So Misguided

Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway | Book Review

January 6, 2025 / Monique

First published in 1998, Kiss of the Fur Queen opens like a Greek tragedy. We are introduced to the Okimasis family through the caribou-hunter father, Abraham Okimasis, who is striving to win a dog-sled race, which seals upon himself and his family the kiss of the crowned Fur Queen.

Abraham names his next-born child Champion. And early on, Champion is a gifted musician. The next boy, Ooneemeetoo, is a gift dancer. The two boys, born in northern Manitoba, move through their world, hunting caribou with their parents and making music and dances for their family. These are well-loved boys.

When Champion is taken to residential school, he is excited to fly in the small airplane, but sad to leave his little brother. At school his hair is shaved, he is forbidden to speak Cree, and he is renamed Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s only highlight is discovering a piano and convincing the head priest to allow a nun to teach him.

Two years later his little brother joins him at school and is renamed Gabriel. Gabriel is an angel. His face is described as being so lovely that your heart aches; and of course he becomes prey to the priest.

The first part of the novel has so many Greek elements, in particular the repeating and spinning of the tale of the Fur Queen. In Greek tragedy, Athena—the bright eyed goddess—is described as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and battle. The Fur Queen appears many times in the story in different guises—perhaps meant to be a Trickster—but I think the Fur Queen is more like Athena.

More clear is that Greek tragedy deals with big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Kiss of the Fur Queen goes deep with these themes too.

The love between the brothers, loss of connection to family and culture, pride of personal artistic achievements, the abuse of power by members of the Catholic Church, and the fraught relationship both brothers have with god/God.

Residential school takes the boys away from their community and inserts them into melting pot of Cree children taken from across the North, who are then given new names, language, and religion. The boys are abused by the priests and this emotionally distances them from their Catholic-convert parents. As they grow up and move to the city to pursue their artistic gifts, they are away from the priests but not from the hostilities and limiting beliefs of colonialism. The triumph is that Jeremiah and Gabriel break expectations. Jeremiah becomes a concert pianist and playwright. Gabriel becomes a professional ballet dancer.

Kiss of the Fur Queen is a beautifully written novel of heartbreak and truth, told at a high cost. The mix of Cree words and mythology creates a sense of musicality that weaves through the story and echoes the life of the author.

Tomson Highway, like Jeremiah, is a playwright and musician. His brother Rene was an accomplished dancer and choreographer, who died too young. Their father was a caribou hunter. I do not know if the novel is autobiographical, but it draws on certain elements of their lives and reflects many of the traumas Indigenous children experienced.

Published by Penguin Random House Canada: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/79881/kiss-of-the-fur-queen-by-tomson-highway/9780385697217

Year in Review | 2024

December 31, 2024 / Monique

I read so many great books this year! Here are my favourites.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng: Teen drama and exploration of family dynamics, privilege, and the weight of secrets in a small, suburban community.
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott: A surreal and poignant look at race, identity, and the power of storytelling (brilliant social commentary masked as a brilliant novel).
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: Buddy novel about ambition and creativity through the lens of video game design.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai: A deeply moving story of friends surviving the AIDS crisis in 1980s Chicago and its rippling effects decades later.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch: A harrowing, dystopian novel about surviving society’s slide into authoritarianism.
True Biz by Sara Novic: Cheeky and enlightening story about kids at a Deaf boarding school and the challenges they face from inside and outside the Deaf community.
Maame by Jessica George: Charming and difficult story of a young second-generation English woman coming into her own while navigating the cultural expectations of Ghanaian parents, grief, and self-discovery.
In Search of Perfumes by Dominique Roques: A fascinating journey around the world from a perfume-maker’s perspective.
Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood: A memoir set on the high seas, told by a reluctant sailor.
Dune by Frank Herbert. An epic science fiction saga of power, politics, and ecology set on a desert planet. Totally engrossing.
Mindful of Murder by Susan Juby: A delightful mystery featuring an unwitting Buddhist nun turned detective.
Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means: A science-backed guide to cultivating vitality and emotional well-being in modern life.
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn: A dramatic, historical fiction novel set in a boarding house during the McCarthy era.
Long Island by Colm Toibin: A richly woven narrative about love, memory, and identity in small communities (well, at least within a large Italian family in America and a large Irish family in Ireland).
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay: A clever and suspenseful heist novel where the help steal everything in a wealthy Edwardian household (or attempt to).
The Secret Hours by Mick Herron: A gripping spy thriller that delves into Cold War secrets and modern-day espionage.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue: Office politics writ large as an admin/accountant accidentally gains access to the entire company’s digital files, emails and private messages. Funny and heartbreaking.

