Book Review: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
This blog post is a book review and summary of The Husbands by Holly Gramazio book published in April 2024
Book Review: Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada
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…
Book Review: Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
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,…
Book Review: In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas is sure to be on many Canadian bookshelves these days. I was lucky to have received an ARC back when it was first released at the…
Book Review: A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter
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…
Book Review: The Drift by C.J. Tudor
Toeing the line between horror, action thriller, and dystopian drama, The Drift by C.J. Tudor is a book with a very specific audience in mind. Although it contains elements of many different genres, it mostly includes a significant amount of death and violence. Some readers won’t mind this, but it will certainly prompt others to…
Book Review: Pebble & Dove by Amy Jones
Although I stay mostly off social media these days, I dip into Twitter every now and then, which piqued my interest in the new release from Canadian author Amy Jones. Pebble & Dove is her latest novel, which is a lighthearted take on family politics and the bonds we draw and break within that sphere….
Book Review: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
It may be the first time I’m blogging about Canadian-born writer Eleanor Catton, but I’ve been following her career since I read her first book – a breakout novel that her publisher pushed into my hands, predicting she would be huge. Although she hasn’t necessarily found commercial success, she’s won enough book awards (most recently…
Book Review: Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Like my recent read of a Colleen Hoover book a few months ago, I finally picked up another bestelling author that everyone seems to swear by: Jodi Picoult. Her 2022 book titled Wish You Were Here was something I put off reading because I knew it was about the pandemic, and I just didn’t feel…
Book Review: Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton
It has been a few years since I read my last Fiona Barton book, but a quick glance through my review of it reminded me how much I enjoyed her writing, and her latest release Local Gone Missing is another winner. This is more of a police procedural than a thriller, and reading about the…
Book Review: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
I’m in the midst of preparing my ‘hot summer fiction’ segment for CBC Calgary, and I knew as soon as I read the first review of Every Summer After by Carley Fortune that I’d have to include this novel in my annual round-up. Canadians are buzzing about this one as it’s a first-time author (but…
Book Review: People Change by Vivek Shraya
About a year ago I reviewed a work of fiction called The Subtweet by multi-disciplinary artist Vivek Shraya, and along with many other critics I really enjoyed it, so I was excited when another one of her books People Change landed on my doorstep a few months ago. Unlike Subtweet, this is a short work…