In Review: The Week of January 7th

On the Blog

~ Always striving for bookish goals, we made a set of new ones for 2019 which include less sad desk lunches and more happy lunchtime reading.~ Historical writer Chad Reimer uncovers Sumas Lake’s forgotten past and its environmental and cultural impacts after its colonization in Before We Lost the Lake (Caitlin Press): “The tragedy for the Sema:th continues to this day and cannot be brushed aside, and [Before We Lost the Lake] does not try to diminish it.”~ Through transformed Haiku, Smokii Sumac, the creator of #haikuaday, shares the story of his life through two years as a Ktunaxa Two-Spirit person in his collection you are enough: love poems for the end of the world (Kegedonce Press).~ Gillian Wigmore shares stories of her days as a busker in BC and how it shaped the protagonist in her novel Glory (Invisible Publishing): “And it shows what the songs do—they increase your capacity for feeling and for knowing, both what it means to be human and what it means to live where you live—where you’ve been and you’re going. I miss songwriting so much. It’s one of the most precious, revelatory arts.”

Around the Web

~ The 2019 Canada Reads longlist was revealed with four ALU faves on the list, including The Woo-Woo by Lindsay Wong (Arsenal Pulp Press); Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, translated by Rhonda Mullins (Coach House Books); Homes by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah & Winnie Yeung (Freehand Books); and Corvus by Harold R. Johnson (Thistledown Press). Find ’em all here.~ With the rise of social media, everyone’s a critic, but how has it changed the reviewing game? And what is the point of a bad review? Critics reflect in The Ringer.~ Marie Kondo’s ruthless minimalism has sparked controversy over whether books are clutter or joy. (They’re joy, always joy.)

What Else We’re Reading

Christen enjoyed No Rainbow and other poems by Laura Kooji(Bayeux Arts) “a debut collection about love, longing, loss, and self realization.”