Onto Book Three, Delightfully

I'm actually gonna do it. I'm actually gonna get through all five Canada Reads books before the debates! Woo hoo!

I started with The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant, by Michel Tremblay. This is the ultimate example of NOT judging a book by its cover. The front is stark white, with a cheesy circular cutout revealing a waving old woman with too much makeup on... kitchy! Even if the woman is the author's mother... still! However, I loooooved the book. I just found out that almost all of my family comes from Quebec, and although they were moved into southern Ontario by the time the second World War began (which is when this book is set), I still found it fascinating to learn about the slang used by the Quebecois, their thoughts on the Europeans, and the tight communities found in Montreal. The mythological component pushed the book beyond the "really really really good read" point, all the way to, "I'm going to recommend this to everyone I talk to!"

Next came Outlander, by Gil Adamson, which I chose as January's book club book. I must say, so far I'm very impressed by the Canada Reads selections. Outlander is a beautiful account of a half-mad woman running from her dead husband's brothers- and her husband is dead because she shot him with his rifle. Hooey! Well, the account is as beautiful as a story of that nature could be. I loved this book because it's set in the wilderness and tells how the widow survives- through her own actions, and her own dumb luck (or is it fate?) It's an adventure story, a love story, and a thriller all rolled into one. And it's awesome.

Now I'm reading The Book Of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill. I'm only a few pages in, so I can't really comment on it too much yet. But so far, I like it. As mentioned, I've been digging into my family's history lately, and I think my favourite ancestor is my great x 4 grandfather, Jean Baptiste Gignac. He was born in Quebec in 1746, which is right around the time when the protagonist in this story is born (except she was born in Bayo, in the Congo). Being able to relate on that level will make the book much more enjoyable for me, I think!