pickFifteen year old Mercy Wong just wants to get a good education so she can help get her family out of poverty. After she gets herself admitted to an exclusive girls school, though, she finds it difficult to be accepted. Then the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hits and through tragedy she learns she has friends who love her.
pickCharlie works as a dishwasher in the noodle restaurant where her dad works but wants more, so she applies for a receptionist job at a dance studio. She never expects where this will end up taking her. This novel has obvious plot points and was too romance focused for my personal taste, but I enjoyed it. It shows the pull between current and traditional expectations well.
Sunday afternoon book & beer. I‘m halfway through the words part of DENISON AVENUE, and the thing that strikes me so far is that while Wong Cho Sum may be grieving her closest connection following her husband‘s death, she‘s still in community with so many kind people. It‘s beautiful.
The beer, a Great Scott! Cream Ale from Blackwheat Brewing Co out of Brandon, MB, is just what I feel like tonight. Crisp malt & slight biscuit finish, as promised.
pickA gorgeous meditation on community, grief, belonging, aging in place, gentrification. I think this one will go far in the Canada Reads debates this week.
so-soWhile parts of this story connected, much of it fell flat. It is more art than story and while that art is gorgeous, it didn‘t grab me. CanadaReads2024
I‘ve read 4 of the 5 #CanadaReads books so far, the only one left is a graphic novel. I know I can easily nab the e-book from my library‘s express on overdrive, but when it comes to graphic novels I just prefer the actual physical book, ya know? Sadly I think I have to face reality and accept that I‘m not going to get my hands on the physical one before March!
pickA work of art. The smooth sensuality of glossy paper. The way she conveyed emotions with the placement of the words on the page. A story about grief and resilience. “Decades of saving. A life spent saving, waiting for the right time, for the right moment. A moment that never arrived, continually delayed, postponed. Because we assume there will always be another time, another moment. Why do we wait?” My number one for #CanadaReads2024.
pickThe story of Wong Cho Sum navigating grief, aging, and a changing neighbourhood is full of emotion, beauty, and grit. Told in alternating styles - literary realism comingles with poetry - the silences and blank spaces offer a profound moment of pause and speak to the disorientation, confusion, and grief Cho Sum experiences. There are also plenty of beautiful moments of hope and connection within the community. (cont'd in comments)
