As you may be aware, March 8th is International Women's Day. A couple of years ago, I shared about the books by women that I have on my shelves. (That list could use a bit of an update, to be honest, but there are still lots of great women writers there.) Today I thought I'd… Continue reading International Women’s Day
If you're familiar with Yann Martel's work (and you probably are, because he wrote Life of Pi), you know that he does things a little unusually. He writes books with taxidermied animals as the main characters (read my review of Beatrice & Virgil) and he leaves you wondering about the truth of that tiger in… Continue reading Book Review: The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
In the womb, you hear people talking and their voices sound like someone you're in love with talking in their sleep. from "Heaven" Heather O'Neill excels at creating metaphors that are both etirely unique and powerfully, strangely accurate. This skill - seen in her novels (Lullabies for Little Criminals and The Girl Who Was Saturday… Continue reading Book Review: Daydreams of Angels by Heather O’Neill
This book surprised me. I was surprised to find a first time novelist who could balance so many characters and tensions so skillfully. I was surprised that there hasn't been more hype over Lauren Owen's debut. And I was surprised because the blurb on the book jacket is so completely not what this book is… Continue reading Book Review: The Quick by Lauren Owen
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
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
A few years ago I heard Michael Christie read from his then new short story collection, The Beggar's Garden. I enjoyed the stories and so was curious to read more from him, now in novel form. If I Fall, If I Die doesn't disappoint and I found it even more readable and enjoyable than his… Continue reading Book Review: If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie
The Lotus Eaters begins with the following quote from The Odyssey: Those who ate the honeyed fruit of the plant lost any wish to come back and bring us news. All they now wanted was to stay where they were with the Lotus-eaters, to browse on the lotus, and to forget all thoughts of return.… Continue reading Book Review: The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
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
Karissa Reads Books 