My main problem with The Luminaries was that it was too big. Not too long - I definitely could have read more from Catton. The book is over 800 pages and in hardcover it was just too large for me to hold with one hand. And since I do much of my reading these days while… Continue reading Book Review: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Having previously read Michael Redhill's Consolation, and having found it a bit boring, I wasn't all that excited for his latest novel. But it sounded interesting enough that when I had the chance of getting an advanced copy, I decided to take it. I'm happy to report that it's definitely not boring. Jean is a… Continue reading Book Review – Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill
"This book is so weird," was my almost constant thought as I read Lost in September. It wasn't until I was around three quarters of the way through that I felt I had a handle on what I was supposed to believe/see. Sometimes that made for a frustrating reading experience but overall, Winter handles it… Continue reading Book Review: Lost in September by Kathleen Winter
My boss handed me a copy of Teardown after I detailed my weekend to her recently. Namely that, while in Vancouver, Peter and I went to IKEA with Pearl in tow. We hadn't been since I was about seven months pregnant with Pearl and had looked forward to the visit. We smugly wandered through the living… Continue reading Book Review: Teardown by Clea Young
I've read all of Heather O'Neill's published work and reviewed two of them here. (Daydream of Angels and Lullabies for Little Criminals) Obviously, I enjoy her work and thankfully her latest novel didn't disappoint. If you like O'Neill's previous work, then I think you'll be pleased with The Lonely Hearts Hotel. Using Montreal once again as her setting,… Continue reading Book Review: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill
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
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
I have to start by saying this book is truly excellent. I'd been waiting for weeks for a copy at our local library and it came available right before we went away for Spring Break. Afraid they wouldn't hold it for too long, I took it with me and ended up reading it in the… Continue reading Book Review: The Break by Katherena Vermette
A quick disclaimer to say that I know Deborah Willis but only a little bit. We were in the same program at university but she was a couple of years ahead of me and we briefly worked at the same coffee shop and then we worked at rival bookstores. I read her first short story… Continue reading Book Review: The Dark and Other Love Stories by Deborah Willis
The novel opens with Sadie Woodbury, elementary school student, finding herself face-to-face with a would-be school shooter. Sadie (and, presumably, the entire school or at least the secretary the shooter came to kill) is saved by teacher George Woodbury, also her own father. This is a rather heavy-handed way of letting the reader know how… Continue reading Book Review: The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall
Karissa Reads Books 