Lysenko's Yellow Boots

Yellow Boots / Vera Lysenko NeWest, 1992, c1954. 355 p. After all that list-making it is time to read a few of the books on the lists! I've begun with Yellow Boots, a classic of Ukrainian Canadian literature. This is the story of Lilli Landash, a young Ukrainian living in Manitoba in the 1930s. She has ten brothers and sisters, and is considered a 'gypsy' girl: born at twilight and looking a little different she is not nurtured by her parents, rather she is sent out to work in her aunt's home from the age of six. After five years of service she becomes ill, so ill that her death seems imminent, and that is where our story begins. Lilli is taken back to her parents home, and fights the odds, surviving and living with her parents from then on. However, she is still not a favoured child, and does much of the work around the house. She is known as Gypsy until her one year of schooling, where the Scottish teacher, overwhelmed by all the Ukrainian Marys in his class, renames them all for flowers, and Gypsy becomes Lily (or Lilli as she misspells it). Her special love is the prairies, though - she loves to be outside and is rapturous over the beauties of sky and birds and sounds. She is extremely musical and this is what leads her to her future. Each chapter describes a cultural event, as well as following Lilli's growth toward adulthood. For example, the first chapter when Lilli is so ill is also used as a way in which to explain traditional death rituals of the Bukovynian (Ukrainian) family. They have a Christmas in one chapter, a wedding in another, a funeral in a third. While this does feel a little forced, it is still full of fascinating information, revealed in a way that draws you in via all your senses. The book also has a proto-feminist feel, with Lilli knowing in her heart that she is meant to grow and succeed, not to follow her father's orders and marry an old and lascivious neighbour at the age of sixteen in order to secure more farmland. She flees the farm, moving to Winnipeg and making it as a singer, drawing together the opportunity that the new world offers with the love of tradition and her Bukovynian past, by singing traditional songs. She also learns the songs of other cultures she comes across in Winnipeg - a Yiddish tune, a Japanese lullaby. She is the example of the perfect multicultural immigrant, willing to meld her lifestyle with the dominant Anglo-Canadian culture while preserving the arts of her own. Other women's issues appear in the story - the plight of servant girls in the city, the status of a widow in the small town, and so on. The story is engrossing for all the detail of farming in those communities - the small mindedness and superstition as well as the generosity and the hard, hard work that was expected of all. However, it was written in the fifties, and the author's multicultural idealism does show through. The change in the communities as they become more "Canadian" is clear, but Lilli does her best to retain some of the tradition through her songs. When, as a successful adult, she returns to the farm, her mother is described as wearing a house dress from a department store, and the younger girls wished to prepare a meal for Lilli using canned food and store bought ingredients on the new stove - it was her mother who knew that Lilli would prefer a true Bukovynian meal made in the old fashioned way. Since Lilli has only been away from the farm for seven years, it does seem a bit odd that all the Ukrainian habits of her family have vanished so quickly. I wouldn't say that it is fantastically successful as a novel, but as a social document showing a possible life of that time it does prove intriguing. Lilli is a good character, full of self-analysis, ambition, talent and grit. Her absorption in beauty and in music are revealing, and her constant observation of everything around her from the point of view of the outsider creates a detailed look at a way of life which was already gone by the time this book was written. I found the first part of the book most interesting, with Lilli surrounded by her traditional family and all the habits they held. Once Lilli moves into Winnipeg, the interest shifts and we are seeing the integration of many different cultures into one big city. The role of women in this era is in evidence, across many social levels: the author was from a poor background and she held fairly socialist political views, which is apparent in the way she discusses issues from the viewpoint of the poor characters - the farm girls, the maids - as well as the matrons of the city. (She was also falsely accused of being a Communist during the Cold War Era when it was a real issue, and it stuck to her for quite a long time). There are a few elements of the book that I found uncomfortable from my modern perspective - including the idea that Lilli could only escape from her overbearing father through the intervention of other men, like her schoolteacher, or the choirmaster she meets in Winnipeg. And I wasn't too keen on the conclusion; it was as if Lysenko didn't know quite how to end it and married Lilli off because that is what a "happy ending" should look like. Nonetheless, this is a great piece of Canadiana that should be considered part of the historical record along with better known novels of that era.

Challenge List the First

Here are my Challenge lists for the Challenges I am going to undertake in 2010, not forgetting the ongoing Canadian Book Challenge which is still underway, of course. I'm a big one for creating book pools rather than strict lists - don't want to feel that my reading is a prescribed chore, and this way I just have more to choose from!


Science Book Challenge -- it's as easy as pi! (love the slogan)
(3 books)

One of my favourite challenges, for 2010 I have a number of science books around the house which I really want to get to. I had all these on my list for last year, but ended up reading three totally different titles. So I'll try again with these three:


Mauve / Simon Garfield
The story of William Perkin, a young inventor in the mid 1800s who discovered how to make dyes from coal tar, accidentally. He was really searching for a way to create artificial quinine.

The Arcanum / Janet Gleeson
About the Western discovery of how to make porcelain

Empire of the Stars / Arthur I. Miller
One of my favourite topics: astrophysics and how discoveries are made or affected by the personalities involved, with all their human failings.

