You know you’re in for a good time when you pick up a Jennifer Weiner book. Although often relegated to the ‘chick lit’ genre, her stories typically include an element of romance but they also deal with serious issues that affect women, which is why I was so absorbed in her latest book, The Breakaway….
Louise Penny is a well-known Canadian treasure; most adore her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels, and although I haven’t read many myself, I intend to when I have the time (i.e. when my kids are grown and out of the house). Until then, I’ll dive into her one-off novels, and how could I not read…
Recently there’s been a trend in publishing novels that focus on the 70s music scene, typically that focus narrows in on one band or musician in particular, a sort of ‘tell all’ story about their rise to celebrity. Both Glenn Dixon and Taylor Jenkins Reid released books like this, and I genuinely enjoyed them both….
Although it sounds cliché, I can’t think of better way to describe this book other than ’emotional rollercoaster’. Perfect for book clubs, or a reader who’s ready for some family drama, What Could be Saved by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz is a fairly length story all about the secrets we keep from one another. It’s literary…
Boy oh boy this book scared me. Scared me to the point of avoiding my dark basement kind of scary. I chose it to go with my ‘dangerous water’ segment that I’m putting together for my next radio column, and I thought I was being clever by choosing this particular theme while I was on…
As a book-lover, I’m constantly encouraging people to read. As a person who leans a little to the left, I’m also a big proponent of reading books that introduce people to new ideas and perspectives, especially those voices that you may not have in your everyday life. Becoming a Man by P. Carl will tick…
Two years ago I spotted the book You Belong to Me by Colin Harrison in a publisher’s catalogue, and I remember being intrigued by the premise, so I requested it for review. It was compared to The Da Vinci Code, but with more of a thriller-noirish aspect to it and to me that sounded unique,…
With thoughts of Mother’s Day no doubt swirling around in everyone’s minds this weekend, I thought I’d post a review of a book of 15 essays about motherhood. What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, Fifteen Writers Break the Silence are all fairly short pieces written by authors about their mothers. They range from…
I’m always a bit hesitant to embark on a horror novel (or movie) because I have such high expectations for the genre, and I’m frequently disappointed. Too often, the storyline starts off scary then just dissolves into a weird, over-the-top mess that’s so unbelievable it’s humorous. Canada doesn’t have many horror writers either, so I…
I’ve never had the experience of doubting whether I could finish a book. I love reading, and even when I don’t really like a book I’ll usually finish it; my DNF rate is extremely low. Reading The Boy on the Beach by Tima Kurdi is the first time I found myself unsure as to whether…
There are so many domestic thrillers lurking around my bookshelves at the moment, it’s hard to be truly impressed by anything in the genre at this point because everything seems to be ‘done’. So authors are going to greater and greater lengths to surprise the reader, or put a unique twist on a story that…
Before I read this book, I had seen a ton of buzz about it on my twitter feed, so I had pretty high expectations going into it. I won’t say I was disappointed by it, because I really did enjoy reading it; it was one of those books you kept wanting to read ‘just one…