Book Review: Abigail by Magda Szabo

Abigail - Magda Szabo (New York Review Books, 2020) This book was translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix. I think we can all be guilty sometimes of assuming that people who lived a long time ago (and by extension, books written by and about people who lived a long time ago), aren't going to… Continue reading Book Review: Abigail by Magda Szabo

Book Review: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This - Omar El Akkad (McClelland & Stewart, 2025) I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Pub date: February 25, 2025 No, there is no terrible thing coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing… Continue reading Book Review: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

(Audio) Book Review: North Woods by Daniel Mason

North Woods - Daniel Mason (Books on Tape, 2023) Having read Daniel Mason's short story collection some years ago (review here), I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to read a full novel from him. I enjoyed the stories but I actually ended that review saying I wasn't sure whether or not his style… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: North Woods by Daniel Mason

Book Review: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

The winter holidays are an excellent time to dive into Charles Dickens' work. And while I didn't read all of this over my Christmas break, I did give it a good start and finished a couple weeks later. (It's not short!) I've read some of Dickens' work where I've been grabbed almost immediately and others… Continue reading Book Review: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Book Review: Sing To It by Amy Hempel

Sing To It - Amy Hempel (Scribner, 2019) This collection of short stories by Amy Hempel is short and melodic and the best way I can describe it is that many of the stories feel more like poems. Many are very short - the book is only 149 pages long but has 15 stories within… Continue reading Book Review: Sing To It by Amy Hempel

Reading with Pearl & Rose: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1981) In these posts I hope to share a little about what I am reading with my two children. Not exactly a review but a look at a book we've read together and how it worked for us. For context, my daughters are currently… Continue reading Reading with Pearl & Rose: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Book Review: Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Casey is in her early 30s, living in a converted garage, struggling to write a novel. Her mother has recently died and she's found herself devastated in the wake of a whirlwind romance. Waitressing pays her bills and while she's watched so many of her artist friends fade into suburban life, Casey holds on to… Continue reading Book Review: Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Book Review: Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

This book had been sitting on my TBR for so long that I had forgotten what it was about. While the book came out in 2019, it really could have been written in any year since then and felt shockingly, tragically fresh. The book opens in 1991 in Los Angeles where we meet teenage Shawn… Continue reading Book Review: Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

What I Read – 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, I'm looking back at the reading goals I set at the beginning of the year. What were they? Read 30,000 pages Read 15 translated works Read 30 books I already own. Read 25 books that have been on my TBR since before 2023. And how did I do? I… Continue reading What I Read – 2024

Book Review: Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

Shy Creatures - Clare Chambers (Mariner Books, 2024) Helen Hansford is an art therapist, working as an art therapist at Westbury Park, a psychiatric hospital. The year is 1964 and art therapy is still something of a new idea. Helen enjoys her work and is challenged by it but psychotherapy is on the cusp of… Continue reading Book Review: Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers