Some books should come with a warning. Something like, "You're probably going to cry before this book is through. Even if you think you're not a crier." All My Puny Sorrows (Knopf Canada, 2014) is Miriam Toews' sixth novel. Like the first five, this novel involves Mennonite characters. Though while being Mennonite is key to… Continue reading Book Review – All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
I'm rather inclined to think of Tell the Wolves I'm Home (Dial Press, 2013) as a young adult novel. That's certainly not a bad thing, I just think teenagers would benefit from reading this one. June is 14-years-old and her favourite person in the world has just died. Her uncle Finn, a talented artist, her… Continue reading Book Review – Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Disclaimer: I've met Bill Gaston in real life and because he's a super nice person, it likely colours my review. That said, he is an award-winning Canadian writer so I'm not the only one being nice to him. After all that, I don't feel bad saying that I generally prefer his short stories to his… Continue reading Book Review – The World by Bill Gaston
Anne Michaels excels at a certain kind of historical fiction. Historical fiction that pulls you deeply in to a character's life. A fiction that feels like the best family history you could hear, like someone you love whispering their secrets in your ear. I had high hopes for The Winter Vault (McClelland & Stewart, 2009)… Continue reading Book Review – The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels
I'm willing to bet that most people who were teenagers in 1999 remember where they were when they find out about the Columbine shooting. It was a sort of JFK assassination for our generation, a year and a half before the World Trade Centre towers fell. It wasn't the first school shooting and it wasn't… Continue reading Book Review – We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
This tiny novel - only sixty-nine pages - is really more of a short story. Yet, by offering it to us in book form, Zadie Smith confers on The Embassy of Cambodia (Hamish Hamilton, 2013) a greater depth and weight. Fortunately, this story deserves it. The Embassy of Cambodia focuses on Fatou, a domestic servant… Continue reading Book Review – The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith
I did not like this book. I remember when it was released and when it was selling out in stores and was at its height of popularity. Even now, people ask for it and seem to enjoy it. I just don't understand the appeal. The Art of Racing in the Rain (Harper Perennial, 2008) is… Continue reading Book Review – The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Gilead (HarperCollins, 2004) is a novel that shouldn't work but does. And masterfully so. There's not much action and there's even less dialogue and yet Robinson keeps the tension tight and the reader engaged. John Ames is in his late seventies and he knows he will die soon. He doesn't have much in the way… Continue reading Book Review – Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
I'm about twenty years too young to feel much nostalgia over the 1960s but I'm exactly the right age to understand that childhood dreams don't necessarily translate into adult life. The Interestings (Riverhead Books, 2013) starts out with six teenagers at a summer camp called Spirit-in-the-Woods. It's a camp for artistically-inclined youth and for each… Continue reading Book Review – The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
The cutesy cover and title of The Rosie Project (HarperCollins, 2013) might keep you away from this novel. But if you give it a chance, you'll likely find yourself hooked pretty quickly. I laughed for the first time on page 3 when the narrator, Don, says this: "I would have been satisfied with our relationship...but… Continue reading Book Review – The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Karissa Reads Books 