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Lindy
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Pickpick

I have a weakness for interconnected short stories & this debut is a beaut. Each story stands on its own, yet the carefully crafted sum is even greater than the parts. I love the ambitious scope, beginning in 1897 & ending in 2050; the kaleidoscopic POVs; that actions have consequences; the settings that range from Nigeria to Poland to the USA; and a cast of characters that centers four girls who meet at boarding school.

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quote
Lindy
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[2050] Dele is doing well in film production since his post-quarterback career as a sports announcer ended, after American football finally got banned. He is getting yearly brain scans and diagnostic tests for the tau proteins that signal the presence of the Alzheimer‘s-like disease that‘s taken many of his teammates. Unlike the old days, now it can be treated and progression of the disease stopped if caught early.

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quote
Lindy
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If Betty ever wrote a mystery, it would be about a world without politics and what a mystery it was that we had to have them when everyone hated them.

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Lindy
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She was full of interesting questions. Like, who was Jane Austen‘s father, that he had so many books? And why did we feel sorry for Jane Austen when she didn‘t have to work and could stay home and write? My student‘s original name was Huiyang Wang, but after she read Middlemarch—and, two-year marathon that it was for her, she did read the whole thing—she changed her name to Mary Ann Evans.

Suet624 Great questions 1d
Lindy @Suet624 😁 1d
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
Lindy
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Book synchronicity: two that feature characters that live within regimes where they are ruthlessly oppressed because of their intellectual or middle class background.

quote
Lindy
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Dear Mr Nixon,
I don‘t know if you will remember me, especially now that I am in heaven and you are in hell. I was one of the little girls you talked to when you came in 1972. Not the one in the famous picture. I was the other one.

psalva I‘m about halfway through this and enjoying it so far. I am glad to see the picture- I didn‘t have a chance to look it up. 2d
Lindy @psalva I‘m a fan of interlinked short stories in general, but this one really is outstanding. 5 stars. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 1d
23 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
Lindy
The Story of Us: A Novel | Catherine Hernandez
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Pickpick

A feel-good story about MG, a Filipina foreign domestic worker who faces many challenges, far from her loved ones, and yet ends surrounded by a caring, supportive community in Toronto that includes queer folk. The story is in the voice of MG‘s baby, being told to the aging trans woman MG cares for. Although I found that aspect a bit twee, I still found MG‘s life gripping and I cared for her very much. #Canadian #LGBTQ

GatheringBooks Ooooh! Interesting premise. I didn‘t know about this book - will look for it. 💕 2d
Lindy @GatheringBooks It‘s a heartfelt depiction of the life of a foreign worker. I‘m really glad to have read it. 1d
See All 10 Comments
GatheringBooks @Lindy i am technically a foreign worker for the past 15 years now - as are most filipinos around the world - so this would definitely resonate. 💕💕💕 1d
Lindy @GatheringBooks Oh my word, yes! I‘m sure it would resonate. 1d
Penny_LiteraryHoarders I‘ve started a list in my library folder for Giller 2023 books. It‘s getting closer to that time isn‘t it? 😊 1d
Lindy @Penny_LiteraryHoarders There‘s still lots of time, but so many books! That‘s why I am already taking notes when I read something that is eligible. 1d
Penny_LiteraryHoarders @Lindy 👍🤗 16h
Penny_LiteraryHoarders I‘m looking through the Craving CanLit page right now. 😳 there‘s some incredible reading in store for us! So anxious already for the Longlist! 15h
Lindy @Penny_LiteraryHoarders This year, my plan is to focus on the eligible books I‘m most excited about, like Michael Crummey‘s (not until September!), Alicia Elliott, Zoe Whittall, CS Richardson & Sharon Butala. 11h
31 likes1 stack add10 comments
quote
Lindy
The Story of Us: A Novel | Catherine Hernandez
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Hello! Holy moly was that ever a good nap. I don‘t want to brag or anything because I understand that sleep gets progressively crappy as we age, but wow. That was restorative. I think I grew a little. What do you think? Does my onesie look tight on me now? Have my cheeks gotten fuller? I feel fuller.
(Internet photo)

tpixie 🥰🥰🥰 2d
KathyWheeler What a cutie! 1d
marleed I read this as an 8 mo sleeps soundly on my chest. And yes I believe he‘s growing as my finger attempts to type! 14h
Lindy @marleed @KathyWheeler @tpixie hey, Marlee! Glad to hear someone is having a good nap. 😊 11h
tpixie @marleed precious 👶🏼 a future #Litten 11h
23 likes5 comments
quote
Lindy
The Story of Us: A Novel | Catherine Hernandez
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Ate Marcy was busy cooking in the kitchen, while the children ran about the house holding Ellie‘s new Barbie dolls by the legs like machine guns and shooting at each other.

