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: The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
Yes, the queen of Can-Lit herself has found a place on my blog, but why has it taken this long for me to review one of her books? She was one of my favourite writers growing up, and I continue to enjoy her zany (if somewhat ominous) stories as they continue to roll...
Book Review: How Can I Help? by David Goldbloom and Pier Bryden
I just spent the weekend with a whole whack of doctors. Well, that's not totally true, most of them were at the tail end of their formal training, but they had all chosen their disciplines and were ready and willing to talk about each arm of medicine and the pros and...
Book Review: The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha
If you've read a few of my past posts, you'll notice I've read a few 'downers' lately. Not bad books, but sad books all the same. So, I skipped ahead on my to-read shelf (I generally try to read books as they are sent to me) to The Happiness Equation, by Neil...
Book Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Warning: another tragic story coming up. I'm not sure what it is lately, but the books I seem to picking off my to be read (TBR) shelf are heartbreaking. Good, well-written, but heartbreaking. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is based on the real-life maritime tragedy...
Book Review: The Hero’s Walk by Anita Rau Badami
If I was an organized reader and blogger, I would have read this book a few months ago in time for the Canada Reads debate that happened in early March. But, I clearly missed that boat, so my apologies; here is my very late review of the second place winner of Canada...
Book Review: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Wowza, what a fabulous book this was. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is one of those stories that sticks with you for awhile: coming back into your thoughts as you read another book that doesn't quite measure up, or remembering a particularly poignant image...
Here Come the Alberta Book Awards!
The shortlist for the Alberta Book Awards was just announced, which means a couple of exciting things are happening: The nominated writers will begin to trash talk* each other on social media I can announce that fact that yours truly will be hosting the awards. Yes,...
Book Review: Fire and Air by Erik Vlaminck
Most people would readily claim that someone in their family suffers from mental illness. Mind you, many of these cases are undiagnosed (or completely imagined), but everyone suspects at least one family member of theirs is crazy, because that's really the only...
Book Review: Glory Over Everything, Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom is so much more than a book about slavery. It looks at this difficult time from a unique perspective; that of a man who is born to a white man and black woman, who is therefore considered of mixed blood and subject to the same...
Book Review: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded how truly unique being a woman is. What I mean by this, is that Mona Awad, debut author of 13 Ways of Looking at A Fat Girl has deftly captured the true essence of a woman's complicated relationship with her own body image; a topic...
Book Review: Clarence Olgibee by Alan S. Kessler
I am so conflicted about this book, but in a good way. I was hesitant to review it because it's self published, and I don't typically agree to review self-published books for a host of reasons, the main one being I used to work in traditional publishing, so I know how...
Calling All Youths!!!!
I think I've mentioned this before, but it doesn't hurt to say it a second time; I'm on the Board of Directors for a really amazing organization called The Writers' Guild of Alberta. That's right, I don't just read books! I try to support writers too, because I'm not...