We started off our summer holidays slow and strong with our time away in Vancouver. We came back home and enjoyed our town's annual July 1st Canada Day Parade. Peter took the girls on an overnight hike here in the Tetrahedron, along with two other dads and their daughters and we were beginning to plan… Continue reading 2026: July So Far
A Circle of Quiet - Madeleine L'Engle (Harper Collins, 1972) It's hard to know how to classify this gentle non-fiction book. It's part collection of essays, part journal entries. It's the thoughts and pondering of a 50-something year-old-woman, a wife and mother, who has had some success as a writer. There is some space given… Continue reading Book Review: A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle
Make Believe - Mac Barnett (Little Brown & Co, 2026) I really like Mac Barnett's picture books for kids - Sam & Dave Dig a Hole is a favourite - so when I saw that he was coming out with a book about writing stories for children, I was interested. I already had my copy… Continue reading Book Review: Make Believe by Mac Barnett
Hard to know what to say about this slim book which, at less than 150 pages, still feels dense. It is divided into three sections that are all clearly connected but also feel distinct and, while they tie in together, each seem to be saying something different about the relationships between the characters. In our… Continue reading Book Review: Transcription by Ben Lerner
As any parent of school-aged children knows, June is busy. So I won't bore you with the details. We had a solid couple of weeks in there where we had a lot going on but don't have much in the way of photos to show you. I worked several extra days to cover a colleague's… Continue reading 2026 Highlights: June
Land - Maggie O'Farrell (Alfred A. Knopf, 2026) This book was a definite slow burn for me. I was excited when I heard that O'Farrell had a new book out this year. I've read her two most recent before this - Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait, as well as an older title, The Hand that… Continue reading Book Review: Land by Maggie O’Farrell
Read: The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker (Olive Editions, 2020) Whistler - Ann Patchett (Harper, 2026) The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Co, 1965) Enormous Wings - Laurie Frankel (Henry Holt and Company, 2026) Tenderness - Rowan Beaird (MacMillan Audio, 2026) (narrated by Evan Sibley, Katharine Chin, Pete Cross)… Continue reading What I Read: June 2026
Karissa Reads Books 