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Ducks, Newburyport Book Review

Lucy Ellmann
Calling this book “difficult” or “dense” isn’t quite the right descriptor. The narration feels like it slows down time enough to see each individual neuron firing as the main character worries incessantly about her world. Whether focusing on what’s in front of her nose or despairing at the state of her nation, big and small concerns are folded in onto each other. Everything is connected with everything else. Despite it being such a long book — nearly a thousand pages — I still feel like I’ve witnessed it all through a pinhole, and I have so many unanswered questions.

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Markings Book Review

Dag Hammarskjöld
This collection of aphorisms, confessions, and poetry is very quotable. That said, it describes a captive kind of spirituality, one whose wings have been clipped. Dag Hammarskjöld wrestles with the sacrifice and dedication it takes to follow one’s true calling, and in so doing sets up too many roadblocks for himself — it’s like he wants to make joy harder than it needs to be.

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Busy Doing Nothing Book Review

Rekka Bellum
Crossing the Pacific in a small sailboat for 51 days, Rekka & Devine’s sense of adventure is impressive to say the least. But there’s nothing showy or attention-seeking about their journey. This annotated logbook orbits around the small details of life aboard their vessel, Pino — food, sleep, weather, warmth. The ocean’s dangers pounce unexpectedly, and so do its moments of joy. There is some room for philosophical asides, but for the most part this is a book about the reality of the world right in front of your face.

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Crosshairs Book Review

Catherine Hernandez
If this were written five years ago, a story about Canada’s sharp turn toward fascism would seem too outlandish to be taken seriously. But the rise of white nationalism in recent times gives me pause to consider a world where forced labour, martial law, and oppression of LGBTQ and minority groups are the norm. This novel portrays the very plausible fear and uncertainty of such a society with gripping suspense. But it falls apart by not spending enough effort on developing characters’ humanity and personality — they feel like caricatures.

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