It the most wonderful time of the year ....

Yes, it is just days away from being Christmas but it is also week 4 of the CBC's Canada Reads Festivities. For details visit the site.

As an avid reader of Canadian literature, it is my most favourite time of the year ... anticipating the books that are being defended by the all-star Canadian celebrity panel and being able to share a love with the entire country - or at least those that listen to the CBC. Last year my family collectively purchased me the entire collection and I read them all prior to the debates. I hope to do the same this year. Once again I have not read any of the books (or at least I don't recall doing so) so this will be very exciting. I am really interested in reading Gen X by Douglas Coupland. I may have read this some time ago, I'm not sure. I have read Life After God and Jpod both of which I loved, so I am almost certain to enjoy this modern Canadian classic. The one selection I am not as excited by is Nikolski. This novel has been translated from French to English, and while it won a GG award for the translation, my experience with The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant last year which I didn't like at all has weakened my interest for translations. Something gets lost. But we'll see. I plan to read it anyway and will post my review on this blog.

The Time In Between

The Time In Between by Canadian author David Bergen is a sad and almost haunting tale of a man, Charles Boatman, and his journey back to Vietnam in an attempt to shake himself of the demons that have haunted him since his time as a young soldier in the Vietnam War. Whether he is looking for love or redemption or forgiveness, he is not sure of, he just knows he must leave his home in remote BC and find out. When he doesn't return home, 2 of his children travel to Danang to find him. The story switches in narration from his daughter Ada and Charles himself. Ada's travels to this country become her own personal journey of discovery of understanding herself and her father and finding forgiveness for him. Once I got into the story I had difficulty putting it down as Bergen's character development and the narrative drew me in. I would recommend this book.

This is my fourth read for the Canadian Book Challenge. I think that somewhere along the line I missed putting in a review of the book I read previous to this. I am still not finished Blackstrap Hawco as I cannot seem to get engaged in the story.