Litsy

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Frying Plantain, by Zalika Reid-Benta (2019 🇨🇦)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: Interconnected stories about growing up in a first-generation Jamaican-Canadian family.

Review: This is a very strong collection, well-written, with a lot of heart. Toronto‘s Eglinton West neighbourhood really comes alive, as the main character and her mother are pushed toward and pulled away from it. ⬇️

Mattsbookaday My main issue with it is simply a lack of originality. There are so many wonderful first-generation stories out there, specific in cultural details, but united by a shared struggles, that I find it increasingly harder for them to make an impact. But this is very well-executed.

Bookish Pair: Reid-Benta‘s debut, magical-realist novel, River Mumma (2023) 1d

5 likes1 comment

xicanti

Alfabet/Alphabet | Sadiqa De Meijer

I did the return two books, borrow two books thing at the library. I always check the poetry section to see if they‘ve got anything from the years I‘m still missing from my personal challenge where I read a book from every year I‘ve been alive, and this branch had Di Brandt‘s 1987 collection. The tagged book came from the shelf beside it, because I can‘t resist a tiny memoir.

35 likes

Lindy

The Game of Giants | Marion Douglas

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Coming out as a lesbian in Calgary of the early 1980s, parenting a developmentally delayed child with another woman, and using lies as a coping strategy—Rose Drury has a lot on her plate in this warm, funny novel that had me caring very much for a woman muddling her way through life. #LGBTQ #CanLit

Reggie Sounds fantastic. Stacked! 2d

Lindy @Reggie 😁👍 2d

28 likes1 stack add2 comments

TheLudicReader

Late Nights on Air | Elizabeth Hay

@Chrissyreadit #tagyoureit

Well, this book has boats. It was my first Elizabeth Hay and I remember liking it a lot…as I have liked all the other books I have read since.

Chrissyreadit 🎉💛🎉💛🎉💛 3d

38 likes1 comment

llwheeler

Crow Lake: A Novel | Mary Lawson

Apparently we're halfway through #14books14weeks already? How did that happen? Somewhat to my surprise, I'm halfway through my stack too, I've read 7 total (well, one bail).
Out of my 7 physical books I've finished 3 and started 2. The ones left to go are pictured.
Out of my 7 ebooks I've finished 4 and started 1.
Ebooks left to go:
Cecelia and Kate series books 2&3
Walkaway

@liz_m

Liz_M Excellent progress! Crow Lake is a good one, I hope you enjoy it! 3d

Amiable Oh, I love Mary Lawson so much! 😍 3d

llwheeler @Liz_M I'm enjoying it so far! 3d

llwheeler @Amiable this is my first time reading her after hearing lots of litsy love for her! I'm enjoying so far 😀 3d

30 likes4 comments

lauraisntwilder

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

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I finished this on Saturday and forgot to post. I loved revisiting New Moon in this reread. Reading LMM's journals has deepened my appreciation of her novels.

30 likes1 stack add

BarbaraJean

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

Do you agree with LMM that this is the best book she‘s written (thus far in her life)?

What criteria do you use when considering what is a “best book”? For you, is “best” different from “favorite”?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, willaful

BarbaraJean I have a *really* hard time with determining what is a “best book.“ For me, “favorite“ and “best“ are very different things. I can appreciate a book's literary excellence and still not like it, and I can absolutely LOVE a book that I know isn't very well-written. So even though I asked this question, it's hard to answer! 😆 I do think EoNM is a better book than AoGG, but I don't know if I'd say it's better than Rilla. 5d

lauraisntwilder EoNM is my favorite, but I think AoGG is probably her best to this point, from a literary standpoint. Marilla, Matthew, and Rachel are all so well and clearly defined. Jimmy is, but Elizabeth and Laura don't feel quite as real. I love them, but they're very similar to other sets of sisters in LMM's work. 5d

TheAromaofBooks I think I have to agree with @lauraisntwilder that AoGG seems like a more well-rounded book to me. It's also possible, though, that I feel that way because I've read AoGG a thousand times and EoNM twice 😂 I definitely don't think Emily is better than Rilla - I really think Rilla may be LMM's best book. I do think LMM connected far more with Emily as a reflection of herself than she did with Anne, who was entirely imaginary, and I can see why ⬇ 1d

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) LMM would consider this her most pleasurable book to write. I think she enjoyed slipping in some autobiographical tones. She's also more confident as a writer at this point than she was when AoGG was written. 1d

34 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead LMMReread

For those of you who are re-reading, is there anything that landed differently for you on this reading?