I'd also like to get my hands on a biography recently voted top science book of 09 by physicsworld.com, the story of Paul Dirac. It's entitled The Strangest Man, written by Graham Farmelo. (there is also a lecture available by Farmelo on this topic) This era of physics is one of my favourite scientific subjects to read about, so will have to locate a copy of this one. All I know about Dirac presently is what I learned from one of my favourite nonfiction reads of last year, Gino Segre's Faust in Copenhagen.

**updated**

Healing Spaces / Esther Sternberg

Mauve / Simon Garfield

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Colourful Reading Challenge

This is going to be totally random, probably all books I read for other challenges or just pick up for fun. The Challenge is to read 9 books all with a different colour in the title throughout the year. I have my Science Book Challenge pick above, Mauve, and one I have TBR for the Canadian Book Challenge, Vera Lysenko's Yellow Boots, to begin.

Updates:

Yellow Boots / Vera Lysenko

Green Dolphin Country / Elizabeth Goudge

Mauve / Simon Garfield

The Woman in White / Wilkie Collins
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What's in a Name 3

I've done this challenge for the last two years (though this year I didn't quite keep up!) I love its random selections. These are some of the ideas for titles to choose from - they may still change throughout the year! This year the categories are:

A book with a food in the title

Honey and Ashes / Janice Kulyk Keefer (memoir)
Plum Bun / Jesse Redmon Fauset
Daalder's Chocolates / Philibert Schogt
Read: The Spice Necklace / Ann Vanderhoof

A book with a body of water in the title

The Waves / Virginia Woolf
By the Lake / John McGahern
The Seduction of Water / Carol Goodman
Read: Cool Water / Dianne Warren

A book with a title (queen, president) in the title

Sir Charles Grandison / Richardson (also for Chunkster)
The Case of the General's Thumb / Andrey Kurkov
Mrs. Dalloway / Virginia Woolf
Read: Queen of Hearts / Martha Brooks

A book with a plant in the title

The Blue Flower / Penelope Fitzgerald
Read: The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag / Alan Bradley
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily / Lauren Willig

A book with a place name (city, country) in the title

Read: The Road to Lichfield / Penelope Lively
The Enchantress of Florence / Salman Rushdie
Return to Paris / Colette Rossant (nonfiction- food writing)

A book with a music term in the title

The Ballad and the Source / Rosamond Lehmann
Music of a life / Andrei Makine
Song beneath the ice / Joe Fiorito
Read: Trumpets Sound no More / Jon Redfern

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Flashback Challenge

All about rereading. This one has different levels of reading to choose from, but I think I'll sign up at the Literati level, six or more books. This is because I want to follow their suggestion of rereading childhood, high school, and adult choices.

Childhood Selections: this year I want to reread the entire Anne series by L.M. Montgomery, since I just finished the new publication of the restored Blythes are Quoted.

High School level: There are a few books I may choose from -- I haven't reread To Kill a Mockingbird since high school and might like to try that. But there are non-school books I'd like to revisit, including Watership Down or maybe Elizabeth Goudge's Green Dolphin Street, of which I remember very little - I think I was too young when I first read it.

Adult choices: There are two books I'd particularly like to reread - Virginia Woolf's The Waves, and Gwethalyn Graham's Earth and High Heaven.

Updated: actually read

As for me and my house / Sinclair Ross

Green Dolphin Country / Elizabeth Goudge

Anne of Green Gables / LMMontgomery

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Chunkster Challenge

This was the first challenge I ever participated in, and I think it is time to give it another go. I'm only going to sign up for the Chubby Chunkster level, which is three books over 450 pages in 2010. I may read more but am just starting with this. Some ideas for the books I'm going to read are:


Middlemarch / George Eliot (880 p) [read]

The Terror / Dan Simmons (765 p)

Sir Charles Grandison / Richardson (1159 p)

Gold Bug Variations / Richard Power s (635 p)

Celestial Harmonies / Peter Esterhazy (841 p)

Ursula, Under / Ingrid Hill (476 p)

Updated: Actually read:

Green Dolphin Country / Elizabeth Goudge (575 p.)

Gaudy Night / Dorothy Sayers (557 p.)

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Our Mutual Read

I love the name of the Challenge, and its potential for spending lots of time with Victorian literature! I think I will sign up at



Level 2: 8 books, at least 4 written during 1837 - 1901. The other books may be Neo-Victorian or non-fiction

And here is my list which is only a starting point:

Middlemarch / George Eliot
[read]

The Woman in White / Wilkie Collins
[read]

The Way we live now / Anthony Trollope

Bleak House / Charles Dickens

News from Nowhere / William Morris

Sylvia's lovers / Elizabeth Gaskell

Two on a Tower / Thomas Hardy

Also read:
Trumpets Sound no More / Jon Redfern (NeoVictorian)

Happy Ukrainian Christmas!

Happy Christmas to you all! Enjoy the last day of the Holiday Season and celebrate the Ukrainian way - with lots of food :)

An excerpt from Vera Lysenko's Yellow Boots:

...Anton had piled a bunch of rye straw and fragrant hay on a sled and directed Lilli, "You bring in the sheaf with Petey." This sheaf was called Old Man, and was placed in an honorary corner behind the table under the holy pictures, to symbolize God's gift of a bountiful harvest. There it would remain until New Year's Day, to invoke the blessing of the spirits which were thought in olden days to haunt the grain fields.

