The Arcade Fire/Reflektors show!

One of the members of Arcade Fire was kind enough to put me on the guest list for Salsatheque last night. Excited does not begin to describe my state of mind yesterday! I've seen them play at least half a dozen times since 2004, in every kind of venue, (including a pre-show in St. Michael's church basement before the release of Neon Bible), and I have never, ever been disappointed.

9/9 9 p.m.

Waiting in line with the special wristband

Inside, everyone had conformed to the mandatory dress code of "formal wear or a costume," so it was a little bit like walking into that masquerade party in Eyes Wide Shut...but way less creepy. Everyone looked cool and weird and fabulous. The bobble-head versions of the band from the Corbijn video were mingling with the crowd, too, which added to the surreal vibe.

The venue, a downtown salsa club, started to make sense when I saw the reflective ceiling and walls around the dance floor. 

Two minutes before 9 p.m....waiting for the show to start.

The band played for around an hour, all new stuff, and it sounded amazing. They started with "Reflektor." A lot of the music was danceable in the way that Arcade Fire songs always have been, but it did not all (or even mostly) sound like the single. There was plenty of guitar. I loved a lot of the songs and I can't wait to hear them again. In one of the ones I really liked, Win sang (I think) "Am I cruel enough to be normal?"  (A line that definitely resonates with me.)

Here's a more detailed recap of the set, via Stereogum.

For part of the night, Win was wearing a mask.

Depending where you were standing, it was easier 

to watch them on the ceiling. A reflection of a reflection...

After the band was done playing, there was a super fun dance party for a couple of hours.

Dancing with Win Butler (I swear)

After awhile, an iPhone-shaped pinata appeared on the dance floor, and Win took turns putting his mask on people and getting them to smack it.  (I scored a pack of Popeye cigarettes and a Tootsie roll once it broke open...yesssss.)

Click here to actually watch the video.

Then we just kept dancing the night away. Thanks to Arcade Fire for an incredible evening!

Bone & Bread a "Best Book" Editor's Pick at Amazon.ca and Salty Ink

Before I completely forget to neglect to commemorate this amazing fact from the beginning of the summer here, I wanted to write about Bone and Bread appearing on this list of Amazon.ca's Top 25 Books of the Year So Far, along with nine other Canadian books (and a lot of high-profile titles).  See the full list of editor's picks here.

AND over at Salty Ink, Chad Pelley named Bone and Bread as one of "the Finest 4 Novels From the First Half of 2013 (and then some).  Hurray!!  Um, anytime I am somehow mentioned in the same breath or list as Lisa Moore, I am basically ecstatic. 

(AND apologies to friends on Facebook, for whom all this news is a duplication and possibly an annoyance.) 

Last night I had an anxiety dream about some talks I may need to prepare for some upcoming events, which I guess means I should just...start preparing for them. The weekend was both social and home-improvement-oriented, both things which were necessary and enjoyable, but it meant that there was not a lot of time left for reading or writing. Where are the people with the perfect work-life balance? Let's feed them banana cake until they tell us all their secrets.

Also, today the new Arcade Fire single is out! I couldn't resist listening to the leaked version, and I'm pretty excited. 

the illustrated Saleema

The illustrated Saleema has a better fashion sense than I do, right down to coordinated jewelry!

I think this lovely little drawing was based on a photograph in which I'm wearing red shoes and a blue dress, but now I wish I had a green polka-dotted dress like this in real life.

by a. minzhulina

Thanks to Anna for the picture!!

book blogger love

Another haphazard recapping of some of the lovely reviews of Bone and Bread that have cropped up over the internet. One of the best things about stumbling upon these reviews is finding new great book blogs to read! 

 

From Mrs. Q Book Addict:

"As a fellow Montrealer, the atmosphere of this novel really brings it to life. Nawaz writes about a Montreal I know, and live in. This has not always been the case when I’ve read other books that are set in Montreal..[...].. I highly recommend this book, especially for those who have a sister. I believe the story would be even more powerful. Great for book clubs!" (excerpted...click for full review) 

Mrs. Q is a tremendous reader, by the way. Check out her impressive 2012 and 2013 reading lists if you want to feel unexpectedly guilty about how much television you're watching.

