May 5, 2025
Burning through books in a good way
It’s been a month since my last blog post, but that doesn’t mean Newsonaut hasn’t been updated recently. Check out the books section for lots of recent updates. I’ve been ploughing through some excellent reads.
I finally took the plunge with Louise Penny, a much-recommended author. How the Light Gets In is two mysteries in one — major stakes for all of Quebec and Canada, and personal stakes for a few good friends. Rating: 9.5
I put Fifteen Dogs in the fantasy category because it does, after all, involve Greek gods and talking dogs on the streets of Toronto. We can learn a lot from those dogs about what it means to be happy. Rating: 10
Linwood Barclay was a panelist on Canada Reads, which made me curious, so I read one of his many thrillers — I Will Ruin You. It is indeed a page turner, although a bit frustrating because the main character makes obviously bad decisions. Rating: 9.5
The Martin Hench trilogy by Cory Doctorow proves that forensic accounting can be an exciting and dangerous profession. In the first one, Marty is a jaded old man — something I could more easily identify with. By the time we get the the third book, he is young and idealistic, making mistakes but making them for the right reasons. Red Team Blues: 10, The Bezzle: 9, Picks and Shovels: 8.5
All of these books are by Canadian authors, but only the first two take place in Canada. Barclay may have thought the level of violence in his thriller seemed more believable in the U.S., but I would have been OK with it happening in, say, Peterborough, Ontario. Doctorow’s stories take place in the early days of computer technology, which is associated with Silicon Valley. Still, I could see them plausibly happening in Toronto.
That brings me to Untold Tales of Old British Columbia, a collection of historical snippets about my home province. Some are more entertaining that others, but each taught me something I didn’t know, and I’m glad I learned them. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know there was a major gold rush on the Fraser River in 1858. Rating: 7.5