Where do I even start to talk about Infinite Jest? This book is over one thousand pages long. Almost two hundred of those pages are footnotes; extensive, detailed footnotes that you absolutely cannot skip reading. This book took me months to read and it probably wasn't until I was halfway through that I felt like… Continue reading Book Review: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
This was a re-read for me but when I began sorting through boxes of my childhood books and came across my Lucy Maud Montgomery collection I felt nostalgic and delved into The Blue Castle once more. L.M. Montgomery is, of course, the author of Anne of Green Gables but she also wrote many other books… Continue reading Book Review: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
If Modern Lovers was a finer novel, I probably wouldn't have found its premise as annoying. If it were more thoughtful - offered a greater challenge to its readers, say - I wouldn't be frustrated by its worldview. For what it is Modern Lovers is not a bad book. It's a fluff read - easy… Continue reading Book Review: Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
While Monkey Beach takes place in British Columbia, the same province in which I live, it really is worlds away. Set in the tiny Haisla community of Kitamaat, we follow Lisamarie Hill in the aftermath of her brother Jimmy's disappearance. The First Nations community (Edited to add: It was brought to my attention that "First… Continue reading Book Review: Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Last summer, shortly after we bought our house, my parents also moved. Since we were moving into a larger place and they were down-sizing, they brought me a few boxes from my childhood, mostly books. Being in the middle of moving and having a newborn, those boxes went into our crawl space where I mostly… Continue reading Reading with Pearl: Puppies Are Special Friends
Most people get suicide, I guess; most people, even if it's hidden deep down inside somewhere, can remember a time in their lives when they thought about whether they really wanted to wake up the next day. Wanting to die seems like it might be a part of being alive. I've read a few of… Continue reading Book Review: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
A Visit from the Goon Squad is Jennifer Egan's most celebrated novel (winner of the Pulitzer Prize) and so even though I hadn't really enjoyed her previous novel, The Keep, that much I was looking forward to reading this one. I didn't love The Goon Squad but it was an engaging read. Although the blurbs… Continue reading Book Review: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Welcome! Happy Friday! Friday Favourites are where I spend one Friday a month talking about a book I've read and loved in the past. Ann Patchett is that rare author who straddles the line between literary and popular fiction. By which I mean, she's approachable and readable for that reader off the street who might… Continue reading Friday Favourite: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Paper Towns - John Green (Penguin Books, 2008) Before I Fall - Noah Hawley (Grand Central Publishing, 2016) Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (Harper Perennial, 2005) A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan (Anchor Books, 2010) Did Not Finish: The Little Red Chairs - Edna O'Brien (Little, Brown and Company, 2016) Currently Reading: Infinite… Continue reading What I Read – May 2016
Despite the fact that I regularly share about what I read here, something you might not know about me is that I also read a fair bit of poetry. In fact, I studied both fiction and poetry in university. (I myself am an unremarkable poet but I occasionally try.) I rarely sit down and read… Continue reading Poetry Monday: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Karissa Reads Books 