If you‘re also reading the journals—how did the context of the journals affect your reading of the book?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, willaful

BarbaraJean Because of the journals, I saw SO many parallels between Emily and LMM: her life, her personality, and her family stories. I see such a mirror in Emily of LMM's NEED to write, how often she has to “write things out“ in order to process them emotionally. I also saw so many parallels to LMM's own writing ambitions (I mean, the Alpine Path is pretty obvious). Aunt Elizabeth landed a little differently this time—I actually found her more sympathetic.⬇ 5d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I wondered how much of LMM's grandmother was reflected in Aunt Elizabeth. She absolutely DOES NOT understand Emily, but I found her so human in her eventual flash of realization that Emily is her own person whose perspective and feelings should be considered. She literally is a woman who has ZERO experience with or understanding of children and that somehow made me understand (not excuse!) her behavior a bit more this time. 5d

lauraisntwilder The Alpine Path, yes, but it struck me as sad that creepy Dean Priest sent Emily the lines in a letter. I don't think I knew the significance of that poem to LMM when I read this before. LMM also had a horrible time shut up in the medical ward at school with measles. I was fascinated by that part of the journals and had completely forgotten that Emily gets measles, too. 5d

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lauraisntwilder Knowing how often LMM had to entertain clergymen, I enjoyed the part where Emily asks Lofty John's priest for help even more. 5d

TheAromaofBooks YES on the parts of Emily's life and personality that aligned with Emily! It was so interesting to see what family history tales she granted to Emily. And yes, Emily's determination and ambition and literal NEED to write all felt so close to the way LMM describes herself. 1d

TheAromaofBooks I wonder if LMM had already decided who Emily would marry when she wrote this first book, or if she was still keeping her options open? I feel like she sets Emily up with three options who connect with her in different ways: Teddy (soul), Dean (brain), and Perry (body). I could be getting really carried away here haha but in some ways these three also seem to represent the way LMM didn't really think it was possible for her to find someone who ⬇ 1d

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) could be all three. (And in the end, LMM married someone who was none of them! Ewan is a fourth category, really - “practical“.) As a side question, do you think LMM intended for Dean to come off as creepy? @lauraisntwilder I would be interested in your thoughts, too!! 1d

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks No, I don't think she did. I like your idea of the three possibilities lining up with soul, brain, and body. LMM had Herman Leard for body (and what a lovely way to rewrite the life of someone who died young) who was socially inappropriate, like Perry, the "hired boy." Her brain companion was probably George MacMillan, right? I don't think he was creepy, but he was across the ocean. Maybe Dean's age is supposed to feel like a 1/2 24h

lauraisntwilder great distance? And maybe she knew the whole time Emily would never be able to cross it? And her soulmate was Frede, I think. I don't think she ever found that connection in a romantic relationship. 24h

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - Yes!! That is a great call with Frede being her soulmate; I genuinely think that's true. It doesn't seem like she ever connected with a man/potential husband in that way - or maybe she didn't let herself? I think she had trouble trusting people, and Frede was one of the few people in the world that she 100% completely trusted. I think part of the reason she married Ewan was because he WASN'T someone she could ever fall in love ⬇ 31m

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) with, which weirdly made him “safe“ - falling in love gives someone a lot of power over you in many ways. 28m

33 likes1 stack add11 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread Emily of New Moon
As I was reading, I had a couple ideas I thought would be great for discussion questions. I was going to get up & note them down, but I was lazy and told myself of course I‘d remember. Well. I forgot. So. General discussion post! (I do have a couple of other questions I‘ll post separately)
What are your thoughts on Emily of New Moon? What themes, characters, scenes, or quotes stand out to you?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, willaful

lauraisntwilder I was struck by how much Emily wants to obey Aunt Elizabeth. She is amazingly loyal and sweet. 5d

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder - I was thinking about that, too! Especially since there are times that Laura encourages Emily to basically go behind Elizabeth's back, but Emily instead does try to stay true to what Elizabeth wants her to do. 1d

TheAromaofBooks There was one line towards the end of the book where the aunts and uncles are talking about whether or not Emily should go to Queens, and Elizabeth says something like, “No Murray has to work for her living“ and the uncle says, “Well she's only half Murray“ And I was honestly so confused - aren't they ALL only half Murray!? 😂 1d

34 likes3 comments

Lindy

The Game of Giants | Marion Douglas

#Queer #LGBTQ #trans history, #Indigenous lit, #CanLit & #comics in this 07/11/25 Friday Reads #booktube episode

https://youtu.be/dPPH51rSw-g

Eggbeater Your Magpie Reads is wonderful. I'm going to check out the Game of Giants and the Trans History. Thanks! 7d

Lindy @Eggbeater I am glad to hear you like my channel and I hope you enjoy the books! ☺️ 6d

30 likes2 stack adds2 comments

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