In Our Mad and Furious City - Guy Gunaratne (MCD x FSG Originals, 2018) Contained within 48 hours in London, set mostly in an area known as the Estates, five characters will come together in violence, hope, and a sort of love. Based loosely around the 2011 London riot, these 48 hours take place after… Continue reading Book Review: In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne
Educated - Tara Westover (Harper Collins, 2019) It feels strange to write a book review of such a personal memoir. Tara Westover's memoir of growing up with survivalist parents and a paranoid father who kept them out of school and away from doctors is compelling and very readable. It also feels incomplete. Westover grew up… Continue reading Book Review: Educated by Tara Westover
Article 353 - Tanguy Viel (Other Press, 2019) I received an Advance Readers Copy of this novel. It is set for release on March 12, 2019 One of the great things about reading books from other languages and cultures is that voice and topic can vary so broadly. I wasn't familiar with Tanguy Viel's work… Continue reading Book Review: Article 353 by Tanguy Viel
No. 4 Imperial Lane - Jonathan Weisman (Twelve, 2015) It's 1988 and David Weller is in love. An American student at the University of Sussex, David takes a job caring for a quadriplegic in order to extend his time abroad. And so David becomes entangled with the Bromwell family, Hans (the patient), his sister Elizabeth,… Continue reading Book Review: No. 4 Imperial Lane by Jonathan Weisman
Look How Happy I'm Making You - Polly Rosenwaike (Doubleday, 2019) I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book. It is set to be released March 19, 2019. Whether or not you enjoy Polly Rosenwaike's collection of short stories will likely hinge on your interest in motherhood. Each of the twelve stories in this… Continue reading Book Review: Look How Happy I’m Making You by Polly Rosenwaike
Happy New Year! I had fun this year ranking some of my favourite reads with my newly begun Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards but I also enjoy taking a look back at my overall reading for 2018. My reading goal fr 2018 was to read 72 books. I'm pleased to say that I surpassed this… Continue reading What I Read – 2018 in Review
A Literary Christmas: An Anthology This lovely volume from the British Library is filled with Christmas tidbits. Poems and songs and short stories, as well as snippets from larger works. There are some of the expected authors - Christina Rossetti, Charles Dickens - and some less so, such as D.H. Lawrence or the forgotten (by… Continue reading Book Review: A Literary Christmas
Just Kids: Illustrated Edition - Patti Smith (Ecco Books, 2018) Before I started reading Just Kids I didn't know much more about Patti Smith or Robert Mapplethorpe than that Patti Smith was a musician and Robert Mapplethorpe was an artist of some sort. Looking up his artwork later, I realized I did recognize Mapplethorpe's flower photos. I… Continue reading Book Review: Just Kids: Illustrated Edition by Patti Smith
Kens - Raziel Reid (Penguin Teen, 2018) This book was not for me. I mean that in two ways. One: I didn't really enjoy it and found myself aggravated by the characters and their actions. Two: I'm not at all the target audience of this book. Kens takes place in some sort of alternate universe in… Continue reading Book Review: Kens by Raziel Reid
We are two weeks away from Christmas and excitement is growing in our house. This past weekend we drove out on the logging roads and cut down a Christmas tree. Our house is lit with candles and smells like Douglas fir. We have a very excited three-and-a-half year old. The Great Christmas Tree Hunt of… Continue reading Advent
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