Rocco Maiolo's Ramblings and Musings

 <i>Jack<i/>  by Marilynne Robinson. Wow.   This, her fourth instalment in the Gilead quartet -- all so different yet all so profoundly worth reading. If only I lived closer or had more ambition, I'd take her writing course in Iowa.  In 2005, when I was a high school English teacher, I asked the librarian, "Do you have any recommendations?" She handed me Marilynne Robinson's Gilead  and said, "This just came in. It's excellent. It won the Pulitzer for literature." I took it home. I was in the prime of my career, Busy at home and doing a part time music career. My reading pace had started to pick up again, but mostly I was reading pulpy fluff -- stuff that didn't make me think too hard. Several chapters in to reading Gilead  I had a couple of thoughts: this is the story of a congregationalist minister reflecting on his life, yes? And nothing is happening...? And,  I suspect it's beautiful and profound in a subtle sort of way that requ

These are books that I've read in the last ten years or so that have been good for my soul. They're not "feel-good", per se (ok, maybe of few of them are) and they're certainly not fluff. They're books which have a fundamentally positive/optimistic view of humanity while not minimizing its pain and suffering. They're also novels which have often made me think, If only influential people -- politicians and world leaders, for example -- would read these books... Again, in no particular order, here are my top twenty: Anxious People , Fredrik Backman Backman is a modern-day Dickens. Beautiful prose, perennially optimistic and funny. Just a great writer  whose next book I always look forward to. From the Ashes , Jesse Thistle Autobiographical. One of the top Canada-reads books a few years ago. A must-read if your heart beats to homelessness, poverty and/or Indigenous issues. Women Talking , Miriam Toews Toews is wickedly, and painfully funny. I've blogged a

I was asked by two people recently to recommend my favourite books. One friend asked me for my top 10. I scoffed. Then he said, "fifty?"  I said, "Pfft..." "One hundred?" "Impossible." Upon further reflection, I thought: I can make specific lists based on books I've read in the last, say, ten years or so... Lists such as: Best 20 Books I've Read Recently that Made me Go, "Damn, that's really good writing!" (pretty pithy title, right?) and Top 20 Books I've Read Recently that Made me realize I'm part of a human race that maybe doesn't totally suck (that'll be my next list). Ok, so back to the list in question: Best 20 Books I've Read Recently that Made me Go, "Damn, that's really good writing!" -- in no particular order: Glass Hotel , Emily St. John Mandel A friend of mine introduced me to Mandel's  Station Eleven. Last year, I read Glass Hotel; currently, I'm reading Sea of Tranqui

I just finished reading Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow .  I don't normally give a Goodreads rating of five, because, my thinking is as follows: I give really really good books -- ones that I think, now there's an outstanding book/great writer -- four stars out of a possible five. Why not five? Because if I give out fives willy-nilly, then where do I go from there? How do I differentiate when a book comes along that's truly outstanding and I've already given out dozens of fives? So, I'm glad I've reserved fives for novels that don't come along often. Novels like Jayber Crow.   This thinking is furthered the older I get because it's harder to be surprised by a book -- or anything, really -- by virtue of the volume of books I've read and life that I've experienced.  I have a distinct memory of going to see an amateur production of Romeo and Juliet at Niagara University with my grade twelve class. It was a gorgeous Autumn day in 1978. I remember p

"Are you seriously going to try to connect Oral History to Black Lives Matter with a book -- Chewing the Fat, An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita ?" my readers may ask... Well, yes, in fact, that's exactly what I'd like to do. Very recently, my Italian cousin had the brilliant idea of starting a book club. He gathered cousins most of whom have the same common place of origin: Nardo di Pace, Calabria. Our first book club book via Zoom was Chewing the Fat by Karima Moyer-Nocchi. Since this post is not a book review, I'll just point out that most of this nonfiction text consists of interviews with then (2015) 80+ and 90+ year old women who lived during the height of Fascist Italy. This book can, indeed, be filed under "oral history" among other headings. And I must say, not to take away from the interviews and the very informative research, my favourite chapter was Moyer-Nocchi's chapter on oral history. For me, it was a

If you're at all interested in the problem of homelessness, if you've ever been gripped or just curious about all things Indiginous, Aboriginal, First Nations, if you're moved by beauty, brokenness, love, healing and redemption, if you've ever wondered why some people struggle with addiction and recovery more than others, if you want to know how to love better, care more, empathize deeply, if this quote resonates with you -- All us criminals start out as normal people just like anyone else, but then things happen in life that tear us appart, that makes us into something capable of hurting other people. That's all darkness really is -- just love gone bad. -- then please read this book. Thank you, Jesse Thistle, your vulnerabily and honesty in sharing your story.