of January.

Eligible are

1)Any Challenge book that already has a discussion thread in the group forum.

OR

2) Any fiction or non-fiction book written by a Canadian, set in Canada, or about Canada that is not on the Challenge list (i.e. the canlit-challenge group bookshelf).

I will also be adding December's pick to the poll, since there hasn't been any discussion of it so far.

If you have any comments or suggestions about how to get more people participating, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Great to have you in the group Julia, CluckingBell, and Jeanna!

Julia: I'm a big Davies fan too. A Mixture of Frailties is coming up soon (actually I think it's supposed to be a "Currently Reading" book, but I forgot to change the shelf), so if you're interested in reading it (or re-reading it), I'd love the company. I haven't read Fall on Your Knees, so I can't recommend something like it, but maybe if you post on the Recommendations thread, someone will have a suggestion for you.

CluckingBell: "There's a whole literary tradition within an afternoon's drive I know almost nothing about!" A whole cultural and historical tradition too. You really get a sense of the differences when you read the literature. Even though I was born here and did all of my schooling here, we read mostly British and American literature too--there were a few notable exceptions, but not enough in my opinion. That's why I started the Challenge in the first place. I felt almost completely ignorant of our own literary tradition by comparison to what I knew of the British and American canons. Saw your post about FFG. I'll probably read it this weekend.

Jeanna: Hope you have some great reading experiences with us. Happy New Year. :)

I haven't quite finished last year's books, but this one is nice and short, so I'm hoping when I do pick it up, I'll be able to read it quickly.

I didn't make it. I'm still on Pauline Johnson. Other books are waiting for me, but I'm still going to read this exclusively until I'm done. Half a year should be more than enough time to be reading one book!