The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe

Reading a novel by Lesley Cynthia Crewe is like covering yourself in an old quilt. You know you can settle in and get cozy, wrap yourself in the words and let the characters and their memories keep you company as you read. Emmeline is indeed a spoon stealer. She is also a tour de force. …

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Saltwater Chronicles: Notes on Everything Under the Nova Scotia Sun by Lesley Choyce

Lesley Choyce has been a mainstay on the Atlantic Canadian literary scene for decades. The author of 100 books, he has written and published in every genre imaginable. He has won and been shortlisted for numerous regional and national literary awards, operates a publishing house, held teaching positions at Dalhousie University and other institutions, and …

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The Story of Lillian Burke, by Edward M. Langille

Lillian Burke is not a household name. If Edward M. Langille, author of The Lillian Burke Story, had his way, that would change. Artist, reconstruction therapist, musician, teacher—American-born Burke was all of these. Though Burke lived the bulk of her life in the United States, she also had a Canadian connection. This came through Elsie …

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Two Novels of Le Grand Dérangement

The Great Deportation or Le Grand Dérangement, of the Acadian peoples, began in 1755 in the area now called the Bay of Fundy. Homes and farms were burned, and many of the 14,000 inhabitants of Acadia were herded aboard British ships and sent off to the Thirteen Colonies in what is now the New England states. The following two novels, both suitable for mature young readers on up, focus on this time of upheaval and the separation of families.

The Laura Churchill Duke Interview

Laura Churchill Duke is the author of Two Crows Sorrow (2019, Moose House Publications) the true story of a grisly murder that took place in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley in 1904. It is currently on the 2020 longlist for “The Very Best!” Book Awards for Best Non-Fiction. I wanted to know more about Ms. Churchill Duke and the research that went into telling Theresa McAuley Robinson’s story.

The Genevieve Graham Interview

Genevieve Graham is the best-selling author of such books as Tides of Honour, Come From Away, At the Mountain’s Edge and Promises to Keep. The good news is that Ms. Graham has a new novel that is set for release in March 2020. It is entitled The Forgotten Home Child and it is a historical fiction novel based on the British Home Child program that was in effect from 1896 until 1948.

Black Cop: My 36 years in police work, and my career ending experiences with official racism by Calvin Lawrence, With Miles Howe

The title and subtitle pretty much sum up what this book is about: being black and facing systemic racism in two police organizations in a 36-year career. Calvin Lawrence was born in 1949 in Yarmouth and raised in Halifax. His parents (he was actually raised by his Uncle and Aunt) were a mixed-race couple living …

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New Brunswick’s Chocolate River Publishing

Riverview, New Brunswick’s Chocolate River Publishing was founded to put New Brunswick on the map (so to speak) on the national and international publishing stage. Their books for children and adults are carefully and lovingly produced to make learning about New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada fun for all. Some of their most recent titles appear …

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Piau: Journey to the Promised Land by Bruce Murray

[dropcap]It [/dropcap]is encouraging to see more books (either fictional or non-fictional) being written about the Acadians and their lives and way of life before and after 1755. That was the year of “Le Grand Dérangement” when they were the victims of cultural genocide by the occupying British command and put on ships to be dispersed …

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Waking Up In My Own Backyard by Sandra Phinney

Warning! Reading this book will leave you exhausted! I was only a few chapters in when I had to put down the book and wonder aloud: “How does a seventy-year-old manage to do all this in a day?” Let me back up and explain what Sandra Phinney’s Waking Up In My Own Backyard (2017, Pottersfield …

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Malagash by Joey Comeau

(The following is an excerpt from a review written by Naomi MacKinnon at Consumed by Ink. It is reproduced here in part with her kind permission.) Malagash is a gem of a book. And I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend it to. The title of the book refers to the community where the …

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Peninsula Sinking by David Huebert

(The following review is reproduced in part by the kind permission of Naomi MacKinnon of the Consumed by Ink book review blog. – James) Look at the cover of this book. It couldn’t be more stunning. With stories to match. Peninsula Sinking is David Huebert‘s first short story collection. He has won the CBC Short …

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