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Greetings!!

I read that it is “Dogust��. What is your favourite Dog book?

We are midway through August and the summer is racing by. What have you been reading this week? What is next?

Happy Friday!

This week I read Lanny, which is a strange little novel, but I liked it. It has a bit of a fable/fairy tale thing going on, but it works. I've now read three books from the Booker long list and will probably wait until the short list is announced to read more.

I'm still rereading Anne of Avonlea on audio. It puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it.

I'm also about halfway through A History of Loneliness, which deals with the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church through the eyes of an Irish priest who seems to have been willfully blind to what has been going on around him. The novel jumps around in time with each chapter, so it's one of those novels you slowly piece together.

Good morning,

I finished a very good book of early short stories by A.S. Byatt Sugar and Other Stories that prompted me to take some other of Byatt's books out of the library. And I also enjoyed News of the World.

I'm about to start my second book for the women in translation challenge: The Diving Pool: Three Novellas

@ susan, glad to hear you liked Lanny. I've been wavering on whether to add it to my tbr.

My favourite dog book is probably Red Dog by Louis de Bernieres even though it made me cry.

This week I read City of Girls and loved it! As far as I know, this is only the second novel by Liz Gilbert, and I’m two for two on loving them. I have to give Eat, Pray, Love props as well, but I’m more of a fiction kind of gal.

After a summer of carelessly picking up whatever books come my way, I’ve realized I haven’t been reading Canadian at all. So I chose Tigana for my next book and I’m going to listen to Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City. However, just a few chapters in, I decided to give up on Tigana. I think it could be fantastic, but the writing style is more than my little brain can process right now! I think I need something light and breezy to sink my teeth into.

My favourite dog book is The Art of Racing in the Rain. I really want to see the movie too.

My reading issue at present is probably because I'm still not over The World That We Knew and City of Girls. It's not often that I read two books that I absolutely adored in such a short span of time.

@Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods�� , I totally agree with you about Tigana! I read it because it was on the CBC 100 books to read list, but it was so "wordy" and some parts went on and on!
I have City of Girls but I also want to read The Signature of All Things.

Happy Friday! I can't believe we only have 2 more weeks before the end of summer!

This week I finished reading You Think It, I'll Say It for my in-person book club. It was just a meh for me as I don't like the genre of short stories so I was biased going in. Some stories were better than others. I also finished listening to A Life in Parts and Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life which were both fantastic to listen to! Bryan Cranston and Michael Caine had great voices and their stories were fascinating to listen to!
I am currently reading Betrayal in Time,and listening to The Sociopath Next Door.
Have a great weekend!

Oh, how did the summer go so fast! Been busy outside so not reading as much. I did just finish The Witches of St. Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones. It was pretty interesting for historical fiction, but it didn't really hold my attention. I had to borrow a second time to finish reading.

I also loved The Art of Racing in the Rain, but more recently loved Fifteen Dogs.

Oh my goodness, I feel so opposite to everyone! I loved Tigana and did not like The Art of Racing in the Rain. I just finished Anne of Green Gables, which I did enjoy like the majority of people, and in a totally different Canadian direction I am going to read Pillow by Andrew Battershill. I won it through 49th shelf and am super excited about it. I am also stuck in the middle of a couple of books because I couldn't finish the audiobook of before they had to go back to the library. We can't renew audiobooks so that makes it really tricky for long ones. The wait is driving me bonkers.

Hello eveyone, have not posted for a bit as I have been at the cottage, but have been doing quite a bit of reading. ON the Can lit front I read Anil's Ghost which was very good, and French Exit which was also quite a good read. I also read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and Winter's Bone, both solid reads, and I listened in audio to Normal People which worked really well in audio.

Hope everyone enjoys what is left of summer.