Other 2024 Favourites

LA: We did a family trip to LA for my son’s U11 hockey tournament on the Martin Luther King weekend. At Universal we did early entry to Marioland, which was super fun. And I got to introduce my son to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Then we explored Laguna Beach and Disneyland and Irving for the tournament, which the kids won.
Orcas Island: To celebrate Canada Day and Independence Day, we went by boat to visit friends on Orcas Island. It was the first time we have crossed the border by boat. Quite the experience! And we had an amazing time with our excellent hosts.
Pender and Salt Spring visits are always enjoyable and the ladies’ weekend on Pender was a blast.
Quadra Island camping trip: The buddies are always game. And Isaac hosted an amazing lunch for 10 of us, plus 2 dogs.

Other notable activities

Tyee dinner at Upstart & Crow. I had a wonderfully academic and engaging dinner discussing the nature of news media in Canada and the future of news with a diverse group of dinner guests.
Julie visits are always nourishing and some of my best times. This year’s birthday included facials, the Culture Crawl and a Cultch performance, plus drinks at Havana.
The Goomba II. We bought a ridged hull inflatable and figured out how to drive it.
Pie Shoppe. I did an amazing pie making workshop with Stephanie and a restaurant group doing a team building exercise. It was hilarious and fun. My pie was delicious. And then in the fall the Pie Shoppe closed. Booooo. I miss their pizza pies the most.
Claire Tansey taught Fin to cook. He regularly knocks out grill cheese, pasta alfredo, and a killer lemon cake.
Jon Batiste was my only concert this year and he delivered.
National Ballet School online classes have got me back on my toes. Literally.
Ger & Karl visited from Ireland.
Andrea introduced me to foot massages.
Trevor continues to invite me for coffee chats that reignite my brain.
Mike invited me to Pacific Future AI Film Festival and I was enamoured with Loretta Sarah Todd’s work. Her ethereal sea and forest creatures haunt my mind.
Canucks. They lost but I had row 12 seats so it was super fun.

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue | Book Review

December 5, 2024 / Monique

I Hope This Finds You Well is a Canadian version of The Office. Jolene hates her job but she needs it. Her colleagues drive her mad and she does, what any reasonable employee does, she snarks about them privately. Well, maybe not privately enough. Jolene has taken to responding to emails with her actual thoughts typed below her professional response. She whites out the text so that it’s white on white and invisible to the recipient. Until one day, she forgets.

As expected, Jolene finds herself in a disciplinary hearing with her boss and the new HR guy Cliff. Cliff is tasked with putting monitoring software on her computer and running her through some mandatory training sessions. Thing is, Cliff makes a mistake and instead of dialling back what Jolene can do, she suddenly has access to everything. Everyone’s inbox, everyone’s chat, everyone’s shared drive is accessible from her computer. With the cheatcodes to office life, Jolene figures out how to win friends and influence people.

As Jolene is drawn into the drama of each of her colleague’s lives, she learns their secret fears and some of the motivations behind their actions. They say hurtful things about her, but she can’t resist reading everything and then adjusting accordingly.

You know as the reader that this is all going to bite her in the arse, but it is a hilarious adventure. Jolene has a ton of snark and her word sparring with Cliff in HR is top notch.

This is a sad book but also a laugh-out-loud book. I Hope This Finds You Well has a cast of characters found in any workplace and a list of puny chapter titles. It’s like getting the last donut at the office party and it’s your favourite flavour.

If you liked How to Pronounce Knife then this story reflects the same tender comedy about loneliness and love, and immigrant parents. If you like debut fiction or the eccentricities of second-generation Canadians or wacky coworkers then this work culture, semi-romcom set in Calgary is a satisfying read.

