The Ida Linehan Young Interview

Ida Linehan Young is an emerging author out of Newfoundland and Labrador with two novels and a memoir to her credit: Being Mary Ro and The Promise, both published by Flanker Press, and No Turning Back, Surviving the Linehan Family Tragedy, which was published by Breakwater Books. In this candid interview, Ms. Linehan Young discusses …

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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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The Luminous Sea by Melissa Barbeau

A team of researchers from a nearby university have set up a research station in a fictional outport in Newfoundland, studying the strange emergence of phosphorescent tides. And Vivienne, a young assistant, accidentally captures a creature unknown to science: a kind of fish, both sentient and distinctly female. As the project supervisor and lead researcher attempt to exploit the discovery, the creature begins to waste away, and Vivian must endanger herself to save them both.

Meet a Librarian: Dana Horrocks

[dropcap]Dana [/dropcap]Horrocks is the Newcastle Public Library’s new Director and since a librarian is practically every book lover’s favourite person, I thought it would be interesting to get to know one better. Dana gladly agreed to be interviewed by The Miramichi Reader. The Miramichi Reader: First, give us a little background. You’ve only been in …

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Being Mary Ro by Ida Linehan Young

[dropcap]One[/dropcap] might be forgiven if, after seeing the book’s cover, they think Being Mary Ro (2018, Flanker Press) is another stereotypical Victorian-era romance novel. In some ways it is, but Being Mary Ro is more historical fiction than it is romance, similar to Genevieve Graham’s Promises to Keep. Like that book, it is based on …

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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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Rachel Bryant

The Rachel Bryant Interview

Rachel Bryant is the author of The Homing Place (2017, Wilfred Laurier Press) a book about early settler and Indigenous literature and how we can “listen” to what they have to say today so that we can better understand both distinct groups. Already it has been shortlisted for several awards: Short-listed, New Brunswick Book Awards …

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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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Reviews of Books on the 2018 Atlantic Book Awards Shortlist

The shortlists for the Atlantic Book Awards have been announced, and since The Miramichi Reader has reviews of seven of them (plus one children’s book), I thought it might be helpful to provide links to the reviews for the various nominees. The books that have been reviewed here will have links embedded in them and …

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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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Death at the Harbourview Cafe by Fred Humber

Three deaths: one, a popular Chinese businessman, the second his adopted son, and the third a rookie RCMP constable in a popular cafe and store in the unassuming town of Botwood Newfoundland. If that doesn’t have the makings of a good mystery-thriller, then I don’t know what does. But this isn’t fiction, it’s a true …

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