Bury Your Dead

by Louise Penny

I read this weeks ago but haven't had time to write my thoughts about it until now and, only now, because I have the flu.   I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC from Penny's editor, Hope Dellon which meant I was able to read this before it is released in the U.S. on Sep 28.  The offset is that I have to wait even longer for the next installment.

This is #6 in the Inspector Armand Gamache mysteries series.  Like the other five I was able to dissolve into the story and feel like I was home even though I was far away in Old Town Quebec in the middle of winter.  That doesn't sound very much like home or even very cozy, but some how Louise Penny's writing pulls you in and wraps it's arms around you and you feel like you are right where you should be - right in front of that roaring fire, tucked into an overstuffed chair, covered by a lap quilt with your hands on a warm mug of hot cocoa. 

Expect to get caught up in three different mysteries at once.  Penny deftly winds and weaves three different mysteries into one with the common thread or theme of mistakes running through all three. Even though the main story is set in Quebec City the familiars from Three Pines are not left out.  One of the storylines takes Belvoir back to that quaint village where he has to deal with the inhabitants firsthand, without Gamache to shield him.  Be prepared for a few surprises.

Before I was able to read my copy I shared it with my mother and husband who are both in love with Penny's gift for writing and telling remarkable tales.  You can read Candleman's review of Bury Your Dead HERE.  After my turn the book has made it's way to my daughter and then to my sister.  We are all big fans.

Still Life

by Louise Penny

Many of you have read this book over the years. It was your enthusiastic reviews that encouraged me to pick this up. I loved it!

Still Life is the 1st of four in the Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series. This one is set in a village south of Montreal. I don't know if any of the others will continue with this same group of people or if Gamache will be tracking down the killer in another area. I can see that he may have to move to a different area if that's were the murder occurs, but I would love to come back to the same people in this book.

Penny does such a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters and making them real-life people. I felt like I wanted to move into the neighborhood and get together with those characters as they celebrate life. I wish I could have seen inside Jane's house. Don't you? (those of you that have read this) And didn't you really like Inspector Gamache? I wish I knew how to pronounce his name.

Last summer we visited Montreal and a cute little village southeast of Montreal named Knowlton. It was such a beautiful area and I pictured the little village in the book looking something like it. And there were some mention of 'Canadian' icons that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't visited. I don't know how many Canadian Tires we passed on our trip before we learned it was an eating establishment and not a car hardware store. And when Ruth stood up at the funeral and started singing, "What do you do with a drunken sailor" I really enjoyed a good laugh. We listened to that and many other shantys as we drove for weeks through Canada. This book helped to rekindle those good memories I have of my visit to Canada.

I thought the mystery was a good tale and I didn't figure it out until it was obvious who the murderer was. In addition, the writing was superb. I used quite a few book darts to mark passages that I really liked. This passage about a mother of a troubled teenage boy brought me to tears:

"She'd tried praying, but had forgotten the words. Instead she kept repeating the only thing she could remember: Little Boy blue, come blow your horn, the sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. She's recited it over and over to Philippe when he was little but now she couldn't remember the rest. It seemed to matter, even though it wasn't itself a prayer. it was more than that. It was proof she'd been a good mother. Proof she'd loved her children. Proof, whispered the little girl's voice inside her head, that it isn't your fault. But she couldn't remember the rest of the nursery rhyme. So maybe it was her fault."

This passage reminded me of the feelings I had when my father died:

"All Quiet of the western front, thought Gamache, listening to this gentle life. His magical thinking allowed him to be surprised that when such a good soul dies it isn't remarked. The bells of the church didn't set themselves off. The mice and deer didn't cry out. The earth didn't shudder. It should have."

I thought I had book 2 sitting on my shelf, but since I couldn't find it and didn't have it entered in Library Thing* I got online and ordered it. It's so fun to have it to look forward to.

*neither of these things guarantees it's not somewhere in my house since it's hit and miss with me.

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams

by Wayne Johnston

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The novel is about Newfoundland and centers on Joseph Smallwood, the real-life political figure who ushers the country through confederation with Canada and then becomes the first premier.

In writing a work of the imagination in part inspired by historical events, Johnston wanted “to fashion out of the formless infinitude of ‘facts’…a work of art that would express a felt, emotional truth... Adherence to the ‘facts’ will not lead you safely through the labyrinthine pathways of the human heart.” Johnston was 19 when he met the real Joe Smallwood; he was just starting out as a journalist, and Smallwood was less than complimentary about Johnston’s reporting. Although the politician died only in 1991, little was written about his life before the age of fifty, allowing Johnston some license to imagine his formative influences.