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quote
Lindy
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With each course, the server came and discussed not only the ingredients and their preparation, but their provenance, the sustainability, the minimal footprint—sprinkling a kind of virtue to garnish and balance the richness of the meal.

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review
Lindy
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Pickpick

Lea Ypi‘s memoir of her childhood in Albania while the country undergoes major changes is eye-opening and moving. Her family goes from coveting an empty Coca Cola can as a decorative object, to being able to buy all kinds of soft drinks without even standing in a queue. Excellent audiobook read by Rachel Babbage with the author reading the epilogue.

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Lindy
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In my family, everyone had a favourite revolution, just as everyone had a favourite summer fruit.

AmyG Ha, that is how my grandson eats raspberries! 4d
Lindy @AmyG That‘s one of my sisters in the photo. She says she learned to eat raspberries like that from her granddaughter. 😄 4d
30 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
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The mastery of the subtle boundary between following rules and breaking them was, for us children, the true mark of growth, maturity and social integration.

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blurb
Lindy
Bellevue Square | Michael Redhill
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The day after watching Everything Everywhere All at Once, I came across this passage in the tagged novel: “it‘s everything everywhere all the time.” 🤪

rabbitprincess I really should watch this movie! 5d
Soubhiville Such a great movie and title. Planning a rewatch soon. 5d
Lindy @rabbitprincess @Soubhiville watching it is an exhilarating experience! 5d
25 likes3 comments
review
Lindy
If the River is Hidden | Cherry Smyth, Craig Jordan-Baker
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Pickpick

Poetry and prose mingle in this enchanting collaborative travel memoir written by 2 people who have complicated feelings about their ties to Northern Ireland & decide to walk the length of the River Bann together. One is Catholic, one Protestant. Politics, family, memories, identity, being queer, landscape and language. There‘s a guide to Ulsterisms at the end, such as “the carry of the sky” (the drift of clouds) and jibble (to dribble or spill).

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blurb
Lindy
Alberta Alone | Cora Sandel
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Friday Reads March 17: ?️‍?the Lambda Literary finalists, ☘️Irish lit, ??travelling, ??doppelgängers & ??the best book I‘ve read this year
https://youtu.be/GVVGea6ZkwI

review
Lindy
Girl on a Motorcycle | Amy Novesky
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Pickpick

Julie Morstad‘s delicate, whimsical illustrations capture the free spirit of a French woman who made a solo trip on a motorcycle around the world in 1973. The text is by Amy Novesky, who interviewed Anne-France Dautheville at her home near Paris before writing this, and includes the challenges she faced like mechanical trouble, falls & harsh weather. But the people she met were wonderful. (Dautheville wasn‘t a girl btw; she was 29.) #kidlit

tpixie I hate how ‘Girl‘ is used for adult women. But the book sounds great! 5d
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blurb
Lindy
Girl on a Motorcycle | Amy Novesky
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What a young woman packs for a motorcycle trip around the world.

tpixie 💙💙💙 5d
32 likes1 comment
blurb
Lindy
Girl on a Motorcycle | Amy Novesky
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On her solo motorcycle trip around the world, Anne-France Dautheville stopped at a hot spring I know well: Liard! It‘s on the Alaska highway in the Yukon Territory and it is a great place to relax after a day on the road.

