A Complicated Kindness

A Complicated Kindness (Knopf Canada, 2004) by Miriam Toews
J.M. Bridgemen nominated this book for the Top 40. Here's what he had to say:
"I love how Nomi Nickel's child-woman's voice captures the tension of being caught in that holding pattern between Grade 12 and the start of real life. As she negotiates boyfriends, sex, birth control, final exams, summer jobs, she is also contending with abandonment, betrayal, grief, and possible mental illness in the family. Nomi kicks against religious constraints, holier-than-thou relatives, and the questionable love of a faith which puts heaven ahead of family. Constant driving, pushers and pit parties, church and Hymn Sing, and distant city lights capture the teenage restlessness of Nomi's schizoid world."
Accolades: A Complicated Kindness took home the 2006 Canada Reads crown. But the tale of Nomi Nickel was a winner from the get-go: in 2004, the year the book came out, it won the Governor General's Award for Fiction and the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Not bad for the memoir of a misfit Mennonite!

I am slogging through this one.  Not a page turner.  Hard to read.  No punctuation for dialogue. 
Okay, finished it.  It did have some nice moments and I can appreciate the sense of family that this girl experiences, even if it's not the same as what I experience, but it was still not a very memorable book.  I kept waiting for something to happen.  Thumbs down for me. 

Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake (McClelland & Stewart, 2003) by Margaret Atwood
Susan Farrell recommended Atwood's classic dystopian tale with the following comments:
"Who else creates something so readable that stays in our head for so long after we have closed the book? How close are we to the world Margaret Atwood paints? As we chip away at the morality and conscience of our world, and become desensitized to the depravity and violence which results from that, we set ourselves on a course that cannot be stopped. This warning about the eroding of the soul of our culture and our humanity — our arts — promises a bleak future if we fail to heed it. I love this book because it is smart, scary and so timely."

Accolades: Oryx and Crake was shortlisted for a slew of prestigious awards, including the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Man Booker Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award.

Not quite sure what I thought of this book.  There were some interesting ideas of what our future may hold if we continue on our path of overuse, but it wasn't a book that I was dying to get back to, like some of the others.  I have read a few other Margaret Atwood novels.  This was not my favourite of hers.

Unless

Unless (HarperCollins Canada, 2003) by Carol Shields
Carol Shields's exploration of how a mother's life is turned upside down when her daughter drops out of university and becomes a beggar on the streets of Toronto may not be one of her most famous works, but it's certainly one of her most loved. Julie Buckley was one of several Shields fans showing the Canadian icon some love in the reader recommendation process:
"I read this book a number of years ago and the essence of it has remained with me all these years later. Whenever I see a teenager who appears homeless on the streets, I remember the character in this book. It reminds me that everyone has a story that has shaped them up to this stage in their life and they are not looking to be judged, rather to just be seen. This person on the street has loved ones who are often unable to understand why they have chosen this way to live."
Accolades: Unless won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and scored a place on the shortlist of numerous other awards, including the Man Booker Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award and the Orange Prize. It also won high praise from critics world-wide; The Guardian's reviewer called Shields "an elegist of the everyday," adding, "We should celebrate her achievement while we can."

Just finished it this morning.  I have only read one other Carol Shields novel, "The Stone Diaries" and actually studied it in university.  I remember how interesting and unique it was that that novel was a piece of fiction, and yet Shields adds dates, pictures, etc to make you feel you are reading non-fiction.  She does this a little in "Unless" also.  This was a very fluid and easy book to read, even though the prose and subject matter were full of depth.  Her character sturcture is so easy you end up carrying them with you during the day in your mind.  Thumbs up.

Lullabies for Little Criminals

Lullabies for Little Criminals (HarperCollins Canada, 2006) by Heather O'Neill
Sharon O'Hara felt Lullabies deserved a second crack at the Canada Reads title. In her nomination, she wrote:
"I love this book because it is raw, startling and hopeful. It evoked such an emotional response because it felt so real. It shows us a part of Canada we don't want to see but need to acknowledge."
Accolades: Along with the 2007 Canada Reads title, Lullabies for Little Criminals won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and made the shortlist for the Governor General's Award for Fiction and the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award.

Just finished it!  I don't know if I could have finished it if it had been a true story though.  There were many times that I had to almost stop reading.  Having a daughter not a lot younger than Baby, it was tough to think of any child in this position.  I will give it a thumbs up, though.  I did enjoy it, just sort of glad that it's over.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi (Knopf Canada, 2001) by Yann Martel
Perhaps Life of Pi and The Book of Negroes should battle it out for most celebrated book of the decade. That said, both had major impact on the CanLit scene and on readers around the world. It won Sarah Dick's vote. She wrote:
"Life of Pi is by far one of the best books of the past decade. The intriguing and memorable story of Pi Patel is fast paced, full of surprises and an overall wonderful read. This is one of my favourites and a novel that can be read over and over again."
Accolades: Life of Pi came up short in the 2003 Canada Reads debate, but won big elsewhere, capturing the Man Book Prize and the Hugh MacLennan Prize. It was also optioned as a film, with director Ang Lee at the helm.

Life of Pi will always hold a special place in my heart.  Even at the end of it, I wasn't sure if the story was literal or metaphorical.  I don't know if I do even to this day!


Mike and I both read this book on our honeymoon.  Then, when we got back, we got a cat and what a better tribute to Richard the tiger than to name our cat Ricky.


This book will definitely get a thumbs up from me.

The Book of Negroes

The Book of Negroes (HarperCollins Canada, 2007) by Lawrence Hill
Possibly the most popular Canadian novel ever written, the remarkable story of Aminata Diallo won Margaret Lenn's vote for the Top 40. She wrote:
"This work of historical fiction is one of the finest books I have ever read. Telling the story through the eyes of a young girl was masterfully perfected. Historically correct and spellbinding, the story captivated me from cover to cover."
Accolades: In addition to claiming the 2009 Canada Reads crownThe Book of Negroes was awarded the 2007 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.


I read this book in Australia in January of 2010.  It was wonderful and one of those books that I couldn't wait to get back to.  I had to keep reminding myself that this was writtten by a man but through a woman's eyes.  Definitely a thumbs up!

My Challenge

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright
Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant
Conceit by Mary Novik
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
Drive-by Saviours by Chris Benjamin
Elle by Douglas Glover
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Far to Go by Alison Pick
February by Lisa Moore
Galore by Michael Crummey
Heave by Christy Ann Conlin
Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
Moody Food by Ray Robertson
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Room by Emma Donoghue
Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop
Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
The Birth House by Ami McKay
The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Fallen by Stephen Finucan
The Girls Who Saw Everything by Sean Dixon
The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe
The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart
The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
Twenty-Six by Leo McKay Jr.
Unless by Carol Shields

I feel that we as Canadians are a fairly educated and interesting group.  I also feel that often I read books that aren't necessarily educating but only interesting.  These 40 books have been selected by Canadians as the most important and interesting novels of the last 40 years.  So I figure it's a great place to start.


My challenge is to read these 40 books by this time next year.  Now, there are a few that I have read, so I am cheating a little, but I will give each book a thumbs up or thumbs down after I have read it. 


Let the reading begin!