Let’s start off with the question you are all asking yourselves; what does ‘broughtupsy’ mean? I waited until I had finished reading Broughtupsy by Christina Cooke to look it up. According to Wikipedia, it originates from the Caribbean, and refers to having good manners. Google goes a bit further and says its a measure of…
Every once in a while during my reading travels, I unknowingly pick up a book that speaks directly to me in that particular moment in my life. Because I read so many books, and consciously pick ones that I think I may like, this doesn’t come as a shock, but still, I sometimes feel as…
It’s the inaugural I Read Canadian Day today (February 19), and to celebrate I’m highlighting a Canadian book published by a Canadian press, written by an Albertan. NDN Coping Mechanisms by Billy-Ray Belcourt was published in 2019 by House of Anansi Press. It’s a book of poetry that includes a complicated mix of literary theory,…
Clifford by Harold R. Johnson has sat on my bookshelf for far too long. It wasn’t until I saw Johnson speak at Wordfest this past fall that I realized what I was missing out on, so I finally picked it up and gave it a go. At only 260 pages of very large font, I…
Can I get a hurrah for linked short story collections? Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta is a quiet yet decisive book that doesn’t gloss over the first and second generation immigrant experience in Canada. And instead of getting a disjointed look at these experiences through a raft of different characters, we follow one person, Kara…
I try to avoid reviewing two or more novels in one post because I like to give each author their due, but these two books were begging to be compared against one another, and quite frankly, I’m reading so much these days that keeping up with my book reviews is getting challenging. I read The…
There’s something about a book set in a creepy old house. I’ve read a few of them lately that have really stuck with me, but Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller is different in that the house itself isn’t the scariest thing about the book (although it certainly adds to the overall ‘creepy’ factor), it’s what…
I adore this book. I knew I would, there’s a cat on the cover and I heard Patrick deWitt read from it during his Giller event here in Calgary last year and the section he read was HILARIOUS. Luckily the rest of the book lived up to his stellar performance, and I think I’ve found…
I know some women may hear of a book about feminism and think ‘why do we need another one of these, we’re all equal!’ but it’s not until you read books like this that you realize we still have so far to go. If that doesn’t sound appealing then maybe this will: Renzetti writes Shrewed…
As I continue to work through the 2019 Canada Reads Longlist, I’m happening upon some books as old as 2017 ( I typically try to review books within the year they are released), so I love that I have finally have a good excuse to read them! This Accident of Being Lost by Leanne Betasamosake…
Everyone gets excited when Lisa Moore releases a short story collection, mainly because she hasn’t in a while, and it’s the form she ‘broke out’ with. I’ve only read her novels thus far, but I love her writing, so I knew I would enjoy this newest group of stories titled Something for Everyone-I was not…
