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The Bright Side [electronic resource] : Twelve Months, Three Heartbreaks, and One (Maybe) Miracle / by Bradbury, Cathrinaut; Porter, Jessicanrt; CloudLibrary;
Read by Porter, Jessica.“Anyone who has had their life completely gutted and rewired will adore this family story. Bradbury's dark humour and gloriously upbeat voice makes it the perfect antidote to a tough year. I loved it!” —Plum Johnson, author of They Left Us Everything The hilarious and moving story of how a modern woman's life can change utterly in a single year—and how, even when life whacks you in the head, you can find yourself rewarded with grace. Cathrin Bradbury's life imploded in the space of a few months. Her beloved parents died, her marriage limped to an end after twenty-five years, her heavily mortgaged house turned against her, and a promising new romance ended in crushing disappointment.   But somewhere in that year, a new path, or three or four, began to open up. As Bradbury navigates the setbacks, her troubled brother makes an astounding recovery to health and sobriety. She is reunited with her closest childhood friend after a long absence, with deeply satisfying results. She and her four siblings feel their way to becoming a new kind of family without their parents. And her adult children emerge into sharper focus, each gloriously and uniquely themselves. Slowly, she discovers that the path is steep, the view obscured, but there's light ahead.   Cathartic, hilarious, and profoundly moving, The Bright Side broadens the way we think and talk to each other about the ordinary experiences we all share. A master of the uncomplaining voice, Bradbury combines grace and humanity to look at the world unflinchingly and see what makes it wonderful and absurd at the same time, and to let us all in on the secret.Electronic reproduction.Online resource; title from title details screen (CloudLibrary, viewed April 2, 2025).
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Personal Memoirs; Women; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY; Later Years; Life Stages; FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS;
© 2021., Penguin Random House,
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Endling : a novel / by Reva, Maria,author.;
"In the absurdist literary tradition of George Saunders comes the debut novel of a writer who is "bang-on brilliant" (Miriam Toews) and "bright, funny, satirical, relevant" (Margaret Atwood), chronicling the exploits of three Ukrainian women and one very endangered snail through the travails of foreign invasion, unlikely romance, capitalist exploitation, and nail-biting survival. Ukraine, 2022. Nastia and her sister, Solimaya, are entangled in the booming bridal industry, getting paid to entertain Western men who've come to Ukraine on "Romance Tours" to find their dream woman. Yeva is a loner and a maverick scientist who's tried, and failed, to breed specimens from the region's dwindling snail population in her mobile lab. Nastia's obsession with finding her absent mother--a flamboyant protester who disappeared after years of public opposition to the romance tours--leads her to embark on the journey of a lifetime across hundreds of miles along with three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a rare snail with one last shot at perpetuating his species. This journey, and these dreams, come to a screeching halt as Russia invades. In a stunningly ambitious and achingly raw metafictional spiral, Endling brilliantly balances the comedic stakes set in motion by the plot while drawing on Reva's personal experiences as a Ukrainian expat, forced to witness the hostilities from afar while tracking her family's delicate dance of survival behind enemy lines. As fiction and real life combine on the page, Reva probes the hard truths of war: What is it like to leave behind one's home and possessions? Conversely, what is it like to stay and continue with the mundanities of life and work under military occupation? For those of us witnessing from overseas: how does our sense of reality change? Can normalcy and security be restored, or have they always been an illusion? Endling is a tour de force from an author on the cutting edge of fiction, telling a story of love, loss, humour, and devastation that only she could tell."--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Satirical fiction.; Novels.; Mail order brides; Russian Invasion of Ukraine, 2022; Sisters; Women biologists;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Do not say we have nothing / by Thien, Madeleine,1974-author.;
