What I Read: Refuge - Merilyn Simonds (ECW Press, 2018) Our Homesick Songs - Emma Hooper (Hamish Hamilton, 2018) Currently Reading: A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth An Orchestra of Minorities - Chigozie Obioma Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster The Excuses: I'm just over 1000 pages into A Suitable Boy. I'm definitely enjoying it but it's big. It's absorbed a… Continue reading What I Read – October 2018
Author: Karissa
Book Review: Refuge by Merilyn Simonds
I received this book from ECW Press. All opinions are my own. Refuge is a novel about, well, refuge. How do we seek refuge? How do we give it? Who do we offer refuge to? At the centre of the novel is Cass. In the present tense of the story, Cass is 96-years-old, living alone on… Continue reading Book Review: Refuge by Merilyn Simonds
Book Recommendations for the Sometimes Reader
Today is Peter's birthday! He recently found himself without a book to read and so asked me to make five suggestions for him. His criteria was simply that they be books we already own. In honour of Peter's birthday, and because it's something different, I thought I'd share the list (plus the longlist because I'm… Continue reading Book Recommendations for the Sometimes Reader
What I Read – September 2018
Coming in a little late but here's my September Reading Round-Up: Dubliners - James Joyce (Penguin Books, 1979) I've read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and made two separate attempts at Ulysses. Dubliners was so much easier. It was a very smart, very moving, often unexpected collection of short stories. Herzog - Saul Bellow (Penguin Books,… Continue reading What I Read – September 2018
Rose is 1!
For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. 1 Samuel 1:27-28 Rose is one! She is an absolute sweetheart of a baby - full of smiles and laughs - and we couldn't love her more. Rose is quirky and affectionate and determined and has a happy nature.… Continue reading Rose is 1!
Book Review: We Are All Made Of Molecules – Susin Nielsen
Stewart Inkster and Ashley Anderson are complete opposites. Stewart is smart and loyal though rather socially awkward while Ashley is beautiful, insecure, and unkind. They are thrown together when their parents move in together. After Stewart's mother dies, his dad finds love again with Ashley's mom and so Stewart and his dad Leonard leave their… Continue reading Book Review: We Are All Made Of Molecules – Susin Nielsen
Book Review: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Washington Black has not even been available for a month but it's already showing up on all sorts of award lists for the year, including The Man Booker Prize and the Giller Prize. (Edugyan won the Giller Prize for her last novel, Half Blood Blues.) I know Esi slightly in real life, back in my Victoria days. She… Continue reading Book Review: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Held Fast
It has been two years since my second miscarriage. I doubt that I will ever watch the season turn from summer to fall without remembering those days in the hospital. I have gone back and forth over what to talk about. Whether to talk about it. Sometimes I think I talk about miscarriage too much.… Continue reading Held Fast
Book Review: Motherhood by Sheila Heti
Very early on, I wondered if I would finish this book. It aggravated me almost immediately but I pushed on, wondering what I was missing. In the end, I skim read through to the end since I was curious to find out what the narrator's final decision would be. The question that she chases throughout… Continue reading Book Review: Motherhood by Sheila Heti
Camping with Kids – Part 2
At the beginning of the summer, I shared our first experience of camping with two kids. Now I'm sharing what we've learned after a summer of camping and outdoor adventures with our kids. (Read Part 1 here.) We camped a total of four times this summer (not including the two times Peter camped out in… Continue reading Camping with Kids – Part 2
Karissa Reads Books 