Let's talk about story. And narration. And unreliable narrators and memory and aging. Each of these subjects is what Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending is really about. The plot is really more of an excuse to examine these topics. That's not to say there is no plot or that the plot is no… Continue reading Book Review: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney (Penguin Canada, 2006) Read my review here. The Bone Sharps - Tim Bowling (Gaspereau Press, 2007) Read my review here. Remembrance - Alistair MacLeod (McClelland & Stewart, 2012) The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes (Vintage Canada, 2012) Beatrice & Virgil - Yann Martel (Alfred A. Knopf… Continue reading What I Read – October 2015
Last Christmas my terrific brother-in-law and his lovely wife gave us a collection of Little Golden Books. We all remember Little Golden Books from our childhood, right? They're awesome. I love reading books from my own kid days with Pearl. However, sometimes re-reading kids books as an adult casts a new light on them. (Spoilers… Continue reading Book Review: The Tawny Scrawny Lion by Kathryn Jackson, illus. by Gustaf Tenggren (Reading with Pearl)
I really disliked this book. It surprised me how much I disliked this book. And then it surprised me to remember that this book is a Giller prize winner*, an award that is highly respected within Canada. I'm not surprised that a book I don't like won the Giller prize because literary enjoyment can be… Continue reading Book Review: The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre
There are multiple stories occurring within the scope of this novel. We have Charles Hazelius Sternberg (a real life historical figure), a fossil hunter, creeping closer to the end of his career, possibly losing his mind in the Alberta badlands, in 1916. We have Sternberg's young assistant, Scott Cameron, in the trenches of World War… Continue reading Book Review: The Bone Sharps by Tim Bowling
Royce is sixteen and has just moved with his mother across the country, from Nova Scotia to Vancouver Island. He's bored, lonely, and biding his time until he can escape back east to his former life. In the meantime, his mother convinces him to take on the job of caring for her 95-year-old father. Arthur… Continue reading Book Review: Death Benefits by Sarah N. Harvey
We have this terrific early literacy program here on the Coast where each month an age-appropriate book is sent to your home for your child. (It's done in partnership with Dolly Parton's reading program.) I love it and Pearl's already received several fun board books. (I always knew board books were great at this age… Continue reading Book Review: Peek-a-Zoo (Reading with Pearl)
This is a book with a surprisingly tight plot. I say surprisingly because there are a lot of plot lines going on here and yet each one is compelling, thoughtful, and well fleshed-out. There's a murdered French trapper, a remote Hudson Bay Company fort, a Norwegian religious community, the twenty year disappearance of two young… Continue reading Book Review: The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Whether or not you agree with Tolstoy that all happy families are the same, it's generally true that they're not very interesting to read about. Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith alternate in telling the stories of their lives. While they grew up near each other in England, they had drastically different childhoods. Jenny was… Continue reading Book Review: My Secret Sister by Helen Edwards & Jenny Lee Smith
Nothing so reminds you like the sea that the enemy of life is not death but loneliness. For some reason, the names of the men who vied to reach the South Pole are far better known than those who competed to reach the North. I know about Scott and Amundsen and, of course, Shackleton, but… Continue reading Book Review: The Navigator of New York by Wayne Johnston
Karissa Reads Books 