When they returned to the house, Zenobia and Lilli set the table for dinner, which commenced traditionally with the appearance of the first star in the sky. First, Zenobia spread a white cloth over hay and as a centrepiece she placed a kolach, the white Christmas bread, flanked by two loaves of dark bread. There were twelve dishes, one for each Apostle -- beet soup, honeyed waffles, stuffed dumplings, fish jelly, cabbage rolls stuffed with rice, fish fried in oil, fruit compote, poppy seed buns, honey and wheat mixture, braided bread, apple turnovers, prunes, and a drink made from the juice of boiled dried fruits. All had been laid out on the table in decorated dishes and wooden bowls. One large wax candle was lit on the table to symbolize the Star of the East.

Lilli went over to the wooden chest and began to take out their holiday attire -- new ribbons, kerchiefs, woven belts and fresh white smocks. She caressed each garment, for he loved the feel of clean, starched linen and soft silk. "A belt, a red belt for me!" exclaimed Petey, prancing about in his white trousers and white shirt, his yellow hair slicked back. "You look like a buttercup, Petey!" exclaimed Lilli, hugging him.

When she had dressed her smaller brothers and sisters, tied their ribbons and combed their hair, she arranged them in a row on a bench to wait for dinner. She looked outside. The sky had darkened and now the first evening star was faintly visible far over the church. "I see it! I see the star!" she cried. A feeling of holy quietness came over her as she looked into the beauty of the night. In the distance, she could see the lights in the other farm houses. Turning from the window, she contemplated the food, the candles, the kolach on the table and all these gave her the feeling that Christmas Eve had really begun. At this moment, her grandparents arrived, and supper was announced.

Revivals #1: High Bright Buggy Wheels

As I said in my previous post about Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries program, I find the idea of personal recommendations as to the value of out-of-print books very compelling. I love the idea that one enthusiastic person is able to revitalize older titles that she loves and bring them back into common circulation.

So, to leap on to the bandwagon, so to speak, I am launching a series of blog posts influenced by this idea. I'm calling it "Revivals" -- the primary difference being, of course, that I am not bringing books back into print, simply back into awareness! I find that many book bloggers do read and discuss out of print books, not limiting ourselves to only what is current...with these particular titles I'm going to take a page out of Nancy Pearl's book and also write a mini essay about WHY I think these out-of-print books might merit a re-examination. So I think it's fitting that the book that starts off my Revivals series also begins with a revival.

High Bright Buggy Wheels / Luella Creighton
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1951.
352 p.

Small town Ontario, 1908 -- a summer camp-meeting revival is going on amidst the local Mennonite population. Tillie Shantz watches the preacher, Simon Goudie, call people to true faith, reflecting that such a godly man may be one she is interested in marrying. Yet after the crest of the religious fervour, she exits the tent into the night to find a young man from the nearby town of Kinsail (there for the entertainment) asking for directions back to where he left his buggy, having been turned around in the dark. He then offers her a ride and she hops into the light buggy and skims down to the end of the road and back. This is very much Not Done, and we are given a hint as to just how much Tillie differs from her peers, the theme that this story then elaborates on.

I first read this quite a few years ago now, and have just picked it up to reread before deciding to recommend it. It has some problems, of course: written in 1951, set in 1908, there are judgments and assumptions made that don't sit too well with modern sensibilities... but there is also drama and intrigue and friendship and love. Tillie and George, the young druggist who provides the joy ride at the beginning of the book, are very different kinds of people. But their youthful attraction changes the trajectory of both their lives.

Author Luella Creighton was a Scottish Canadian, married to a well-known historian. This book is a look at rural Ontario, specifically at a Mennonite settlement and how this group of people are and are not fitting in to Canadian society. This was an unusual book of its time, focusing on a story based in an ethnic minority (here German Mennonites) -- and there have been papers written about the elements of ethnic self-hatred propagated by both this book and another 50's novel that I've read and reviewed previously, Vera Lysenko's Yellow Boots (set within the Ukrainian community). The issue seems to be that the ethnic group is seen as backward, limiting, something to be transcended by becoming part of regular society. It's true that both of the young female characters in these two books have to leave their roots to find personal fulfillment. However, rather than seeing ethnic self-hatred, I identified with the struggle that these girls faced within a patriarchal setting to determine their own desires, and to find the strength to make a change. Nevertheless, they are delivered from their original difficulties by another man's intervention, so perhaps there is still room to grow in both of these stories.

However, I find this a fascinating read for its inclusion of the small details of Canadian life of that era, both Anglo-Canadian and Mennonite. It has its charms, with Tillie discovering a passion for horse racing, dancing, music and nature. She promises to marry Simon Goudie but then requests some time before the wedding to follow through on her desire to go to town and learn dressmaking, which her indulgent father permits. The joy she feels in learning this skill, which draws on her creative powers and allows an emerging independence, is the highlight of the book. Her pleasure in designing, in the tactile experience of fabrics, in the friendship she develops with her spinster employer and instructor, is bright and delightful. She discovers the fascination of the public library, reading a common penny novel with absolute absorption, allowing herself to forget chores, meals and expectations -- so much so that she is caught unawares by her strict aunt who, in horror for her soul, throws the book into the fire.

