I read Claire Fuller's most recent novel, Swimming Lessons, (review here) last year and was intrigued enough by her writing to seek out her previous book at the local library. I'm glad I did because I actually liked Our Endless Numbered Days quite a bit more than I liked Swimming Lessons. A book part of that is the… Continue reading Book Review: Our Endless Numbered Days – Claire Fuller
Read: The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday Canada, 2011) More style than substance though I enjoyed it while I was reading it. A month (or less) later, I can't remember much but it entertained me at the time. And No Birds Sang - Farley Mowat (McClelland & Stewart, 1979) Mowat is a Canadian classic and I've… Continue reading What I Read – March 2018
I've read one novel (Boy, Snow, Bird) and a short story collection (What is not Yours is not Yours reviewed here) from Helen Oyeyei and it was interesting to go back and read her first novel. Icarus Girl is a strange, surreal, sometimes confusing novel. None of that is surprising, having read Oyeyemi previously, especially her most recent… Continue reading Book Review: The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
My disclaimer: I know Bill Gaston in real life. He was one of my profs in university and taught one of my favourite workshops. He was a great prof and an all-round good guy. When he was a featured writer at our local Writers' Festival a couple of years ago I was asked to introduce… Continue reading Book Review: A Mariner’s Guide to Self-Sabotage by Bill Gaston
2018 has obviously not been a great year for book reviews thus far but I am sneaking in lots of reading time. Here's what I read in February and the quickest reviews I can manage at this moment: The Hut Builder - Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Books, 2010 New Zealand novel. I likely would have abandoned this… Continue reading What I Read – February 2018
My brother, who knows the author, gave me a copy of Your Heart is the Size of Your Fist, for my birthday. My big brother and I have similar taste a lot of the time, especially in books and music, and he's one of the smartest people I know so I'm always happy to receive a… Continue reading Book Review: Your Heart is the Size of Your Fist by Martina Scholtens
For although a man is judged by his actions, by what he has said and done, a man judges himself by what he is willing to do, by what he might have said, or might have done - a judgment that is necessarily hampered, not only by scope and limits of his imagination, but by… Continue reading What I Read – January 2018
My main problem with The Luminaries was that it was too big. Not too long - I definitely could have read more from Catton. The book is over 800 pages and in hardcover it was just too large for me to hold with one hand. And since I do much of my reading these days while… Continue reading Book Review: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
First things first, I liked Rules of Civility better than A Gentleman in Moscow, Towles' first book and I think I'm in the minority in this opinion so I'll explain why. Both novels are well written and Towles clearly excels at bringing historical time periods to life, whether that's New York in the 1930s, as seen in Rules of… Continue reading Book Review: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Generally speaking, I don't enjoy books centred around bookstores. I find they tend to romanticize an experience I've known very well in the real, practical world. So I didn't begin 84, Charing Cross Road with high hopes, despite the fact that it was recommended to me by a bookseller. In the end, it surprised me. This… Continue reading Book Review: 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Karissa Reads Books 