Author: ALU Editor
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Under the Cover: For Want of a Fir Tree
In recognition of World Day of Social Justice (February 20th) we’re taking a look under the cover of For Want of a Fir Tree: Ukraine Undone (Linda Leith) by Frédérick Lavoie, translated by Donald Winkler. Inspired by the Russian dismantling of the Crimean Peninsula, this cautionary tale delivers the devastating reality of a country torn from peace, desperately searching…
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Where in Canada: The healing water of the North Mountain
If a cabin in the woods to retreat from the city grind is your dream, you’ll find your place in Scott Fotheringham’s atmospheric novel The Rest is Silence (Goose Lane Editions). Equal parts environmental meditation and page-turner, the novel follows one man’s self-enforced exile to the backwoods of Nova Scotia and the impending doom of…
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In Review: The Week of February 11th
This week was a real love fest with a bookish matchmaking quiz (find your next read!), Valentine’s-Day-inspired bookplates (easy to download!), books for all varieties of love (we forgot pizza though!), love poems, and more.
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Chappy Hour: Broken Hearts Cocktail Red + Poems for Ingrid
Valentine’s Day may be over, but love still lingers with Don Brestler’s Poems for Ingrid (Bayeux Arts), a collection of love poems of the hard-to-move-on variety. Pair with our Broken Hearts Cocktail Red and a box of kleenex, just in case. Read on for the recipe and a sample from the collection.
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Love is Love
Happy Valentine’s Day! Love it or hate it, it’s that one day of the year to celebrate that/those special someone(s) – even if it’s yourself! Love doesn’t fit a single mould, so no matter what kind of love you’re celebrating today, we’ve got a few lit picks to help you make the most of the…
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#ALULoves: Book A Date This Valentine’s Day (Quiz!)
Hot and spicy or layed-back, relaxed and cozy…everyone has their own idea of what the PERFECT Valentine’s Day looks like. But if you’re anything like us, the best V-Day date is one spent cuddled up with a good book. Take our quick personality quiz to get your #ALULoves book recommendation!
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Do-Lit-Yourself: Bookplates for Valentine’s Day
Gifting your valentine a book this Valentine’s Day? Add a personal touch with our easy-to-glue downloadable bookplates (or gift them to yourself because self-love is sweet too.)
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In Review: The Week of February 4th
This week we interviewed the inimitable Lindsay Wong (author of The Woo-Woo), admired Chantal Gibson’s How She Read, rounded up some very funny reads to beat the winter blues, and much more.
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First Fiction Friday: La Brigantessa
After stabbing a wealthy and violent landowner, Gabriela Falcone – a peasant girl – is forced to leave her life behind. Set in the period following Italy’s Unification in 1861, La Brigantessa (Inanna Publications) follows Gabriela as she flees for her life with the help of parish priest Don Simone. Together they find anything but…
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From Winter Blues to BA-HA-HAs: 5 Books to Make You Laugh
With spring still feeling so far away here in Canada and that existential dread starting to set in from being cooped up for too long indoors, we could all use a few laughs – a chuckle, at the very least. To help you out with a little LOL’ing, we’ve compiled 5 books to lighten up…
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Beautiful Books: How She Read
Chantal Gibson’s genre-bending debut collection How She Read (Caitlin Press) is a poetic exploration and visual reflection of the representations of Black women in Canada that Lawrence Hill calls “a balm for our aching souls [that] sparks an inquiry and packs a wallop in every line and on every page.”
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Writer’s Block: Lindsay Wong
We sat down Proust-style with Lindsay Wong whose darkly funny, intensely readable memoir of family and mental illness The Woo-Woo (Arsenal Pulp Press) is a finalist for the upcoming Canada Reads debates to chat about five-year fantasy goals (which include pyjamas!), what happens after publication (public speaking!), what she’s working on now, and more.
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In Review: The Week of January 28th
This week we cheered for this year’s Canada Reads finalists, worked up an appetite for food-covered books, rounded up books for Black History Month, and much more.
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8 reads in celebration of Black History Month
With the long *cold* month of January almost behind us, we already have our sights set on February and that brings us to Black History Month. Check out this collection of 8 awesome reads that celebrate black Canadian authors and stories – part of Canada’s rich and diverse cultural fabric. We’ve also included a few…
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Quoted: Peter Norman’s Some of Us and Most of You Are Dead
Peter Norman, author of Some of Us and Most of You Are Dead (Wolsak & Wynn), explains the use of the “terminal” in poetry, how this has inspired his work, and the process of wrestling with words to get at the clearest truths.