In a work of fiction, one of the most enjoyable experiences to read about is a protagonist striking it big, finding the perfect person, landing that killer job, or realizing one’s dreams, whatever that may be. Bootleg Stardust by Glenn Dixon is a great example of what makes fiction so damn fun to read; as…
Bookworms are especially perceptive. I may be biased of course, but for those who read as much as I do, I think we all share the ability to acknowledge the thousands of perspectives we can find in the pages of books. Unintentionally, I read two books, one after the other, that pains a picture of…
Beartown by Fredrik Backman is another book I picked up at my local library (curbside that is, apparently Calgary has the highest COVID numbers in the North America at the moment so libraries aren’t open right now). I’ve wanted to read it for awhile since I discovered how much I enjoyed Backman’s writing when I…
I’ll admit to requesting this book because of the title alone: Other People’s Children by R.J. Hoffmann seemed liked the type of catty novel that describes the judgements we make about how people raise their kids ( we all do it!). So imagine my surprise when this book is anything but catty, when it turns…
Even though Charity by Keath Fraser is only a novella (114 pages in length), it felt more like a novel, diving into a multitude of topics; drugs, body image, parental responsibility, ageism. Summaries of a few different people’s lives are included, but much of what elicits its emotion is what is left unsaid or never…
This book surprised me. Based on its cover, and its publisher (Cormorant Books), I was expecting a very literary novel, something with drawn out descriptions and hidden meanings, usually a bit slower in pace. Instead, I found a page-turner of a novel in The Good Son by Carolyn Huizinga Mills, something I raced to finish,…
Have you ever had the experience of reading a book, looking at a piece of art, or even watching a movie and feeling like you are much ‘cooler/hip’ for having taken it in? After reading Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados, I feel as though I’m on the cutting edge of something, but I’m not cool…
One of my upcoming segments for radio is a focus on debut authors from independent presses in Canada, because the Simon and Schuster acquisition by Penguin Random House is a scary one for many Canadians. Although it won’t be all bad for the reader, it will certainly make things harder for booksellers and authors, so…
A few months ago I reviewed a book on this blog that raised the question; why read a book when you know it is going to be disturbing? Because I am a paid book critic, I consider it my duty to read all kind of stories, even when they don’t appeal to me. The breadth…
I’ve got another work of climate fiction for you; a genre based on some of our worst anxieties based on what the world may look like as we continue our climb into warmer temperatures. What’s different about Watershed by Doreen Vanderstoop is that it takes place right in my backyard of Southern Alberta. And while…
It seems strange to admit, but the cover of Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is the first thing that drew me into it, which is rare for me; I’m rarely swayed by the cover of a book, but I loved the metallic rainbow panels in between the detailed pencil sketches. These three animals, the condor,…
A new genre is emerging in books, and it’s called ‘climate fiction’. Typically dystopian (because how could it NOT be?) it describes a future in which the environmental impacts of global warming are no longer escapable by anyone, and life as we now it know has been drastically altered because of the selfish acts of…