Outlive by Peter Attia | Book Review

December 5, 2024 / Monique

Outlive by Peter Attia is one of those bestsellers that you cannot avoid. Originally published in March 2023, Attia made the rounds on the podcast circuits, published any number of guest articles, and appeared on multiple talk shows. But I don’t begrudge him the success (2 million copies sold so far). The book is an in-depth manifesto on increasing your health span (healthy years of life). It’s not just about longevity. Attia really wants people to live better, not just longer.

The first half of the book looks at each of the 4 horsemen: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease (i.e., Alzheimer’s), and Type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction.

The second half of the book outlines practical steps that anyone can take to improve their own life and ideally avoid things that increase risk of one or more of the four horsemen coming for you.

The key takeaways are:

Modern medicine is not so modern. It is great at dealing with infection and trauma. But we wait too long to treat chronic disease. Instead of looking at biomarkers on a continuum and addressing issues in advance of blood work or other issues falling outside the guidelines, we wait, until it’s too late to reverse track.
Blood work “standards” or the range for healthy blood work is a shifting scale. It’s a standard based on what is “normal” today in the population, not what is actually healthy.
Exercise is under-rated and we should really be thinking like centenarians. To open a jar at 90 or carry your groceries down the block at 80 or to hike up a hill at 70 — you really have to think about how active you are in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. If you can’t do it now, there is no chance you can at 90. Attia has a ton of information on how to approach fitness.
The feverish cult-like behaviour around food and diet needs to dial down. A lot of the food adjustments people make are based on studies done on fasting studies in mice, for example. Many studies do not translate to human subjects. Attia calls out many of these studies and outlines how his thinking on the role of food has changed.
Sleep should be taken seriously. We haven’t evolved to not need sleep for a reason. It’s critical. Attia has a number of terrifying anecdotes about life as a resident, doctor, surgeon and why we dismiss this necessary state of being.
Mental health is the last issue Attia addresses in the book and all I can say is that it is a miserable life you do not have good emotional regulation, good relationships, and a good sense of self.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I listened to it as an audiobook and in some ways Attia’s narration kept me going. There is a bit of a slog through theory and studies and medical information. But the autobiographical elements of the book keep it interesting, and help the reader apply the lessons to their own situation. I have now purchased the print copy so I have it as a reference.

If you liked Good Energy by Casey Means then this is the precursor to that book. They must have been writing at similar times since the books are published only a year apart. Perhaps most telling is that here are two medical professionals who are sounding the alarm about North American’s poor metabolic health. These books are more than a warning sign. They are an essential read.

Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke

December 1, 2024 / Monique

A deserted shipwreck off the Icelandic coast draws a group of explorers to her decks. Three of the four know each other and are travelling as a group, but the solo explorer Dominique arrives first and is put out by their presence but also reassured by them since she’s pretty sure she saw a ghost woman roaming the shores. The shipwreck is that of the Ormen, which originally was a whaling ship in the 1900s then in the 1970s became a research vessel. Dominique and the others are there to document the ship before the coast guard finally pulls it free from the shore and sinks it forever.

The story bounces between life in 1901 on board the Ormen, in which Nicky Duthie is being held against her will by the crew due to her father’s poor business choices and life in present-day 2023 where the urban explorers are doing parkour, TikToks, and other influencer activities to document their discoveries and build up an audience.

The story is really about trauma and revenge, and a little about forgiveness. The brutal Icelandic weather and the icy seas give the novel a gothic feel, while technology and the lifestyle of the explorers anchor the story in the present. Although nothing is really anchored here. Nicky Duthie was never found. And it turns out the research crew in the 1970s mysteriously disappeared as well.

The Haunting in the Arctic lays bare a ton of secrets, misgivings, and betrayals from 1901 to present day.

Long Island by Colm Toibin | Book Review

November 18, 2024 / Monique

Colm Toibin’s Long Island delves into the life of Eilis Lacey, the heroine of Toibin’s previous novel Brooklyn. It’s 20 years later, and her marriage to Tony Fiorello is falling apart. It’s tough being an Irish immigrant married into a big Italian family. Eilis is quiet and reserved, whereas her in laws are loud and boisterous. Tony’s mother is the matriarch and no one questions her plotting about what’s best for the family.

