The story is rooted in the Russian Mennonite experience in Canada.

her status as a newly retired person, an archivist uses her skills to look into the difficult parts of her family history and uncovers a shocking event that explains intergenerational trauma. The experience helps her accept herself and love others more unconditionally.

This is the latest novel by Dora Dueck, an award-winning novelist from Western Canada. It’s a compelling read.

Lead character Catherine Riediger calls her research project “the year of my preoccupation with the dead.” But she ends up realizing it’s really a private journey toward self-acceptance.

Throughout, the author weaves past and present as the archivist struggles to reconcile her memories against her current life and the historical record her research uncovers.

Many readers will relate to Catherine’s life. There’s retirement, which includes volunteering and visiting her mother in long-term care. There are recollections of growing up in a rural community, in youth group and in worship services.

The story is rooted in the Russian Mennonite experience in Canada, but no explanation is necessary for non-Mennonites. Catherine grew up like so many other Canadians in the 1960s, the child of immigrants in an era of social upheaval.

The plot drips out teasers about what happened to brother Peter, while giving anecdotes about the eccentric Uncle Gerhard. Tension mounts slowly as the reader wonders what happened with these two the biblical

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daniel im, a pastor at Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, takes a snapshot of some prevailing trends in our society and then compares them to biblical teaching.

He observes seven lies. You are what you do. You are what you experience. You are who you know. You are what you know. You are what you own. You are who you raise. You are your past.

What’s challenging here is that these lies are not immediately recognizable as either lies or unbiblical.

For example, the first lie has to do with the gig economy. It’s no longer enough to have one career, it’s expected people will also have a side hustle. Many pastors (including myself) do this. Im doesn’t argue side hustles are wrong, but does demonstrate the danger of seeing our identity in what we do.

Another chapter examines how experiences are more important than things. However, Im shows that in our social media world experiences often become online contests for the most impressive event instead of for personal enrichment.

This book is so relevant to the present that many of its examples may be out of date within a few years. Still, the principles are timeless and helpful challenges to how we see ourselves.

IN 1934 AMID the Great Depression, an unexpected light caught and held the world’s attention when five little babies were born in a dilapidated farmhouse in rural Northern Ontario.

The parents, Oliva and Elzire, already had five children, with the youngest being under a year old. The birth of five identical sisters was unexpected. Annette, Émilie, Yvonne, Cécile and Marie were born two months premature. Against all odds, they all survived.

In her debut novel, Vancouver author Shelley Wood has the narrative told by a fictional character, 17-year-old Emma Trimpany, who records in journal form the events surrounding the birth and afterward.

At the suggestion of Emma’s mother, Emma