Pandemic Story-Telling (A Book Review of sorts)

This month I inadvertently found myself reading 3 books at once with one glaring thing in common: they were all set during pandemics. Two of these pandemics were fiction, one was real. One of these books was written and published before 2020, two after. Two of these books I finished reading, one I abandoned partway… Continue reading Pandemic Story-Telling (A Book Review of sorts)

What I Read: May 2022

Read: Where the Light Fell - Philip Yancey (Convergent, 2021) The Sentence - Louise Erdrich (Harper, 2021) Severance - Ling Ma (Picador, 2018) These Impossible Things - Salma El-Wardany (Grand Central Publishing, 2022) The Son of the House - Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (Dundurn Press, 2021) Persuasion - Jane Austen (Everyman's Library, 1992) Howl's Moving Castle -… Continue reading What I Read: May 2022

Book Review: The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

The Son of the House - Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (Dundurn Press, 2019) Nwabulu and Julie are thrown together when they are kidnapped on a lonely road in Nigeria. Waiting for their families to pay ransom, they begin to tell each other their life stories. With their own mortality at hand, they are completely honest in ways… Continue reading Book Review: The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

Book Review: The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

The Books of Jacob - Olga Tokarczuk (Riverhead Books, 2022) It is, I think, a testament to Olga Tokarczuk's writing that I undertook to read The Books of Jacob at all. I loved her novel Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead and she won the Nobel Prize for Literature shortly after I… Continue reading Book Review: The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

Book Review: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

The Sentence - Louise Erdrich (Harper, 2021) This book was so much more than I expected. I went into it knowing that it was set in a bookstore, that the bookstore was haunted by their most annoying customer, and that part of it was set during lockdown in 2020. All of that is present in… Continue reading Book Review: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People - Sally Rooney (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2018) At this point, Sally Rooney probably needs no introduction. All three of her novels have been huge bestsellers and Normal People was turned into a mini-series. I'd sort of written her off as a young Millenial author and as an elder Millenial myself, I assumed… Continue reading Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Book Review: Astray by Emma Donoghue

Astray - Emma Donoghue (Back Bay Books, 2012) I've loved everything I've read by Emma Donoghue so it shouldn't be surprising that I also loved this short story collection. But I really was blown away. The Wonder showed me that Donoghue excels in historical fiction but I was still so impressed by what she manages… Continue reading Book Review: Astray by Emma Donoghue

Book Review: Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi

Butter Orange Tree - Jokha Alharthi (Catapult, 2022) I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Publication Date: 10 May 2022 Bitter Orange Tree is the follow-up novel to Jokha Alharthi's Man Book International Prize winning Celestial Bodies. While I haven't read Alharthi's previous work, I was familiar with… Continue reading Book Review: Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi

Book Review: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo I bought this book for my children on the recommendation of Ann Patchett. In her most recent essay collection, These Precious Days, Patchett details her introduction to the work of DiCamillo and how she devoured her work, even though it is written for children and Patchett… Continue reading Book Review: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

What I Read – April 2022

READ: Women Talking - Miriam Toews (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018) The Pull of the Moon - Julie Paul (Brindle & Glass, 2014) The Books of Jacob - Olga Tokarczuk (Riverhead Books, 2022) (translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft) Darling Girl - Liz Michalski (Dutton Books, 2022) The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour - Anne… Continue reading What I Read – April 2022