I was inspired to re-read Agatha Christie's famous mystery novel And Then There Were None after reading FictionFan's book review. I'd read this short mystery story a couple of times before, years ago, but it had always stuck in my memory as one of the finest mystery novels I've read. Years ago, reading it for the first time,… Continue reading Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
This felt like kind of a strange reading month for me. I started off by reading Alexie's memoir and Verghese' back-to-back, while also working my way through Chesterton's autobiography. While I enjoyed each one, it also felt like a lot of male experiences and I was itching for some feminine perspective to balance it out.… Continue reading What I Read – June 2017
A couple of disclaimers first: This book will be released on July 11th by Knopf. I got an Advanced Reading Copy, with no expectation of anything in return. I did not finish reading this book. I made it to page 92/chapter 12 and gave up. I knew I wasn't the target audience of this novel.… Continue reading Book Review: Gork, the Teenage Dragon by Gabe Hudson
After a somewhat awkward incident of an acquaintance thinking I'd borrowed his copy of The Tennis Partner almost ten years ago and never returned it, I decided to take it as a sign and actually read the book. (I got it from the library, however.) Having read Cutting for Stone last year, I already knew… Continue reading Book Review: The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
For most of high school, I lived within walking distance of a Sikh temple in East Vancouver. A lot of my friends were Punjabi and so while there's still a lot I don't know about Sikh culture, I'd say I'm fairly familiar with it over all. So I was excited to read Basran's novel of… Continue reading Book Review: Everything Was Good-Bye by Gurjinder Basran
If you've read Sherman Alexie's work before, particularly The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (which I reviewed here) then you likely know a bit of Alexie's story already. His writing is infused with his own life experiences, particularly growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me… Continue reading Book Review: You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
You know how, as you get older, you begin to realize that your family is maybe not so normal? That all the things they do that you thought were average, might actually be a little crazy? That's what's happening to Matty Telemachus. Sure, Matty's always known his family is unique. Not many families once travelled… Continue reading Book Review: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
In the realm of Christian literature, Japan does not loom large. Yet for years, I've seen Silence listed amongst the classics. Having finally read it, I find myself both wishing I'd read it years ago and glad that I read it now, in my thirties, with a few years of experience behind me. The novel… Continue reading Book Review: Silence by Shusaku Endo
You may have noticed that I don't read a lot of mysteries. The very simple reason behind that is that I find them too scary. Overactive imagination + gory tale is not a good combination for me in the middle of the night. However, when my sister-in-law was in New Zealand just before Christmas, she… Continue reading Book Review: Trust No One by Paul Cleave
Silence - Shusaku Endo (Picador Classic, 2015) translated from the Japanese by William Johnston But Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt - this is the realization that came home to… Continue reading What I Read – May 2017
Karissa Reads Books 