The last residential school closed its doors in 1996. And yet, until a few years ago this was a fact I knew nothing about.

A dark stain on Canadian history that has been thrust into the open. Not a distant past atrocity done by men long dead to the world, this is a recent event that was covered up.

This was a story about Chanie “Charlie” Wenjack. A young indigenous boy who, at 11 years old ran from the residential school he was at and froze to death. His death is one of thousands. I enjoyed the writing. Different views from different animals through his short journey. His innocence shown in his few interactions and memories. I loved how he bounced back and forth between his language and English, showing his determination to not forget himself.

I would have easily given this book a 5 star rating for the writing style, illustrations and conversation it encourages. However, upon finishing I discovered some controversies about the author that don’t sit well with me.

Educate yourself and look into the history this book brings to light.

Ahhhhh that was so rewarding. I love when you read a good book and you have the joy of watching a movie or show based on it. I am one of those people who CRAVES a book when I have seen a good movie or show. Page to screen is easy, screen to page is where the real challenge lies. This was so well done! The way the lore was mixed in to create this magical element to the story flowed beautifully between the “real worlds” events.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a cross between historical fiction and fantasy. Ofelia is ripped out of her life when her father dies and her mother falls in love with “The Wolf” Ernesto Vidal. A vile and evil man who values pride and fear, and who happens to be the father of her unborn son.

The characters were rich and created so many emotions inside of me. I loved Mercedes. Her determination, strength and kindness were beautiful amid this dark and deadly environment in which the story takes place. Vidal was a true villain. His narcissistic, sociopathic tendencies and complete disregard for any other lives made him so easy to despise. His joy in inflicting pain and making people squirm was so uncomfortable.

I felt the lore mixed in, telling the story of Ofelia and the underworld was beautiful. I loved how many elements mirrored Ofelias current life, often making me wonder throughout if the magic was not just a scared and lonely little girl looking for comfort in magic.

The child eater... the pale man... even written words, he still terrifies me.

TW; child abuse, torture, war

Do I need to tell you this is a classic? Definitely not. This is a classic horror. Really well done screen to page slasher book based on our dude Michael Meyers. He’s out for revenge from a long forgotten time against beautiful young lovers.

Written in 1980 this one has some outdated language, ideas and concepts. If you can keep in mind the time that this was written and you enjoy gorey slasher flicks/books you’ll love this one.

That you to Celadon books for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book was fascinating. I don’t read a lot of non fiction, but this topic is one I was interested in prior to receiving this book. How often do you feel like you’re not really being listened to? How often do you find yourself in your head checking back into a conversation and wondering what you missed when you got distracted? You’re Not Listening touched on so many issues with listening such as how we have been conditioned to speak rather than to listen, how “active listening” is more of politely nodding and mmhmming while saying the proper responses and working on your reply while the other person is still speaking, and how technology has connected us and yet disconnected us on a huge scale.

Listening is important and there are so many factors that work against it on a daily basis. Hearing loss, not making eye contact (teachings for a device instead for example), being defensive, etc. On top of all the noise in the world we’ve got even more working against us and we need to work hard to regain control on what listening REALLY means. Deeper connections are formed when people feel like you have REALLY heard, understood and respected them.

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I enjoyed this audio book. It has mystical elements in a not to distant modern past. I felt the characters were very well written and I found myself really sympathizing with some in this mysoginistic and aggressive world as they navigated their way into a more accepting future.

The whole concept of water being ever changing and at the same time constant was beautiful and reflected the characters struggles beautifully. I was also able to loathe other characters in a very real way. I tried so hard to sympathize and no matter what I did I couldn’t get past their cowardly actions and their attitude towards anyone they felt was less than them.

Overall it was a well written story and I enjoyed it (more so in audio I think than if I had read it myself, it gave it depth)