The Great Halifax Explosion

Finished February 6
The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism by John U. Bacon, read by Johnny Heller

This narrative of the Halifax Explosion of 1917 is new one on this tragedy. I've read a few, both fiction and nonfiction, and find it endlessly fascinating to find out the stories of the individual people affected by this terrible event. This particular books has one focus on the relationship between Canada and the United States, giving some historical background, showing how Boston in particular came to the aid of Halifax, and how the cooperation between the countries changed the way they related to each other.
Bacon also chose to look at the experiences of one soldier, from nearby Wolfsville, John Ernest Barss, who worked in Montreal before the war, enlisted as a matter of character, was passionate about the need to fight for several months until he became disillusioned and then injured, and returned home shortly before the explosion. He responded as a medical helper, and this experience caused him to become a doctor. His story brings the actual war experience into the story, as well as giving some family history that relates to the theme of the relationship between Canada and the U.S.
Like the other books I've read on this, it covers the actions of the two ships involved up until their collision, and looks at the effect on a number of individuals in the city, on the surrounding area, and at the longer outcomes, such as the court cases involving the owners of the two ships.
The other books I've read didn't really look at the chemistry of the explosion itself, with the enormous power involved and the heat generated.
As I'm planning to visit Halifax for the first time later this year, I was glad to be reminded of this terrible event in the town's history and it's ongoing effects.

The Blue Demon

Finished February 3
The Blue Demon by David Hewson

This is the eighth book in the Nic Costa series, and I've enjoyed all the ones I've read. Set in Rome, Nic is called in as part of a team to deal with the a murder and threats related to a G8 meeting held in the heart of the city. The team is called in by the president, exercising a right he has seldom used in defiance of the prime minister, who planned the high level meeting of leaders.
As the book begins, an Italian politician has been kidnapped and his driver murdered. The clues in the case lead back to a dissident terrorist group that was active decades earlier, but could that really be the case. As the intrigue builds, and the various police and security groups push for their own forces to take control, more and more is revealed. There is lots of conspiracy here, and greed, and arrogance. And Nic finds that he learns more about his own father and the role he played in politics when Nic was young.
As usual in Hewson's books, there is a lot going on, in politics, in art and archaeology, and in the struggle for power. The Blue Demon of the title is an ancient being from an earlier time's legends, but one very real to one man who believes he has a mission to fulfill.

Finding Lucy

Finished February 2
Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

This picture book follows a young girl as she first paints for herself and the joy of it, then tries to please various others that view her work with critical eyes and try to have her paint to their preferences. She finds that no matter how hard she tries, they aren't satisfied and she become more and more unhappy.
It is interesting to see how they tell her that what they see is less than what the painting is to her, and how she begins to work their ideas into her work, trying to be polite in her interactions with them, even when they aren't polite to her.
I liked the twists and turns as others came and went and the surprise when she kissed the frog. Lucy encouraged others even when they weren't happy with her work.
It is her cat, whose has been with her from the beginning, that finally reminds her of how she began painting and why she did it.
This book is full of colour and movement and there are so many small things to see when you look at it, just like a good painting.
This book is a reminder to readers that we are all individual and should express ourselves in the way that feels right to us, no matter what others say.

Gentle Spectrums 2019 wrap-up post

Gentle Spectrums 2019

Ran Feb 1, 2019 to Jan. 31, 2020
I completed all but one category.

Hosted here, this challenge has several categories to read books in. They are: 

1. Limitless Palette - Colours
* The Red Daughter by John Burnham Schwartz. Finished May 7
* The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns. Finished June 8
* Golden Age by Jane Smiley. Finished November 5

2. Canadian
* 21 Things You May Not Know about The Indian Act by Bob Joseph. Finished April 3
* Prairie People by Robert Collins. Finished October 26

3. Continents
* The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. Finished January 26

4. Fashion and Decor
* The Gown by Jennifer Robson. Finished August 24

5. Educational
* Farsighted by Steven Johnson. Finished March 1
* The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King. Finished September 10

6. Hope and Triumph
* Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo. Finished April 30
* Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey. Finished June 15

7. Animals
* Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up by Jane Whittingham, illustrated by Emma Pedersen. Finished February 9
* A Catalog of Birds by Laura Harrington. Finished April 7
* Land Mammals and Sea Creatures by Jen Neale. Finished May 24
* The Wolf Wants In by Laura McHugh. Finished June 27
* What Cats Think by Mies van Hout and John Spray. Finished January 12

8. Natural Environment

9. The Arts
* The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce. Finished December 14

10. Toys and Hobbies
* Craftfulness by Rosemary Davidson and Arzu Tahsin. Finished July 4

11. Healthfulness.
* Breathe In, Cash Out by Madeleine Henry. Finished June 2

The Silent Assassin

Finished February 1
The Silent Assassin by Lori Andrews

This thriller features a female doctor, Alexandra Blake,  who specializes in communicable disease research and works for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP). Her father died in Vietnam when she was a young child, and she had an unconventional childhood. She is involved with a musician, but the two haven't really defined their relationship beyond the present. As the book opens, he is leaving for a European tour, and she is called in to attend an autopsy on a man found in a dumpster, with some conflicting clues about his status and death. She is also involved in a project to repatriate some skulls of Vietnamese people that were brought back to the United States as war trophies by soldiers. Although confiscated as soon as they arrived in the U.S., the skull have been in storage, untouched, for years. Back in the war, they were painted and used in disrespectful ways. Alex is asked what she can do to remove the evidence of this, and is ordered to participate in the repatriation ceremony. She is also told to identify at least one of the Vietnamese victims.
As she works on these projects, she is drawn back into her own personal history and the loss of her father.
This novel is part of a series, but I haven't yet read others. I enjoyed the character and the story. The action moves quickly, and there is lots of suspense and drama, and several more people die before the final act. The personalities of the characters play a role, and it was a page-turning read.

Asleep

Finished January 31
Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Michael Emmerich

This small book contains three novellas: Night and Night's Travelers; Love Songs; and Asleep.
All are told from the point of view of single women, relatively young,
Night and Night's Travelers is a story told by the sister of a man who has died quite young. She is the younger sister, and she remembers his influence on her, his relationship with a visiting American girl, and his relationship with another girl she is close to. As she reflects on the brother she has lost, she also looks at his influence on these other women, and the secrets she has about him.
Love Songs is told from the viewpoint of a young woman who is temporarily out of work, and finds herself thinking about a past relationship and the woman she competed with for the love and attention of a man that wasn't worth it in the long run. She finds herself wondering about what has happened to this woman, and also spending too much of her time drinking alcohol. As she reconnects with this figure from her past, she also is able to close a chapter of her life.
Asleep is told by another young woman out of work. She has a lover who is a married man, one with a senior position at the offices she worked at briefly. It is not a typical affair, but it is one that she thinks about. She spends a lot of her time sleeping, more and more as the days pass, but she also thinks about a woman she was close friends with, who has now passed away, and it is this friend's influence that enables her to deal with her situation before she loses herself completely.
All three stories have a woman who focuses on a person who has died, which is interesting. All of them seem to have something to learn from this past relationship that helps them to deal with their lives in the present.

13th Canadian Book Challenge February Roundup

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