The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami’s latest novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, is a towering achievement.
Contemporary Fiction
The Wedding, by Gurjinder Basran
In The Wedding, author Gurjinder Basran weaves a fictional story depicting an extravagant wedding between two wealthy Sikh-Canadian families living in Vancouver.
Throwback: Horses All Over Hell by Ryan Blacketter
From the first story, I was captivated by the complex drama of the Shane family and their lives in rural Idaho during the early 90s.
Death and Other Inconveniences by Lesley Crewe
Margo and Dick were together for ten years, and she had no idea she would be facing widowhood at the “tender age of sixty-two”.
The Sugar Bowl Feud by Gina N. Brown
Set in small-town Nova Scotia, The Sugar Bowl Feud explores the many facets of grief and how four very different siblings deal with and cope with the pain of overwhelming loss. Told in alternating chapters, from each of the sibling’s points of view, we are introduced to each sibling along with their quirks, opinions, and personalities.
Lucid by Jenna Boholij
As she blows out the candles on her thirtieth birthday cake in the opening of Lucid, Charlie Marin reveals herself to be the antagonistic force driving Jenna Boholij’s literary thriller.
Charlie has a successful job, compassionate family and friends, and a boyfriend in Winnipeg, but she cannot move past the death of her twin Cara, who died at age thirteen. The details of how she died are hidden away, but this loss makes Charlie numb to her circumstances and all possibilities for her future.
Bird Suit by Sydney Hegele
Bird Suit’s fictional town of Port Peter could be any number of small towns on a lake, overrun with summer tourists buying ice cream and cheap souvenirs on the boardwalk, filling up the local pubs and motels, knocking up the local girls – before disappearing in September. There are, however, two things that make Port Peter special: its perfect peaches and its Birds. “The women of the town tell one another about the Birds in secret… When a Port Peter girl gets pregnant by a tourist boy, a woman in her life gives her all the information she needs to know.”
The Philosopher Stories by Jerry Levy
Karl Pringle, the luckless misfit at the centre of Jerry Levy’s collection of linked short fiction, The Philosopher Stories, is someone most of us can identify with, regardless of (or maybe because of) the fact that he is often deceitful, sometimes deluded, and pretty much always mired in a sinkhole of self-pity.
The Harvesters by Jasmina Odor
Mira and Bernard are both suffering the effects of recent losses. In her forties, childless and recently divorced from David, Mira’s past is very much on her mind.
The Education of Aubrey McKee by Alex Pugsley
All the way through, I felt like I knew Aubrey McKee — especially when he admitted his strange paranoias and personal shortcomings, wondering whether he’d ever measure up, even whether anyone might ever fall in love with him.
Throwback: The Elephant on Karlův Bridge by Thomas Trofimuk
July 9th is a day to remember by many residents of Prague, particularly those in proximity to the Karlův Bridge. In fact, the bridge itself plays a pivotal role as an over 600 year old occasional narrator.
Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit by Nadine Sander-Green
Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit is a story centered around Millicent, a shy, 24-year-old reporter who moves to Whitehorse after graduating from college, where she focused more on poetry than journalism. Yet off to journalism she goes, to work at the Golden Nugget, a failing daily newspaper with three staff.
He Felt Wonderously Justified in His Action: Kilworthy Tanner by Jean Marc Ah-Sen
Set in the “extended Ah-Sen universe”, Kilworthy Tanner is the pseudobiographical account of self-proclaimed people pleaser Jonno (Jean Marc Ah-Sen), who would likely throw anyone under a bus to gain the admiration (or, at least attention) of his mentor and infatuation, Kilworthy Tanner.
Soft Serve by Allison Graves
Soft Serve is Allison Grave’s debut collection of short stories, arising from her master’s program at Memorial University. These stories are mainly contemporary stories written about “middle-class millennials” – the world my children will occupy soon, one that I can only observe from a distance of about 25 years.
Excerpt: The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits
Hello.
I know you are scared. It’s okay. I know, I know. All this is frightening.