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Lindy
Girl on a Motorcycle | Amy Novesky
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I want the world to be beautiful, and it is beautiful. I want people to be good, and they are good.
-Anne-France Dautheville

31 likes2 stack adds
review
Lindy
Bellevue Square | Michael Redhill
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Pickpick

If you are up for a wild ride, this one is a lot of fun. A warm, witty logic puzzle made up of doppelgängers, autoscopy, murder, transdimensional cookery, and a large number of people with varying degrees of mental health. Bookshop owner Jean is an unreliable guide through the mayhem, but I loved her anyway. #CanadianAuthor

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Lindy
Bellevue Square | Michael Redhill
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“No-mind is administered in small doses at first. That allows the subject to acclimatize to super-high doses before they get any of the negative side effects like death or sporing.”🤪

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Lindy
Bellevue Square | Michael Redhill
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When Ian gets home, he encourages the kids to go downstairs and play a board game. This is like asking them to wear top hats, but their father has a convincing way.

review
Lindy
Walk the Blue Fields: Stories | J.K. Rowling , Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

“But death, at least, was certain. Every man needed to be certain of something.” The people in Irish author Claire Keegan‘s short stories tend to have many uncertainties — mostly due to circumstances. Being born a woman, or poor, or both, for example. They are interesting and seem true to life, no matter how eccentric. I enjoyed this audio production with three narrators: Aoife McMahon, Aidan Quinn and Aidan Kelly.

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Lindy
Walk the Blue Fields: Stories | J.K. Rowling , Claire Keegan
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Your father moved into the other room but your mother gave him sex on his birthday. She‘d go into his room and they‘d have it there. It never took long and they never made noise, but you knew.

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quote
Lindy
Bellevue Square | Michael Redhill
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May was on its way, thank god. We were getting inoculations of sun. Winter here arrives, stays, persists, goes away a little, then comes back and people start leaping off the bridges. That‘s approximately March, when jumping is at its apogee, but even then, winter isn‘t over. What it likes to do is go away for a week in April and then return for three days and finish grandpa off.

marleed That‘s a great line! 7d
Lindy @marleed The dark humour in this novel appeals to me, especially right now when I‘m sick of winter. 6d
35 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
Bellevue Square | Michael Redhill
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I have a bookshop called Bookshop. I do subtlety in other areas of my life.

CarolynM 😆 6d
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blurb
Lindy
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I talk about 6 books I‘ve read recently plus three live theatre events in my latest video:
Recent Reads March 14: The Power of the Powerless; pests, ghosts, migrants, shepherdesses & a magpie
https://youtu.be/ttyev5abdGA

review
Lindy
Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family | Bradley Trevor Greive, Cameron Bloom
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Pickpick

An injury left Sam, mother of 3 boys, paralyzed from the chest down. Then, she & her Australian family adopted an injured bird. Healing ensued. The gorgeous photography is my favourite part of this book because the text is a little heavy on schmaltz. ie: “angels come in all shapes & sizes” & “we are all our journeys, hopes & dreams clad in mortal wrapping paper. It‘s a feel-good true story & I recommend it.

blurb
Lindy
Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family | Bradley Trevor Greive, Cameron Bloom
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I love Cameron Bloom‘s photos of life with a magpie his family rescued when it was an injured fledgling.

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Lindy
Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family | Bradley Trevor Greive, Cameron Bloom
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It must be said, there is no such thing as potty-training a magpie—at least so far as we could tell. After Penguin added her signature flourish to the furniture, carpet, bedspreads, curtains, hats, television and computers for the umpteenth time, we decided she was old enough to get her own apartment.
[which was a tree outside]

23 likes1 stack add
review
Lindy
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Pickpick

Black Canadian poet Wayde Compton & Filipino Canadian artist April dela Noche Milne have created a surreal, beautiful & thought-provoking graphic novel about a resourceful young migrant who makes an Oz-like journey, looking for a home. Scribbly marks and rich hues of blue, green & brown illustrate this dreamy tale, suitable for ages 12 & up.

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blurb
Lindy
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The Thicket of Tickets; the Great Swamp of Ink; the Rainbow Border—the names of the places in this fable make me smile.

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Lindy
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The girl had lived in the Great Swamp of Ink for as long as she could remember.

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review
Lindy
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Pickpick

It‘s all about perception: “the word ‘pest‘ takes away context & complexity, shuts down our curiosity, our desire to look for other angles or solutions.” This audiobook offers an engaging look at the way humans look at animals who refuse to stay where we think they belong.

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Lindy
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Maremma dogs with the right training will defend almost anything. Maremmas are famous in Australia for defending the little penguins of Middle Island from foxes.

