Off the Page
A blog on Canadian writing, reading, and everything in between
Summer Eats: Kohlrabi Slaw, from COUNTY HEIRLOOMS
"I’ve always been impressed that seeds will produce all the food you need to live. It’s miraculous."
3 Great Recipes from the 2020 Taste Canada Awards Shortlist
Foodies, take note! Great recipes from celebrated cookbooks.
Launchpad: On Nostalgia, by David Berry
"Berry’s subject is a wide-ranging one, but he pulls off the impressive feat of covering plenty of ground in a concise …
Literatures, Communities, and Learning
9 conversations with Indigenous writers about the relationship between Indigenous literatures and learning, and how thei …
The Chat with Faye Guenther
Swimmers in Winter (Invisible Publishing) is Faye Guenther’s debut collection of short fiction. These six stories expl …
Summer Reading Starts Here
Summer is not cancelled, and summer reading isn't either. We've got thrillers, epics, drama, historical fiction, and so …
Picture Book Sneak Peek: Summer Feet, by Sheree Fitch and Carolyn Fisher
Summer starts HERE with this glorious celebration of childhood...and filthy feet.
Notes from a Children's Librarian: Texts on Textiles
Exploring the art of sewing? Here are some tales to comfort and inspire.
COVID–19 Teacher Diary: Pondering the “What If” with Shari Green & Caroline Pignat
During this time of self-isolation and social distancing, books can sometimes be our only companions as the days stretch …
Launchpad: Good Mothers Don't, by Laura Best
"An unlikely page turner replete with hushed surprises, unexpected crescendos, endless love and boundless vitality."
…Results for keyword: “dystopias”
Liz Harmer: Books That Ask the Big Questions
The Amateurs is Liz Harmer's debut novel, set in a not-too-distant future where most of the human population has disappeared via Ports, doorways to other times and alternate universes from which travellers should theoretically be able to return—except that no one comes back. Are they unwilling to? Are they unable? Told from the perspective of a small group of people who've remained and created a community in the remains of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, and also from that of a man who has spent his career working for the massive corporate entity that built the Ports, The Amateurs grapples with questions like, "what are we here for?", "how do we know what's real and what isn't?", and "what exactly is the nature of love?". In this list, Harmer suggests other great reads that consider similar ideas.
*****
This offbeat list of novels and one short story collection include a few speculative works like mine, a few dystopias, an interest in the nature of God and of the human, and, especially, most of them, lovingly rendered character and place.
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Liz Harmer: Books That Ask the Big Questions
The Amateurs is Liz Harmer's debut novel, set in a not-too-distant future where most of the human population has disappeared via Ports, doorways to other times and alternate universes from which travellers should theoretically be able to return—except that no one comes back. Are they unwilling to? Are they unable? Told from the perspective of a small group of people who've remained and created a community in the remains of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, and also from that of a man who has spent his career working for the massive corporate entity that built the Ports, The Amateurs grapples with questions like, "what are we here for?", "how do we know what's real and what isn't?", and "what exactly is the nature of love?". In this list, Harmer suggests other great reads that consider similar ideas.
*****
This offbeat list of novels and one short story collection include a few speculative works like mine, a few dystopias, an interest in the nature of God and of the human, and, especially, most of them, lovingly rendered character and place.
*
