Book Reviews
I typically post between two and three book reviews a week. Please refer to my review policy if you’d like to submit a book for consideration. I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter to get a summary of my reviews once a month.
Book Review: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
This may be the one and only time I say this, but for once I don't resent the fact that this is an extremely long book: 600 pages! Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz is a classic whodunnit, and although the references to Agatha Christie in the blurbs are a stretch...
Book Review: Paying the Land by Joe Sacco
It's important that as you read my review, you understand that this is my first Joe Sacco book. Of course I've heard of him, but Paying the Land is the first book of his that has really appealed to me, maybe because it's rooted in Canada and deals with Indigenous...
Book Review: Charity by Keath Fraser
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...
Book Review: Waiting for a Star to Fall by Kerry Clare
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....
Book Review: The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side by Agatha Christie
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...
Book Review: The Good Son by Carolyn Huizinga Mills
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...
Book Review: Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez
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...
Book Review: Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
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...
Book Review: Arborescent by Marc Herman Lynch
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...
Book Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
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...
IveReadThis Jr. Edition: Inspiring your Kid’s Inner Artist
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...
Book Review: Girl by Edna O’Brien
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 of...