As For Me and My House - Sinclair Ross (New Canadian Library, 1971) This book is something of a Canadian classic, often showing up on lists of Canadian books through the years. It's a Depression-era book through and through, from the prairie setting to the drought to the bleakness of every aspect in it. It's… Continue reading Book Review: As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
Casey is in her early 30s, living in a converted garage, struggling to write a novel. Her mother has recently died and she's found herself devastated in the wake of a whirlwind romance. Waitressing pays her bills and while she's watched so many of her artist friends fade into suburban life, Casey holds on to… Continue reading Book Review: Writers & Lovers by Lily King
This book had been sitting on my TBR for so long that I had forgotten what it was about. While the book came out in 2019, it really could have been written in any year since then and felt shockingly, tragically fresh. The book opens in 1991 in Los Angeles where we meet teenage Shawn… Continue reading Book Review: Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha
As 2024 draws to a close, I'm looking back at the reading goals I set at the beginning of the year. What were they? Read 30,000 pages Read 15 translated works Read 30 books I already own. Read 25 books that have been on my TBR since before 2023. And how did I do? I… Continue reading What I Read – 2024
Hello and welcome back! This is our final category in these prestigious literary awards and the one I personally find the hardest. Fiction by far dominates my reading each year and I think I read a fairly wide variety of fiction which also makes it hard to choose my favourites. This year I've narrowed it… Continue reading The Annual Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards: Best Fiction
Guys, why did I think this was a sasquatch story? Why did I spent at least two thirds of this book waiting for a sasquatch to show up? I swear I remember reading this in a blurb or review somewhere but I obviously got it mixed up (or vastly misunderstood). So, let's be clear: there… Continue reading Book Review: God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Hello and Welcome Back! Today we're delving into Can Lit. In case you didn't know, I'm a Canadian and I strive to read Canadian fiction. I do this for a lot of reasons but primarily because I actually think Canadian writing is largely really good. I believe that our literature is one of the areas… Continue reading The Annual Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards: Best Canadian Book
Welcome back! Today's focus is short stories. I love short stories and I always wish I read more of them. There's something so satisfying about sitting down and reading an entire story in one gulp. For this category, I'm looking at what was the most satisfying over all collection of short stories. In 2024, I… Continue reading The Annual Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards: Best Short Story Collection
Shy Creatures - Clare Chambers (Mariner Books, 2024) Helen Hansford is an art therapist, working as an art therapist at Westbury Park, a psychiatric hospital. The year is 1964 and art therapy is still something of a new idea. Helen enjoys her work and is challenged by it but psychotherapy is on the cusp of… Continue reading Book Review: Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
Read: The Mythmakers - John Hendrix (Abrams, 2024) The Leopard - Giuseppe di Lampedusa (translated from the Italian by Guido Waldman) (Pantheon Books, 2007) Tyll - Daniel Kehlmann (translated from the German by Ross Benjamin) (Pantheon Books, 2020) Rainbow Valley - L.M. Montgomery (Seal Books, 1976) James - Percival Everett (Doubleday, 2024) The Christian Book… Continue reading What I Read: November 2024
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