Off the Page
A blog on Canadian writing, reading, and everything in between
The Chat with Eva Crocker
This week we’re in conversation with author Eva Crocker. Her debut novel, All I Ask, (House of Anansi Press) was publi …
Mary Lawson: A Sense of Place
"I don’t know if it’s a Canadian thing, or if people the world over are similarly drawn to the landscape they know w …
Most Anticipated: Our Books for Young Readers Preview
Looking forward to some of the books for young readers (and readers of all ages) that we're going to be falling in love …
I Read Canadian Day is back!
It’s back! After a very successful first year where authors, students, educators, librarians, parents and many other C …
Notes From a Children's Librarian: Scrumptious Stories
DELICIOUS books about food and eating.
The Kids: Are They Alright?
What is it like for a child who lives with a parent or who knows an adult struggling with a crisis of mental health, add …
Where It All Happened: A List of Propulsive Settings
Anyone who's read Emma Donoghue's The Pull of the Stars knows just how much the confines of that understaffed maternity …
Seeking Certainty in Uncertain Worlds
A fascinating recommended reading list by the author of new book Night Watch.
What Is Love: A Romancelandia Roundtable
In honour of Valentine's Day, we got together (virtually) with some of Canada's hottest romance authors to break down on …
5 New Books with Intriguing Premises
Well, look at the first paragraph of how Gary Barwin's new book is described (below) and tell us you're not a little bit …
Results for keyword: “Christine Pountney”
The Recommend: July 2015
Most of the books we read are the result of one thing: someone we know, trust, and/or admire tells us it's great. That's why we run this series, The Recommend, where readers, writers, reviewers, bloggers, and others tell us about a book they'd recommend to a good friend ... and why.
This week we're pleased to present the picks of Chelsea Rooney, author of the acclaimed first novel Pedal; Daniel Allen Cox, author of two Lambda Award-nominated novels and the new book Mouthquake; Kevin Hardcastle, much-published short story writer and author of the upcoming collection Debris; Chadwick Ginther, creator of the award-winning Thunder Road trilogy; and Teri Vlassopoulos, whose short story debut, Bats and Swallows, was a Danuta Gleed finalist and whose forthcoming novel is Escape Plans.
*****
Chelsea Rooney picks Nancy Lee’s The Age
In the 1980s myriad panics—both real and imagined—swept across North America. An untameable disease killed people by the tens of thousands. Crack cocaine flooded and ravaged the cities’ most embattled poor. Primetime television reported breathlessly on rumoured Satanic cults. And the threat of nuclear war reached its fever pitch, with WWIII imminent.
Nancy Lee’s The Age tells one story from this generation’s most vulnerable: its youth. …
Continue reading >
Quick Hits: Books of the Year and Books for Right Now
In Quick Hits, we look through our stacks to bring you books that, when they were published, elicited a lot of reaction and praise. Our selections will include books published this year, last year, or any year. They will be from any genre. The best books are timeless, and they deserve to find readers whenever and wherever.
*****
Sweet Jesus, by Christine Pountney
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
What It's About
Set mainly on Vancouver Island, in Toronto, and in the American Midwest, Sweet Jesus tells the story of three siblings who, in the week before the 2012 US Presidential election, reunite and set off on a journey that will transform their lives.
Connie Foster, a mother of three young children, learns that her husband’s attempt to maintain their lifestyle has led them to financial ruin. Her sister, Hannah Crowe, a writer, desperately wants to have a child but the man she loves is determined not to. Zeus Ortega, their much younger adopted brother, who left the family home when he was only fifteen, is living in Chicago with his boyfriend and working as a therapeutic clown in a children’s hospital. Prompted by a heartbreaking loss, he quits his job and decides to search for his birth parents in New Mexico. Together, the three siblings head south and, …
Continue reading >
The Recommend: July 2015
Most of the books we read are the result of one thing: someone we know, trust, and/or admire tells us it's great. That's why we run this series, The Recommend, where readers, writers, reviewers, bloggers, and others tell us about a book they'd recommend to a good friend ... and why.
This week we're pleased to present the picks of Chelsea Rooney, author of the acclaimed first novel Pedal; Daniel Allen Cox, author of two Lambda Award-nominated novels and the new book Mouthquake; Kevin Hardcastle, much-published short story writer and author of the upcoming collection Debris; Chadwick Ginther, creator of the award-winning Thunder Road trilogy; and Teri Vlassopoulos, whose short story debut, Bats and Swallows, was a Danuta Gleed finalist and whose forthcoming novel is Escape Plans.
*****
Chelsea Rooney picks Nancy Lee’s The Age
In the 1980s myriad panics—both real and imagined—swept across North America. An untameable disease killed people by the tens of thousands. Crack cocaine flooded and ravaged the cities’ most embattled poor. Primetime television reported breathlessly on rumoured Satanic cults. And the threat of nuclear war reached its fever pitch, with WWIII imminent.
Nancy Lee’s The Age tells one story from this generation’s most vulnerable: its youth. …
Quick Hits: Books of the Year and Books for Right Now
In Quick Hits, we look through our stacks to bring you books that, when they were published, elicited a lot of reaction and praise. Our selections will include books published this year, last year, or any year. They will be from any genre. The best books are timeless, and they deserve to find readers whenever and wherever.
*****
Sweet Jesus, by Christine Pountney
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
What It's About
Set mainly on Vancouver Island, in Toronto, and in the American Midwest, Sweet Jesus tells the story of three siblings who, in the week before the 2012 US Presidential election, reunite and set off on a journey that will transform their lives.
Connie Foster, a mother of three young children, learns that her husband’s attempt to maintain their lifestyle has led them to financial ruin. Her sister, Hannah Crowe, a writer, desperately wants to have a child but the man she loves is determined not to. Zeus Ortega, their much younger adopted brother, who left the family home when he was only fifteen, is living in Chicago with his boyfriend and working as a therapeutic clown in a children’s hospital. Prompted by a heartbreaking loss, he quits his job and decides to search for his birth parents in New Mexico. Together, the three siblings head south and, …
