Book Review: Best Canadian Essays 2019, Edited by Emily Donaldson

ByAnne Logan
12 Comments
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cover image of Best Canadian Essays 2019

Recording these booktube videos is alot of fun, mainly because I’m not required to organize my thoughts in a coherent way (that I attempt to) when writing out a book review. I typically practice what I’m going to say all of once before I hit the record button, but that’s probably quite obvious with the amount of ‘ums’ I use in the 7 minutes included here.

I really enjoyed reading this anthology of essays because there is literally something for everyone in Best Canadian Essays 2019. The editor, Emily Donaldson is a fabulous Canadian critic, and her intelligence shines through in her introduction. For those who love reading magazines, this is a great book to pick up because it compiles some of the best pieces of journalism that appeared in Canadian magazines this past year, and for those who are sick of big novels, these snappy pieces are a great antidote to what ails you.

At the beginning of the video I also give a little shout out to Teva Harrison’s posthumously-released poetry book Not One of These Poems is About You, and my reasoning for why this type of work is especially relevant during the pandemic.

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12 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for your comments re: Teva’s book. Lovely and timely.

    1. Thanks Colleen, her work is a nice reminder of how precious each day is, even when we’re stuck at home :)

  2. Lovely to see your smiling face. Glad you got some time to yourself on Mother’s Day! The essay book sounds most appealing. I’ve enjoyed dipping into the American equivalent in years past.

    1. haha thanks Laila, it was a very relaxing Mothers Day! Hope you had a nice day as well (or is the US mothers’ day on a different sunday?)

    3. Three things:
      1. I love what you had to say about Teva’s poems.
      2. The essay book would be great for someone who doesn’t read many magazine articles, but wishes she did. Like me!
      3. I feel like reading books like this would make me feel so much smarter! :)

    4. I did feel so much smarter reading this book! haha and I’m like you, I don’t read any magazines b/c I stick to books, so I felt very accomplished by reading this book :)

  3. There IS something nice about a collection of nice fiction essays. I have the Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: Work from 1970 to the Present that also selected stories for quality and not content. The other day I was organizing some books and found a textbook on ethical arguments that I want to read soon, too.

    I felt very touched by what you said about the Harrison collection of poems and added them to my list. Thanks, Anne!

  4. I wonder if this would alleviate some of the guilt I feel about neglecting my magazine subscriptions; I keep meaning to read them, then I get serious about it and catch up, then I keep up for a couple of issues, and fall behind again. Nah, it’d probably just remind me of even more magazines that I’d like to subscribe to!

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