In reading this, I saw shades of L.M. Montgomery -- in Tillie's life with two strict aunts, with the focus on the bountiful domesticity of the Mennonite households, in Tillie's eventual delight in pretty clothes, the beauty of nature, and a cozy home. Tillie also shares Anne Shirley Blythe's sorrow as a young mother, and reacts in much the same fashion. I also sensed shades of Jane Eyre (and St. John Rivers), with Tillie giving up Simon when he announces to one and all that he has been called to be a missionary to Africa, expecting her to follow unquestioningly. She leaves her faith for "the world" after much internal struggle, and builds a life as part of mainstream Anglo-Canadian society.

While Creighton's depiction of Mennonite life has been questioned, as coming from the outside and without a deep understanding of the primacy of faith, I found her characterization of Tillie's struggle for understanding and self-actualization fascinating, and still relevant today, when considering the difficulties that many young adults have in moving away from their upbringing, whether religious or cultural, and finding a way of life that they have determined on for themselves.

George is also an interesting character; he is an up-and-coming businessman with lots of ideas for improving his store and making it more profitable, including adding an ice-cream parlour and a lakeside dance pavilion. He sees himself as one of the dashing class, with a horse and buggy and a prediliction for racing. He seems to be a disciple of Samuel Smiles, stating at one point:

The thing was to know what you wanted, and get after it. People didn't get what they thought they wanted, in this world, because they did not want it hard enough to believe they could. 

His focus on expansion and success doesn't include a wife at this point -- but Tillie's various charms overcome him and he decides it is worth it. After seeing the strength of Tillie's character and family ties, and the force of her internal struggle, George seems very much of a lightweight. I question whether he really deserves someone like Tillie... and whether her absolute change of life circumstances has been worth it if he is the reward. I dream of a life of independence and creativity for a fine woman of Tillie's qualities... but those books were yet to be written.

This is still a valuable look at an era in Canada's past, at the expectations and assumptions of a society bound in male and Anglo-Canadian norms. Even within this structure, I believe that Luella Creighton was able to present a variety of women all trying to find their place in the world. Sadly, the bubble of possibility that Tillie was floating in could only stay together so long, before she landed in the "happy ending" of the time, gaining a husband and a house to care for.

Bohunk Road

Bohunk Road / Hope Morritt
Sarnia: River City Press, c1987.
116 p.

I found this book in a 2nd hand store and had to pick it up because of its Ukrainian content. I found it both interesting and disturbing.

First of all, the title itself is a little off-putting, even though it refers to the road on the edges of Edmonton that the main characters live on, and its common name among the city's inhabitants. "Bohunk" is quite a rude slur, in reference to Ukrainians, so it makes sense that in the 40s & 50s in which this story is set that it would still be in use. But it's still hard to read.

And a lot of this story is hard: main character Natalka is the second daughter of the Wisnowski family, and she is determined to shake off the trappings of her ethnicity. Her ideal is to leave her family's embarrassing tar paper shack and all their traditions, and marry an American soldier and become a perfect 50s wife. This seems possible as there are numerous soldiers stationed in Edmonton, building the Alaska-Canada Highway for US wartime defense purposes. I had no idea about this event so was surprised and interested to learn that loads of Americans in Alberta at this time was indeed an historical fact.

After many struggles (some quite harrowing -- the attempted murder of her new boyfriend by assailants unknown though suspected, an attempted rape by a creepy neighbour, to name a couple) she succeeds in her goal. And begins to wonder if she perhaps hadn't married a little too soon; her dream of marriage takes her to the North (to Whitehorse), and gives her two children quickly, but also takes away her university prospects forever.

The part of this short book which deals with her dissatisfaction and longing to escape home is quite elaborate and rich; once she's married the story skims ahead quickly and episodically over a number of years, until the finale, in which she returns home and realizes the value of family and identity after all.

There are moments of loveliness in the first part of the book, notably a chapter focusing on a Christmas celebration. But there is much grittiness and misery, and frank language and discussion of rough experiences. The feeling of  'overcoming' one's ethnic upbringing to become a real North American success story reminds me quite a bit of elements of Vera Lysenko's Yellow Boots.   There is also the same sense of dislocation in both books with the main character being away from home for only a decade at most, and when they finally go back, it has all changed dramatically.


Despite the reservations I had about this book's literary merits, and some of the things I found disturbing (particularly the attempted rape scene), it was an illuminating read. I thought the way in which Morritt juxtaposed Natalka, her mother Martha, and her frail grandmother Anastasia highlighted the changes that overtake a family over a generation. This is another book that really focuses on women and their experiences, and creates a wide range of women who are all very different and individual in their character and behaviour. I felt that this story speaks of a Ukrainian experience in a way I haven't read a lot, honestly expressing the urge of some younger people to leave their heritage behind in an era where it wasn't a benefit.

Attacking the TBR

I am joining in on one last challenge, Emily's Attacking the TBR Challenge. I need to do this one; I have more than one bookshelf full of books I want to read -- things I've purchased randomly or been given or bookmooched, and so on. And I really do want to read them all; that is why I acquired them in the first place, isn't it? Emily's rules, such as they are, are as follows:

It begins December 1, 2009 (because I always believe in challenges that give you more than one year to complete) and ends no later than December 31, 2010, but it really ends whenever you manage to complete it.

