I wanted to fit this book into my current reading queue as I was delighted to discover it was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and already sitting on my bookshelf. Wait Softly Brother by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer is a (somewhat?) experimental novel, one that I wasn’t exactly sure I fully grasped, but found myself getting…
Time for another double review! I waited so long to review the first in the series, The Liquor Vicar by Vince R. Ditrich, that the sequel The Vicar’s Knickers came out before I was able to dig the first out of my bookshelf. So, I read the books back to back to get the full…
A few years ago I read and enjoyed the famous book by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House. You can find my review of that here. So when a publisher suggested I take a look at a new release coming this fall that had been the first book approved by Jackson’s estate to return…
I wasn’t surprised to see David Bergen’s latest book Away From the Dead make the Scotibank Giller Prize longlist this year. He’s a serious writer, with seriously impressive award wins and nominations in his past. I last read a book of his in 2014, which you can read my review of here, and I felt…
Having never read her first, bestselling book A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, I was excited to pick up Alicia Elliott’s new book, a work of fiction titled And Then She Fell, because I felt like I was missing out on a very new and cool writer if I didn’t. I enjoyed this one,…
When the Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist was announced in September, I was delighted to learn that a few books on my shelf were part of it, The Clarion by Nina Dunic being one of them. Coming in at a scant 203 pages, this is a short novel published by a very small press; two great…
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…
There’s been lots of hype around this latest book by Liz Nugent. I read her first novel a few years ago and found it sufficiently creepy, so I was happy to give Strange Sally Diamond a try when it was sent my way. A few books into their career I find many thriller writers really…
I had read mixed reviews of A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter. Many heralded it as a must-read for Canadians, a compliment often used for books about Indigenous people. But some complained it was difficult to follow because of the alternating perspectives. I found it a unique and compelling read as I really…
If you’ve ever wished yourself out of a conversation at a social event, try bringing up the colorful subject of personal wealth – and watch people disperse immediately! On Class by Deborah Dundas is the seventh in the Biblioasis Field Notes series. In this short, pamphlet-like book, Dundas explores the complicated world of class; the…
When a colleague of mine mentioned that she had raced through Ashley Audrain’s latest book The Whispers, I asked if I could borrow it to read myself. I rarely read books that aren’t my own, simply because I have a shelf bursting with books I already committed to reviewing from my publishing partners, but I…
Continuing on my recent ‘books about books’ kick, I picked up this thick paperback called The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson, which promised a snapping good story. It delivered; on both the good story, and the warm and fuzzy feeling when reading about the power of books and their ability to improve one’s outlook…
