Carol Shields is a favorite author of mine. She was born June 2, 1935, and died July 16, 2003. Between those dates of this year, I’d like to encourage readers to read at least one book by Carol Shields. Her writing is amazing, and I would love to introduce you to her if you haven’t experienced her novels before. And if you have already, why not read more? My personal favorite is Unless.
Her novels include:
- Small Ceremonies, 1976 (winner of the Canadian Author’s Association Award)
- The Box Garden, 1977 (Later published in a joint edition with Small Ceremonies as Duet)
- Happenstance, 1980
- A Fairly Conventional Woman, 1982 (Later published as a joint edition with Happenstance as Happenstance.
- Swann: A Mystery, 1987 (UK title: Mary Swann)(Arthur Ellis Award for Best Canadian Mystery, 1988)
- A Celibate Season, 1991 (with Blanche Howard)
- The Republic of Love, 1992
- The Stone Diaries, 1993 (winner of the Governor General’s Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize)
- Larry’s Party, 1997 (winner of the Orange Prize, and the Prix de Livre)
- Unless, 2002 (winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, shortlisted in 2002 Man/Booker Prize and ScotiaBank/Giller Prize, and shortlisted in 2003 Orange Prize)
Short story collections:
- Words, 1985
- Various Miracles, 1985
- The Orange Fish, 1989
- Dressing Up for the Carnival, 2000
- Collected Stories, 2004.
Biography:
- Jane Austen, 2001
She’s also written poetry and plays but I won’t list them here. If you’d like more info about them or Carol Shields in general, you can visit her wikipedia page.
All you have to do to participate is read one or more books by Carol Shields. Then, come back here and post your review(s) in Mr. Linky or the comments. I will have an icon on the top right hand side of my blog so you can easily find this post again.
The Mr. Linky below will be used for signups and reviews. Please use the following format:
- signup (1morechapter)
- Larry’s Party (1morechapter)
Happy Reading!
I think I might join you for this. I own a copy of Unless plus I’ve never read anything by Shields before.
Oh, read Unless! I loved it. It’s slow, but still so powerful.
raidergirl3 recently posted..BOOK: The Girl Who Chased the Moon and The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Unless is also one of my favorites. Loved it
3m recently posted..Bestsellers: 30 Years Ago Today
Great idea. I enjoyed Unless very much and I’ve since acquired copies of Larry’s Party and The Stone Diaries through Bookmooch. So I have something to read during the month. Consider me signed up. I’m uncertain about format (link twice? or wait until we’re done reading?) so I’ll wait and see how others do it before I try it. I look forward to hearing about what others read.
Sandra recently posted..First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday 3/5/12
What a fun idea! I read Larry’s Party last year and loved it. I remember reading The Stone Diaries in high school and not liking it, so I’m quite intrigued to try Shields again. I hope to get to Unless soon, but it may not be during this time. I’ll look forward to seeing reviews of more of her books during this time regardless!
nomadreader recently posted..Sunday Salon: ALA planning
Oh, very tempting! I have read all of her books, but have been considering a reread…
She also co-edited the first two Dropped Threads anthologies. They are really good! I believe the third one came out either when she was ill or after she had passed, so I haven’t read that one yet.
Kailana recently posted..BEA Buzz Books: Excerpts from Over 30 Top Fall 2012 Titles
I read The Stone Diaries last year and LOVED it. I’m in. I’m not sure which book but I am excited!
Care recently posted..Monday, So Let’s Talk Mailbox
I have either The Republic of Love or Larry’s Party to read. I also have Dressing Up for the Carnival, short stories to dip into.
raidergirl3 recently posted..BOOK: The Girl Who Chased the Moon and The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
I just read The Box Garden but it was a May read. I’m trying to decided what my next Shields book I should read, and I think I may try her short story collections. Any advice which one I should try next? I’ve read Unless and The Stone Diaries, and The Box Garden.
Jules recently posted..May Wrap-Up!
I’d like to re-read something, but I am crammed for reading time these days (too much RL interfering with my books!), so I think I’ll dip into some short stories.
Buried In Print recently posted..Did Read/Will Read May/June 2012
I still have Stone Diaries unread, so hopefully that will get me to finally do it.
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