“I wanted to write a big book about Newfoundland in scope and in vision. I couldn't think of a bigger character whose life touched on more themes, involved the whole of Newfoundland more completely than Smallwood did.” Smallwood saw Newfoundland in terms of “unrealized talent and unfulfilled ambition”; his life was somehow emblematic of the land. Moreover, says Johnston, “He was so prone to making mistakes and so fallible, and he combines so many contradictions in his personality. His quest, like that of many great literary figures of the past century, is to overcome these divisions.” The completely invented character of Fielding, meanwhile, “is like me”, says Johnston. “I share her view of Newfoundland.”

The title of the book, Johnston says, evokes “the nostalgia Newfoundlanders have felt for the possibilities of the island, and that they still have for the future. Joe is always searching for something commensurate with the greatness of the land itself, but he can't find it, and it's driving him mad…Newfoundland is that kind of place. It makes you want to live up to the landscape, but on the other hand it offers you no resources to do so. There's always this constant yearning that at least for my part helped me to start writing.”

You can read more of Johnston's essay about Unrequited Dreams by clicking on the link.

Johnston creates a larger-than-life character in Sheilagh Fielding who counterbalances Smallwood's smaller-than-life personality. It was their relationship that most engaged my interest. I was happy to discover that Johnston has written a whole novel about Fielding, titled The Custodian of Paradise. Next to Newfoundland itself, Fielding was the most complex character. She had depth, mystique, struggles and strength. Whereas Smallwood lacked all those traits. And yet, on the surface he appears to be an upstanding citizen and she a retrobait.

Most of the book is told in the1st person narrative with sprinklings of personal letters, Newfoundland history, and newspaper articles written by Fielding. I thought this was a very effective way of helping the reader understand Newfoundland better and to provide other views of events and people than just Smallwoods.

I would love to sit in on book discussion groups all across Newfoundland when they are discussing this book. The treats would definitely take a back seat to the lively and emotional discussion. To many in Newfoundland Smallwood is a hero and to the rest he is a traitor. I can understand both sides. Actually, I would welcome a good discussion of this book with any bookclub.

I would like to have had a map of Newfoundland with major areas and cities highlighted and also a map of St. John's included in the book. I lived in St John's when I was little and visited there this summer, but was unfamiliar with the area called the brow. I am assuming it's the peninsula of land where Ft Amherst Lighthouse is located.

I highly recommend this book. If you have any connection to Newfoundland it's a must. If you don't, I think you'd still be immensely satisfied.

Yellowknife

by Steve Zipp

Thank-you to Steve Zipp for sending me a copy of his book for the Canadian Reading Challenge. This book was a bit unsettling for me because it left me with so many questions when it ended, but it also stimulated a search for a few answers. I found myself looking at Yellowknife on Google Earth, discovering that it's bigger than I originally thought. I was awed at how far Yellowknife is from the U.S. and wondering if my husband and I would ever find ourselves in that neck of the woods.

I also read a few other reviews. I found one from the Danforth Review that helped me understand the book a bit better: "It would be impossible to try and summarize the plot of this book. Set in YK just before Y2K, part of the story is about disposing of a missile found in a tree; part is about love and broken love; part is about the corrupting influence of diamond mine speculators; part is about hockey; part is about Franklin’s legacy of getting lost; part is about scientists and the dumb government bureaucrats who stifle them. And there’s a lake monster and some talking animals near the end." --by Amy Reiswig

The book has several main characters, some of which never come in contact with the others. And there are many different story lines. There's Danny who comes to Yellowknife in search of a new life, who winds up living in the dump for a while where he meets Freddy. Danny also does some house-sitting for a couple. While house-sitting he discovers an underground tunnel that's part of a gold mine.

Nora is engaged to Hugo, but they have a big fight and Hugo leaves and never returns. Nora's office is moved to the basement of the building and she ends up sleeping there - under her desk. One night the wall crumbles and she wanders into the underground tunnel where she meets a dentist and his wife.

Hugo is saved from a near drowning, but he never goes back into Yellowknife or to Nora. At first he has amnesia, but even after he's memory returns he doesn't return to Yellowknife

When we next meet up with Freddy he is with his 4-yr-old son, Tyrone, who doesn't speak, but just plays his game boy.

I enjoyed this book even though I didn't always know what was going on. As I read over the discussion questions provided on Steve's website, I realized I missed a lot of innuendo and hidden meaning. Some days I wished I'd have majored in English instead of Science.

