Thought Train to Pusan

Living in the suburbs on the edges of a major Canadian city my whole life, I have a tendency to romanticize small-town living a little bit. With a lot of family living in small-town Alberta, I only get glimpses of what it’s like when I visit, but I like to believe in the possibilities of community in such areas. Is it realistic? Maybe not. But I like to daydream, you see. So sometimes I just want to read or watch something that takes me out of the cities I know and into a specific time and place with a history that is so deeply connected to the people who make it what it is. And Shotgun Lovesongs is a pretty good example of that, as a more thoughtful, character-driven novel.  Our story takes us to a small town called Little Wing, Wisconsin, and centers on a group of 4 male friends who were born and raised in the town, along with a woman named Beth who was also born and raised there, and is now married to one of the 4 men, Henry. A quick rundown on the characters: Henry - Lives wit...

So, funny thing about listening to this one in audiobook form, should you (like myself) choose to play books at 1.5 speed or more: the speaking will be a good and understandable pace, but every time a song gets sung by the reader, it comes out in a silly little lilt that sounded quite humorous to me every time, even if the mood of the novel or the song itself at that point was not supposed to be cheerful and funny. So fair warning about that one. Frog Music opens with the scene of a murder in 1876 San Francisco, of a young woman named Jenny. Jenny is a colourful character who was known throughout town for wearing men’s clothing and for catching frogs for the local restaurants to cook. Her death is witnessed by her friend, Blanche, a French burlesque dancer who is convinced that she, not Jenny, was the intended murder victim at the hands of her lover. Through a series of flashbacks and present-day scenes, Blanche recounts her life upon meeting Jenny, their short-lived friendship, and t...