Agnes Magnúsdóttir was the last person to be sentenced to death for a crime in Iceland. She died by beheading in 1830. In Burial Rites, Hannah Kent offers a fictional idea of what Agnes' last months might have been like, as well as what the truth may have been surrounding the murder for which Agnes… Continue reading Book Review: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
I made an attempt on a Henry James novel once before and didn't get far so I didn't have high hopes for this book (not to mention that it's about 800 pages long). Fortunately, I was very pleasantly surprised and was drawn in by the characters and plot almost immediately. (Warning: I always try to… Continue reading Book Review: The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
It's kind of an odd choice to read a book about work at this stage of my life. I'm a stay-at-home parent and I love it. I feel a lot of value in what I do and so I try to do it to the best of my ability. Which is really what lies at… Continue reading Book Review: Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller
My year in books... What I Loved: Fiction: Half of a Yellow Sun –Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Vintage Canada, 2007) The Portrait of a Lady – Henry James (Modern Library A Very Long Engagement – Sébastien Japrisot (Plume, 1994) Beatrice & Virgil – Yann Martel (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2010) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet… Continue reading What I Read – 2015
No Great Mischief - Alistair MacLeod (W.W. Norton & Company, 2000) The Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan (Penguin Books, 2006) ...however we choose to feed ourselves, we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and what we're eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world. Ru - Kim Thúy… Continue reading What I Read – December 2015
This book was dangerously over-hyped for me. When I start to hear over and over again how great a book is (or anything really) my stubborn heels begin to dig in and I am ready to dislike it. Which is a silly reaction, I know, but a difficult habit to shake. Fortunately, I still enjoyed… Continue reading Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Grace River is a slim little novel, told from the alternating perspectives of four residents of a small town in British Columbia called Grace River. It's a town where most people know each other, where most people grew up nearby, and the main industry is the smelter, Axis. Our four narrators are Jessie, Daniel, Kali,… Continue reading Book Review: Grace River by Rebecca Hendry
There are two ways I have to approach a book like this. 1) As a reader and 2) as a Christian. In the first instance, I didn't love this book. I really wanted to. I've heard great things about Chan as a speaker but it unfortunately seems to be the case that, though he may… Continue reading Book Review: Crazy Love by Francis Chan
I'm very low-key about my hair. I get it cut maybe twice a year. I don't colour it and I rarely use product in it. I go to the drug store and I buy whatever shampoo and conditioner is on sale. I've never given much thought to the privilege this represents. There is an eye-opening… Continue reading Book Review: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
"The soldier is not a photographic machine. He is not a camera. He registers, so to speak, only those few items that he is predisposed to register and not a single thing more. Do you understand this? So I am saying to you that after a battle each soldier will have different stories to tell,… Continue reading Book Review: Going After Cacciato – Tim O’Brien
Karissa Reads Books 