I’ll admit to being a bit confused about what My Best Friend was Angela Bennett by Suzanne Hillier was when I picked it up – a non-fiction account of a particular woman during WWII? A tale of female friendship loosely based in reality? A memoir? In my defense, I received the printed pages of it,…
I seem to have great luck with the translated books that I read, and that success is mostly due to the careful eye of the editors at the Arachnide imprint from Canadian press House of Anansi. They regularly choose the best and the brightest when it comes to translated works that will impress English Canadians…
I don’t like taking risks, but when I do, they are usually book-related. I threw caution to the wind last week and started reading a mystery series five books in. Obsidian by Thomas King is the latest in his DreadfulWater Mystery Series which I’ve had recommended to me for years, but finally got the chance…
Does a book called “Hot Stew” all about a crowded neighborhood kind of give you the willies? Normally I’d say ‘me too’, but because I’ve spent the last two years avoiding people, Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley sounded like something I wanted to dive into immediately. It’s set in the present day (sans Covid) in…
Classic films and television have never been an interest of mine; perhaps it’s because I don’t have time to watch much these days, the thought of sitting down to something produced decades ago never held much appeal, but knowledge of films from the 40s, 50s and 60s would have come in handy while reading The…
This slim little novel piqued my interest when I saw a short description of it in a catalogue. It touches upon race, class, gender, and the existential dread that millennials in particular seem to dwell upon, (what does it all mean? etc.) made even worse by the pandemic. Although Assembly by Natasha Brown doesn’t include…
What’s the difference between a good and bad person? What makes a person selfish? Can regularly volunteering at a food bank cancel out the sins of cheating on a partner? Even So by Lauren B. Davis asks all these questions, and although not all of them are answered readers are given a glimpse into the…
Years ago I read the book The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and really enjoyed it. Since then, many similar ‘circus’ books have been successfully published and sold. The circus setting is one that gives authors a great deal of characters, conflicts, and magic to play with, almost anything set under the big top is…
Louise Penny is a well-known Canadian treasure; most adore her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels, and although I haven’t read many myself, I intend to when I have the time (i.e. when my kids are grown and out of the house). Until then, I’ll dive into her one-off novels, and how could I not read…
I don’t get the chance to read classics all that often because I’m usually reading the latest releases from publishers, which is of course exciting and I’m grateful for that opportunity BUT I also follow lots of bloggers who extoll the virtues of classic reading, and I can’t help but feel left out of the…
When I first heard about The Maid by Nita Prose and the enormous buzz it was getting a few months ago, I knew I would love it. A cozy mystery about a quirky maid written by a well-regarded Canadian book editor? Sign me up. Now it’s being made into a movie, and was just named…
This book was sent to me months ago, and I’ll admit I didn’t have immediate plans to read it simply because I had so many other thrillers ready to go on my shelf. But then, Lucky by Marissa Stapley was chosen by Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, and I usually enjoy her book club picks when…
