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Sublime horror classic

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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This pandemic is giving me a chance to read some classics that I’ve never read before- silver lining!  Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley in 1816, when she was all of 18 years old (Lainey Gossip would call her a First Book Bitch although this was actually her second book…).  Frankenstein was Shelley’s entry into a horror story challenge between herself, her lover and soon to be husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their friend, Lord Byron. Despite what Hollywood might have you believe, Frankenstein is […]

Secondhand happiness

The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy

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The Tin Flute is a French Canadian classic, and the title has lost something in translation- its original French title is Bonheur d’occasion, or ‘Secondhand Happiness’, which is both more poetic and more descriptive.  Set in Montreal in the 1940s, Tin Flute follows the Lacasse family, who live in St Henri, a poor French neighbourhood near Montreal’s industrial areas. The novel focuses largely on the Lacasse’s eldest child, Florentine.  She is 19 and working as a waitress at a diner, funneling her income towards her […]

Re-reading a classic: 1984 in 2020

1984 by George Orwell

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Y’all know the broad strokes of 1984: Big Brother, newspeak, telescreens, doublethink, “We have always been at war with EastAsia.” It’s entered the popular consciousness in a profound way; and for some reason thinkpieces about it have proliferated since 2016.  (I wonder why!  Truly it is a mystery.) So our small book club decided to re-read this one as adults, to see how our reactions to it might have changed, or if it was really all that.  The consensus: it’s a classic for a reason. […]

Just how little were these women?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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Somehow I missed reading Little Women as a girl, although I do remember the 90’s film version with Winona Ryder and Christian Bale, so I had a general idea on the plot before coming to the book for the first time this year. This classic novel follows the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as well as their mother and several family friends, for a period of about 15 years as they grow up.  Set somewhere in New England, the novel opens in […]

Have you lost your mind? Experienced religion? Or any other dreadful thing?

Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury by Louisa May Alcott

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I love Christmas. As my kid says, there are more holiday songs on my “Holly Jolly” play list than there are days in the year. I bake an insane number of cookies and start watching Christmas movies in November. Yep, I am one of those people and I’m not sorry about it. When I was around 9, I got a paperback anthology of Christmas stories. To keep myself occupied until everyone else woke up on Christmas morning (I was the only kid in the house at the […]



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