I’ve already finished my second book for Canada Reads: Independently, How Happy To Be by Katrina Onstad. What a perfect counterpoint to Wild Geese. Set in present day Toronto, 34-year-old Maxine is the entertainment writer for one of the city’s two daily newspapers (the neo-conservative one). Disillusioned and apathetic, Max tries to be just shoddy enough to be the first to get a severance package when the money-haemorrhaging daily is sold, without getting fired first. She’s reacquainted with a beau from her past, a man who is sweet, thoughtful and careful, practically her exact opposite. But as Maxine’s dissatisfaction escalates, so does her substance abuse, and her commitment issues come to the forefront. Finally, a personal crisis forces Maxine to make some actual life decisions when she returns to the Vancouver commune where she was raised by her father after losing her mother to cancer when she was only eight.

Full of pop culture references, local colour and thinly disguised media folks, this is a perfect read for Toronto thirty-somethings like me. But it’s more than that: while biting and satirical, it’s also tender and sweet, and reads like a coming of age story (34 is the new 24, I suppose).

Check out Katrina Onstad’s website here.

Here are my current Canada Reads: Independently rankings:

1. Wild Geese
2. How Happy to Be