It feels deep into November around here. It starts to get dark around 4pm and while we've had some hours of brilliant sunshine, other days it feels like the sun never really rises. There's been a lot of rain. We've added extra blankets on our beds and I've started lighting candles in the evenings. As… Continue reading 2025 Highlights: Into Autumn
Point Form Book Reviews are my way of reviewing books that I don’t necessarily have a lot to say about but still want to share a little on. So here are my thoughts on Consider Yourself Kissed: Coralie is an Australian immigrant to London. Ok, that's an interesting premise Something Happened to cause her sudden departure… Continue reading (Point Form) Book Review: Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
I'm a total name nerd so this book immediately appealed to me when I heard the premise. My girls love hearing what their "almost names" were (Eleanor and Violet) or what they might have been called if they were boys (Hartley and Freddie). When I hear about a new baby being born, I want to… Continue reading Book Review: The Names by Florence Knapp
Read: Pick a Colour - Souvankham Thammavongsa (Knopf Canada, 2025) (narrated by Zoe Doyle) White Nights - Fyodor Dostoevsky (Random House UK, 2025) (narrated by Luke Thompson) After Birth - Elisa Albert (Mariner Books, 2015) The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins (Penguin Classics, 1998) Ripeness - Sarah Moss (MacMillan Audio, 2025) (narrated by Flora Montgomery) The… Continue reading What I Read – October 2025
The Bewitching - Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, 2025) I received an advance reading copy of this book thanks to the publisher. All opinions are my own. The Bewitching follows three women in three different times, all faced with mysterious disappearances, danger, and the possibility of being cursed by a witch. We have Alba in 1908,… Continue reading Book Review: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I received an Advance Listening Copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm. All opinions are my own. When I read Thammavongsa's debut short story collection in 2021, I finished by saying that I would look forward to a novel from her. So when I saw an audiobook version of her first novel… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa
This was a fun, sweet young adult novel. The first novel from Uegaki, we know here in our house for her kids picture books. And, although I've never met her, Uegaki used to live here on the Sunshine Coast and we have mutual friends. The premise of the book is terrific and I was excited… Continue reading Book Review: Emiko by Chieri Uegaki
Exposure - Helen Dunmore (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016) Helen Dunmore was on my radar but not my TBR until I read The Railway Children and FictionFan commented that there was a version of that story that focused on the parents. (Her review can be found here.) Simon Callington is a low level office worker for… Continue reading Book Review: Exposure by Helen Dunmore
Last week our Rose turned 8! When Rose was about 4, she was in a drop-off music class. She was 2 at the start of the covid-19 pandemic so this was the first activity that was all hers. Parents were invited to sit in one day and so I sat against one wall and watched… Continue reading Rose is 8!
Read: The Hand that First Held Mine - Maggie O'Farrell (Headline, 2010) The Golden Age - Kenneth Grahame (Dover Publications, 2005) The Accidental Favourite - Fran Littlewood (MacMillan Audio, 2025) (narrated by Fiona Button) Divisadero - Michael Ondaatje (McClelland & Stewart, 2007) Heart the Lover - Lily King (Harper Collins Publishers, 2025) (narrated by Rebecca… Continue reading What I Read – September 2025
Karissa Reads Books 