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 Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn a few years ago, and really liked it. For those of you unfamiliar with the book (or the subsequent movie), it's essentially a thriller rooted in marriage difficulties, with lots of twists and turns. It was enormously successful when...
Book Review: As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust is another Flavia de Luce masterpiece by the prolific and always humble Alan Bradley: a Canadian author that we are all too proud to call our own. I think it's safe to begin comparing Bradley to Alexander McCall Smith now; both create...
Book Review: Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger
So, Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger has a really interesting premise: a man drops out of the sky, onto the roof of a woman's car in a grocery store parking lot. He doesn't just drop out of the sky magically, he's actually falling from the landing gear of a plane, which...
Book Review: The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
I succeeded in something that very few others in this world have: I read the entire novel The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith without realizing that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling. Yes, I realize how impossible this feat seems to be, but I accomplished...
Book Review: 7 Ways to Sunday by Lee Kvern
More Alberta writers to love! That's really how I should title every book review that I write on an Alberta-born book. People don't typically see Alberta as the literary hot-spot that it truly is, but I'm hoping to change that by highlighting amazing books by Western...
Book Review: No Man’s Nightingale by Ruth Rendell
I haven't read much Ruth Rendell in my day (in fact, this may be the first book of hers I've ever read!), but her name is always mentioned alongside other major mystery novelists, so I knew I was in a for a good read when I picked up No Man's Nightingale. If you enjoy...
Book Review: Neverhome by Laird Hunt
I never thought I would willingly pick up a book about the Civil War, mainly because the idea of it bores me. People may find this offensive, because granted, the various wars in our history are an important part of who we are today, but that doesn't mean I need to...
Book Review and Upcoming Event: What I Meant to Say with the WGA and Wordfest
"...how can a man be so headstrong about not asking for directions, and such a wimp about pain?" These, and other answers can be found in the collection of essays titled What I Meant to Say: the Private Lives of Men edited by Ian Brown. Although not all my questions...
Book Review: The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith
I am a big fan of Alexander McCall Smith. Granted, I've just started making my way through his most famous series, but I love it already, and I know there's only months of delightful reading ahead of me when it comes to his novels. However, his foray into the...
Ive Read This is back on the radio!!!
I've got some exciting news! Ive Read This is back on the radio, in fact some of my Alberta readers may have heard me already, the first broadcast of my monthly column aired on Sunday, February 8 at noon (MT) on CKUA Radio. In Calgary, that's 93.7 for y'all. You can...
Book News: Harper Lee to publish her second novel
I'm a couple days late on this one, but I thought I'd weigh in on this latest piece of exciting book news anyway. Harper Lee, author of the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (published in the 1950s), has announced that she will be releasing her second novel titled Go Set...
Book Review: We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas
Have you ever attended the reading of a book you hadn't read yet, and gotten a pre-conceived notion of what it was going to be like before you actually bought it? Or just based on the few pages the author reads to you, you think you already have a good idea of what...