The Coast Road - Alan Murrin (HarperVia, 2024) I received an Advance Readers Copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. Book is on sale now. Without quite intending to, I've found myself reading quite a bit of Irish writing this past year or so. I don't know if I can… Continue reading Book Review: The Coast Road by Alan Murrin
The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo (Henry Holt & Company, 2024) It's so nice when you pick up a book expecting to enjoy it and it lives up to all of your expectations. I was very hopeful for The Fox Wife as it had a lot that gave it points in my mind: 1) Historical… Continue reading Book Review: The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
The Capital of Dreams - Heather O'Neill (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., 2024) I received an Advance Readers' Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Publication Date: 9 October 2024 I've read all of Heather O'Neill's fiction (see some reviews here) over the years, starting with the debut novel that launched her into CanLit… Continue reading Book Review: The Capital of Dreams by Heather O’Neill (20 Books of Summer)
The Whalebone Theatre - Joanna Quinn (Alfred A. Knopf, 2022) In parts, this felt like two stories joined together. There is the story of three semi-feral children, related to each other in complicated ways, growing up in a crumbling English estate in the last days when such places existed. Then there is the story of… Continue reading Book Review: The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
Point form book reviews are reviews where I have something to say about a book I've read (or, in this case, listened to) but I don't have enough coherent thought around to write a full review. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would Did not know it was split into two parts, set… Continue reading (Point Form) (Audio) Book Review: The Damages by Genevieve Scott
Grove Books, 2024 I don't mind confessing that I was drawn to this book by the combo of the cover picture and the title. The image of simply sailing away from whatever chaos that fire is on the right side and responding, "I cheerfully refuse" when someone tries to draw you into said chaos was… Continue reading Book Review: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
I loved this book. Picking up a book by a new author, particularly when the book is the author's first publication, can be a exciting but risky endeavour. I saw The Other Valley on a list of new publications and that it was being compared to books by Emily St. John Mandel and Kazuo Ishiguro,… Continue reading Book Review: The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
I picked The Future up when it was shortlisted for this year's Canada Reads competition. This is where 5 books are "championed" by famous Canadians over the course of one week until there is one final winner. I always follow along with interest but it doesn't generally add a lot of titles to my TBR.… Continue reading Book Review: The Future by Catherine Leroux
Antarctica by Claire Keegan and The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy are two short story collections by female Irish writers. Since I read them back to back, it was hard not to compare them as I was reading and I felt it made a sort of sense to… Continue reading Book Review: 2 Irish Short Story Collections
A thought took her by surprise: I should have been born a man. But that wasn't it. She didn't want to be a man. She just wanted to be a woman with the same freedom to choose as a man had. Kate Grenville, Restless Dolly Maunder Dolly Maunder is sharp, smart, and ambitious. Born in… Continue reading Book Review: Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