Some fun passages:

"Government had a way of warping thought and twisting speech."

"Her predilection for travelling had a whiff of obsession about it, and her inquisitiveness was undermined by an earnest desire to lead others to improvement."

"At length he decided they (stories) were a way of offering advice without being confrontational. Harmony was essential for people who lived in isolated close-knit groups. Instead of issuing orders, they told stories."

Anne of Avonlea

by L.M. Montgomery

What a delightful book. I was a bit worried that after Anne finished school (in Anne of Green Gables) the series would loose some of its magic. Not so. Although I missed Matthew, the addition of the twins was fun. Davy is definitely a kindred spirit for Anne.

I used lots of bookdarts in this book. I'll probably use a dozen more when I reread it. Here are some of the ones I marked:

"We make our own lives wherever we are, after all. They are broad or narrow according to what we put into them, not what we get out." --Mrs. Allan

"I wish you could think first and do things afterwards, 'cause then you wouldn't do them." --Davy

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." --Anne

"That is one good thing about this world . . . there are always sure to be more springs." --Anne

Charlotta the Fourth admired Anne wholeheartedly. It was not that she though her so very handsom. Diana Barry's beauty of crimson cheek and black curls was much more to Charlotta the Fourth's taste than moonshine charm of luminous gray eyes and the pale, ever changing roses of her cheeks.
"But I'd rather look like you than be pretty," she told Anne sincerely.
Anne laughed, sipped the honey from the tribute and cast away the sting. She was used to taking her compliments mixed. . . . Anne herself would never believe that she had any claim to beauty. When she looked in the glass all she saw was a little pale face with seven freckles on the nose thereof. Her mirror never revealed to her the elusive, ever-varying play of feeling that came and went over her features like a rosy illuminating flame, or the charm of dream and laughter alternating in her big eyes.

"Now where is the romance in all that?" asked Marilla.
"Oh, there isn't any, when you put it that way," gasped Anne, rather as if somebody had thrown cold water over her. "I suppose that's how it looks in prose. But it's very different if you look at it through poetry . . . and I think it's nicer."
Marilla glanced at the radiant young face and refrained from further sarcastic comments. Perhaps some realization came to her that after all it was better to have, like Anne, "the vision and the faculty divine" . . . that gift which the world cannot bestow or take away, of looking at life through some transfiguring . . . or revealing? . . . medium, whereby everything seemed appareled in celestial light, wearing a glory and a freshness not visible to those who, like herself and Charlotta the Fourth, looked at things only through prose.

Anne of Avonlea was published in 1909 - the year my grandmother would have turned ten, almost 100 years ago! It's story is still as fresh and mood-altering today.

A big THANK-YOU to Raidergirl3 who presented me with my copy of Anne of Avonlea when we visited last summer in the PEI. Every I picked up or laid the book down I would be flooded by those memories in the Pub, our good visit, and the bagpipes marching by. Delightful evening!

Far North

by Will Hobbs

Another audio book listened to on our Arizona trip. We really felt the juxtaposition of settings: the book setting was the Northwest Territories during the winter with temperatures as cold as -40 degrees; the trip setting was southern Utah, northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon with temps between 60 and 75 degrees. Add to that the great contrast in scenery. It may have been more in keeping with the drive to listen to a Tony Hillerman, but I have no regrets. Far North is full of adventure, action and drama. We enjoyed every stop along the way, but when we got back in the car we couldn't wait to turn the audio on.

This description is from the author's website:

From the window of a small float plane, 15-year-old Gabe Rogers is getting his first look at Canada's magnificent Northwest Territories with Raymond Providence, his roommate from boarding school. Below is the spectacular Nahanni River: wall-to-wall whitewater racing between sheer cliffs and plunging over Virginia Falls. The pilot sets the plane down on the lake-like surface of the upper river for a closer look at the thundering falls. Suddenly the engine quits. The only sound is a dull roar downstream, as the Cessna drifts helplessly toward the falls. . . . With the brutal subarctic winter fast approaching, Gabe and Raymond soon find themselves stranded in Deadmen Valley. Trapped in a frozen world of moose, wolves, and bears, two boys from vastly different cultures come to depend on each other for their very survival.

A book for grades 6 and up that will grab the interest of young men (and old men and women, too).

*An aside: The boys in Far North attended a school in Yellowknife. I have a book from author Steve Zipp that's titled Yellowknife which I'm looking forward to reading. I learned that Yellowknife is the capital of the Norwest Territories.

