After a somewhat awkward incident of an acquaintance thinking I'd borrowed his copy of The Tennis Partner almost ten years ago and never returned it, I decided to take it as a sign and actually read the book. (I got it from the library, however.) Having read Cutting for Stone last year, I already knew… Continue reading Book Review: The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
For most of high school, I lived within walking distance of a Sikh temple in East Vancouver. A lot of my friends were Punjabi and so while there's still a lot I don't know about Sikh culture, I'd say I'm fairly familiar with it over all. So I was excited to read Basran's novel of… Continue reading Book Review: Everything Was Good-Bye by Gurjinder Basran
I'll start off by saying that I almost gave up on this book halfway through. I'm glad I didn't but it isn't a long novel and it took me most of it to feel truly engaged. The story is divided between two characters and times. Yuki is a teenager in New York in the… Continue reading Book Review: Harmless Like You by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
You know how, as you get older, you begin to realize that your family is maybe not so normal? That all the things they do that you thought were average, might actually be a little crazy? That's what's happening to Matty Telemachus. Sure, Matty's always known his family is unique. Not many families once travelled… Continue reading Book Review: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
After reading Zoe Whittall's most recent novel, The Best Kind of People, I was eager to see what her earlier work was like. I enjoyed Holding Still for as Long as Possible and would even go so far as describing it as more realistic than The Best Kind of People. The description on the front… Continue reading Book Review: Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whittall
It's a bit unfair to lump these two story collections in together but I read them almost back to back and, a few weeks later, am struggling to differentiate them in my mind. A Manual for Cleaning Women and Collected Stories are collections of a life's worth of short stories by Lucia Berlin and Grace… Continue reading Book Review: 2 Short Story Collections
I was familiar with the concept of the Five Love Languages and what they were long before I ever read this book but when I saw Chapman's book in a thrift store thought it might still be interesting to see what his ideas were in more detail. Basically, Chapman proposes that humans each have a… Continue reading Book Review: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Eleanor Oliphant, thirty years old, works in an office, does things exactly how she wants them without worrying what others think. Eleanor Oliphant is perfectly fine on her own, thank you very much, and always has been. She goes to Marks & Spencer every Friday, talks to Mummy on the phone every Wednesday night, and… Continue reading Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
While Angie Thomas' first novel is being marketed as a young adult novel. I would greatly encourage all readers interested in modern America, racial issues, or violence among youth to read it. The book is probably most appropriate for older teen readers (15+) due to violence and some language. It's a fairly easy read but… Continue reading Book Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I've been to Beijing and stood in Tiananmen Square three times in my life. The first time was, I believe late 1988 or early 1989, before our family moved to Canada at the end of 1989. I would have been about three years old on that first trip and I have no memories of the… Continue reading Book Review: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
