This book was so frustrating. The writing is beautiful; evocative descriptions of place full of smell and texture, the people seem visible and nuanced in their appearance on the page, and there is so much history simmering beneath the page. But the actions of the characters are so frustrating I found myself racing through the… Continue reading Book Review: The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli
Pearl is currently in a bit of a car phase so when I spotted this Little Golden Book at a library book sale, I picked it up. The book is originally from 1951 but this copy was republished in 1976. It remains delightfully dated but the pictures are by Richard Scarry. No word on who… Continue reading Reading with Pearl & Rose: Cars and Trucks
I can faintly recall, as a child, watching the national news, noticing a lot of talk about fishing out east. The lack of fish, the death of an industry and a lifestyle. It was my own country but very far away and very removed from my own city childhood on the opposite coast. In 1992,… Continue reading Book Review: Our Homesick Songs
I received this book from ECW Press. All opinions are my own. Refuge is a novel about, well, refuge. How do we seek refuge? How do we give it? Who do we offer refuge to? At the centre of the novel is Cass. In the present tense of the story, Cass is 96-years-old, living alone on… Continue reading Book Review: Refuge by Merilyn Simonds
Stewart Inkster and Ashley Anderson are complete opposites. Stewart is smart and loyal though rather socially awkward while Ashley is beautiful, insecure, and unkind. They are thrown together when their parents move in together. After Stewart's mother dies, his dad finds love again with Ashley's mom and so Stewart and his dad Leonard leave their… Continue reading Book Review: We Are All Made Of Molecules – Susin Nielsen
Washington Black has not even been available for a month but it's already showing up on all sorts of award lists for the year, including The Man Booker Prize and the Giller Prize. (Edugyan won the Giller Prize for her last novel, Half Blood Blues.) I know Esi slightly in real life, back in my Victoria days. She… Continue reading Book Review: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Very early on, I wondered if I would finish this book. It aggravated me almost immediately but I pushed on, wondering what I was missing. In the end, I skim read through to the end since I was curious to find out what the narrator's final decision would be. The question that she chases throughout… Continue reading Book Review: Motherhood by Sheila Heti
I know someone who moved to Australia, married an Australian, and named her daughter Alice. She's a big fan of this book. With an endorsement like that, I've been meaning to read this novel for years. When I finally got my hands on a copy, it took me only days to make it through. The… Continue reading Book Review: A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
I read Be Frank With Me in a couple of days while away on the island. It was a fine vacation read - easy and entertaining. It had been recommended to me by an acquaintance when it first came out and so I was happy to find a secondhand copy recently. It is the kind of… Continue reading Book Review: Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
READ: Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng (Penguin Press, 2017) This book wasn't at all what I expected but it was so much better. Such a compelling read and Ng nails so much of what is wonderful and terrifying about motherhood. Highly recommended. Our Animal Hearts - Dania Tomlinson (Anchor Canada, 2018) Full review here. The Silmarillion -… Continue reading What I Read – June 2018
Karissa Reads Books 