Tuesday, September 20, 2011

A Song for Nettie Johnson

A Song for Nettie Johnson (2001)
Author:  Gloria Sawai (20 December 1932-20 July 2011)
Publisher:  Coteau Books, Regina, Saskatchewan
Pages:  296
Genre:  Fiction, Short Stories
Awards:  Governor General's Award for Fiction 2002, Danuta Gleed Award for Best First Book of Short Fiction, Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Fiction, 2002 City of Edmonton Book Prize, Henry Kriesel Award for Best First Book

As it happens I had this book in my possession (borrowed from the library) when I heard the sad news of Gloria Sawai's passing this summer. 

Gloria Østrem Sawai was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but grew up in Saskatchewan and Alberta where her father was a Lutheran minister. Set mainly in rural Saskatchewan in the 1940s and 1950s, these wonderful stories capture the prairie landscape and also acknowledge the people, many of whom arrived from other places and made this part of Canada their home. This is one book I am going to add to my Canadiana bookshelf.

4/13  5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

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Books Read 2012

1. Half-Blood Blues/Esi Edugyan(18/01/12) A gripping and heart wrenching story.

Books Read 2011

1. A Study in Scarlet /Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (04/01/11) - a Sherlock Holmes detective mystery set in London & Utah, 19th century.
2. Light Lifting/Alexander MacLeod (06/01/11) - seven wonderful stories.
3. Nature Girl/Carl Hiaasen (25/01/11) - a humorous tale set mainly in Florida.
4. Ines of My Soul/Isabel Allende (04/02/11) - 16th century South America.
5. The Sentimentalists/Johanna Skibsrud (08/02/11)
6. The Gardens of Kyoto/Kate Walbert (22/02/11)
7. The Razor's Edge/W. Somerset Maugham (13/04/11) - first person narrative.
8. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate/Alexander McCall Smith (18/04/11) - mystery featuring Isabel Dalhousie, 2nd book in a series.
9. What I Didn't See:Stories/Karen Joy Fowler (29/04/11) - I enjoyed these unusual stories.
10. The Uncommon Reader/Alan Bennett(07/05/11) - very entertaining.
11. The End of the Affair/Graham Greene(16/05/11)
12. The Hours/Michael Cunningham(30/05/11)
13. A Midsummer Night's Dream/William Shakespeare (08/06/11) - The New Folger Library edition, annotated. Great comedy.
14. Angel Wing Splash Pattern/Richard Van Camp (02/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
15. You Went Away/Timothy Findley (03/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
16. Fierce/Hannah Holborn (15/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
17. a Song for Nettie Johnson/Gloria Sawai (29/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
18. Taft/Ann Patchett (15/12/11)
19. A Wrinkle in Time/Madeleine L'Engle (31/12/11)