I was about halfway through The Bluest Eye (Plume, 1994) when a friend asked me what I was currently reading. "It's pretty heavy, right?" she asked. I glanced at her little girl, munching apple slices next to me at the kitchen counter. "Yeah. It is." Racial tensions, domestic abuse, poverty, incest. Yeah, pretty dark. While… Continue reading Book Review – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Category: Book Reviews
Book Review – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This is one that's been on my To Read list for a long time. The Shadow of the Wind (Penguin Books, 2001) takes place in Barcelona, following the Second World War. Daniel is ten years old, living with his father, the owner of a bookshop. As the story opens, Daniel is taken for the first… Continue reading Book Review – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Book Review – The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
If you love a good mystery novel - with a private eye who smokes too much, drinks too much, likes to comment on a lady's legs (and calls them "gams"), but always gets the job done - you owe a debt of gratitude to Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep is Chandler's first novel, published in… Continue reading Book Review – The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Book Review – All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Some books should come with a warning. Something like, "You're probably going to cry before this book is through. Even if you think you're not a crier." All My Puny Sorrows (Knopf Canada, 2014) is Miriam Toews' sixth novel. Like the first five, this novel involves Mennonite characters. Though while being Mennonite is key to… Continue reading Book Review – All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Book Review – Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
I'm rather inclined to think of Tell the Wolves I'm Home (Dial Press, 2013) as a young adult novel. That's certainly not a bad thing, I just think teenagers would benefit from reading this one. June is 14-years-old and her favourite person in the world has just died. Her uncle Finn, a talented artist, her… Continue reading Book Review – Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
The Well-Read Canadian
Today Canada celebrates its 147th birthday. In honour of the occasion, I would like to present to you the top 50 novels you should read if you want to be A Well-Read Canadian. And who doesn't, right? This idea was inspired by this list, as well as my general love of listing books. My criteria:… Continue reading The Well-Read Canadian
Book Review – The World by Bill Gaston
Disclaimer: I've met Bill Gaston in real life and because he's a super nice person, it likely colours my review. That said, he is an award-winning Canadian writer so I'm not the only one being nice to him. After all that, I don't feel bad saying that I generally prefer his short stories to his… Continue reading Book Review – The World by Bill Gaston
Summer Reading List 2014
Happy first day of summer! As you may recall, I am anti the so-called "beach read". Life's too short to read poorly written books. That said, last summer I attempted to tackle (again) Ulysses by James Joyce and failed (again). Partly because that honking great book was not the right choice to backpack through Europe… Continue reading Summer Reading List 2014
Book Review – The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels
Anne Michaels excels at a certain kind of historical fiction. Historical fiction that pulls you deeply in to a character's life. A fiction that feels like the best family history you could hear, like someone you love whispering their secrets in your ear. I had high hopes for The Winter Vault (McClelland & Stewart, 2009)… Continue reading Book Review – The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels
Book Review – We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
I'm willing to bet that most people who were teenagers in 1999 remember where they were when they find out about the Columbine shooting. It was a sort of JFK assassination for our generation, a year and a half before the World Trade Centre towers fell. It wasn't the first school shooting and it wasn't… Continue reading Book Review – We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Karissa Reads Books 