Here are the rules:

1. Choose 20 books from your TBR list (or tome, if you are like me), and post them on December 1, 2009. If you'd like, you can tell us why you chose each book (I'm sure you can guess what I'd "like").

2. Read those 20 books.

3. Oh, did I mention? You are not allowed to buy any of them. If you don't already own them, you must beg, borrow, or steal them in order to read them

.4. Oh, I guess I forgot the other difficult part: you are not allowed to buy any new (or used. No, you can't get around it that way) books until you have read (or attempted to read at least 30+ pages) of all the books on your list.

5. There is one exception to the rules (because I am a fair kinda gal and belong to 2 book discussion groups): you may buy books you have to read for book discussion groups before you have read all 20 on your list, if you can't get them any other way (i.e. your library system doesn't have them and employs the Sloth Express to deliver all interlibrary loans). However, I highly recommend that you encourage your book discussion groups to read books from your list of 20.

6. And then that final thing: write a blog post about each book as you finish (or decide you can't finish) it.


This sounds like the perfect Challenge to me, and I have spent much time over my recent days off going through my shelves, deciding what I want to read right away. I've decided to count only books I currently own, no library books or borrowed ones. And I am starting on January 1st, as this week I still have my annual holiday trip to the Big City and its bookstores coming up.This is my working list, and I won't necessarily be reading them in the order they are listed:


1. Yellow Boots / Vera Lysenko
This is a classic of Ukrainian Canadian literature that I was lucky enough to find at a local used bookstore last year. I want to read this one, and it is one for my Canadian Book Challenge reading as well.

2. Return to Paris / Colette Rossant
Foodie writing, by an author whom I love. I read her Apricots along the Nile, about her childhood, some years ago (loved it) and this is the next stage in her life. Great writing, and recipes!

3. Heaven is Small / Emily Schultz
A new Canadian novel that I serendipitiously found a copy of. Must read! A man dies and ends up working for a huge romance publisher in an afterlife limbo, not realizing he is dead.

4. Seven Ravens / Lesley Choyce
A memoir of two summers, by a Maritime author I adore

5. Sunset Oasis / Bahaa Taher
I received this from the publisher about six months ago and still haven't read it. It was the first winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, and it looks so good.

6. Hunting Unicorns / Bella Pollen

7. Things to Make and Mend / Ruth Thomas

8. Ursula, Under / Ingrid Hill

9. The Circus in Winter / Cathy Day

10. Field Guide / Gwendolen Gross

11. The Ballad & The Source / Rosamond Lehmann

12. Green Dolphin Country / Elizabeth Goudge

13. Angel / Elizabeth Taylor

14. Ship of Widows / Irina Grekova

I've had all the above for a long time, intending to read them - they are all by, about, and thematically concerned with, women and women's lives.

15. All the Names / Jose Saramago
Do I need to give a reason to read Saramago?

16. Four letters of love / Niall Williams
I've had this a long time, supposed to be fabulous and the author is Irish - I like that.

17. The Rain before it falls / Jonathan Coe- I've been wanting to read something by Coe; he championed Virago press last year which made me really fall for him. And this story is supposed to be inspired by Rosamond Lehmann and her sister.

18. Henrietta's War / Joyce Dennys - a slim epistolary novel I recently won from Thomas of My Porch, it is a collection of letters set in England during WWII

19. So long a letter / Mariama Ba - an even slimmer epistolary novel, set in Senegal; supposed to reveal women's lives in an extraordinary manner

20. Any of the titles I own by Penelope Lively which I haven't read yet - because I adore Penelope Lively and intend to read every single one of her titles sooner or later. My greatest reading discovery of 09! (titles include: The Road to Lichfield; Passing On; The City of the Mind; Next to Nature, Art; Judgement Day)

And there are my twenty. There are many more that I may reach for if one of these doesn't catch my fancy, including

Embers / Sandor Marai
The Deadly Space Between / Patricia Duncker
The History of Love / Nicole Krauss
Must Write / Edna Staebler (diaries)
Pursuing Giraffe / Anne Innis Dagg (nonfic)


Thanks, Emily, for hosting such an inspiring challenge!

"Books are not rolls..."

One of my favourite bookish quotes comes from Clifton Fadiman:

"Books are not rolls, to be devoured only when hot and fresh."

As a librarian and a former used bookstore owner, I concur with this sentiment. There is a great deal to be said about buying used, and finding those out-of-print or generally unavailable treasures. But, being a used book dealer meant we were always on the lookout, going to sales at churches, libraries, yardsales and so on, always looking for a book with resale value. And we did not shop in other bookshops, more because of a lack of time and some book fatigue than through any policy.

Today for the first time in forever, I went to a used bookstore not my own, for the sole purpose of seeing if there was anything I WANTED TO READ! It was very novel. And it seemed the Literary Gods were with me. To the sheer enjoyment of looking around at books just for my own pleasure was added the joy of finding quite a few to purchase.

I found:

1. Princess Priscilla's fortnight / Elizabeth von Arnim in a strange 70's paperback edition I had no knowledge of. This is a novel I've been searching for, for nearly 10 years now.

2. The Scent of water / Elizabeth Goudge This should help me finish up all of her books.

3. Mariana / Susanna Kearsley I'm so excited to find the one book I haven't read by this Canadian author, who writes like Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels.