In the spring of 1976, Eilis (now in her 40s with two teenage children) is confronted by a man at her door who claims that Tony is fathering a child with the man’s wife. He intends to leave the child on her doorstep. Turns out Tony’s mother has a plan and Eilis’s wishes are not her concern.

The rift drives Eilis back to Ireland to visit family and celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday. Once back, readers of Brooklyn are reminded of Eilis’s tryst with Jim Farrell, which occurred when she returned to Ireland shortly after marrying Tony. Will they rekindle that relationship or will she return to America? Toibin is a master at crafting an enduring sense of longing and belonging, while simultaneously planting fear and danger of the undertow.

At the heart of the story is a woman grappling with the push and pull of two ways of life. Everyone in her home village knows everything about everyone. There is a lot of pretense and assumption but also a reassuring rhythm of known habits and social structures. Eilis no longer feels at home here. She misses her quiet Sundays reading the paper. She enjoys her American clothes, her job, her children’s American ways of speaking and being, but there are challenges to contemporary American life and certainly challenges to living in close proximity to all your bossy in laws.

Eilis is outwardly restrained but the novel unfolds the depth of emotion she feels. Toibin’s writing about unfulfilled longing is so good. It is leaves you wondering what Eilis will do. The choice is never clear.

Favourite passage: Eilis has upgraded her mother’s kitchen with a new fridge, washing machine and cooker. But her mother is indignant and refuses to have them installed so the items remain in the hallway, impeding everyone’s passage. But the second Eilis leaves for Dublin to get the children, her mother has the items installed so she can preen for the grandkids.

Once the front door was opened by her mother, Eilis noticed that the fridge and washing machine and cooker were no longer blocking the hallway.

“Well,” her mother said, with her grandchildren standing on the pavement outside her house, “you don’t take after our side at all. You are a pair of Italians. Come in, come in, the whole town’ll be talking about how I left you standing on the street.”

…

Martin and her mother were telling the children about Eilis’s efforts, as soon as she arrived, to make the house more modern.

“All the things were wrong,” her mother said. “Too big, too small, the wrong colour, the wrong make. I had to send them all back.”

Eilis decided not to point out that the fridge, washing machine and cooker were precisely the ones she had bought. They had not been sent back.

If you enjoyed Toibin’s previous works, such as Brooklyn or The Master, you’ll find Long Island just as compelling. This is a story of intricate family dynamics. The pace is measured, but it is a deliberate choice that allows the emotional weight of the story to unfold naturally.

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny | Book Review

November 15, 2024 / Monique

The Grey Wolf is the 19th instalment of the Inspector Gamache series and readers are once again invited into the charming world of Three Pines. This time, our beloved Chief Inspector finds himself drawn into a perilous investigation where the enemies and allies are not clearly defined.

The story kicks off with a young man who breaks into the Gamache’s Montreal pied a terre. He takes a coat, yet returns it and asks to meet. Bizarre. More chilling is that the young man is run over in broad daylight while standing outside of a cafe with Gamache. He hasn’t provided any insights into who compelled him to break in, and Gamache isn’t even sure that the young man provided his real name; Charles. But obviously there is something worth investigating when the driver of the van is discovered dead.

Like all Gamache novels, Louise Penny delivers an intricately woven narrative that takes us to an isolated monastery in the Quebec wilderness, to the far reaches of the Atlantic coast, and all the way to Washington, Paris and Rome. Many secondary characters from previous novels make their appearance again. And this time the crime seems to be related to water security, but there are very few details for Gamache to work with and it looks more and more like an insight job or coverup by the RCMP and federal government.

The heart of The Grey Wolf lies in Gamache’s enduring humanity. Despite the dangers and moral quandaries, he remains the steadfast leader of his team and upholds his integrity. There is no easy route for Gamache.

Unlike previous novels, there is very little action that happens in Three Pines and I missed the comings and goings of Clare, Gabri, Olivier and Ruth, but Penny deepens the arc of characters we have met briefly before in previous novels, which keeps the richness of the story and broadens our knowledge of others in Gamache’s orbit.