"An extraordinary novel set in China before, during and after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989--the breakout book we've been waiting for from a bestselling, Amazon.ca First Novel Award winner. Madeleine Thien's new novel is breathtaking in scope and ambition even as it is hauntingly intimate. With the ease and skill of a master storyteller, Thien takes us inside an extended family in China, showing us the lives of two successive generations--those who lived through Mao's Cultural Revolution in the mid-twentieth century; and the children of the survivors, who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square in 1989, in one of the most important political moments of the past century. With exquisite writing sharpened by a surprising vein of wit and sly humour, Thien has crafted unforgettable characters who are by turns flinty and headstrong, dreamy and tender, foolish and wise. At the centre of this epic tale, as capacious and mysterious as life itself, are enigmatic Sparrow, a genius composer who wishes desperately to create music yet can find truth only in silence; his mother and aunt, Big Mother Knife and Swirl, survivors with captivating singing voices and an unbreakable bond; Sparrow's ethereal cousin Zhuli, daughter of Swirl and storyteller Wen the Dreamer, who as a child witnesses the denunciation of her parents and as a young woman becomes the target of denunciations herself; and headstrong, talented Kai, best friend of Sparrow and Zhuli, and a determinedly successful musician who is a virtuoso at masking his true self until the day he can hide no longer. Here, too, is Kai's daughter, the ever-questioning mathematician Marie, who pieces together the tale of her fractured family in present-day Vancouver, seeking a fragile meaning in the layers of their collective story. With maturity and sophistication, humour and beauty, a huge heart and impressive understanding, Thien has crafted a novel that is at once beautifully intimate and grandly political, rooted in the details of daily life inside China, yet transcendent in its universality."--
Subjects: Political fiction.; Domestic fiction.; Composers; Storytellers; Musicians; Mathematicians; Chinese Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Like every form of love : a memoir of friendship and true crime / by Viswanathan, Padma,1968-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."Padma Viswanathan was staying on a houseboat on Vancouver Island when she struck up a friendship with a warm-hearted, working-class queer man named Phillip. Their lives were so different it seemed unlikely to Padma that their relationship would last after she returned to her usual life. But, that week, Phillip told her a story from his childhood that kept them connected for more than twenty years. Phillip was the son of a severe, abusive man named Harvey, a miner, farmer and communist. After Phillip's mother left the family, Harvey advertised for a housekeeper-with-benefits. And so Del, the most glamorous and loving of stepmothers, stepped into Phillip's life. Del had hung out with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in Mexico City before the Cuban revolution; she was also a convicted bank robber who had violated her parole and was suspected in her ex-husband's murder. Phillip had long since lost track of Del, but when Padma said she'd like to write about her and about his own young life, he eagerly agreed. Quickly, though, Padma's research uncovered hidden truths about these larger-than-real-life characters. Watching the effects on Phillip as these secrets, evasions and traumas came to light, she increasingly feared that when it came to the book or the friendship, only one of them would get out of this process alive. In this unforgettable memoir, Padma reflects on the joys and frictions of this strange journey with grace, humour and poetry, including original readings of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales and other stories that beautifully echo her characters' adventures and her own. Like Every Form of Love is that rare thing: an irresistible literary page-turner that twists and turns, delivering powerful revelations, right to the very end."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Viswanathan, Padma, 1968-; Family secrets.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The company we keep : a novel / by Itani, Frances,1942-author.;
"In this warm, bittersweet story, set in the same town as Remembering the Bones, five strangers find solace and new friendships as they grapple with grief in its many guises. Hazzley is having a hard time after the death of her husband. When her longtime friend Cassandra, café owner and occasional tea-leaf reader, suggests that Hazzley start up a conversation group, Hazzley posts a notice on the community board at the local grocery store. Four people turn up at the first meeting: Gwen, a recent retiree who is similarly getting over the loss of a husband, and who finds herself telling her life story to the parrot she is temporarily caring for; Chiyo, a 45-year old dance instructor who became accustomed to checking the notice board for news on behalf of her gossip-loving mother who had become too ill to go out; Addie, the daughter of a psychiatric nurse who is pre-emptively grieving a close friend who has breast cancer; and Tom, an amateur poet who, having been deprived of home baking since becoming a widower, comes to the first meeting hoping cake will be served. With a good deal of humour and world-weary savvy, Cassie watches over the group and bears witness to the interaction and weekly exchange of stories, some of which she knows are true, some fabricated, and all of which she can see are pulling this small group together. In the end, all five find themselves on previously unimagined paths, learning that new beginnings are possible, and that they are never past the stage when life can still surprise."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Grief; Friendship; Loss (Psychology);