4. Icefields / Thomas Wharton A Canadian historical novel, set in the glacier fields of Alberta, which I read ages ago and wanted to own.

5. The Yellow Boots / Vera Lysenko An early Ukrainian-Canadian novel that I just learned about recently -- there it was, waiting for me.

6. Dictionary of the Khazars / Milorad Pavic A very strange looking Serbo-Croatian novel that I know next to nothing about; but it looks fascinating.

Ah, the joy of book purchasing. I do it so rarely. We own so many books already, and I work at the public library, so purchases are a rare pleasure. I was very lucky today; now I'm off to make a pot of tea and read the first chapters of all my new books!

Classics Club: Women's Classic Literature Event

I've seen the Classics Club chatting on twitter (@ourclassicsclub) and sharing the love of classics in the blog world for quite a while. But I never took the time to really look into what they were actually doing and how they operated. Recently on twitter, someone mentioned the Women's Classic Literature Event that they are hosting for the whole of 2016. And I was hooked!

The Classics Club encourages the reading of classics (duh) but they allow "classic" to be defined by the reader. And they are a lively bunch of book lovers! I'm so glad I've finally joined the Classics Club, and signed up to participate in this great project for next year.

I've been working on the Century of Books challenge for the past two years, and I've read about 75% of my titles. I set my Century of Books challenge to be only women writers, so for this new Event, I am going to continue on with the Century of Books list. Once I finish 100 books by women, no duplicate authors or rereads, I will just keep adding any women's classics I read to that list. For the Women's Classic Literature Event, classics are suggested as pre-1960s books, so I'll also be sticking to that as closely as possible, though exceptions may be made for Canadian lit, since the 70's are considered our classic period.

Anyhow, I'll be starting in on this Event officially as of January 1st, 2016. In preparation, the Classics Club has created an introductory survey. Here are my answers:

1. Introduce yourself. Tell us what you are most looking forward to in this event.
   I am a Canadian librarian and a big reader of both old and new titles. Lately I've been skewing toward newer titles but I have SO many of my own, older books that I want to finally get to. I am really looking forward to the extra push to get back to them and share the gems that have been hiding on my shelves!
2. Have you read many classics by women? Why or why not?
   Yes! I prefer women writers, overall, and find that I read heavily in favour of women's novels/stories/journals each year.
3. Pick a classic female writer you can’t wait to read for the event, & list her date of birth, her place of birth, and the title of one of her most famous works.I really want to finally read some Rose Macaulay. Born in Rugby, Warwickshire in 1881, she published her first novel in 1906. Her best-known, award-winning novel is The Towers of Trebizond, but I'd also like to read Crewe Train, and The World my Wilderness, as well as her collection of anecdotal essays, Personal Pleasures. I own copies of most of these, just have to read them!
4. Think of a female character who was represented in classic literature by a male writer. Does she seem to be a whole or complete woman? Why or why not? Tell us about her. (Without spoilers, please!)
   I really liked Charlotte Grandison, from Sir Charles Grandison. The heroine of the book is a bit too sweet and perfect, but Charlotte is mouthy, funny, and sarcastic. She's not keen on husbands or babies, even when she has both, and she is definitely her own person. I feel like Samuel Richardson really liked women, from my reading of this novel.
5. Favorite classic heroine? (Why? Who wrote her?)
   Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables is one of my favourite Canadian heroines. I met her when I was a young, awkward, literary pre-teen, and she & I just got along so well. I reread AGG regularly & still enjoy the visits. I am a big fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery as an author and as a Canadian individual.
6. We’d love to help clubbers find great titles by classic female authors. Can you recommend any sources for building a list? 
   Searching the lists made by participants in the Century of Books project may give you some ideas. Also, the Victorian Web is a very fun place to visit!
7. Recommend three books by classic female writers to get people started in this event.
   Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (one of my faves)
   North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell
   Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (for a light & enjoyable read)
8. Will you be joining us for this event immediately, or will you wait until the new year starts?
   I'm waiting for a fresh start, as of January 1st.
9. Do you plan to read as inspiration pulls, or will you make out a preset list?
   I'm doing a combination: I have a list from a previous challenge that I'm going to keep working on, but add other titles as I feel drawn to them.
10. Are you pulling to any particular genres? (Letters, journals, biographies, short stories, novels, poems, essays, etc?)
    I'll be focusing on novels, with a secondary interest in journals.
11. Are you pulling to a particular era or location in literature by women?
    By reading many of the books I already own, I'll be leaning toward 19th C./early 20th C. North America & England.
12. Do you hope to host an event or readalong for the group? No worries if you don’t have details. We’re just curious!
    Not thinking of one currently... but you never know!
13. Share a quote you love by a classic female author — even if you haven’t read the book yet.
    I suppose it's like that -- you can never get far enough outside your own life to see it as a story, something that is romantic or tragic or strange. It goes along with you all the time and you don't know the pattern of it any more than you know the sound of your own voice.
    (from One Foolish Heart by June Wilson, 1948)
14. Finally, ask the question you wish this survey had asked, & then answer it.
    My question is: what book from your own country's literature do you think is an underrated classic? 
    My answer: for my own part, in Canadian literature, I think that Vera Lysenko's Yellow Boots is overlooked, but it is a great example of a mid-century struggle with one's ethnic background, a theme that was appearing around that time as writers were trying to understand what "Canadian" meant.  Also, in the mystery genre, anything by Margaret Millar is a classic -- she is a terribly underrated Canadian writer!

