Tag Archives: short stories

Books and bakes #16: Secrets of Happiness and poppyseed bagels

Posted in baking, books by

The bake

I’ve wanted to try making bagels for a while. But, for some reason, I was intimidated. I guess I thought they were complicated. I built up the courage and told my boyfriend I was going to try. He was also interested, so it become a Saturday afternoon project.

It turns out bagels aren’t that difficult to make! We used a recipe from King Arthur Baking Company. Since this was my first time making bagels, I can’t compare to other recipes, but I think the trick to a good bagel is using bread flour (not all-purpose) and kneading the dough long enough to give it that chewy texture. We topped the entire dozen with poppyseeds, but the recipe is for plain bagels with some tips if you want to try variations.

The one part of the process that gave us some trouble was rolling the dough into “smooth” balls. We did our best, but they weren’t totally smooth, meaning the shapes of the bagels were less than perfect. But does it matter how a bagel looks if it tastes as good as these ones did? We didn’t think so.

My one complaint was that some of the bagels stuck to one of the two pans. So next time, I’ll try with greased parchment paper instead of just greased pans.

The book

I’m halfway through Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silber. The book is divided into seven sections–sort of a novel and sort of a collection of linked stories. It opens with New York lawyer Ethan learning that his father has a second family and has been living with this secret for years. This first story is told from Ethan’s perspective, and the subsequent sections in the book are first-person accounts from different characters connected to this. (Or at least that’s how it’s been so far. I’m in the fourth section.) I seem to have a thing for linked stories. I like getting an inside look from various perspectives on the same events. So far, I wouldn’t say the book has been “unputdownable,” but I am quite enjoying it.

Advertisement

Canadian short story collections for Short Story Month

Posted in books, reading by

May is Short Story Month, and with the Victoria Day long weekend coming up here in Canada, you might consider picking up a collection to read while hanging out in the backyard, on the balcony, or in the park. Here are a few by Canadian writers I’ve particularly enjoyed

How to Pronounce Knife

It’s probably no surprise to see this one on the list. Souvankham Thammavonga’s short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife, won the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize and has received much praise, both in Canada and beyond. I found these stories about the immigrant experience to be achingly beautiful.

That Time I Loved You

I was hooked from the first sentence of Carrianne Leung’s book That Time I Loved You: “1979: This was the year the parents in my neighbourhood began killing themselves.” This collection focuses on a group of neighbours in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough in the 1970s. Reading these stories was like wandering the neighbourhood and peering into the windows of the houses. I loved learning the secrets of these characters–the parts of themselves their neighbours didn’t get to see.

Coconut Dreams

The stories in Coconut Dreams by Derek Mascarenhas centre around a brother and sister, first-generation Canadians whose parents emigrated from India. I enjoyed the different perspectives in the stories as they told the experiences of the siblings, exploring themes of innocence, identity, and belonging.

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

In Mona Awad’s 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, thirteen stories show protagonist Lizzie at thirteen stages of her life, from her teenage years to adulthood. We see Lizzie struggle with her weight and with her relationships of all kinds. I was impressed with how each story worked as a standalone piece, but, when read together, they provided such a strong sense of Lizzie’s character.

The Toronto Book of the Dead

When I think of the short story as a genre, I think of fiction. But I suppose it doesn’t have to be. With Adam Bunch’s book The Toronto Book of the Dead, I think it’s fair to say this is a collection of short stories, even if the stories are true. It was fascinating to learn about Toronto’s history through these tales of some of the city’s most interesting deaths. (I happen to be currently reading Bunch’s new book, The Toronto Book of Love, which may appeal more, if you’re not feeling the morbid stuff so much.)

That Time I Loved You shares the secrets of a suburban community

Posted in book review, books, reading by

20180715_152624

What I read

That Time I Loved You by Carrianne Leung

What it’s about

This collection of linked stories takes place in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough in the 1970s after a spate of suicides in the community. Each story centres on one of the neighbours–adults and children–and provides a glimpse of their various experiences during this time.

Why I picked it up

I came across That Time I Loved You while browsing in my local indie bookstore. I was initially drawn by the title and cover image. Then I pulled it off the shelf and read the first sentence: “1979: This was the year the parents in my neighbourhood began killing themselves.” I didn’t need to read any further to know I was walking out of the store with this book.

What I liked about it

I didn’t realize That Time I Loved You was a book of linked stories until I got it home. (It says so in the book flap, but I guess I skimmed over that part.) Short stories and essays have been speaking to me lately. Maybe that’s because it’s summer, and it’s nice to have a book that’s easy to pick up and put down. The linked stories mean you get a book you can dip in and out of while still allowing you to immerse yourself into one group of characters, the way you can with a novel.

I loved how reading each story resembled wandering through the streets and peering through the windows of the houses, seeing who and what was inside. The reader learns about the secrets that the neighbours keep from each other. I loved the suburban setting being a character in itself–how the landscape affected the characters in different ways. I finished this book earlier this week, so it’s not incredibly strange that I’m still thinking about it. But I believe these characters and their experiences will stay with me for a long time.

These stories touch on many serious issues (racism, homophobia, sexual abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, infidelity). However, it doesn’t feel like a heavy book: There is lightness and joy and humour in these stories, too.

You’ll want to read it if…

This is a great choice if you are interested in character over plot, if you want to learn the secrets and get into the heads of the people you read about. Also, if you’re a fan of novels but want to try the short story genre, this book is a great entry point.

Recommended refreshments

A glass of spiked punch that the neighbourhood kids drink during a party in the book’s final story. (Just remember to go easy. You don’t know how much alcohol is in there.)