I've been to Beijing and stood in Tiananmen Square three times in my life. The first time was, I believe late 1988 or early 1989, before our family moved to Canada at the end of 1989. I would have been about three years old on that first trip and I have no memories of the… Continue reading Book Review: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
I realize the topic of Bibles for children is pretty specific and perhaps not widely interesting but it's an important one in our household so I thought I'd share what I've found/learned in the past two years. First, there are lots of bad children's Bibles out there but I'm not going to focus on that… Continue reading Reading with Pearl: Children’s Bibles
We Should All be Feminists was the book I had with me in the hospital when I gave birth to my daughter. We didn't know whether we were having a boy or a girl before Pearl was born and, to be honest, the thought of a girl scared me. Boys seemed straightforward. Girls seemed hard… Continue reading Book Review: Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This book will be available for sale in May 2017. I read an Advanced Readers Copy, provided by the publisher. I believe I've mentioned that at the start of 2017 I decided I wanted to make sure I read more short stories this year than I did in 2016. Since I enjoyed Ferris' previous novel,… Continue reading Book Review: The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris (Little, Brown, 2017)
This book will be available for sale in July 2017. I read an Advance Uncorrected Proof made available by the publisher. The Unwomanly Face of War was first published in the Soviet Union in 1985 and translated into English in 1988 but, as far as I can tell, has been out of print in English… Continue reading Book Review: The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
I've been sitting on this review for a while, pondering how I feel about A Little Life. Turns out, the longer I wait, the less I feel as though I really liked this novel. I heard several rave reviews of it before I started (including the cashier at Powells when I picked up a used… Continue reading Book Review: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
I'm a big fan of Ernest Hemingway (the writing more than the man himself but that's a topic for another time) and I've read most of his writing. While in Washington recently, I spotted a Hemingway book I'd never read in a secondhand bookshop and so brought it home. It turns out that The Garden… Continue reading Book Review: The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
I have to start by saying this book is truly excellent. I'd been waiting for weeks for a copy at our local library and it came available right before we went away for Spring Break. Afraid they wouldn't hold it for too long, I took it with me and ended up reading it in the… Continue reading Book Review: The Break by Katherena Vermette
I've fallen behind in reviewing books but am working to catch up and get some reviews posted next week. In the meantime, here's what I read this month: Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh (Penguin Press, 2015) The Dark and Other Love Stories - Deborah Willis (Hamish Hamilton, 2017) She was glad that was done. What a… Continue reading What I Read – March 2017
In the world of parenting books, one I had heard frequently recommended was How to Talk so Kids will Listen and How to Listen so Kids Will Talk Adele Faber. I figured I would wait until Pearl was older/ more verbal to read it but when I saw a new edition titled How to Talk… Continue reading Book Review: How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber & Julie King