Available copies: 4 / Total copies: 5
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The company we keep : [Book Club Set] / by Itani, Frances,1942-author.;
"In this warm, bittersweet story, set in the same town as Remembering the Bones, five strangers find solace and new friendships as they grapple with grief in its many guises. Hazzley is having a hard time after the death of her husband. When her longtime friend Cassandra, café owner and occasional tea-leaf reader, suggests that Hazzley start up a conversation group, Hazzley posts a notice on the community board at the local grocery store. Four people turn up at the first meeting: Gwen, a recent retiree who is similarly getting over the loss of a husband, and who finds herself telling her life story to the parrot she is temporarily caring for; Chiyo, a 45-year old dance instructor who became accustomed to checking the notice board for news on behalf of her gossip-loving mother who had become too ill to go out; Addie, the daughter of a psychiatric nurse who is pre-emptively grieving a close friend who has breast cancer; and Tom, an amateur poet who, having been deprived of home baking since becoming a widower, comes to the first meeting hoping cake will be served. With a good deal of humour and world-weary savvy, Cassie watches over the group and bears witness to the interaction and weekly exchange of stories, some of which she knows are true, some fabricated, and all of which she can see are pulling this small group together. In the end, all five find themselves on previously unimagined paths, learning that new beginnings are possible, and that they are never past the stage when life can still surprise."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Grief; Friendship; Loss (Psychology);
Available copies: 15 / Total copies: 15
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Finding the mother tree : discovering the wisdom of the forest / by Simard, S.(Suzanne),author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A world-leading expert shares her amazing story of discovering the communication that exists between trees, and shares her own story of family and grief. Dr. Suzanne Simard was born and raised in the rainforests of British Columbia and has forged a lifelong relationship of love and respect with the trees. This relationship was the driving force behind her decision to dedicate her life to better understanding the forest and the network that connects the plant life within. With humour, emotion, and the narrative drive of a lifelong storyteller, Dr. Simard takes readers on an intimate journey of groundbreaking scientific discovery. Linking her research to her personal experiences, she recounts her life's work uncovering the "Wood Wide Web," the underground mycelium network that connects all the trees and plants within a forest. It is a network that allows them to share not only nutrients, but information, all of which originates from the hubs called Mother Trees. Readers will journey with Dr. Simard into this massive experiment, from dramatic encounters with wildlife to the groundbreaking "Aha" moments in a lab, from learning how to utilize this network to promote plant growth to what this network can teach us about combatting climate change. Dramatic, funny, touching, and evocative, Finding the Mother Tree offers an intimate and personal look at discovery. This book is not about how we can save the trees, but about how the trees might actually save us."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Simard, S. (Suzanne); Forest conservation.; Forest ecology.; Human ecology.; Trees; Forest regeneration.; Conservationists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Love lives here : a story of thriving in a transgender family / by Jetté Knox, Amanda,author.;
"All Amanda Jetté Knox ever wanted was to enjoy a stable life. She never knew her biological father, and while her mother and stepfather were loving parents, the situation was sometimes chaotic. At school, she was bullied mercilessly, and at the age of fourteen, she entered a counselling program for alcohol addiction and was successful. While still a teenager, she met the love of her life. They were wed at 20, and the first of three children followed shortly. Jetté Knox finally had the stability she craved--or so it seemed. Their middle child struggled with depression and avoided school. The author was unprepared when the child she knew as her son came out as transgender at the age of eleven. Shocked, but knowing how important it was to support her daughter, Jetté Knox became an ardent advocate for trans rights. But the story wasn't over. For many years, the author had coped with her spouse's moodiness, but that chronic unhappiness was taking a toll on their marriage. A little over a year after their child came out, her partner also came out as transgender. Knowing better than most what would lie ahead, Jetté Knox searched for positive examples of marriages surviving transition. When she found no role models, she determined that her family would become one. The shift was challenging, but slowly the family members noticed that they were becoming happier and more united. Told with remarkable candour and humour, and full of insight into the challenges faced by trans people, Love Lives Here is a beautiful story of transition, frustration, support, acceptance, and, of course, love."