❄️ Book review ❄️

Such A Winter’s Day by Susan White was published by Acorn Press and given to me for free by Digitally Lit.

I really enjoyed this book but it definitely wasn’t what I imagined it to be when I picked it up. This book, like most of Susan White’s books, is very atmospheric. You can picture yourself in the story with the characters and feel yourself there.

I really liked learning about all the different characters and how they all came together in the end. However I feel like at times some characters names were just thrown in there and were underdeveloped and there was just too many povs to keep up with. I also think that utilizing the jumping timeline (some of the story is told in flashbacks, looking at Hank’s life from the 1950-2000) was a solid choice that helps readers understand how Hank got to where he is today. It was quite confusing at first but eventually made sense.

I felt like I needed to be in the mood for this book and couldn’t digest a whole lot of it at a time. I also felt like the ending was a tad bit rushed but overall a good end to the story. I really enjoyed the themes of resilience and found family in this book.

All in all, I would recommend this book for a more mature/adult audience. It definitely isn’t for everyone but this story has a very strong sense of place and emotional depth that shows the real life struggles of homelessness and other important topics. I give this book 3.75/5 stars!

Here is my favourite quote: “It’s the yin and the yang. The joys and the sorrows, the dark and the light. It’s just… life.

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Lesley Crewe’s “Are You Kidding Me?! Chronicles of a Daily Life,” published by Nimbus Publishing, is a collection of her long-running newspaper columns brought together in a delightful pink volume. Spanning across years of her writing life, these pieces describe everyday ups and downs, ranging from holidays to a writer’s life. Written with Crewe’s wit and provocative style, these articles capture moments of life, each one representing the frustrations and little joys that connect us all. 🩵✨

Reading this book is like sitting across from a friend who can find humour in almost anything. Sometimes I would laugh out loud; other times I would take a moment to reflect on the sweetness in the inevitable sour moments. This is where Nova Scotia storytelling really plays an important role, where humour is found on every page, and resilience is portrayed through laughter. Crewe has a knack for turning something mundane into something worth remembering. 💫

That said, I love books where I can relate to the “character” or the narrative, whether it’s non-fiction or fiction, not just as someone from the outside. There are moments where Crewe’s experiences feel universally entertaining; however, some experiences felt distant due to different experiences and lifestyles that differ from my own. For example, the chapter on having kids and being married didn’t correlate with me because I am not at that stage in life. Even so, her sharp observations make the chapters enjoyable to read. It acts as a reminder that books don’t need to reiterate your life to be engaging.

In conclusion, I give “Are You Kidding Me?! Chronicles of a Daily Life” by Lesley Crewe: 4 out of 5 stars. Crewe’s humour and insights make the writing enjoyable even when I can’t relate to it sometimes. Her ability to find laughter and little victories in everyday life makes the book extremely special. It’s witty and charming, leaving me to close the last page with a smile. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reflections on everyday life. 🌟

Girl on the Run
By: B.R. Myers
Jesse Collins had big plans for her final year of high school. She is a star track athlete and with the support of her biggest fan, her Dad, she was aiming to get a scholarship at Queens University. But her world crumbled when he suddenly passed away. Jesse couldn’t bear to run anymore without him. She began to spiral deeper into depression and to fool her loved ones and her friends that she is handling grief fine she decided to become a camp counsellor to escape from her reality. Upon getting to camp Jesse finds out there was a mistake and she has been assigned to a group of troublesome boys! Through the chaos of her crazy campers and her summer romance Jesse finds the passion to run again. But will her guilty thoughts keep her from breaking through the grief she has for her Dad?

I liked this book. It showed how hard grief can be in specific situations and the burdens you could feel after someone’s passing. It also showed how hard romance can be in some cases, and how sometimes trouble makers can be misunderstood. I liked how Jesse would change the meaning of the A in Cabin 4A throughout the book. I give this book a 5/5.

My 4/5 star review of Len & Cub by Dusty Green and Meredith Batt, published by Goose Lane Editions.

Len & Cub is the story of two men who grew up in rural New Brunswick together who engaged in a romantic relationship in a time where homosexuality was not allowed. Documented by the photographs that Len took, this story is a nice mix of text and photos to tell a story that otherwise may have been missed if it hadn’t been for these photos.

This book was interesting to me because a lot of the photos speak for themselves. I could look at the photos and almost feel the relationship that these two men had, and learning bits about their lives helped to further the notation that I had developed. The fact that these photographs were taken, and then further passed along for another almost 100 years is crazy to me. These photographs represent a time that is not well documented in terms of queer history, especially in rural New Brunswick, so having read this book and viewed the pictures with them was a pleasure.

I sometimes found it hard reading this book because there is some speculation as to the lives Len and Cub led and there were not always hard details. But I also have to remember that Len and Cub were not famous people of their time, and that there really is not a whole lot to go off of for details. So speculation is almost needed to fill in the blanks, which made a lot of sense to me when I thought about this.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in queer history, but also specifically local people as it a story close to home. This book reads very well but is also very informative and has text citations, so if you are someone who likes to explore further and/or learn as you go this is a great read for that.