Lots of bloggers participate in Novellas for November, which is basically just an annual campaign to read more novellas this month. It’s a worthy cause because so many novellas are overlooked simply because they aren’t considered serious enough with their shorter page count (why do we consider books that are super long ‘serious’?) I’d like…
After finishing the last page of this book, I released a great big sigh. Not because I was relieved it was over, in fact, I had hoped Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng would go on longer past its 260 pages. Instead I let out a sigh of contentment because this is…
Happy Halloween! Today is the perfect day to curl up with a spooky read (really, the entire month of October is) and I’ve got a stellar recommendation for getting you into the Halloween spirit. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke landed on my doorstep towards the end of this month, so I squeezed it in…
A Beginner’s Guide to Murder by Rosalind Stopps seems like a cozy mystery at first glance; a bunch of little old ladies plotting a murder together to save a friend. This appeals to the Murder She Wrote lover in me because I relish the idea of getting older but not losing my ‘spunk’. But as…
This is my second-to-last Halloween book that I’ve got on my shelf, and now that I’ve been reading horror for a few straight weeks, I’m feeling a bit sensitive to all the violence I’ve been exposed to, but I’m also more attuned to the critiques of society that this genre often employs. The Book of…
I was in search of a new Canadian-authored Halloween book to read during October, and had trouble finding something, as I typically do. Luckily, I stumbled upon this terrifying little novella, Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, who was a new-to-me author living in Montreal. Just looking at this frightening cover (which I had…
As soon as October 1st hit, we were decorating our house orange and black. Not only do we bring out the ghosts and spiderwebs, we focus our reading on Halloween books to get the kids excited (in a sugar-free way) about the coming holiday. Below I summarize the 4 books we received, and my kids’…
Although it sat on my shelf for a few months, Astra by Cedar Bowers wasn’t pushed to the top of my stack until it appeared on the Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist. I wish my reading wasn’t a slave to the prize lists, but I must admit it helps me narrow down my selection when faced…
I got about halfway through The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward and debated closing the book for good – I just wasn’t sure I could handle it anymore. The writing itself was not the problem, it was what the characters were doing to each other, or at least, what we are led…
September 30 is now officially Truth and Reconciliation Day here in Canada. Among other things, it’s intended to help bridge the gap between settlers and Indigenous people, recognizing the harm that has been done in the past, and working towards reconciliation in the future. Like many people across the country I was given that day…
It was only a year ago that I reviewed Stephen Graham Jones’ last book, The Only Good Indians, which I really enjoyed, so I jumped at the chance to read his latest release (just in time for the beginning of the spooky season) My Heart is a Chainsaw. Don’t like blood and guts? You’ll want…
Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket I’ve technically read one Lemony Snicket book before; his picture book The Bad Mood and the Stick is a favourite in our house because it’s so delightfully odd and the rainbow ‘bad mood’ is a gorgeous little illustration. I had of course heard of the famous Lemony Snicket from…
