Another month, another four squares off the Reading Bingo card. 

This could be problematic – I’m going through it faster than I’d intended. At this rate I’ll be done by summer and won’t have anything to post about for the rest of the year and that will disappoint my second-biggest fan (Jennie) and my biggest fan (my mom). But don’t fret, I’ll try to come up with something to entertain you, my loyal four readers.

Despite being the shortest month, February is packed with potential for occasion-themed reading: Groundhog Day, Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Olympics… and I read books about none of those things. Perhaps if this thought had occurred to me early in February instead of on like the 27^th, I might have tried to do so. (Well, maybe on the two of those things that I don’t hate.) At least I got in my traditional Black History Month-related book!

Yes, I realize just how nerdy the entire preceding paragraph makes me seem. Moving on…

A book with non-human characters:

A Beautiful Truth, by Colin McAdam
(Hardcover, 304 pages, Published March 19, 2013 by Hamish Hamilton; audiobook from audible.com)
2 stars

I so wanted to love this book. Partly because I really liked McAdam’s first book, Some Great Thing. And partly because I attended one of his readings for this book on his birthday and he seemed like an awesome dude. Not to mention that it won the 2013 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. But, I regret to report the book was merely okay. It had its poignant moments, and it definitely got better towards the end once all the disparate pieces came together enough for me to figure out the point. But, I felt sometimes like I was slogging through the storylines, which weren’t all that compelling. And the characters – both human and chimp – weren’t really endearing. And, last but not least, there are only so many scenes of chimpanzee sex that I can put up with.

A book by a female author:

The Empty Room, by Lauren B. Davis
(Hardcover, 320 pages, Published May 29, 2013 by Harper Collins Canada)
4 stars

Davis used her first-hand experience to write this novel of a day in the life of a woman with alcoholism, with masterful results. The book is haunting; I lived inside the protagonist Colleen’s head throughout, and though I often wanted to punch her I also hurt for her the entire time. I think it’s a spot-on portrait of addiction, and does for alcoholism what Still Alice (by Lisa Genova) did for Alzheimer’s.

A book written by someone under 30:

Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story, by Robyn Doolittle
(Hardcover, 384 pages, Published February 3, 2014 by Viking Canada)
3 stars

Two things:

One: Robyn Doolittle is adorable. And I know that’s a terrible – and not a very PC – thing to say. I know I should stick to telling you what a good job she did in the book of relating the Rob Ford story, or about her quality reporting, or how brave I think she is in pursuing the crack video story, or how  I marvel at all she’s accomplished at a young age, or how she did all Torontonians proud representing us so well and with poise and insight on the likes of The Daily Show and Late Night. But I can’t help it – I adore adorable people!

Two: It is VERY weird to encounter someone you are related to and care about in a book. And yes, Daniel is adorable, too!

A book that is more than 10 years old:

Cane River, by Lalita Tademy
(Paperback, 522 pages, Published April 1, 2002 by Grand Central Publishing (first published January 1, 2001))
4 stars

No matter how many books I read about slavery, I’m still somehow shocked that it actually happened. I don’t know what that’s more of a testament to: my naïve nature and late-20^th-century worldview, or the degree of heinousness of that institution. Or perhaps it’s to the deftness with which all these writers handle the subject. In this case, that deftness is by a former Silicon Valley exec who left her job to trace her family’s history and write this novel about it. Cane River is a thick, engrossing saga, following four generations of an African American family in Louisiana. When it was published it was hailed as the next coming of Roots (by Alex Haley). (I’ll say it was quite good, but not quite THAT good.)

 

So long, February! You will definitely not be missed. And while March promises to be no better, I’m excited for one aspect of it, at least – it’s Canada Reads time! I’m all set to follow along with CBC’s annual battle of the books. Once again, there are several outstanding contenders in the final five, so I’m not even going to guess at how this will play out. My feelings about the finalists:

• Annabel, by Kathleen Winter: 5 stars
• Cockroach, by Rawi Hage: 2 stars
• Half-Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan: 5 stars
• The Orenda, by Joseph Boyden: 5 stars
• The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood: 5 stars

Debates start March 3, the winner will be determined March 6. Check out all the fun at www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads.

Current to-read-pile count: I polished off 14 books this month so SURELY I made a huge dent in the pi… D’oh!!!!! I bought 17. Dammit! Hey A&E, here’s an idea for a show for ya – “Intervention: Bibliophile”! Sigh… the pile’s at 24.