Fans of the Gamache series will enjoy this must-read continuation of the story. If you’re brand new and enjoy shows like the Shetland drama series and DI Jimmy Perez, then you’ll like Gamache, who like Perez is a native to the land he serves and works together with a small group of trusted colleagues to solve crimes that often go beyond the close-knit communities being protected.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay | Book Review

November 14, 2024 / Monique

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay is a fun heist novel set in Edwardian London. The story follows Mrs. King, a formidable housekeeper recently dismissed from the grand Park Lane home she managed for years. Rather than accepting defeat, Mrs. King assembles a team of spirited and skilled female accomplices, each with a unique talent, to plan an audacious heist. Their target? The very house that cast her out. With meticulous plotting and daring improvisation, the crew aims to steal every valuable item in the house on the night of a lavish ball—right under the noses of the rich and powerful guests.

Alex Hay’s debut novel is a charming yet thrilling heist, with a goodly amount of social critique. The world of women in Edwardian London is rife with rules. Women are often invisible, especially the below-stairs women. But they really grab society by the short and curlies in this story. Each character has some grudge against the house and they deliver a memorable performance in their con women roles.

Perfect for fans of historical fiction with a feminist edge—I’m thinking of The Phoenix Crown—as well as for those who enjoy films like Oceans 11 or the show Lupin.

A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby | Book Review

November 11, 2024 / Monique

A Meditation on Murder is the second book featuring Buddhist nun turned butler Helen Thorpe. Helen is happily working for the philanthropic Levine family when she is unexpectedly lent to friend-of-the-family Cartier Hightower. Wait, can that happen? It was NOT a scenario covered in butler school.

Cartier is an online influencer who is addicted to social media, is experiencing extreme online bullying, and is too selfish and pampered to sort herself out. The Levines are hoping that Helen can help Cartier get her act together so she is prepared to make good choices when she inherits her father’s vast fortune.

It’s a tall order.

Cartier is highly influenced by her content creation group The Deep State. None of her fellow creators treat her as a friend, but she’s the money bags so her inclusion in the group seems set. The group’s attitude to Cartier is dismissive, in fact someone is the group seems to be setting her up to be the focus of their audience’s hate. Every accident or insensitive move by the group is blamed on Cartier. But more alarming is that one by one, they are dying unexpectedly.

Can Helen’s meditation practice bring Cartier back to the down-to-earth kid she once was? Can Helen’s extremely efficient butlering get a handle on this wayward influencer group’s many needs? And can Helen tap into her keen observation skills to act, once again, as the detective on hand to solve the murder of Cartier’s friends?

A Meditation on Murder is published by HarperCollins Canada

If you like comedic, cozy mysteries like The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman or The Maid by Nita Prose, then give the Helen Thorpe books a try. The first in the series was Mindful of Murder, but you can read A Meditation on Murder as a standalone.

The Secret Hours by Mick Herron | Book Review

November 8, 2024 / Monique

The Secret Hours is a companion piece to Slow Horses, or rather to the Slough House book series by Mick Herron. Although some of the characters appear under different names than what you see in the tv series, this novel offers a backgrounder on the intrigue and corruption in the secret service from 90s Berlin to present day and offers insight into the Lamb’s Berlin days, which are only hinted at in the tv series.

The Secret Hours opens with the stink of dead badger, and it turns out to be a McGuffin. That badger is used by an ex-spy on the run, who manages to thwart his own violent kidnapping.

There are several intersecting storylines and flashbacks that can make it hard to follow in audiobook form, but I really like action and drama in audio format. So we have our man on the run (Max), who meets up with his handler who appears to be based on the Jackson Lamb character. The man is rude, flatulent, and a drunkard who manages to act when necessary. This drunk appears to be the man in charge in Berlin in the throwback story to the 90s, which comes out slowly through witness testimony in the present-day Monochrome inquiry.

The reason behind the thwarted kidnapping is not clear until the end so I don’t want to spoiler the plot for anyone. But I can say that in the present time of the story, there is an inquiry going on into wrongdoing by the secret service, and it’s being stunted by First Desk, until one witness starts to reveal truths that no one is prepared to hear.

If you’re a fan of the TV series Slow Horses, or even better the Slough House book series, then this is the secret behind-the-scenes history of Slough House.

Listen on Audible to The Secret Hours