Owls, Doughnuts, and Democracy

De: Jason Taylor

Narrado por: Athena Chriest

What do democracy and doughnuts have in common?

Nothing in the middle.

Owls, Doughnuts, and Democracy is the satirical adventures of an outspoken millennial woman with a colourful past named Bea, who, with a motley coalition spanning the political spectrum, puts the middle back into democracy.

Bea gets it all going when she’s volunteered to help at a senior’s home. She teaches octogenarian Harold, the resident curmudgeon and ex-MP troll, to use the internet, leading to an app for people to vote individually on bills before parliament. Direct democracy is born, challenging the traditional Canadian party system.

Enraged by this underdog organization, the establishment threatens to take what little life Bea has: custody of her owl-loving child, her Star Wars secret, and her love interest, a guy who deposits banned books into little libraries.

Can a family of owls, a love of performance art, and a hatred of cyclists propel Bea to Ottawa? Find out in this rollicking tale that could only happen in Victoria, BC.

Owls, Doughnuts, and Democracy has adult language and concepts.

©2024 Jason A. N. Taylor (P)2025 Jason A. N. Taylor

This was fun political satire

Was it very deep? No. Was it fun? Yes.

It had all the best parts of modern Canadian politics, and some decent commentary on modern US politics. It was also kind of shallow, and the main character is not a great person. The premise is fun, but the stronger arguments against the novel political stance were never actually brought up.

But it was a good book for discussion and thought.

One Vote for Canadian Karen

A fun politically conscious character drama. It's casual slacker approach to politics, on behalf of the people of Walmart, is refreshing and breezy fun. The narrator is the right mix of sarcastic and chill breathing a vibe into the material often almost laughing with the stuff even making an occassional mistake. Early there is a gag where the lead as an aspiring political maverick would show her boobs to gain political traction in her youth as desired which is maybe a good summary of the tone. ODD makes some interesting observations about modern politics and presents a keen modern spin on things beyond the politics. There were times I wished it had more depth and sometimes trended toward a sort of bubble gum politics balancing character humor, sex, and a bit of philosophy. One of the highs of the book is a hangout feel with the crew here (heightened by the narration). There are a few times the details of 'direct democracy' feel over explained and redundant repeated throughout the tale or a pop culture reference is repeated. Eventually this evolves a bit into a dissection of modern politics and even society with some food for thought. The lead's sexuality is curious, she seems liberated and in control but perhaps like a female written by a man - it's fun but maybe not an entirely female voice (which could be intentional). The sexual politics here are part of what makes the book good; it's not sleazy but it owns sex in a way that is interesting and maybe unique to written form. "Bea's the kind of woman who has what men have in spades but in a feminine sort of way..." Good stuff with glossy politics, family drama, pop culture, the owls, and a modern spin of old topics.

Fun read on fictionalized Canadian politics

As a jaded millennial Canadian, I appreciated the idea that something could topple the current political systems in Canada in such a grass roots way. While a piece of fiction, the story maintained enough realism (and Victoria references) to suspend disbelief. The narrator was a little bit timid, and could do with a little more experience/ confidence. Overall great read

A great story about a female Canadian millennial

I like the lead character is a young person working a minimum wage job living in one of the most expensive Canadian cities, trying her best to provide for her son who she gets minimal visitation with. The character is smart educated and is tired of the political system being only for small minority of rich people and tries with the help of a cranky oldster bring democracy for all.

It was a great read great pace fun sarcastic dialogue and Canadian pop culture references. I highly recommend this story.

Christa Fremont,

Captivating conversational & politically positive

An odd title, and an even odder opening are just the start of this forward-looking and hopeful take on big country politics. Told from an absolutely imperfectly perfect narration by Athena Chriest, the listener gets the sense that we are just hanging out on a couch and hearing some juicy bits about someone's desperate foray into the political landscape, when really all they want is to earn a reasonable living and spend time with their kid. The pacing and flow of the story are incredible, approaching stream of thought without actually crossing that threshold. Each character and their motivations are solidly established, and the hi-jinx that ensues during each chapter feel grounded and plausible with realistic details, current-culture references, and gritty-silly dialogue. This entire book could very well be a biography of a living person. What I'm saying is, it was quite the breath of fresh air and quite difficult to pause listening. Overall a delightful, entertaining, and thought-provoking exploration with plenty of comedic elements and memorable shenanigans. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and listened at 2.0x.]