Lindy My sister has used maremmas to protect her cashmere goats from predators, and I visited a farm where these dogs protected a flock of 90 geese. 1w
24 likes1 comment
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Lindy
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Peter Marra, who wrote Cat Wars, received death threats when it came out in 2016. The irony of people who hate the idea of killing cats threatening a scientist with death escapes neither of us.

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Lindy
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The whole idea of pigeons degrading masonry was just something people said without any evidence.

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review
Lindy
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Pickpick

A booktuber‘s review of Celeste Ng‘s Our Missing Hearts, a book which shows the power of art used as protest, led me to read Czech playwright & statesman Vàclav Havel‘s classic essay (written in 1978). It took me two weeks—I find philosophy slow-going—but I loved it. He wrote that living within the truth would cause the Soviet post-totalitarian system—which was founded on lies—to crumble. And it did. Havel is critical of western democracy too.

Lindy The Poptimist talks about Celeste Ng‘s Our Missing Hearts and The Power of the Powerless https://youtu.be/KzrIzemcau4 1w
25 likes1 comment
quote
Lindy
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You do not become a “dissident” just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of the people.

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Lindy
If the River is Hidden | Cherry Smyth, Craig Jordan-Baker
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Heraclitus said that you can never step into the same river twice. He didn‘t mention that some of us never get into the river in the first place. If the river stays in the atlas, it will always be an unchanging solid blue line, a river stepped into only once. Because most of us, most of the time, just stay at home, wherever that may be.

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review
Lindy
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Pickpick

This is a stunning memoir by a queer South Asian woman who is also a devout Muslim. I listened to the audiobook read by Ashraf Shirazi.

KathyWheeler A friend of mine is reading this right now and I‘d lending it to me when she‘s through. I can‘t wait. 2w
Lindy @KathyWheeler I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 2w
38 likes2 stack adds2 comments
quote
Lindy
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I‘ve learned to reframe telling people as “inviting in” instead of “coming out.” 🏳️‍🌈

kspenmoll Oh I really like that! 2w
Lindy @kspenmoll Me too. And Lamya noticed that there was a barrier between herself and the people she had not invited into her queerness. She realized that it was hard to share intimacies and feelings without also revealing the queer aspect of herself. 2w
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quote
Lindy
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God is neither man nor woman, nor masculine nor feminine. This god who teaches us that we can be both & neither & all & beyond & capable of multiplicities & expansiveness. Nonbinary. Genderqueer. They. This god that is THE god. My god. My Allah, who created the world & created language & created the first person, Adam. This first person who was man & woman & neither & both & not a mistake. Never a mistake. Like me.

blurb
Lindy
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Another episode where I talk about what I‘ve been reading this past week:
Friday Reads March 10: the Centre for Literatures in Canada; nonfiction; queer muslim memoir; last slave ship; natural dyes
https://youtu.be/8CeyDSZD6Hg

review
Lindy
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Pickpick

Ancient myths continue to shape society through the entrenchment of cultural patterns (ie by the many dramatizations of sexual assault). Addressing difficult subjects (ie human weaknesses & abuse of power) is one reason why myths remain relevant. Classicist Helen Morales engaging approach shows how our attitudes can be shifted by reinterpreting & adapting these stories, & by paying more attention to the subversive tales. #LGBTQ

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Lindy
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Revenge fantasies in ancient myths are not scripts to be followed, but they are adrenaline shots for the hurt soul, an essential part of the sexual assault survivor‘s emergency kit.

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Lindy
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Ancient myths (stories) have subversive power precisely because they can be told—and read—in different ways. In the words of novelist Ben Okri, myths “always take wing and soar beyond the place where we can keep them fixed.”

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Lindy
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“It was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with … they made us brave. They made us well. They changed us. It was in their nature to.”
—Ali Smith, Girl Meets Boy

sarahbarnes I love that book. ♥️ 2w
Lindy @sarahbarnes Me too. I was delighted to find it used as an example in Antigone Rising. 😊 2w
31 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
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The myth of Antigone, as told by the Greek playwright Sophocles, is one of the most well known of the Greek myths and one of the most meaningful for feminism and for revolutionary politics. She has become an icon of resistance. Of pitting personal conviction against state law. Of speaking truth to power.

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