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: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
I had really high hopes for this book, as I really enjoyed Joshua Ferris's last book The Unnamed, which was about a man who found himself compulsively walking days on end, therefore eventually destroying his life because he was unable to stop. Interesting premise...
Book Review: The White House by JaQuavis Coleman
Sigh. That's how I felt reading the pages of this 120 page novella. Not quite a novel, longer than a short story, but terribly written all the same. If you haven't guessed already, I hated The White House by JaQuavis Coleman, and debated putting it down after the...
Calgary Reads Book Sale!!!
I am forever indebted to my good friend Kayleigh for introducing me to the Calgary Reads Annual Book Sale. How did I not know about this before, and why has it taken me this long to discover it? The sight of walking into a big empty warehouse full of books and book...
Book Review: The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh
A quick synopsis of The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh: husband and wife go on vacation, step-daughter of wife joins her parents on vacation and brings her slightly older and very attractive boyfriend with her, chemistry ensues between wife and younger man. A saucy...
Book Review: The Blessings by Elise Juska
Have you ever read a book that features a family that makes you think "Hey, that's kind of like my family"? I just had the pleasure of muttering that to myself as I turned the pages of this latest novel by Elise Juska. Now, The Blessings does not feature characters...
Book Review: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Nigeria has been in the news quite a bit lately, for awful reasons, so reading a book that showed the lighter side of this controversial country was a welcome change from what I've been hearing these past few weeks. That's not to say that Americanah is a light romp...
Book Rapport Launch!
As many of my readers know, I have a soft spot in my heart for Wordfest, mainly because I worked there for five years and 100% support their festival's mandate of bringing readers and writers together. So, not surprisingly when I received an invitation to the launch...
Book Review: One More Thing by B.J. Novak (the guy who plays Ryan from The Office)
I've gotten into a terrible habit lately. I visit the Buzzfeed website quite often these days, and I frequently find myself clicking through their lists of whatever, marveling at the fact that whatever they come up with seems to be right up my alley. Literally,...
W.O. Mitchell Book Prize Readings
On Tuesday night, I joined a small but mighty crowd of book lovers in the upstairs of the Rose and Crown on 4th to hear this year's shortlisted W.O. Mitchell Book Prize authors read from their nominated works. Those were: Glenn Dixon for Tripping the World Fantastic...
Book Review: Gin & Daggers by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Yup, you read that right. Jessica Fletcher, my favourite heroine from my favourite television show Murder, She Wrote has written a book. If you follow the show, you will know that Miss Fletcher has written many books, but this is the first book of hers that I've...
Book Review: The Age by Nancy Lee
I don't typically dwell on book design on this blog, but I do want to state, for the record how much I enjoyed the cover of Nancy Lee's novel The Age. Based on my comment above, you can probably tell that I'm grasping at straws a bit here. Not because I didn't like...
Book Review: The Harem Midwife by Roberta Rich
Want to know how successful a writer is? Take a look at their website, that's a clear indication of how many books he/she has sold. How can I make this bold statement? I'll give you an example-take Roberta Rich, the author of The Harem Midwife, sequel to the popular...