Happy Friday everyone! I have not been good at checking in every week this summer. Not that I have been vacationing or anything...just farming/gardening/working on our house. Since I last checked in I finished The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885, which I found quite interesting. It now has me wanting to take the train through the mountains. Next up was Moon of the Crusted Snow, which I loved. I'm not usually much for post-apocalyptic novels, but this one is so chilling because it is very plausible. I'm excited to see that Waubgeshig Rice will be at StarFest in St. Albert in October. Next was The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose for the Alice Munro Bingo square. I really enjoyed reading a collection of stories about the same characters, as I often dislike short stories as the characters can't be developed as much as I would like. I have now broken my long CanLit streak as I am readingCatherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. I'm not sure how long this one will take me, as the Fringe Festival is on in Edmonton, one of my favorite events of the year!

Greetings!!

@Susan and@Barbara - I really enjoyed rereading the first couple Anne books and finishing the series. LM Montgomery truly wrote some amazing books! I am slowly making my way through all of her books. Have you read the Emily series yet? I enjoyed The Blue Castle for this year's bingo.

@Storyheart - it does seem that all the dog books make us cry!

@Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods�� - Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City is truly eye opening and a book that all Canadians should read!

@May - always such great suggestions for audio! i wish that my library had them all!

@Lisa and Allison - The Art of Racing in the Rain - i reluctantly picked up this book but loved it! i was skeptical about a book from a dog's perspective but it was great. i hope that the movie does it justice!

@Heather(Gibby) - welcome back!! i admit that i did not love French Exit but perhaps it is a book that you have to read at the right time! Anil's Ghost has been on my TBR for far too long!

@Gail - some series tomes on your list! i am not always big on short stories but Alice Munro just sucks you right in!

For me, i have finished Dear Life for the Alice Munro BINGO square, Hysteria for my in-person book club (we all chose books from the Evergreen Awards short list) and yesterday finished The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel which was a great refresher before Atwood's new book is released. I am not a huge graphic novel fan and did struggle with the pictures of the characters which were not what I had in mind after watching some of the early series episodes and imagining them in the book.

Currently, i am in the midst of Bad Feminist and In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons from 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules. Our in person book them is memoirs of strong women for September so i plan on reading a few.

Happy Weekend!
I just got back from visiting a friend in the Interior.
My favorite dog book is Timbuktu. Mr. Bones' story was touching.

@Susan, I've added A History of Loneliness to my library TBR list. Thanks for the recommendation

@Gail, I'm glad that you enjoyed Moon of the Crusted Snow. I hope to read it soon. Your description has made the anticipation larger.

I've finished a few books this week:
Children of Nazis: The Sons and Daughters of Himmler, Göring, Höss, Mengele, and Others�� Living with a Father's Monstrous Legacy - I have an interest in Holocaust stories and have wondered what it might be like to be so closely related to some of the biggest criminals of all time. These stories are chilling at times, sad at others.
This isn't a good book, though. The author used already published stories to "regurgitate" another book. She admits to meeting/interviewing only one of the people in the book.

No One Can Hurt Him Anymore - this poor child fell between the cracks of the System. His story was sad but this book wasn't terribly well written, I thought. However, the child's story was clear and sad.

The Inner Circle - I listened to this while out jogging. It was horrible and if I'd had the chance to get to the library for a new audio I would have stopped listening. The main character was one of those clueless types that had the story happened in real life would have been killed off in the first few pages. It never got better. He was clueless. Then the ending was unrealistic. All in all, a yawner of a story.
This was my first book by this author and I won't be reading any more. Too many better books out there.

We are staying at our cottage in Qualicum Beach but it never feels like there is enough time to relax with all the things here that have to be cleaned or repaired. Yesterday we washed all the windows so we can now enjoy the views of our lovely back yard. But I finished a real winner, Plainsong by Kent Haruf, and I’m half-heartedly reading a book left here by a guest, Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. This is a big ambitious story yet I just can’t feel connected to the characters.

The cottage sounds like a wonderful retreat, Elinor.

Kent Haruf is such a marvelous writer. I really like his books.