Tag Archives: book recommendations

5 Books that Explore Identity & Intimacy

5 Books that Explore Identity and Intimacy These five books delve into how our identities and intimate relationships are formed and revisited, in friendships, tragedy, bereavement, and vindication. Glass Beads by Dawn Dumont (Thistledown Press): These interconnected stories feature the friendships of four First Nations people against the cultural, political, and historical backdrop of the […]

Reading Differently

Growing up in Laval, Quebec, the local kids in my neighborhood were English, French, Jewish, and Greek. My father was Chinese, and my mother was white. We were the only mixed-race kids we knew. There weren’t many families that looked like us. My mother read a lot. She read the Bible and had a love […]

Hamilton Highlight No. 5

Hamilton’s very own Brent van Staalduinen, author of the forthcoming novel Saints, Unexpected, shares his favourite Hamilton-related books and authors. Brent’s final suggestion is John Terpstra’s Under the Parapet Wall: John knows Hamilton to an unmatched depth and breadth, and writes about it with power and grace (I mean, he knows this city, right down […]

Hamilton Highlight No. 4

Hamilton’s very own Brent van Staalduinen, author of the forthcoming novel Saints, Unexpected, shares his favourite Hamilton-related books and authors. Here are Brent’s thoughts on Rachael Preston’s The Fishers of Paradise: A historical novel about a long-gone aspect of our beloved city, the boathouses on the Cootes Paradise marsh. The marsh is still there—and less […]

Hamilton Highlight No. 3

Hamilton’s very own Brent van Staalduinen, author of the forthcoming novel Saints, Unexpected, shares his favourite Hamilton-related books and authors. Next up is David Lee’s The Midnight Games: A dystopian novel about the late Ivor Wynne Stadium being used to host kill-or-be-killed survival games. What’s not to love? He’ll be on the April 10 Writing […]

Hamilton Highlight No. 2

Hamilton’s very own Brent van Staalduinen, author of the forthcoming novel Saints, Unexpected, shares his favourite Hamilton-related books and authors. Here’s Brent on Kim Echlin’s Under the Visible Life: Not only is part of her most recent novel set in Hamilton, she is also writer-in-residence for the Hamilton Public Library, my other employer and a […]

Hamilton Highlight No. 1

Hamilton’s very own Brent van Staalduinen, author of the forthcoming novel Saints, Unexpected, shares his favourite Hamilton-related books and authors. First on the list, to celebrate National Poetry Month, is Chris Pannell’s A Nervous City: Chris’s poems reveal a creative intimacy in Hamilton’s streets that somehow moves effortlessly with its gritty, sooty heritage. He lent […]