Butterflies in November (Black Cat, 2014) is an Icelandic novel first published in 2004 but only recently translated into English. What is this book about? A woman's husband announces his desire to divorce him. She cooks a goose. She goes on a road trip with her friend's child (for some reason). She meets some men.… Continue reading Book Review – Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Tag: Book Review
Book Review – Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay
Alone in the Classroom (Emblem 2011) begins with a murder and the tension grows from there. In fact, the rate of revelation and tension in this novel is infinitely impressive. Our narrator, Anne, begins with the story of the death of a young girl, occurring when her own mother was young. It is also the… Continue reading Book Review – Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay
Book Review – To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
A couple of chapters in and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour (Little, Brown & Co, 2014) began to make me feel like I need to book a dentist appointment. Though probably not with Paul O'Rourke, the main character, narrator, and dentist of the novel. Paul is outwardly successful - he owns his dental… Continue reading Book Review – To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
Book Review – A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
This is a book I've been wanting to read for a long time and it did not disappoint. I was familiar with Rachel Held Evans' writing through her blog - mostly posts circulated by friends. And while I've never followed it religiously (pun!) I've generally appreciated what I've read from Evans. A Year of Biblical… Continue reading Book Review – A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
Book Review – Seven Good Reasons Not to be Good by John Gould
I liked this book more than I expected to. And while that may not sound like the highest praise, it's meant to be a compliment. I knew almost nothing about the title when I picked up a copy at the thrift store, except that I had taken a single semester with John Gould as professor … Continue reading Book Review – Seven Good Reasons Not to be Good by John Gould
Book Review – Juliet Was a Surprise by Bill Gaston
It's hard to review a short story collection. You're not discussing and evaluating one plot, one set of characters - you're dealing with many. How do you approach that? Which do you focus on? I recently got to hear Bill Gaston talk about and read from Juliet Was a Surprise (Hamish Hamilton, 2014). He… Continue reading Book Review – Juliet Was a Surprise by Bill Gaston
Book Review – Man by Kim Thuy
What strikes you first when you begin to read Mãn (Random House, 2014) is its unique format. Each chapter of this slim novel reads like a long poem. The headings are unobtrusively displayed in English and Vietnamese. Most of the chapters are less than a page. They are vignettes, moments. Given their brevity, they are… Continue reading Book Review – Man by Kim Thuy
Book Review – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
I was about halfway through The Bluest Eye (Plume, 1994) when a friend asked me what I was currently reading. "It's pretty heavy, right?" she asked. I glanced at her little girl, munching apple slices next to me at the kitchen counter. "Yeah. It is." Racial tensions, domestic abuse, poverty, incest. Yeah, pretty dark. While… Continue reading Book Review – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Book Review – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This is one that's been on my To Read list for a long time. The Shadow of the Wind (Penguin Books, 2001) takes place in Barcelona, following the Second World War. Daniel is ten years old, living with his father, the owner of a bookshop. As the story opens, Daniel is taken for the first… Continue reading Book Review – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Book Review – The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
If you love a good mystery novel - with a private eye who smokes too much, drinks too much, likes to comment on a lady's legs (and calls them "gams"), but always gets the job done - you owe a debt of gratitude to Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep is Chandler's first novel, published in… Continue reading Book Review – The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Karissa Reads Books 