We Two Alone - Jack Wang (Astoria, 2020) I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. This short story collection moves through history and place, highlighting and documenting the experiences of Chinese immigrants - the Chinese diaspora - across the world. Moving roughly through time, the… Continue reading Book Review: We Two Alone by Jack Wang
If I Had Your Face - Frances Cha (Ballantine Books, 2020) This was an easy-to-read and compelling, if somewhat flawed novel. Following five women who live in an apartment building in Seoul, Korea, it shines a light on the lives of young people, the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the Korean beauty… Continue reading Book Review: If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
Apeirogon - Colum McCann (Harper Collins, 2020) Apeirogon: a shape with a countably infinite number of sides.Colum McCann, Apeirogon I've never read a novel quite like this. A blend of fact and fiction. A combination of history and present day. A tapestry of facts and story, divided into 1001 sections, varying in size, dipping in… Continue reading Book Review: Apeirogon by Colum McCann
When I first saw Ducks, Newburyport on the shelf at the bookstore and when I first read about it, I thought, "Well, there's a book I'll never read." The story clocks in at 988 pages. It's a stream-of-consciousness novel, told mostly in one rambling sentence. The parts that aren't this stream-of-conscious are told from the… Continue reading Book Review: Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
The Regrets - Amy Bonnaffons (Little, Brown and Company, 2020) I received an Advance Readers' Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. This is a weird little book. I say that with some affection because, overall, I enjoyed it. But it's weird and it's trying to be weird and it isn't always successful.… Continue reading Book Review: The Regrets by Amy Bonnaffons
Agnes, Murderess - Sarah Leavitt (Freehand, 2019) This graphic novel explores the story of Agnes McVee, an elusive story of a woman who kept a boarding house in the Cariboo and allegedly killed more than fifty people. Historical evidence for her existence in scant but a legend has grown up around the story of this… Continue reading Book Review: Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt
Last Impressions - Joseph Kertes (Viking Canada, 2020) I received an Advance Readers' Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. My overall impression of Last Impressions (see what I did there?) is that this is a story that has been told before. And so I found myself thinking about why we tell stories,… Continue reading Book Review: Last Impressions by Joseph Kertes
Bleak House - Charles Dickens (W.W. Norton & Co, 1977) A 500+ page book with a focus on an obscure aspect of 19th century British law doesn't exactly sound gripping and yet Dickens brings it all to life in a story filled with humour and emotion. In many ways, all of Dickens' best elements are… Continue reading Book Review: Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Man Who Say Everything - Deborah Levy (Hamish Hamilton, 2019) It's hard to know how to talk about this book. Divided into two parts, there is a sort of reveal halfway through and that becomes clearer as the book progresses to the end that makes it clear what this book is about and what… Continue reading Book Review: The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy
The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick (Mariner Books, 2011) While I found Philip K. Dick's work of post-war speculative fiction interesting, I can't quite say that I enjoyed it. Set in 1962 (also its year of publication), the book examines a possible world and life in America if the Axis powers… Continue reading Book Review: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Karissa Reads Books 