Random Passage

by Bernice Morgan

Random Passage is the story of 2 families from very different backgrounds who come to settle on Cape Random, Newfoundland in the early 1800s. Living on the cape when the families arrive is Thomas Hutchings who came to Newfoundland the year before to escape his past in Europe.

Spanning 15 years in the lives of this small community, this is a story of survival, relationships, personalities, unspoken memories and unspoken love. The focus is on Lavinia Andrews who was 17-years-old when her family left England because of legal problems involving her brother.

Thomas Hutchings is person of intrigue. Happily, the last few chapters of the book tell his story. I was a bit worried that I would never learn his story.

I liked this book a lot and think it provided an honest look at life on the shore of Newfoundland in that time period. I was struck with the isolation and dependence on each other for life. I am kicking myself that I didn't buy Morgan's sequel, Waiting for Time, from the ferry's book store on our ride to or back from Newfoundland. I had Random Passage on my bookshelf at home, but didn't want to buy the next book until I knew I liked the first.

M and I did drive out to see the sight created for the TV mini-series (We did a LOT of driving while in Newfoundland - loved it!) Anyway the spot is very remote even with the help of paved roads. It was very beautiful in the summer, but I can't even imagine living there in the winter. in the conditions they had.

Lavinia's thoughts/feelings after her first winter. "Despite all, things break, crumble, rust, disintegrate, fade, lose their shine, until it seems to Lavinia that life itself has turned grey. She longs to see colour, to smell green, to taste green, is in a rage of impatience for spring."

Thomas and Ned became best friends even though they were so different. This is something Thomas thought about Ned, "His mind was amazing. Ned could encompass a new thought, grasp it, examine it, twist and turn it and hold it up to the light until you saw what a wonderful shining thing it was."

I like this decription of Mary. I think it may be a local colloquialism." Mary is not a subtle woman, and her anger is frightening, but when she hwas achieved what she wants, she reverts to silence and good sense. As Meg has often said, Mary has no side doors."

The Word for Home

by Joan Clark

I could have read this for the 2nds Challenge because this is my second book by Joan Clark, the first was Latitudes of Melt, which I enjoyed immensely.

The Word for Home is a young adult novel set in pre-Confederation Newfoundland. It's the story of 2 sisters who used to live in Canada, but after their mother died, their father decided to try his luck prospecting for gold in the interior of Newfoundland. With no home of their own, Sadie and flora must stay in a cold, grim boarding house in St. John's.

I liked this book and it got better with each page. I enjoyed getting a feel for the time period and St. John's.

Sadie's description of the headmistress and of her father showed great insight: "She had a man's way of seeming to occupy most of the available space. That is, most men except Sadie's father. Russ Morin was a spindly-legged, narrow-chested man who moved like a dancer, never occupying a solid block of space for long, instead searching for openings he could easily duck through."

Birds in Fall

by Brad Kessler

It was a bit of coincidence to read Birds in Fall right after reading Bel Canto. The books had such similar feelings. The mood that was created had to do with isolation from the real world and, too, the loss of normal time patterns. Both deal with a disaster that puts the main characters in a type of limbo. I talked about that mood that was described so well in Bel Canto in the review just before this one.

The encapsulation into a temporary existence in Bel Canto was the result of members at a party for dignitaries being held hostage at the hands of terrorists. In Birds in Fall a different type of catastrophe produces a similar situation for a group of people who lost loved ones in a plane crash off the coast of Nova Scotia. The airlines arrange for families of the crash victims to fly and stay in Nova Scotia for a brief period of time. Some of those family members stay at a little inn very near the site of the crash. Each person is dealing with his or her own trauma that insulates them from the others. As the days go by little shared moments cause the cocoon to open and include the other's. Instead of disappearing the cocoon grows to surround the group and keep them in a time warp as they deal with the losses they are suffering.

Bel Canto was told by a woman author and Birds in Fall by a male author. The stories are different and both are wonderfully told. But reading them so close together I couldn't help but be aware of how each author skillfully depicted a feeling, a mood, of life being placed on hold. People going through the motions of life, but cut off from the normal work-a-day life they had so recently been involved in.

There was a lot of symbolism involving the migration of birds. Here's one example:

"How is a story like a bird?"
"It keeps us aloft. It flies. It goes from one place and lands at another, seemingly at random. But its movements are carefully choreographed, and if you look closely, you'll know exactly where it will next perch."

Shadows on the Rock

by Willa Cather

I can't tell you what a treat it has been for me to read this book. Having spent 6 years of my life in Lincoln, Nebraska I knew about Willa Cather. Or so I thought. Cather also lived in Nebraska. She attended the University of Nebraska and wrote books that took place in Nebraska and New Mexico. We were taught about her in English classes.

