Heart Berries: A Memoir - Terese Marie Mailhot

Title: Heart Berries: A Memoir
Author: Terese Marie Mailhot*
Pages: 160
Genre: Non-fiction, Biography, Memoir
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library:

Description:
Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in British Columbia. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Bipolar II, Terese Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father--an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist--who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame.

Mailhot "trusts the reader to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain and what we can bring ourselves to accept." Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people and to her place in the world. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I really enjoyed this straightforward memoir of Ms. Mailhot's life up until this point.  While the book isn't presented in a straightforward manner, it is straightforward in that you know what she is talking about in each chapter, as each chapter has a certain focus.

I also liked that she didn't sugarcoat her life in British Columbia (she grew up on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation not far from where I grew up and live; it is probably about an hour drive from my place) and that she acknowledges her dysfunctional as a cause for her depression.

Bottom line: It is very short (under 200 pages) and very poignant.  Warnings for description of suicide among other things.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.25/5

* the copy I had didn't include the introduction nor the afterword

A Great Game - Stephen J. Harper

Title: A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the rise of professional hockey
Author: Stephen J. Harper
Pages: 320
Published: 2013
Challenges: I Love Libraries, Nonfiction Reading
Genre: Non-fiction, History, Sports
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: In the tumultuous beginnings of hockey, the fights were as much off the ice as on it. This engaging new book is about the hockey heroes and hard-boiled businessmen who built the game, and the rise and fall of legendary teams pursuing the Stanley Cup. With a historian’s perspective and fan’s passion, Stephen Harper presents a riveting and often-surprising portrait, capturing everything from the physical contests on the rinks to the battles behind the scenes and the changing social conventions of the twentieth century.

A Great Game shows that many things have stayed the same. Rough play, fervent hometown loyalties, owner-player contract disputes, dubious news coverage, and big money were issues from the get-go. Most important in these early years was the question: Was hockey to be a game of obsessed amateurs playing for the love of the sport, or was it a game for paid professionals who would give fans what they wanted? Who should be responsible for the sport – including its bouts of violence – both on and off the ice?

A century ago, rinks could melt, and by half time the blades screwed to the players’ shoes could be sinking in mud. It was during this time that teams such as the Toronto Professionals of 1908 and the Toronto Blue Shirts of 1914 took turns battling for the city’s very first Stanley Cup. Against the fanatical opposition of amateur hockey leaders, these “forgotten Leafs” would lay the groundwork for the world’s most profitable hockey franchise. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: For the most part, I really enjoyed this book and enjoyed the descriptions of the various individuals that were involved in the rise of professional hockey and also those that resisted the change from the Stanley Cup being a challenge cup for amateur hockey players to a challenge cup for the professionals and the resistance from any sort of formation of the professional game.

While there was lots of information that Mr. Harper provided the reader, it was probably too much at times and it felt like he was saying the same sort of things several times.   Maybe it doesn't help that he's a  person that likes to use words a lot (he's the PM of Canada), but I sometimes felt that he didn't get to the point and was maybe a little too verbose at times, when less words would have sufficed to get his point across.  I wish he would have spent a little more time on the team itself rather on the formation of professional hockey in North America.

Bottom line: If you are a hockey fan or a sports fan and are interested in the rise of professional sports and have a general interest in the history of the early 1900s, you might interested in the book and it would be a worthwhile read. Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

Pages for 2014: 1310

Canada at War - Paul Keery

Title: Canada at War: a graphic history of World War Two
Author: Paul Keery, Michael Wyatt (illustrator)
File Size (Pages): 29296 KB (176)
Published: 2012
Genre: History, Graphic Novel
Challenges: Support Your Library
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: A beautifully crafted graphic novel, tracing the achievements of the Canadian Forces in the Second World War.

In 1914, Canada went to war as a subject of Britain.  In 1939, it made the choice to fight all on its own. Canada at War follows the developments and setbacks, wins and losses, of a nation learning to stand up for itself in the midst of the most difficult war of the 20th century.

In graphic-novel format, fully illustrated and in full colour, Canada at War shows the growth of a nation's army, navy and air force through movingly depicted triumphs and tragedies.  From the disheartening losses at Dieppe and Hong Kong through the Battle of the Atlantic and the invasion of Sicily, it focusses on the human dimension of the key battles and decisions that ultimately swung the war in the Allies' favour.

This poignant graphic account ends, after the victories of D-Day and Juno Beach and the liberation of Europe, with a final reckoning of the legacy these storied years have had on a country forged through war. (via FVRL Overdrive)

Thoughts: Since I knew the broad strokes of the Canadian involvement during World War Two and had a good sense of the war overall, I found this book to be a little simple at times, but nonetheless, I found the book to be very informative in regards to various battles that the Canadian military was involved in during this time period.   I read this as a library download from FVRL (Fraser Valley Regional Library) and found that it took time for the book to load quickly, due to the heavy graphic usage.  I would have liked it more if they had done it on a year by year basis rather than by covering the service branches (army, navy, and air force) individually.

Bottom line: Felt that it was a great overview for those that want a good general overview of the Canadian involvement during World War Two and would be a good resource for secondary schools (high schools) to get their hands on for their students to help them to understand what the military went through.  It does have a pro-military bias and doesn't mention at any point in the book about the men who didn't fight, but instead did their war service in places like logging camps, etc.

Rating: 3/5

Pages for 2012: 15463

Gretzky's Tears ; Stephen Brunt

From Chapters.ca: Renowned sportswriter Stephen Brunt reveals how "the Great One," who was bought and sold more than once, decided that the comfortable Canadian city where hockey ruled couldn't compete with the slushy ice of a California franchise.

Bobby Orr's career ended prematurely, with tears. Wayne Gretzky's tears, unlike Orr's, announced not an ending but another beginning. Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers had four Stanley Cup victories, but Gretzky may then have had other goals in mind.

Beginning with his dad, Walter, and continuing with Nelson Skalbania, Peter Pocklington, Bruce McNall, Jerry Buss - and with the CBC's Peter Gzowski as chronicler for the eager masses - the enormity of Gretzky's talent attracted all sorts of people who were after a variety of vicarious thrills.

Review: I really quite enjoyed it being as I am a hockey fan and have followed much of the exploits of what happened in regards to the NHL expansion since the mid-1990s and the eventual downfall of the game in the Southern United States. It was not only interesting from from my prospective as a hockey fan, but also as somebody who is interested in history and has been following the news stories in regards to the Phoenix Coyotes, which were once located in Winnipeg and were called the Jets and can recall the moves of various and formation of teams since 1994.

I also liked how Brunt integrated the climate of Canada as a country at the time of the Gretzky "trade" with the events surrounding his departure. While I was alive at the time and probably saw it on the news the day of the event, I recall the Ben Johnson scandal that hit the fan in the next 3 weeks afterwards. Its strange how one recalls certain events and not others, even though both are significant in terms of one's sporting history, especially when they occur within a few weeks of each other.