I was lucky enough to spend my childhood summers next to a lake; I swam in it, lay beside it, snorkeled around it, boated over top of it, and even constructed my own little wading pool on the shores of it. But when I would dive down deep to get a better look at something,…
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes on the radio. Yes, that Shonda Rhimes: the one who writes fabulous television shows like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy. So now that I’ve declared on-air to the world that I really enjoyed the book, I feel as though I need to justify my…
I realize I keep stating that I’m reviewing books I don’t typically read, but this is yet another case of that happening. I have the CBC Homestretch to thank for pushing me out of my comfort-reading zone, and what an adventure this has been! I had to stop and start Guy Gavriel Kay‘s latest Children…
This week, I spoke about the genre of autobiographies on The Homestretch. I like to shake things up every once in awhile, so I chose two VERY different books to talk about. The first made me cry, literally. The second made me laugh because its numerous Beyonce references were fabulous. A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue…
So this isn’t technically a book I would normally read. Celebrity culture is a low priority topic for me; I don’t read tabloid magazines (where the hell would I find the time?), and I avoid looking at blogs that focus on famous people. I will state up front that I don’t judge other people who…
Now I don’t want to give readers the wrong idea here; I’m not usually one to pick up and review the genre of science fiction and fantasy, so don’t expect a one-eighty in the types of books that I’ll pick up going forward. However, it’s important to me that I explore as many genres as…
This past week, I spoke about the genre of humour with the wonderful Chris dela Torre on the CBC Homestretch. I would have posted this segment sooner, but a sick toddler has derailed my blogging schedule (among other things) so I’m just getting to this now. But don’t let my tardiness deceive you, this was…
Here’s a good book buying tip for you: when a major actress like Reese Witherspoon has blurbed a book, you can generally assume it’s going to be worthwhile. Now I know what you’re thinking; “But Anne, aren’t we just buying into the publicity plan that the publisher has laid out for us?”. The answer is…
Yesterday I spoke with the lovely Judy Aldous about one of my favourite genres of books: the thriller. We discussed The Fall by Noah Hawley and In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. Obviously, I loved both these books, and I knew I would, based on the extraordinary publicity efforts made by the publishers….
Pretty sure I’ve mentioned that I’m a nervous flier before on this blog before. I wouldn’t call myself a bad flier, because I do it quite often (one of my life’s greatest ironies unfortunately), but I’m a white knuckler for sure. I care how big the plane is, I refuse to sit in the back…
My fixation on Alberta writers comes with good reason. I’m on the board for the Writers’ Guild of Alberta yo! Their mission is to connect, encourage, inspire, promote and support Alberta writers and their writing, so it would be a down right travesty if I didn’t feature them on one of my radio segments this…
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…
