I originally read A Good Enough Mother by Bev Thomas with the intentions of including it in a mother’s day book recommendations wrap-up. I thought it would be perfectly suited for this purpose; it has the word “mother” in the title and it’s all about a woman who’s a mom trying to be ‘good enough’…
Last year, a book called The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman was released, it was all about a famous artist and the people who circled around him. It also had a beautiful cover; a collage of vibrantly coloured paints splashed onto a canvas. Similar to that book, The Strays by Emily Bitto is about a…
I knew I’d like Nobody Cares by Anne T. Donahue before I even opened the front cover. Why? Please refer to my list below: The author Anne T. Donahue has the same first name as me, AND we’re the same age, so obviously we are soul sisters. She grew up in and still lives in…
How do you feel about books that jump from one time period to another? Is it jarring? Does it annoy you when it’s in a suspense novel especially? Of course it does, when you’re on the cusp of a cliff (hanger), you want to leap to the next page as quickly as possible to find…
What’s that you say? Another Alan Bradley book? Why yes please! The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley is the tenth installment in the Flavia de Luce series, which begins after a short period of time has gone by since the last Flavia book, The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place. Released once…
I love a good work of fiction that focuses on marriage. Do I want to read a true story about marriage? Not particularly. But do I want to read about a fake couple and all the trouble they have without feeling guilty or voyeuristic? Absolutely. This is one of the reasons why I loved Dear…
Ok I know what you’re thinking-where’s part one? I wrote a guest blog post for the not-for-profit organization Calgary Reads where I highlighted some new and notable picture books about kindness, and that was my part one. This post is my part two because you can’t have enough books about being kind to one another-especially…
When I comment on other people’s book blogs, I frequently find myself saying similar things; in particular, I frequently admit that I love a good book that deals with nothing at all (like the literary version of Seinfeld). People’s mundane lives, the things that happen to all of us fascinate me, so I really expected…
When Transcription by Kate Atkinson came out in September 2018, there was lots of buzz around it. Many said this was Atkinson’s best book to date, and it has been on a bunch of ‘best of 2018’ lists. Despite this hoopla (and I use the word ‘despite’ on purpose, because book buzz tends to be…
Yes, that’s right-THAT Maureen Jennings has embarked on a new series of mysteries featuring a sassy and capable female detective by the name of Charlotte Frayne. Murdoch Mystery fans are sure to love this new heroine just as much as they loved Murdoch himself, and for those who just can’t get enough of Murdoch, there’s…
I came across Land Mammals and Sea Creatures by Jen Neale when I received a copy of it in a ‘loot bag’ from a bookish event here in Calgary last year (yes, they exist, although these super fun events are few and far between!). It sat on my shelf until recently, but I had been…
So when I first received this book in the mail I thought: ‘great my 96-year-old Grandpa will love this one!’. But when I noticed a few other books arrived on my shelf that dealt with spies and espionage, I thought I’d give this one a whirl to see how it stacked up to the rest…
