I had put off reading Cutting for Stone for quite some time, mostly, I think, from a fear that it couldn't live up to its hype. The good news is, it definitely can and does The book is set in Addis, Ethiopa in the 1950s and 60s. Knowing very little about that time and place,… Continue reading Book Review: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
(Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) Steve Jenkins does all kinds of creative and interesting books for children about the natural world. His book Actual Size lets children get up close and personal with wild animals in a unique way. The premise is simple but fascinating: every picture of an animal in the book is the actual… Continue reading Reading with Pearl: Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Pearl's favourite books are the ones with the stock photos of babies. You know the ones, generic babies of various ethnicities doing generic baby things like taking baths and wearing hats. She loves them and coos over those babies like she's looking at herself. (Which I guess is the point.) I, on the other hand,… Continue reading Reading with Pearl: Home by Carson Ellis
I had originally planned to use this month's Friday Favourite to focus on a Russian favourite. But when I realized it fell on Canada Day, it seemed far more fitting to focus on a modern Canadian classic. Joseph Boyden is one of the best Canadian writers currently in existence and his trilogy should be required… Continue reading Friday Favourite: Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby (Riverhead Books, 2005) Monkey Beach - Eden Robinson (Vintage Canada, 2001) Modern Lovers - Emma Straub (Random House, 2016) The Blue Castle - L.M. Montgomery (McClelland & Stewart, 1989) Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace (Back Bay Books, 2006) Last Child in the Woods - Richard Louv (Algonquin… Continue reading What I Read – June 2016
I knew before I began Last Child in the Woods that I was likely to find myself agreeing with Richard Louv. Children today play outside less than previous generations. Children today should play outside more. Playing outside - especially unstructured outdoor play - has a myriad of benefits for children and their families. This is… Continue reading Book Review: Last Child in the Woods – Richard Louv
If you are a Canadian reader of poetry chances are good that you know and admire Lorna Crozier. If you are everybody else in the world, you've probably never heard of her. Lorna Crozier is one of the best living poets today. She's written more than twenty books, mostly poetry. Her poems are lyrical and… Continue reading Poetry Monday: Lorna Crozier
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
Karissa Reads Books 