From Lindy Reads and Reviews:

"Bone and Bread moves back and forth in time, revealing a unique family and a strong sisterhood bond. I found Nawaz's portrayal of attitudes towards immigration and a plural society in contemporary Quebec particularly compelling." (excerpted...click for full review)

(Lindy, by the way, reads over 250 books a year! That would be a feat in itself, but taking the time to write about what she reads is next-level amazing.)

And this is actually a review of Mother Superior on Buried in Print, which I was so elated to see, and it even includes a brief outline of each story that somehow manages not to give anything away. There is nothing more gratifying than a reader who gets it... I think this is at the heart of why writers write.

Buried in Print's review of Bone and Bread therefore brings into play what happens in "Bloodlines," the story from which it developed, and I was really curious to read what impression the novel would make on somebody who already knew the characters.

"Fundamentally Bone and Bread is about loss, and the connections that one makes in the face of loss. But, which loss? A father. (A husband.) A mother. (A friend.) A sister. (A lover.) An aunt. (A father.) Some of these relationships are more parenthetical than others, but there is always an absence, so lasting an absence that it becomes ever-present, like the cross on the mountain in Montreal.... What makes us good? Which relationships define us? What does the effort of concealment truly cost? How fervently can we shape our own reality? What kind of sacrifices truly yield new choices?" (excerpted...click for full review)

Buried in Print is the web page of another insightful (okay, fine, I'm biased, but I really think so!) and voracious reader and there is so much good content to get lost in here. 

Hearing from even one reader is amazing (hell, just having one reader is nothing to sneeze at), so I feel really lucky to be able to find out people's impressions after picking up the book.

looking forward

So today is the day I start thinking about the fall. I've updated the "Events" tab above, but  here's everything in handy list form, which right now is making me equal parts nervous and excited. It's almost time to start thinking about what to read, what to say, and ironing dresses. If you live in Guelph, Toronto, Kingston, Victoria, or Vancouver, I really hope you'll come say hi!

SEPTEMBER

Eden Mills Writers' Festival

Readings at the Mill

Sun. Sept. 15 12:30 p.m.

with Grace o'Connell and Iain Reid

Toronto Public Library

Author reading: Saleema Nawaz on Bone and Bread

Fri. Sept. 27 2 p.m.

Deer Park program room

Kingston WritersFest

"Writing through Race"

Sat. Sept. 28 1:30 p.m.

with Wayne Grady

Moderated by Barbara Bell

OCTOBER

Victoria Writers Festival

Sat. Oct. 19 7:30 p.m.

with Angie Abdou, Annabel Lyon, Sara Peters, and Jay Ruzesky.

Hosted by Lee Henderson

The Vancouver Writers Fest

"All in the Family"

Fri. Oct. 25 10-11:30 a.m. 

with Dede Crane, Andrew Kaufman, and Mary Swan

Hosted by Angie Abdou

"Corner Stories"

Sat. Oct. 26 2 p.m.

with Anthony De Sa, Wayne Johnston, and Maria Semple

Hosted by Aislinn Hunter

"Celebrating 25 Years of Journey"

Sun. Oct. 27 1:30 p.m.

with Theodora Armstrong, Douglas Glover, and Shaena Lambert

Hosted by Timothy Taylor

the summer that was

Well, the new school year began unpromisingly this morning with me smashing the coffee carafe in the sink. (Sadly, the coordination required to fill the coffee carafe without smashing 100% dependent upon the consumption of coffee yet-to-be-brewed.)

Maybe I haven't yet let go of the summer that was. Maybe tomorrow.

 wildflowers

 special rocks

 country fair

 bliss at the petting zoo

 tea at the ladies' auxiliary

  the lake

Thinking about the next three months can start...tomorrow.

last day of August

I’m not sure what it is... writing an email or a blog post feels inordinately difficult these days.

The summer has felt a little too quiet and inward, a little bit like I’ve been spinning my wheels on the writing front. I started working on a story that wasn’t working, then kept working it to try and finish a draft, convinced throughout that it wasn’t working…but that maybe I could go back and fix it?  And sometimes it does happen that things you aren’t sure about turn out later to be okay.  But not so in this case.

But the setting was beautiful, even if the writing was not.

        

    

Since I've been back in the city, though, things have been better. Old works-in-progress have been looked at, and I've taken heart from how much I like them. I've also been trying less hard to make the summer about work...and make it more about summer, with reasonable success. And there's still a couple of days left...