Canadian Book Meme

For those of us participating in the Book Mine Set's Canadian reading challenge, John has adapted his amazing list of provincial reads into a meme. The rules? Highlight in red those you've read, highlight in blue authors you've read (just not that particular book), and leave the rest black.

This is his list as of today's date; but I've altered the meme a bit. I've taken out most of the children's books, as I 'm not planning on reading any as part of my challenge. And, I've added in purple books I've read and would recommend in these provincial categories.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Cassie Brown- Death On The Ice (Non-fiction)

Lisa Moore- Open (Short Stories)

Lisa Moore- Alligator

Wayne Johnston- Colony of Unrequited Dreams

Al Pittman- Down By Jim Long’s Stage (Children’s poems)

Al Pittman- West Moon (play)

Harold Horwood- White Eskimo

Harold Horwood- Bartlett

The Great Explorer (Non-fiction)

Michael Crummey- River Thieves

E. J. Pratt- Complete Poems (Poetry)

Mary Dalton- Merrybegot (Poetry)

Dillon Wallace- The Lure of The Labrador Wild

Ted Russell- The Holdin’ Ground (play)

Percy Janes- House of Hate

E. Annie Proulx- The Shipping News

Claire Mowat- Outport People (Non-fiction)

Jim Defede- The Day The World Came To Town (Non-fiction)

Donna Morrissey- Kit’s Law

Ken Babstock- Airstream Land Yacht (Poetry)

Bernice Morgan- Random Passage

Joan Clark- An Audience of Chairs (read Latitudes of Melt - very good!)

Earl B. Pilgrim- The Ghost of Ellen Dower

Dale Jarvis- Haunted Shores: True Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador

Paul Butler- Easton

Edward Riche- Rare Birds

Kenneth J. Harvey- The Town That Forgot How To Breathe

Prince Edward Island

Lucy Maud Montgomery- Anne of Green Gables

David Helwig- Saltsea

Michael Hennessey- The Betrayer

J. J. Steinfeld- Would You Hide Me? (Short Stories)

Anne Compton- Processional (Poetry)

Milton Acorn- I Shout Love and Other Poems (Poetry)

Nova Scotia

Frank Parker Day- Rockbound

Alistair MacLeod- Island (Short Stories)

Alistair MacLeod- No Great Mischief

George Elliott Clarke- Whylah Falls (Poetry)

Anne Simpson- Loop (Poetry)

Alden Nolan- The Best Of (Poetry)

Hugh MacLennan- The Watch That Ends The Night

Thomas Chandler Haliburton- The Clockmaker

Ernest Buckler- The Mountain and the Valley

Ann-Marie MacDonald- Fall On Your Knees

Linden MacIntyre- Causeway (Non-fiction)

Brad Kessler- Birds In Fall

Ami McKay- The Birth House

Lesley Choyce - The Republic of Nothing

New Brunswick

David Adams Richards- Mercy Among The Children

Charles G. D. Roberts- The Collected Poems (Poetry)

T. G. Roberts- The Red Feathers

Donna Allard- Minago Streets (Poetry)

Linda Hall- Black Ice

Antonine Maillet- Pelagie: The Return To Acadie

Elisabeth Harvor- Fortress Of Chairs

Quebec

Mordecai Richler- Barney’s Version

Gabrielle Roy- The Tin Flute

Roch Carrier- The Hockey Sweater (Children’s Book)

Markoosie- Harpoon of the Hunter

Michel Tremblay- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant

Michel Tremblay- Forever Yours Marie-Lou (Play)

Saul Bellow- Humboldt’s Gift

Hubert Acquin- Next Episode

Heather O’Neill- Lullabies For Little Criminals

Mavis Gallant- Home Truths (Short Stories)

Gaetan Soucy- The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond Of Matches

Leonard Cohen- Beautiful Losers

Leonard Cohen- Let Us Compare Mythologies (Poetry)

Jacques Poulin- Volkswagen Blues (one of my favourite books, ever)

Yves Theriault- Agaguk

Frances Brooke- The History of Emily Montague

Nicole Brossard- Museum of Bone and Water

Colin McDougall- Execution

Anne Hebert- Kamouraska

Mairuth Sarsfield- No Crystal Stair

Naomi Klein- No Logo (Non-fiction)

Irving Layton- Dance With Desire (Poems)

Stuart McLean- Stories From The Vinyl Café (Short Stories)

Yann Martel- Life of Pi

Romeo Dallaire- Shake Hands With The Devil (Non-fiction)

Monique Proulx- The Heart Is An Involuntary Muscle

Peter Behrens- The Law of Dreams

Willa Cather- Shadows On The Rock

Colleen Curran - Something drastic

Ontario

Margaret Atwood- Handmaid’s Tale

Robertson Davies- Fifth Business

Stephen Leacock- Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Short Stories)

Alice Munro- Who Do You Think You Are? (Short Stories)

Timothy Findley- The Wars

Jane Urquhart- The Stone Carvers

Barbara Gowdy- White Bone

Joan Barfoot- Luck

David Glimour- A Perfect Night To Go To China

Douglas Glover- Elle

Michael Ondaatje- In The Skin Of A Lion

Rohinton Mistry- A Fine Balance

Al Purdy- Beyond Remembering (Poetry)

