Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf showcases books on a Ukrainian theme written in English. Includes author interviews, reviews, as well as links to the titles at online booksellers. Topics range from fiction to non-fiction and poetry, by authors around the world including Canada, the USA, the UK, Ukraine and elsewhere. Author interviews are conducted by Pawlina, producer and host of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio. Book reviews by Myra Junyk , an avid reader and accomplished writer based in Toronto. Transcripts are posted along with the audio, and contain links to the books at online stores, primarily Amazon. The price to you is the same whether you purchase the books through these links or not. However, if you do, you will be supporting Nash Holos at no extra cost. So please consider clicking on a link and making a purchase. You will be helping to keep Nash Holos on the air and online!
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Knyzhka Corner Book Review: The Sea is Only Knee Deep
Read more: Knyzhka Corner Book Review: The Sea is Only Knee Deep The Sea is Only Knee Deep is the true story of Paulina Zelitsky’s defection to Canada from the Soviet Union with her two young children in 1971. These two volumes explore many topics including: Stalin’s final years, Fidel Castro’s Cuba, and the dangers defecting. Paulina’s story begins in Cuba in 1968. She is part…
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Book Review: Orwell and the Refugees—The Untold Story of Animal Farm
Read more: Book Review: Orwell and the Refugees—The Untold Story of Animal FarmAndrea Chalupa’s Orwell and the Refugees traces the amazing connection between George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm and Ukrainian refugees in the displaced persons camps of postwar Germany and Austria. Animal Farm carries the message of hope that someone in the West knew the truth about the Soviet Union, that someone understood the unimaginable horrors…
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Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Orphanage 41 by Victor Malarek
Read more: Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Orphanage 41 by Victor MalarekIn this edition of Knyzka Corner, we look at Orphanage 41 by Victor Malarek. Although Victor Malarek has written six non-fiction books, Orphanage 41 is his first novel. Mykola Yashan, the 19-year old protagonist of this novel, is forced into a voyage of nightmarish self-discovery. After the sudden death of his parents in an automobile…
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Book Review: Putin’s Putsches by Maria Lewytzkyj
Read more: Book Review: Putin’s Putsches by Maria LewytzkyjIn this edition of Knyzka Corner: Maria Lewytzkyj’s book Putin’s Putsches – Russia, Ukraine and the Near-Abroad Conflict. Maria Lewytzkyj defines “Putsch” as “a violent attempt to overthrow a government.” She explains that Vladimir Putin’s “hybrid war” against Ukraine is a blatant attempt to destabilize the current government. She also tells the stories of ordinary people…
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Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk
Read more: Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy SzpukSLIDING ON THE SNOW STONE. Szpuk, Andy. That Right Publishing, 2011. 238 p. ISBN 1466305681 When Andy Szpuk asked his father about his earliest memory, he replied, “Russian soldiers carrying corpses away.” After hearing about his father’s life, Szpuk decided that this story must be told. Sliding on the Snow Stone gives readers a…
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Book Review: Death of a Nightingale
Read more: Book Review: Death of a NightingaleDeath of a Nightingale is a Danish mystery about corruption in modern-day Ukraine. The third Nina Borg mystery by the Danish writing team of Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, Death of a Nightingale explores the life of Natasha Doroshenko and her daughter Rina. Their story provides a springboard to explore not only corruption in modern-day…
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Book Review: The Unmemntioble by Erin Moure
Read more: Book Review: The Unmemntioble by Erin MoureErin Moure’s new book of poetry is a mixed media collection of verbal and image art. The title, The Unmemntioable, is not a spelling mistake. It is a conscious decision by the award-winning writer to intrigue and mystify her audience. This collection of poems deals with Moure’s exploration of her Ukrainian heritage after the tragic…
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Book Review: Sabotage by Karen Autio
Read more: Book Review: Sabotage by Karen AutioKaren Autio’s new book Sabotage describes the experiences of Ukrainian and German prisoners in the internment camps during World War I. It is the third book in Autio’s trilogy about Finnish immigrants to Canada. In 1915 war is raging in Europe, and in Canada, there are rumours of espionage and sabotage. Paranoia against foreigners is…
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Book Review: Brovko’s Amazing Journey & Andrei and the Snow Walker by Larry Warwaruk
Read more: Book Review: Brovko’s Amazing Journey & Andrei and the Snow Walker by Larry WarwarukBROVKO’S AMAZING JOURNEY Warwaruk, Larry Coteau Books, 2013. 159 p. ISBN 1-55050-555-9 ANDREI AND THE SNOW WALKER Warwaruk, Larry Coteau Books, 2002. 195 p. ISBN 1-55050-213-1 Reviewed by Myra Junyk Transcript: On this edition of Knyzhka Corner, we look at two books by Saskatchewan author Larry Warwaruk. Brovko’s Amazing Journey traces the incredible journey…
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Book Review: Blood and Salt by Barbara Sapergia
Read more: Book Review: Blood and Salt by Barbara SapergiaIn her novel, Blood and Salt, Barbara Sapergia explores the internment of Ukrainian-Canadians during the First World War. Taras Kalyna, a 20-year old Ukrainian-Canadian immigrant in rural Saskatchewan, is torn from his family and friends and sent to the Banff-Castle Mountain internment camp in Alberta. Along with over 8000 prisoners (mostly Ukrainian), Taras must survive…