At first glance, Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart may seem like a book appealing to only academics. It’s a book of essays, a notoriously challenging genre that rarely hits the bestseller list unless it’s written by a celebrity or David Sedaris, but this collection focuses on a somewhat obscure topic too; folklore. However I…
Quickly becoming one of my ‘must read everything authors’, Samantha Irby has released a new book of essays just in time for the start of my summer reading. Quietly Hostile looks like her other books; a bright cover with a random animal on the front, and it reads exactly like her other books too: hilarious….
Do you ever see a book and immediately realize it’s written just for you? Seeing the title and cover on this one was an instant hit of recognition for me; Send Me Into the Woods Alone, Essays on Motherhood by Erin Pepler made me feel like I was its ideal audience. It’s a very short…
About a year ago I reviewed a work of fiction called The Subtweet by multi-disciplinary artist Vivek Shraya, and along with many other critics I really enjoyed it, so I was excited when another one of her books People Change landed on my doorstep a few months ago. Unlike Subtweet, this is a short work…
A book of essays about reading? Sign me up! It will come as no surprise that I loved Big Reader by Susan Olding. Each piece revolves around a particular book, a form of reading, a page in the life of being a writer, and reading experiences evolving over a lifetime. There are even a few…
Before I dive into this book review, I’ll offer a definition for the term ‘dad bod’ as not everyone will be familiar with it. According to urban dictionary, “a dad bod is a male body type that is best described as ‘softly round’. It’s built upon the theory that once a man has found a…
I had been saving the latest book from David Sedaris on my shelf for awhile, because I wanted to ‘treat’ myself to it when I was ready to enjoy my favourite author without interruptions. So when I managed to score myself a ticket to his Calgary show on February 27, you can imagine how delighted…
I’ve come to that point in my reading life that I no longer can recall if I’ve read certain books. I was so certain I had read an Ann Patchett book before this one, but according to my hand-written reading log and Goodreads, These Precious Days is my first Patchett book. Perhaps I had read…
I’m finding myself drawn to collections of essays more and more as I get older. Perhaps it’s because I have less time on my hands, so reading self-contained chapters is more rewarding, or maybe it’s because I’m just curious about other people’s perspectives, and an essay is the perfect way to dive quickly into someone…
If I was a doctor, I would prescribe you this book as therapeutic medication during the pandemic. Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby is exactly what you need right now, regardless of your circumstances, because it will make you laugh. I snorted. I LOL’d. I spit out my tea at one point, because Irby’s…
This book won’t have a lot of relevance for you unless you listen to the podcast My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. It’s one of the few podcasts I listen to, and it’s basically true-crime with humour mixed into it (which sounds weird, but it actually ties into a coping mechanism for…
With thoughts of Mother’s Day no doubt swirling around in everyone’s minds this weekend, I thought I’d post a review of a book of 15 essays about motherhood. What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, Fifteen Writers Break the Silence are all fairly short pieces written by authors about their mothers. They range from…
