Ah yes, the psychological thriller. They seem to bloom like dandelions in the summer, don’t they? One after the other, it’s hard to keep track of where they are coming from, and why are there so damn many of them? They’re definitely a trendy genre right now; with the popularity of Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn…
I don’t get the chance to read a lot of Australian writers (not sure why that is…) so when I realized the book A Small Madness, which had been sitting on my shelf for almost a year, was written by an Aussie it spurred me to pick it up. It’s also sort of based on a…
There is so much to say about this book that I’m going to have trouble focusing on just a few parts of it. But, this isn’t a ‘long review’ type of blog, so I’ll try to keep my points as succinct as possible. First off, Claire Fuller‘s Swimming Lessons switches between two different narratives. The…
Do you watch CSI: Anywhere? Do modern day thrillers with drugs, violence and crime interest you? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, there is no doubt in my mind that you will enjoy Every Man a Menace by Patrick Hoffman. The book is split into five different parts, each focusing on a…
Bear’s Winter Party by Deborah Hodge, and illustrated by Lisa Cinar is a beautiful picture book. It features gorgeous watercolor pictures that depict Canadian forest creatures that all kids will be familiar with: deer, beaver, fox, hare and squirrels just to name a few. Never have I seen our chilly winter so bright and cheerful! I…
With a mother like me, my daughter is basically forced into reading books. All the time. Lucky for me, she seems to be an eager reader, and she’s even more delighted to be a test case when it comes to kids books that are sent to me for review. “I would have loved to have…
When you open the first few pages of a book and there is a trigger warning about violent scenes, you know there’s going to be some difficult passages ahead. Many fair weather readers may re-think their decision to continue reading altogether (in fact I’ve never seen a trigger warning before, although I think it’s a…
It seem as though I’ve been on a string of reading really good books lately, and of course this Scotiabank Giller Prize nominee was no different. The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall has alot of hype surrounding it, and I totally understand/want to perpetuate this hype. It has a unique premise, engrossing characters,…
It was only a matter of time until I reviewed a book about cancer on this blog. It’s such a pervasive disease; everyone knows someone else with cancer, many people have experienced it in their immediate family (myself included) and many others have gone through it themselves. The big ‘c’ is something that everyone dreads,…
Most people have heard of Lisa Moore. She’s an extremely well-known Canadian writer because she’s been on almost every book prize list at least once AND won Canada Reads a few years ago. She’s one of those literary stars we love to boast as our own, so it’s not surprising she’s taken the plunge into writing…
Is this book literary? Yes. Is this book a thriller? Yes, of sorts. Is this book a worthwhile piece of historical fiction? Definitely! The Butcher’s Hook by Janet Ellis is a lot of different things, it’s very unique in so many ways that it will appeal to many different audiences. But before I get into…
All summer long, I’m appearing weekly on CBC’s Homestretch to talk about new books worth reading this summer. Each week, I’m focusing on a different genre, and yesterday I spoke about historical fiction. You can hear the segment here if you are interested. I don’t intend on listening to it myself, because hearing your voice…
