By Kathleen Adamson, June 28, 2021 Information: A Historical Companion, Edited by Ann Blair, Paul Duguid, Anja-Silvia Goeing, and Anthony Grafton, Princeton University Press, January 26, 2021, 904 pp., $66.45 We live in a sea of information, but it surrounds us so completely that the word ‘information’ itself is difficult to define. Nowadays we might say … [Read more...] about Information, the Book: Editors’ efforts have borne excellent fruit
Sylvia Olsen Unravelling Canada: Pulling at the stitches of Canadian history
By Gail Picco June 22, 2021 Unravelling Canada: A Knitting Odyssey, Sylvia Olsen, Douglas & McIntyre, April 17, 2021, 256 pp., $24.70 (June 22, 2021) Canadian poet Lorna Crozier said of Unravelling Canada by Sylvia Olsen that “This book knits us together, not only with strands of wool but with compassion, intelligence, caring and storytelling of the most appealing … [Read more...] about Sylvia Olsen Unravelling Canada: Pulling at the stitches of Canadian history
Juneteenth: ‘The most keenly awaited novel of the 20th century’
By Gail Picco (June 18, 2021) Review originally published June 19, 2020 Juneteenth, Ralph Ellison with preface by Charles Johnson, Vintage International, June, 2000, 408 pp., $13.99 Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison was published posthumously and takes its name from the day Union Army General Gordon Granger led troops to Galveston, Texas to announce the end of the … [Read more...] about Juneteenth: ‘The most keenly awaited novel of the 20th century’
Dara McAnulty: Diagnosed with autism at age five, he provides us with a vivid and compelling diary of his connection to nature
By Wanda Deschamps June 14, 2021 Diary of a Young Naturalist, Dara McAnulty, Greystone Books, June 2021, 224 pp., $27,43 Diary of a Young Naturalist is a year-long chronicle of Dara McAnulty’s perspective on nature as a teenager from the age of fourteen to fifteen, originally published in the UK. Through his journey, including his family’s relocation from the … [Read more...] about Dara McAnulty: Diagnosed with autism at age five, he provides us with a vivid and compelling diary of his connection to nature
Saga Boy: Beautiful, raw, and searching
by Roger Ali, June 11, 2021 Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming, Antonio Michael Downing, PenguinRandomHouse Canada, January 29, 2021, 334 pp., $23.21 Saga Boy is a memoir of love, loss, and pain, of self-actualization and acceptance. It is a beautiful, raw story about Antonio Michael Downing’s life-long search for his black identity as he approaches each stage … [Read more...] about Saga Boy: Beautiful, raw, and searching