May is short story month, so I’m going to be reviewing a few here in the next few weeks, and I’m starting with a local Calgary author. Good Victory by Mikka Jacobsen is a collection of 11 stories, published by Freehand Books, whose office is located about a half hour walk from my house; you…
Summertime reading means different things to different people. For me, it means I pick up books that are meant to be ‘fun’, and the fake blood dripping down the cover of this book shouted ‘fun in a different way’ at me. How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie also incorporates a…
I saw a brief mention of the short story collection Homebodies by Amy LeBlanc somewhere online, and I decided I just HAD to read it for my spooky October reading series. It’s harder to find Halloween-themed books by small or independent presses, so I’m quite pleased and excited to introduce this Calgary-based author to a…
I’ve read a few Will Ferguson books in my day, as he’s a beloved local Calgary author who has won many awards for his writing – impressively, in very different genres and categories. In this first of a promised series, Will Ferguson has teamed up with his brother Ian Ferguson in the cozy mystery I…
Before you begin to wonder if I’ve taken a sharp turn in my reading interests, let me assure you this title is a reference to the city the characters travel to: Paris. The use of ‘rooster’ itself isn’t that obvious in Coq by Ali Bryan, instead it’s an invitation to open up this book and…
I was at a book event a few weeks ago chatting with my bookish friends (usually a mix of publishers, authors and librarians, the best kind of people) when I was introduced to a local author. She pitched her new book to me, which I just had happened to have on my shelf anyway, (one…
One of my upcoming segments for radio is a focus on debut authors from independent presses in Canada, because the Simon and Schuster acquisition by Penguin Random House is a scary one for many Canadians. Although it won’t be all bad for the reader, it will certainly make things harder for booksellers and authors, so…
I’ve got another work of climate fiction for you; a genre based on some of our worst anxieties based on what the world may look like as we continue our climb into warmer temperatures. What’s different about Watershed by Doreen Vanderstoop is that it takes place right in my backyard of Southern Alberta. And while…
God this was a funny book. The Figgs by Ali Bryan is absolutely hilarious, and I knew it would be, based on how much I enjoyed her first novel Roost, which also mines the hilarity of family, child-rearing, and the domestic sphere in general. The Figgs centers on a family who finds themselves in increasing turmoil….
Since I started this blog in 2013, I’ve made a few observations about the book blogging community as a whole. They are as follows: most of us love drinking tea while reading cats are our favourite animal we love holidays romance and YA bloggers are easy to find and are very passionate about these genres…
In honour of the recent Alberta Book Awards being given out, I wanted to highlight another wonderful book I just finished by an award-winning Alberta author Joan Crate. Black Apple follows a young Aboriginal girl named Sinopaki as she is forcefully taken from her family and brought to the residential school of St. Mark’s. Throughout…
