Circe by Madeline Miller
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Circe, a lesser Greek goddess, is banished to the island of Aiaia for turning a rival suitor into the sea monster Scylla. There, she tends to her plants and hones her powers, while fending off mischievous mortals and gods alike.
In his first novel in seven years, Ondaatje captures the mystery and intrigue of a child trying to comprehend an adult world. Warlight has a foggy, dreamy feeling that is reminiscent of some of Ondaatje’s other works, but he really plays with the uncertainty of memory in this book. The novel is written in first-person flashback, allowing the narrator to scrutinize details
Miller tells the familiar story of Circe and Odysseus, but from a new perspective. What is it like to experience time as an immortal? To have no physical flaws? To love someone who will certainly die? Motifs such as these are woven throughout this page-turner
of the story that didn’t make sense to him as an adolescent. This masterful work by Ondaatje was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.
French Exit by Patrick deWitt
The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen The scale of this book is stupendous. Brannen takes readers through Earth’s five major extinction periods, while articulating the vast amount of time our planet has been churning out new creatures. While he does posit that we could presently be in the middle
In deWitt’s latest novel, a wealthy man and his mother lose all of their money and status. To save face, they sail off to Paris, accompanied by their cat, who embodies the soul of his deceased father. The pair (or trio, if you include the cat) is deadpan, dysfunctional, and derelict of tact.
DeWitt’s knack for dialogue and dry humour shine in this novel. I enjoyed it so much, I flew through it in a single day. French Exit was shortlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and I think it may be deWitt’s best book yet.
of an extinction period, the text is not didactic or foreboding. Written in accessible language with clear examples, this book is a treat for science buffs and novices alike.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh This full-length debut novel is a satisfying follow-up to the author’s critically-acclaimed short stories. It’s 1999 in New York City, and an unnamed narrator, in a fog of prescription meds, attempts to sleep through an entire year. My Year of Rest and Relaxation is
Kristen Johnson is a homesteader and home-school mom who lives in Eastern PEI. She loves to spend her free time between the pages of a book.
witty, farcical, and wonderfully outlandish, yet Moshfegh manages to put her finger on something real through this unlovable protagonist.
SPRING 2019 www.pei-living.ca
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