Even though Charity by Keath Fraser is only a novella (114 pages in length), it felt more like a novel, diving into a multitude of topics; drugs, body image, parental responsibility, ageism. Summaries of a few different people’s lives are included, but much of what elicits its emotion is what is left unsaid or never…
Many Canadian book lovers will be familiar with the author Kerry Clare, as she has her own wonderful blog where she reviews books, plus she’s the editor at 49thshelf.com which is a helpful resource for those looking to find the latest books being released in Canada. Clare’s second novel is Waiting for a Star to…
I’m so excited to tell you about this classic mystery The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side by Agatha Christie. I’ve been dying to read this book for awhile thanks to FictionFan and her consistent recommendations of this bestselling writer, but I rarely get an opening in my reading schedule, and I feel terrible about…
This book surprised me. Based on its cover, and its publisher (Cormorant Books), I was expecting a very literary novel, something with drawn out descriptions and hidden meanings, usually a bit slower in pace. Instead, I found a page-turner of a novel in The Good Son by Carolyn Huizinga Mills, something I raced to finish,…
Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez is about a dystopian society in which people of colour, and LGTBQ2S folks are referred to as ‘Others’ and placed in concentration camps. But what readers may find even more shocking than this terrifying premise is the fact that it takes place in Toronto, Canada. Many will be stumped by this…
Have you ever had the experience of reading a book, looking at a piece of art, or even watching a movie and feeling like you are much ‘cooler/hip’ for having taken it in? After reading Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados, I feel as though I’m on the cutting edge of something, but I’m not cool…
One of my upcoming segments for radio is a focus on debut authors from independent presses in Canada, because the Simon and Schuster acquisition by Penguin Random House is a scary one for many Canadians. Although it won’t be all bad for the reader, it will certainly make things harder for booksellers and authors, so…
It seems like I’ve been reading a successful streak of female-centric historical fiction lately, so it comes as no surprise that the popular novel The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner was just as pleasing. Is it because I’m a woman that I like to read about other women in the past? I suspect it has…
I am a big believer in always having markers, crayons, and basic art supplies easily accessible to my kids at all times. For one thing, it makes it much easier to tell them to ‘play on their own’ when they have this kind of stuff handy, but more importantly learning to express oneself is an…
A few months ago I reviewed a book on this blog that raised the question; why read a book when you know it is going to be disturbing? Because I am a paid book critic, I consider it my duty to read all kind of stories, even when they don’t appeal to me. The breadth…
I’ve got another work of climate fiction for you; a genre based on some of our worst anxieties based on what the world may look like as we continue our climb into warmer temperatures. What’s different about Watershed by Doreen Vanderstoop is that it takes place right in my backyard of Southern Alberta. And while…
It seems strange to admit, but the cover of Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is the first thing that drew me into it, which is rare for me; I’m rarely swayed by the cover of a book, but I loved the metallic rainbow panels in between the detailed pencil sketches. These three animals, the condor,…