--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Jetté Knox, Amanda.; Jetté Knox, Amanda; Parents of transgender children; Human rights workers; Sexual minorities' families; Transgender people;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Pluck : a memoir of a Newfoundland childhood and the raucous, terrible, amazing journey to becoming a novelist / by Morrissey, Donna,1956-author.;
"A deeply personal account of love's restorative ability as it leads renowned novelist Donna Morrissey through mental illness, family death, and despair to becoming a writer--told with charm and inimitable humour. When Donna Morrissey left the only home she had ever known, an isolated Newfoundland settlement, at age 16, she was ready for adventure. She had grown up without television or telephones but had absorbed the tragic stories and comic yarns of her close-knit family and community. The death of her infant brother marked the family, and years later, Morrissey suffers devastating guilt about the accidental death of her teenage brother, whom she'd enticed to join her in the oilfields. Her misery was compounded by her own misdiagnosis of a terminal illness, all of which contributed to crippling anxiety and an actual diagnosis of PTSD. Many of those events and themes would eventually be transformed and recast as fictional gold in Morrissey's novels. In another writer's hands, Morrissey's account of her personal story could easily be a tragedy. Instead, she combines darkness and light, levity and sadness into her tale, as her indomitable spirit and humour sustain her. Morrissey's path takes her from the drudgery of being a grocery clerk (who occasionally enlivens her shift with recreational drugs) to western oilfields, to marriage and divorce and working in a fish-processing plant to support herself and her two young children. Throughout her struggles, she nourishes a love of learning and language. Morrissey layers her account of her life with stories of those who came before her, a breed rarely seen in the modern world. It centers around iron-willed women: mothers and daughters, wives, sisters, teachers and mentors who find the support, the wind for their wings, outside the bounds given to them by nature. And it is a mysterious older woman she meets in Halifax who eventually unleashes the writer that Morrissey is destined to become. An inspiring and insightful memoir, Pluck illustrates that even when you find yourself unravelling, you can find a way to spin the yarns that will save you--and delight readers everywhere."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Morrissey, Donna, 1956-; Anxiety disorders; Brothers; Novelists, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The marriage of Rose Camilleri / by Hough, Robert(Robert William),author.;
"An illuminating portrait of an unconventional marriage by bestselling and critically acclaimed author Robert Hough. When Rose Camilleri and Scotty Larkin meet, neither expects to spend a lifetime together, navigating a sometimes turbulent marriage and scraping through the process of raising a family. When he first enters the bakery where she works, she is a new arrival from the tiny island nation of Malta, fond of rabbit stew and Hollywood cinema. He is a thoughtful printer's assistant recently released from juvenile detention after stealing and swiftly totalling a stranger's car. Even after years of marriage and two children together, Rose struggles to shake the idea that perhaps she should have held out for someone as voluble and optimistic as herself. But while some marriages are weakened by trauma, Rose and Scotty's union is strengthened by the act of survival, and they find their own kind of happiness along the way. In The Marriage of Rose Camilleri, Robert Hough writes his larger-than-life characters with warmth, insight and humour, displaying the masterful approach to storytelling that gained his previous novels acclaim and several prestigious award nominations. Hough transports the reader into the epicentre of an unconventional love story, where he draws out captivating details from the fabric of an ordinary shared lifetime to create a story that lives in the moment and takes seriously the small but vital details of everyday life."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Man-woman relationships; Married people;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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