In the past few years I’ve read a handful of books that could be labelled as ‘manly man literary books’. This is of course my highly scientific name for them, which I’m sure will catch on any minute now. What makes these books unique is the writing style which is typically very sparse and straightforward…
What do you think of when someone tells you a book is ‘ripe for book club discussion’? Does that kind of description make you roll your eyes, or encourage you to dive right in? I personally hate the insinuation that certain books are ‘book club’ books, because it assumes that all book clubs are the…
Oh what, an old book? But Anne you never review those! I know, I’ve shocked everyone by reading a book by a dead author, but I can always make an exception for the wonderful Agatha Christie, the mentor to my idol Jessica Fletcher. I got this book from the library, which was extra fun because…
Soo….this is a review of a self-published book, which my loyal readers will know I don’t typically do. My reasons for not reviewing self-published books are mainly bound up in the fact that I used to work in the publishing industry, but every once in a while I come across a fabulous self-published book that…
So I’ve done something a bit different with this Booktube review. I typically record 60 second(ish) book reviews, which is quite challenging. But because I was on vacation when I read these books, I let loose a little and extended my vlog to 4 minutes! (apologies to reading in bed for using the ‘vlog’ term-give…
I read Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan in a matter of days, racing through the 400-ish pages in the heart of cottage country, Muskoka. It was a fitting place to read a book titled ‘Rich People Problems’ considering that’s about all I encountered while there. Complaints I overheard at a restaurant included: “My boat isn’t…
I didn’t have huge expectations for this book before I picked it up. Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine is historical fiction with a small side of romance which as my dear readers will know, isn’t something I usually get excited about. The fact that it took place in the ‘wilds of Canada’ did…
Clearly I am some sort of masochist because I picked up Little Deaths by Emma Flint knowing it was a book based on the real-life murders of two small children. Did I think this was going to be an easy book to read? Of course not, yet I read it anyway because my curiosity was…
So I shot this video on vacation in a rental home, therefore the lighting is terrible and the sound is echo-ey. My bad. Oh, and Smokey isn’t with me, because my husband draws the line at taking our cats on vacation with us (sigh). I’m reviewing Terry Fallis’s latest book One Brother Shy, which I…
Oohhhh boy. I’m struggling with how I’m going to word this review because The Change Room by Karen Connelly is full of…sex. A lot of it. Not like, harlequin romance sex where almost every other page is full of sweaty bodies, but like, at least 5 fairly descriptive sex scenes: some between a man and…
My latest segment for the CBC focused on memoirs, two in particular. You can listen to it here. Bleaker House by Nell Stevens (which Smokey has read and adored) and You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie. After listening to the recording just now, I’ve realized how depressing these two books…
This past week I spoke about books that deal with the subject of family. I realize this is a pretty broad topic and can encompass most everything that has ever been written, but I used it as an excuse to talk about my favourite picture book ever: A Family is a Family is a Family,…
