Stories
Book Review: Jhumpa Lahiri’s Roman Stories and the art of translation
I was asked one time to read one of my short stories at a literary evening. Nothing unusual, except that the organizers wanted me to read a Spanish translation of the story, which was about a magazine photographer working in Central America. The event was held in Santiago, Chile. I was living in Latin America […]
Book Review: The Feeling of Iron by Giaime Alonge
The rave review must have delighted the author, but I wonder how readers felt after finishing the book. The New York Times calls Italian writer Giaime Alonge’s new novel, The Feeling of Iron, “stunning” and his prose “as cinematic as the finest classic thrillers.” [1] For me, the praise wasn’t the draw. Instead, I picked up Alonge’s novel after reading […]
Does anyone else see their life in cat epochs?
This is the second part of a story about the cats we’ve had in our lives. Last time, I left our family living in Rio de Janeiro, where my husband Paul was posted while working as the South America correspondent for Toronto’s Globe and Mail. Our grey cat Pica had begun his life on a […]
An autobiography in cats, from the dim to the dignified
Our old cat Archie died just before the holidays, aged almost 19. That’s him in the picture. His death got me thinking about the other cats in my life, and the different times they witnessed. It’s helped shut out the news, at least for a while. Maybe we all need a break. Bambi Yes, my […]
Edit Your Novel as if it’s a Screenplay
Everyone knows about editors in movies. An editor takes footage from a movie shoot and works with the director to cut multiple takes into a coherent picture. There’s an Academy Award for Best Film Editing, so names get known. Thelma Schoonmaker has won three Oscars, having edited all of Martin Scorsese’s movies since 1980. But […]
Book Review: Priestdaddy. How cringe do you have to go to succeed?
I don’t see any reason to read only books that are vibrating with the latest buzz. In fact, I’m happy to let them rumble around out there and pick them up later if I feel the need—something that worked brilliantly recently when I came across an off-kilter, eight-year-old memoir that got me thinking. American writer […]
Book Review: Indian Country by Shoba Rao
I sometimes put down Shoba Rao’s new book as I read it, having fun comparing her novel, Indian Country, to a classic work that’s a little bit similar and a whole lot different. Okay, to an Adam Dalgleish mystery by P.D. James. I meant no disrespect to Rao by flipping between the two. In fact, […]
Book Review: Featherhood by Charlie Gilmour
Charlie Gilmour’s partner Yana was the one to bring home the magpie chick, which had fallen to the ground in a scrappy part of southeast London. Yana’s sister had found it and taken it to her studio, which is located in what Gilmour calls a leaky industrial unit on the edge of an English junkyard. […]
Your Book is Under Active Consideration by the Read With Jenna Book Club (Not)
I’m putting out an unscheduled post this week to send writers a warning—and to share a bit of a laugh. Lately many writers have been getting invitations from scammers to speak to non-existent book clubs, asking them to pay upfront fees ranging from $55 to $350 U.S., when real book clubs don’t charge. Here’s an […]
Book Review: Encampment by Maggie Helwig
Two things happened last week. The encampment of unhoused people beside St. Stephen-in-the-Fields Anglican Church in Toronto was cleared October 16 by the order of the Ontario fire marshal, this after pressure from a city councillor and both the staff and parents from a private school located nearby. The night before, the Anglican priest of […]
What Can You Learn from Going Mildly Viral? (It’s not what you think)
Not long ago, I wrote a note on Substack about my husband’s neurosurgery. He has multiple sclerosis and needed an operation to implant a device to deliver a drug called baclofen directly to his spine. It was a delicate procedure done by an elite neurosurgeon and her team. Afterward, he spent five days in an […]
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