In Review: The Week of January 29th

On the Blog

~ Publisher of Coteau Books John Agnew told us that at night in what remains of the Prairie Grasslands, “the sky above is an immaculate black riddled with infinite stars.” Check out his account and Coteau’s book on the subject, Islands of Grass by Trevor Herriot.~ Fondue, pickles, salads, and breads – the ALU team got nostalgic for family food favourites after leafing through Jan Wong’s Apron Strings (Goose Lane Editions).~ For the 10th Anniversary of Night Work (Brick Books), we looked at the epigraph from Robert Frost  that serves as the starting forward for this hockey goalie-inspired collection, and spoke to poet Randall Maggs.~ Ronsdale Press’ Railroad of Courage was our First Fiction Friday pick this week; one of many Black History books we hope to crack the spines of this month.

Around the Web

~ “We had so many of the same tendencies, both to delight and infuriate…and those tendencies are ADD symptoms, one and all.” BookRiot discusses Anne-with-an-e and ADD.~ The Jay-Zean use of the word “swag” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.~ We loved this meditative piece in Electric Lit about the importance of the open invitation to interrupt readers in cities (so long as you also graciously accept when they decline your interruption).

What Else We’re Reading

Lauren just finished Ivan Coyote’s Tomboy Survival Guide (Arsenal Pulp Press), longlisted for CBC Canada Reads. “There’s definitely some moments you’ll need kleenex for,” she says, “especially when Ivan writes back to parents concerned about the happiness of their own trans or non-binary children. Had some embarrassing, weepy streetcar rides during those parts.”