It’s been awhile since I read Canadian author Claire Cameron. I last read and reviewed one of her books of fiction, The Last Neanderthal in 2019 and I recently picked up her memoir How to Survive a Bear Attack with an open mind because it’s a work of non-fiction, so very different from what I…
I’ll admit to picking this book up in the first place because it seemed juicy. A tell-all memoir about a woman discovering her recently deceased husband was hiding a bunch of things? Give me the tea! But The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards by Calgary author Jessica Waite wasn’t a simple look at how terrible…
I always regretted not attending this one book event; it was a snowstorm here in Calgary and no one was on the roads, so as the consummate rule follower I am, I stayed home from seeing Kate Beaton speak about her new book Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands back in 2022. I saw…
Last month I had the pleasure of seeing Dave Hill perform in person at Wordfest. I vaguely remembered him from an earlier appearance in Calgary a few years ago, but for whatever reason, this most recent show of his really impressed me; he was absolutely hilarious. I couldn’t stop laughing, and when he spoke as…
I originally chose to read Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy now because it referenced the murder of a young woman on Halloween night, so I thought this would be perfect for my October reading…until I realized it was a) non-fiction and b) not really about Halloween at all. Yikes! The fun of being scared on…
What feels like ages ago now, when I worked at the literary festival here in Calgary we hosted Wayne Johnston, a bestselling Canadian writer. If I had known then what I now know about him, I would have likely seen him in a whole different light when we met in person. He’s been writing for…
This non-fiction book has been lingering on my shelf for four years now as the publishers sent it to me back in 2019. But I hadn’t had the heart to give it away as I was fascinated by the topic, and kept intending to get to it someday. Finally, I read Consent, A Memoir of…
Some of my Canadian readers will recognize my next title. Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart by Jen Sookfong Lee has gotten lots of recent and positive coverage in the media, and I tend to enjoy non-fiction essays with a lighter touch, so I opted to give it a try when the publisher sent…
Happy Valentine’s Day! As I continue my ‘month of love’ reading, this work of non-fiction about the marriage of Rosalie and Issy Sharp, the Canadian founders of the billion dollar hotel chain The Four Seasons, is up next. I expected to read a book about a challenging marriage to a high-powered CEO, but instead A…
The bright colours of this cover initially drew me into reading Muddy People by Sara El Sayed. I was reading it at my hair appointment and even my hairdresser remarked on how beautiful it was – you just can’t help but like it! The cheerful colours may mislead some readers however, not everything is happy-go-lucky…
Back in February I was lucky enough to sit in a theatre audience and listen to David Sedaris live and in-person, try out some of the stories from his upcoming release, Happy-Go-Lucky. Based on what he read and how he spoke of it, I knew it was going to have some darker moments. This collection…
I’ve had the book Dead Mom Walking by Rachel Matlow on my shelf for what feels like ages (its only been two years, but that’s a long time for me). I had read really positive reviews of it when it was released, and I knew it was going to be funny, so I kept it…
