What I've been reading lately

[blue_lotus13]

1. The Betrayal of Africa- by Gerald Caplan- This little book (144 pages) is part of a new series called "The Groundwork Guides." The series, which contains titles about oil, pornography, climate change etc, is designed to explain complicated issues. Experts write about topics in a way that is succinct and easy to understand. If you want to learn why Africa is the way it is, read this book. You'll feel sickened and disgusted, but so much wiser afterward. Highly recommended.

2. Girls fall down by Maggie Helwig- One of the most creative novels I've read in a while. It starts off with suspicious, terrorist like attacks in the Toronto subway, and then begins examining a relationship between a medical photographer and his former girlfriend. I don't want to give the plot away. This book had beautiful writing, an interesting story, a sense of urgency, and relatable characters. The city of Toronto and urban life has never been so vividly depicted. Highly recommended.

3. Girls like us by Sheila Weller- Weller strings together biographies of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, and uses their lives as a template to look at some of the greater social issues and circumstances facing women from the 1950s to the present day. She also explores their development as women and as artists. The book can be a bit confusing at times, but I really enjoyed it anyway and thought it was a new and interesting way to explore the lives of famous singers.

4. The Dominion of Love- edited by Tom Wayman- A collection of love poems written by Canadians. I picked this up and would read a few poems every night. There was so really great stuff in here, some by famous poets like Leonard Cohen and Al Purdy, some by unknowns.

5. Reading like a writer by Francine Prose- Prose dissects great passages of literature to show writing hopefuls the way it should be done. An excellent book to read if you're at all interested in writing. I learned a few things from reading this.

6. The White Guy by Stephen Hunt- I had to read this for a review, and I really didn't like it. It's an anthropological study of white guys, done as a satire. I didn't think it was particularly funny and struggled to find its good points so I could write a review. Finally, I ended up focussing on the parts that I did find funny. In addition, Hunt was trying to make some serious points about race relations, which he coated with humour. Yeah.

7. Cod by Mark Kurlansky- I've started listening to books on tape before I fall asleep. This book on the history of cod was soporific. I did learn a few interesting things about cod and how it influenced modern exploration, but I don't think I would have read the entire book if I hadn't been listening to it.

8. The Angel Riots by Ibi Kaslik- I really wanted to like this book. It had a promising beginning. It's the story of a prairie girl who runs off to join a Montreal based band. Rumour has it that the band described in the book was based on Broken Social scene. It deteriorates into a story about band debauchery and that's when I started to lose interest. Sigh.

My apartment is on the Canada Day parade route. I went outside to join the throngs of people who came out to see the very long parade, and ended up chatting with a woman, her sister and their two kids. Candy throwing is a big thing at Grande Prairie parades, and the woman kindly positioned her daughter near me so that I would end up with some free candy too. In return, I helped the kids get candy that was thrown into the streets.

Comments

[oyvavoy.livejournal.com]

I'm currently trying to read Jan Wong's Red China Blues. I know, something I should have read by now, right? It's good but I can't sit down and read with all this sunny weather we've been having in Vancouver. Also, who can read in this heat??

I'm also reading The Fascination of Evil by Florian Zeller.