So imagine my shock when I asked for suggestions of books with settings in Canada and Qinsina suggested a book by Willa Cather. I called my mother who graduated from the University of Nebraska (while raising 7 children) as an English major. She was as surprised as I was that Cather had written a book set in Quebec City. Qinsina included a great website that featured a Quebec tour of the places talked about in the book. The tour was prepared by John J. Murphy of Brigham Young University. I added the tour to my Microsoft Streets and Trips map. I bookmooched a copy of the book and packed it for the trip.

I don't remember just where we were on our trip when I decided I just couldn't carry that heavy Devil in the White City around in my carry-all and put in instead, Shadows on the Rock. I only read 5-6 pages a day - very slow going. There were times when we just sat in a park or by a lake or the ocean, and even though I held my book in front of me I didn't read because I was just soaking in the environment. So I didn't finish the book before we reached Quebec City.

Shadows on the Rock is about an apothecary and his daughter, Cecile, who came to Quebec in the late 1600's with their patron, Count Frontenac. Cecile describes looking up from the front door of the apothecary to the Frontenac chateau. Below are a couple pictures we took looking up at the Frontenac Hotel from Old Town Quebec. Standing there and walking around the area gave me a real feel for Cather's descriptions.

Obviously, there are more people milling around than in the time of the book. Many of the buildings have been rebuilt on the original foundations, but a few of the buildings date back to the late 1600's. This next picture shows the little church that Cecile and her friend visited that was dedicated to the infant Jesus.

We have pictures of the basilica that Bishop Laval enlarged and also his seminary, but the quality is not so great. The basilica has had to be rebuilt after a couple of fires, but it is the first basilica in North America and Bishop Laval was the first bishop. In the book he is depicted as a kind, humble man.

One more note: Shadows on the Rock was in my big cloth carry-all the night we attended the International Fireworks Competition held at Montmorency Falls near Quebec City. We arrived a couple hours early. I thought I would read some. It poured until a few minutes after the fireworks started and my bag and everything in it was soaked, including my book. I had to use the hair dryer to try and dry it when we got back to the hotel. It still has the water stains along the bottom. Good memories!

Shipping News

by Annie Proulx

I have mixed feelings about this book. There were times it seemed as if the author was making a list. The descriptions seemed broad at first, but eventually I could almost picture the main character. There was a certain Newfoundland feel to the book. Please don't ask me what I mean by that, because I haven't quite vocalized it to myself yet. I'm glad I listened to this book, but I'm not sure that I would recommend it to anyone else. I doubt I will ever reread it, though I will probably watch the movie.

The best part of my experience with this book was listening to it while driving in Newfoundland. Sharing this experience with my husband helped because I'm not sure I would have persevered without his encouragement. Discussing the book in view of our experiences and the sights of the island helped, too.

We talked with a nice man at the Bookworm Bookstore in Gander who didn't think highly of the book. He said Proulx didn't do her research and that there were too many things that didn't ring true of Newfoundland life. For one thing, no one eats squid burgers.

*Just a side note* We bought a copy of The Day the World Came to Town from Brad at the Bookworm. He regaled us with some wonderful, personal stories of that time when the 747 had to land in Gander due to the tragedy with the twin towers on 9-11. After he and I had talked for quite awhile I turned around and noticed another customer. I apologized and said someone should have told me I was talking too much. They said you'd never hear a Newfoundlander say anything like that. That's what they do best is talk! I shook hands with both men and we left the bookstore.

Anne of Green Gables

By Lucy Maude Montgomery

What can I say? This book was totally delightful. I can hardly wait to reread it and to read more in the series. This is my first time reading Anne, though I’ve seen the movie. Loved them both. As in most cases, the book is even better than the movie. Isn’t that girl adorable? Oh, I love her and her positive attitude. Her outlook on life and her use of such delectable words brought many a smile and several good laughs. It was fun listening to it with Candleman on our trip to PEI, where we are looking forward to seeing the musical.

Books About . . .

I'm asking for more help. Before my trip in July I would like to read some books about or set in the places I'm visiting. If you know of or have read any books set in Toronto, Montreal , Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia , Newfoundland, or Prince Edward Islands - I would appreciate any recommendations - fiction or nonfiction. (Of course, I know about the Anne of Green Gables books. Dh and I are going to listen to them on our drive.) I also have Shipping News checked out already. There's a real good chance that I won't be finishing all the challenges I've listed on my sidebar, but I think I'll still finish up some of them.


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