I’ll admit to reading this book mainly because of the cover. How cute is that little picture? If blasting off into space in a little rocket with some happy babies and a tiny puppy doesn’t pique your interest about what’s inside this ahort story anthology I don’t know what will. Second to the cover was…
He was a punk…He did ballet. What more can I say? For those who have the Avril Lavigne hit in their heads as they read the title, you’ll definitely have that song stuck in your head throughout the whole book, because Anthony Nerada’s debut novel Skater Boy is loosely based on that song, but it…
Six years ago, I read and reviewed The Break by Katherena Vermette. It was the first in a trilogy about a violent act, and although I didn’t read the second and middle book The Strangers, I’ve now read the last in the series, The Circle. I described that first book as a literary mystery which…
The name of the book may be a mouthful, but The Crow Valley Karaoke Championships by Ali Bryan is well worth the effort. I’ve spoken of my love of Ali Bryan books on this blog before, and lucky for me, she published two different books with two different publishers this year. Like her other books,…
I had the pleasure of seeing Karma Brown speak about her latest book What Wild Women Do a few weeks ago, and lucky for me, I already had it on my bookshelf, so as soon as I got home, I cracked it open. A mixture of literary fiction, suspense, and even a dash of ‘contemporary…
Longlisted for the Giller Prize this past Fall, I was delighted to see my fellow Calgarian Deborah Willis recognized for her latest book, Girlfriend on Mars. I’ve read and enjoyed her short story collections, in fact my review of her last collection highlights one of my favourite short stories which was the basis for this,…
Not quite a spooky Halloween book, but Getting Huge by John Young is most definitely a story best read in October because it’s all about growing a massive pumpkin. It’s the opposite of a scary book, it centers on a reverend having a mid-life crisis. Not quite funny, but definitely not too serious, I enjoyed…
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…
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…
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…
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…
A slim work of fiction, The Relatives by Camilla Gibb is an understated book that’s been hiding away on my bookshelf for two years. But I love Gibb’s writing, so even though it took me awhile to get to this one, I finally settled in to enjoy it this past week. The emotions are big,…
