The Samurai - Shusaku Endo (New Directions, 2018) (translated from the Japanese by Van C. Gessel) Like Endo's other famous book, Silence, this is a slow moving and contemplative book, dealing with Christianity in 17th century Japan. Which isn't to say it's a boring book or one without much happening; it's simply a deeply thoughtful… Continue reading Book Review: The Samurai by Shusaku Endo
I've had this poetry book on my shelf since university but never made a focused effort to read through it until this year. I enjoyed the variety of voices, styles, and historical contexts brought together by Czeslaw Milosz. Many of the poems are translations with quite a lot of those being done by Milosz himself.… Continue reading Book Review: A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry edited by Czeslaw Milosz
The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton (Harper Collins Publishers, 2020) This was a fun read. Historical fiction, mystery novel, adventure story. Most of the action takes place on board a ship called the Saardam, travelling from Batavia (modern day Indonesia) to Amsterdam in the 17th Century. The ship belongs to The Company… Continue reading Book Review: The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
A Children's Bible - Lydia Millet (W.W. Norton, 2020) This is a weird little book. Part coming-of-age, part apocalypse story, full of Biblical references, told in something of a first person plural narrative. I actually picked it up from the library because I read a negative review of it on Instagram. The things this reviewer… Continue reading Book Review: A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
Read: This Place: 150 Years Retold (Highwater Press, 2019) Sufferance - Thomas King (Harper Collins Publishers, 2021) A Children's Bible - Lydia Millet (W.W. Norton, 2020) A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry edited by Czeslaw Milosz (A Harvest Book, 1996) Hao: Stories - Ye Chun (Catapult, 2021) The Samurai - Shusaku… Continue reading What I Read – June 2021
I received an advance e-copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Having recently read my first book by Thomas King (see my review of Indians on Vacation here), I thought I'd give his latest book a try too. While I knew before starting that Sufferance would be… Continue reading Book Review: Sufferance by Thomas King
I spent a lot of this book being annoyed and disappointed, waiting for something, anything, to happen, wondering where Bronte was going with this staid and plodding narrator of Lucy Snowe. Somewhere in the second half though I began to think, Maybe she's doing something here. Maybe there's more happening. Maybe Lucy Snowe is not… Continue reading Book Review: Villette by Charlotte Bronte
In the face of generations of trauma and the systemic racism evidenced by the discovery of 215 children's bodies being found on the grounds of a Canadian residential school, putting together a list of books to read seems pretty weak. Yet, it's somewhere to start. Pondering the value of offering this list, I came up… Continue reading Reading Indigenous Voices
The Past is Red - Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom, 2021) I received an Uncorrected Proof of this book which will be on sale July 2021. All opinions are my own. Tetley Abednego lives in Garbagetown and she thinks it's the most beautiful place in the world. Dry land is a myth and the world as… Continue reading Book Review: The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
Read: We Want What We Want - Alix Ohlin (House of Anansi Press, 2021) The Orange Tree - Carlos Fuentes (translated by Alfred Mac Adam) (Harper Perennial, 1994) Forgiveness - Mark Sakamoto (Harper Collins, 2014) The Past is Red - Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom, 2021) Villette - Charlotte Bronte (Vintage Random House) Did Not Finish:… Continue reading What I Read – May 2021
Karissa Reads Books 