Ahhhh, remember 2019? When everything seemed so hectic and stressful? You know, we were all worried about Trump's impeachment, Brexit, protests in Hong Kong and climate change? Ah well, those were the days! I was clearly too busy back then to write this compilation! Now that we are all stuck in lockdown, there is no better time than to write this or for you, yes you, to read this post for some bookish inspiration. I also recommend that you check out your university or local library's website. Many of them have cleared open access to a ton of ebooks for free! Stay safe, stay inside, read a book. P.s. 2019 was apparently the year of great Canadian novels. Go Canada! Mãn de Kim Thúy Résumé Mãn est une histoire d'amour entre une femme et celles qui l'ont, tour à tour, fait naître, allaitée, élevée. Elle a été déposée dans le potager d'un temple bouddhiste sur le bord d'un des bras du Mékong par une adolescente. Une moniale l'a recueillie et nourrie d'eau, de riz et du lait des seins d'une mère voisine, avant de la confier à une autre femme – enseignante de jour, espionne en tout temps. Mon opinion Kim Thúy a été ma découverte de l’été. Lorsque j’étais à Ottawa, j’ai emprunté Ru, Vi et Mãn à ma tante. J’ai lu chacun de ces livres en un jour seulement. Malheureusement, j’ai supprimé accidentellement mes notes de lecture avant d’avoir écrit ma chronique sur ces chefs d’œuvres. Mãn se démarque du lot par son style d’écriture qui était le plus peaufiné selon moi. En effet, dans Ru, il y avait de nombreuses répétitions qui ne faisaient qu’alourdir le texte tandis que dans Vi il manquait d’originalité par rapport aux deux autres œuvres. Mãn est simplement beau et doux. C’est une magnifique histoire, bien construite malgré le peu de pages, qui réchauffe le cœur. C’est aussi un récit parfaitement humain, avec des erreurs de parcours et des moments de solitude et de regret. Après avoir lu un roman de Thúy, on en ressort grandit non seulement parce qu’on apprend sur la condition des migrants, particulièrement de la diaspora vietnamienne au Québec, mais aussi sur l’amour, la vie, la tendresse. Bref, à lire si vous voulez une lecture enrichissante sans lire 400 pages sur les horreurs de l’histoire humaine. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill Summary At thirteen, Baby vacillates between childhood comforts and adult temptation: still young enough to drag her dolls around in a vinyl suitcase yet old enough to know more than she should about urban cruelties. Motherless, she lives with her father, Jules, who takes better care of his heroin habit than he does of his daughter. But her blossoming beauty has captured the attention of a charismatic and dangerous local pimp who runs an army of sad, slavishly devoted girls—a volatile situation even the normally oblivious Jules cannot ignore. My thoughts If this one sounds familiar, it is because I just wrote a review about it last week! Therefore, if this one sounds interesting to you, here is the full review. For a quick summary, Lullabies for Little Criminals is one of the most beautiful novels I've ever read. Baby is a fascinating character with a unique and perfectly written voice. She is one of those characters that will stick with you for a long long time. Taqawan d’Éric Plamondon Résumé Alors que trois cents policiers de la Sûreté du Québec débarquent sur la réserve de Restigouche pour saisir les filets des pêcheurs mi’gmaq, un agent de la faune change de camp, une adolescente affronte ceux qui ont humilié son père, un vieil ermite sort du bois, une jeune enseignante s’apprête à retourner dans son pays – pendant que le saumon devenu taqawan, au retour de son long périple en mer, remonte la rivière jusqu’au lieu de sa naissance. Mon opinion Longue chronique ici. Je ne comprends pas pourquoi Taqawan n’est pas lu dans toutes les écoles. En fait, je comprends pourquoi : les abus envers les personnes autochtones par les gouvernements fédéraux et provinciaux ne sont pas des sujets que l’on veut ramener dans l’ère contemporaine. Mieux vaut confiner ces problèmes à l’époque coloniale. Taqawan nous ramène dans la réalité. Se basant sur des faits réels, Plamondon expose une réalité mal comprise, voire inconnue soit celle des droits de pêche pour les autochtones. La rivière Restigouche devient une zone de guerre temporairement entre mi’gmaq, gouvernment provincial et fédéral. Plamondon arrive à capturer un imaginaire aussi lointain que celui des romans de science-fiction, et à nous dresser un portrait choquant de la situation. Il couvre une série de problème fort inconfortable comme les violences contre les femmes par les forces de l’ordre, le non-respect des droits constitutionnels des autochtones, le néo-colonialisme. Taqawan nous remet à notre place. Il nous repositionne pour nous rappeler que les problèmes existent encore, et qu’ils ne sont pas proches d’être réglés. Doublé, avec la très poignante plume de Plamondon, c’est un roman qui « fesse ». Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood Summary It's 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. My thoughts Full review here. Just like Lullabies for Little Criminals, Alias Grace is another one of those heavily character-driven stories. Not much happens in fact. Grace mostly wonders while she busies herself with tasks at her job, or she discusses with the ‘expert’ in mental illnesses where we learn about her life growing up. In a sense, it is a very slow novel. Yet, it is truly captivating. Fans of murder shows or podcasts will love this story as the whole drama of it hinges on whether or not Grace is guilty. Just like all those greats shows, there is a true back and forth between the two sides. At times, due to her family’s violent past, it seems obvious that she is guilty of these gruesome murders. At other times, she seems to frail and soft, almost like a doll, that there is no way she could muster up the courage or will to assassinate even an ant. Additionally, like all Atwood novels, there are strong social commentaries on sexism, class and mental illness that remain relevant today. Overall, a fantastic classic that deserves to be read since it is, dare I say it, better than The Handmaids Tale. The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill Summary Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen. My thoughts Full review here. Two O'Neill books in one list? Well, that's because she is a good writer, dear readers! Indeed, I stole this one from my mother's bookshelves and it was so good that I decided to give Lullabies for Little Criminals a try. This book combines my two favorite literary elements: strong characters and historical plots (as you might have already guessed from this list). The Lonely Hearts Hotel starts in the 1920s, but, as we follow the growth of our main characters, Rose and Pierrot, we see the Great Depression years which marks a drastic change into our characters’ lives. We discover the more humane side of the 1929 crash, one where prostitution, drug addiction and pimping becomes the norm. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is full of magic in those grim times. Even as the characters grow up, we still sense a profound childlike spirit to the story, some parts even sounding cliché compared to the darkness. A highly enjoyable read especially for those that want something hardcore, but with a touch of magic. Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Summary In Sapiens, Dr. Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical – and sometimes devastating – breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, paleontology and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come? My thoughts I never review non-fiction works because I simply don't know how to. There is no talk of character development or world-building. Furthermore, criticizing a non-fiction work means disagreeing with the facts presented by the author, which, unless I do in-depth research, do not feel qualified to do. However, Sapiens was just too wonderful to not mention it in this review. Indeed, I am hardly the first person in your entourage to have read the book I imagine. When it came out several years ago (yes, I am always late on the trends), it created a huge buzz in the academic and literary community. In fact, on Goodreads, it has an average of 4.43/5 with 59% of people giving it five stars. Those are very impressive numbers, especially when close to 400,000 people reviewed it. I confirm, Sapiens is really that good. It presents global history in a very concrete and accessible way. It brings up very interesting points about what makes humans human, and how we got there to begin with. I enjoy his historical approach by focusing on “Revolutions” (cognitive, agricultural and scientific) which have indeed marked a turning point in capital-H History. This approach, however, is a bit simplistic, but that’s also what gives it its approachability, and anything I can do to make people learn about history, I will do. Xx.
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