Findingthebookthatheals Profile

Latest Blog Posts

• How human are you?
  on May 13, 2013 in A Beautiful Truth
  A Beautiful Truth, by Colin McAdam What does it even mean to be human?  Anthropologists used to claim that using tools is what separated man from beast.  When a variety of species were discovered using tools, that claim was abandoned.&nbs...
• Do you know your Feminist history?
  on Apr 19, 2013 in Death of a Revolutionary The New Yorker
  “Death of a Revolutionary” by Susan Faludi (The New Yorker, April 15, 2013)Up till this morning, I believed that in the old days (ie mid sixties and before) that since many bars  had a separate entrance for “ladies and escorts” then clea...
• Are you culture bound?
  on Mar 13, 2013 in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
  Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See It’s so easy to see the flaws in the cultures of other peoples while we’re completely blind to our own.  In this novel set in the time of foot binding in rural China, Lily describes her world from...
• Are you single minded?
  on Mar 4, 2013 in The Headmaster’s Wager
  The Headmaster’s Wager, by Vincent Lam Do people accuse you of being on one track, and one only?  We have many positive words to describe this personality trait: persistent, ambitious, driven, firm, determined, driven…  People who...
• Do you believe we’re in a steep literary decline?
  on Jan 19, 2013 in Midnight’s Children
  Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie How we worry about losing our love for language—texters and their OMG, the use of u for you, broken grammar, misspellings, we seem to be afloat in language sewage.  We often lament that writing just is...
• Are you suffering from affluenza?
  on Dec 8, 2012 in The Semplica-Girl Diaries
   “The Semplica-Girl Diaries”, by George Saundersinfluenza= an illnessaffluence= luxurious comfort and wealthaffluenza= unrelenting desire for comfort and wealth that makes people and the planet sickThere are times when I come across a short...
• Do You Need Some Magic?
  on Nov 17, 2012 in Beautiful Losers
   Beautiful Losers, by Leonard Cohen Last night I saw Leonard Cohen’s Old Ideas Tour, 2012 and though I usually refer to entire novels, today I’m reflecting on an excerpt from Beautiful Losers, a novel I read as a teenager.  That novel l...
• Has your family stuffed you into a role?
  on Nov 13, 2012 in Crow Lake
  Crow Lake, by Mary Lawson“I remember reading somewhere a theory to the effect that each member of the family has a role—‘the clever one,’ ‘the pretty one,’ ‘the selfish one.’  Once you’ve been established in the role for a whil...
• How Much Power is Enough?
  on Nov 11, 2012 in Wolf Hall
  Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelIt took me months to read this book, which would normally mean I’m not that into it.  In this case, I persevered because it’s a vivid depiction of people who crave and seize power.  My slowness at reading...
• Have you ever wanted to emmigrate?
  on Sep 9, 2012 in Small Island
  Small Island, by Andrea LevyI too recall pictures of the British Monarch hanging on the front wall of every classroom of my youth.  She was ‘our’ Queen, yet she lived in a different country.  I was lucky indeed that our Catholic teacher...
• Have you fallen into an insular rut?
  on Jul 25, 2012 in Serving Crazy with Curry
  Serving Crazy with Curry, by Amulya MalladiAlthough the main character in this novel is Devi, a young American woman who is having troubles both in her family and at her high tech firm in California, it’s her mother, Saroj who I was most concerned...
• The days of the Wild West—do you yearn for those old timey ways?
  on Jul 12, 2012 in The Sisters Brothers
  The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWittGrowing up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, I have been well indoctrinated in the glory days of the wild west.  Especially during the Calgary Stampede, when all citizens and tourists are encouraged to put on we...
• Should you tell the truth?
  on Jun 29, 2012 in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
  The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Kim EdwardsThe truth can be terrifying.  When a revealed truth has the ability to wreck lives, common sense warns us to keep that truth concealed.  In this novel, David Henry conceals many truths, only one wh...
• Are you a worrier?
  on Jun 26, 2012 in The Age of Miracles
  The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson WalkerImagine that the spinning of the earth has slowed down, gravity has changed, the magnetic field has dissipated, the twenty-four hours of a day elongate out to sixty or so hours.  Now imagine all the t...
• How indispensible are you?
  on Jun 9, 2012 in The Mistress of Nothing
  The Mistress of Nothing, by Kate PullingerIf you’re proficient in your occupation, highly skilled, with few equally trained people to compete with, it’s rational to assume you will keep that position for as long as you choose.  This is how S...
• Is this a beautiful world?
  on Jun 6, 2012 in In the Orchard the Swallows
  In the Orchard, the Swallows, by Peter HobbsThis is a brief book, but very compelling.  It’s told by an unnamed narrator who as a naïve fourteen year old becomes madly infatuated with the daughter of a powerful politician.  The boy first...
• Are you dealing with a cold fish?
  on Jun 3, 2012 in Our Lady of Alice Bhatti
  Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, by Mohammed HanifDo you know someone who merely shrugs their shoulders when they hear about someone else getting squashed like a bug?  If so, according to lots of research, reading a book that stirs compassion can help.
• Can you forgive?
  on May 24, 2012 in Hold Me Now
  Hold Me Now, by Stephen GauerWhat if something so terrible happened to your loved one that you couldn’t possibly forgive the guilty party?  This is what happens to Paul Brenner, in Hold Me Now.  He goes out with Daniel, his adult son, for...
• So, fiction isn't good for us, after all?
  on May 17, 2012
  I love a balanced view, even when it totally contradicts everything I believe in.  Russell Smith is always smart and funny, so I can't resist sharing this:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/russell-smith/reading-boosts-empathy-but-s...
• Why Fiction is Good for Us
  on May 12, 2012 in Why Fiction is Good for You
  I'm always thrilled to find articles about how fiction changes us, so I like to pass these articles along when I come across them.  In this Boston Globe article Why Fiction is Good for You, by Jonathon Gottschall, many interesting points ar...

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