Farley Mowat- Never Cry Wolf

Marian Engel- Bear

Joseph Boyden- Three Day Road

Charles de Lint- Moonlight and Vines

Thomas King- Green Grass, Running Water

Austin Clarke- The Polished Hoe

Mary Lawson- Crow Lake

Matt Cohen- Elizabeth and After

Christian Bok- Eunoia (poetry)

Richard B. Wright- Clara Callan

M. G. Vassanji- The In-Between World of Vikram Lalli

Vincent Lam- Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures (Short stories)

David Bezmozgis- Natasha and Other Stories (Short Stories)

Morley Callaghan- More Joy In Heaven

M. T. Kelly- A Dream Like Mine

Helen Humphries- Afterimage

Paul Quarrington- Whale Music

Nino Ricci- Lives of The Saints

Leon Rooke- Shakespeare's Dog

Diane Schoemperlen- Forms of Devotion

Gordon Downie- Coke Machine Glow (Poetry)

Anne Michaels- Fugitive Pieces

Frances Itani- Deafening (you know what my recommendation for a novel by Frances Itani is!)

Marian Keith - The Grand Lady

Luella Creighton - High Bright Buggy Wheels

Manitoba

Margaret Laurence- A Bird In The House (Short Stories)

Margaret Laurence- A Jest of God

Carol Shields- The Stone Diaries

David Godfrey- The New Ancestors

Bill Richardson- Bachelor Brothers’ Bed and Breakfast

Miriam Toews- A Complicated Kindness

Tomson Highway- The Rez Sisters (Play)

David Bergen- The Time In Between

Adele Wiseman- The Sacrifice

Larry Warwaruk - The Ukrainian wedding

Vera Lysenko - Yellow Boots

Saskatchewan

Tim Lilburn- Kill-Site (Poetry)

Guy Vanderhaeghe- The Last Crossing

Guy Gavriel Kay- The Summer Tree

Sinclair Ross- As For Me and My House

W. O. Mitchell- Who Has Seen The Wind

Rudy Wiebe- The Temptations of Big Bear

Dianne Warren- Serpent In The Night Sky (play)

Sharon Butala- Lilac Moon (Non-fiction)

Paul Hiebert- Sarah Binks

Kate Sutherland - All in together girls (short stories)

Leona Theis - The Art of Salvage

Alberta

Will Ferguson- Why I Hate Canadians (Nonfiction)

Earle Birney- One Muddy Hand (Poetry)

Thomas Wharton- Salamander (also read "Ice Fields" which is set in Alberta and is wonderful)

W. P. Kinsella- Shoeless Joe

Robert Kroetsch- The Studhorse Man

Gloria Sawai- A Song For Nettie Johnson

Greg Holingshead- The Roaring Girl (Short stories)

Katherine Govier- Three Views of Crystal Water

Christopher Wiseman- In John Updike’s Room (Poetry)

Anita Rau Badami- Can You Hear The Nightbird Call?

Gail Anderson Dargatz - A Recipe for Bees, or another one, A Rhinestone Button

British Columbia

George Bowering- The Gangs of Kosmos

Douglas Coupland- Generation X

Timothy Taylor- Stanley Park

Jack Hodgins- The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne

bpNichol- The Martyrology (Poetry)

Susan Musgrave- What The Small Day Cannot Hold (Poetry)

Michael Turner- Hard Core Logo

Joy Kogawa- Obasan

P.K. Page- Planet Earth (Poetry)

Anosh Irani- The Song of Kahunsha

Wayson Choy- The Jade Peony

John Gould- Kilter (Short stories)

Sheila Watson- The Double Hook

Eden Robinson- Monkey Beach

Gayla Reid- To Be There With You (Short stories)

Margaret Craven- I Heard The Owl Call My Name

Audrey Thomas- Coming Down From Wa

Kevin Chong- Baroque-a-Nova

Ethel Wilson - any of hers: Swamp Angel, The Innocent Traveller, or Hetty Dorval

Yukon

Robert Service- The Best Of (Poetry)

Pierre Berton- The National Dream (Non-fiction)

Al Pope- Bad Latitudes

Dick North- The Mad Trapper of Rat River (Non-fiction)

Pj Johnson- Rhymes of the Raven Lady (Poetry)

Jack London- Call of the Wild

Northwest Territories

Mackay Jenkins- Bloody Falls of the Coppermine (nonfiction)

Richard Van Camp- Lesser Blessed

Robert Alexie- Pale Indian

Rene Fumoleau- Here I Sit (Poetry)

Steve Zipp- Yellowknife

Elizabeth Hay- Late Nights On Air

James Raffan- Emperor of The North (Non-fiction)

Nunavut

James Houston- The White Dawn

Kevin Patterson- Consumption

Tom Lowenstein (translator)/ Knud Rasmussen (compiled by)- Eskimo Poems (Poetry)

Pierre Berton- The Arctic Grail (nonfiction)

John Bennett and Susan Rowley (Ed. and compilers) Uqalurait: An Oral History of Nunavut (Non-fiction)

Kenn Harper- Give Me My Father’s Body (Non-fiction)

Robert Ruby- Unknown Shore (Non-fiction)