User Profile

avatar for drkprmbs

DirkReading

drkprmbs@bookwyrm.social

Joined 6 months ago

German Torontonian. Universally curious. Fedizen since 2018.

Follow on Fediverse

This link opens in a pop-up window

DirkReading's books

To Read (View all 47)

Umberto Eco: How to Spot a Fascist (2020, Penguin Random House)
Omar El Akkad: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (2025, Knopf Publishing Group)
Leo Tolstoy: The Death Of Ivan Ilyich And Other Stories (2008, Penguin Books)

Currently Reading

Antonia Lloyd-Jones: Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead (2019, Penguin Publishing Group)

Read (View all 26)

Louise Penny: The Cruelest Month (Hardcover, 2008, St. Martin's Minotaur)
Louise Penny: A Fatal Grace (Hardcover, 2007, St. Martin's Minotaur)
Esi Edugyan: Washington Black (Paperback, 2019, Vintage)

2025 Reading Goal

72% complete! DirkReading has read 36 of 50 books.

User Activity

RSS feed Back

reviewed Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa'xaid by Cecil Paul

Cecil Paul: Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa'xaid (Hardcover, 2019, Rocky Mountain Books)

Memories from the last member of a once proud nation, told with hope in heart and without bitterness

I read this book while spending a week in the Great Bear Rainforest in Bristish Columbia, an area of unbelievable beauty and wilderness the size of Ireland. The only way to explore this area is by boat and yet, there are indigenous communities striving here, living with the land for thousands of years. This book tells the story of Cecil Paul. It is his memoir recorded on this very boat I spent the time on, telling stories of struggle, fables containing age old wisdom and very personal experiences during a life that included unbelievable tragedy and hardship. Cecil was taken early in his life by force from his family to be educated in a residency school, then struggled through addiction and loneliness but found step by step back to his roots and ways to bring others on the journey. It is a short book but it leaves you speechless and …

reviewed A History of Canada in Ten Maps by Adam Shoalts

Adam Shoalts: A History of Canada in Ten Maps (Paperback, 2018, Penguin Canada)

A story of adventure on a monumental continent

This book tells the history of Canada and its people through maps, the earliest passed down to us from Vikings and then drawn and re-drawn by a diverse group of adventurers. And maps - no matter if drawn by a Cree warrior or refined by a mixed-descend fur trade are in the end always telling the stories of those struggling and striving in a vast and monumental landscape. This book did more than to tell the story of Canada's exploration, it gave me a deep appreciation for the vastness of this place and how impressive it was how humans navigated this continent.

reviewed The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

Louise Penny: The Cruelest Month (Hardcover, 2008, St. Martin's Minotaur)

Starred Review. Chief Insp. Armand Gamache and his team investigate another bizarre crime in the …

Weak case but fun read all the same

Inspector Gamache investigates a mysterious death during a seance and faces betrayal from his best friend. I personally did not find the murder mystery all that gripping or the side plot very believable but I truly enjoy Louise Penny's style and the characters she created.

reviewed A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

Louise Penny: A Fatal Grace (Hardcover, 2007, St. Martin's Minotaur)

A Fatal Grace, by Louise Penny, published in Canada as Dead Cold, is the second …

Inspector Gamache is growing on me

I can't say I'm a murder mystery fan but Louise Penny writes really engaging and I love the immersion in quebecois culture and the characters I meet. It was sun to read and I decided to read the next one too for good measure...

reviewed The Company by Stephen Bown

Stephen Bown: The Company (Hardcover, 2020, Doubleday Canada)

A surprising and fascinating story

As a European this book gave me a glimpse into a part of history I was not aware of. What I found especially striking was how much my own assumptions were actually coming from what I knew about US history and how little of that was applicable. The Hudson Bay company had a massive influence on the country we call Canada now and what I learned about its history explained a lot and can still be felt today.