What I Read – October 2025

Read: Pick a Colour - Souvankham Thammavongsa (Knopf Canada, 2025) (narrated by Zoe Doyle) White Nights - Fyodor Dostoevsky (Random House UK, 2025) (narrated by Luke Thompson) After Birth - Elisa Albert (Mariner Books, 2015) The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins (Penguin Classics, 1998) Ripeness - Sarah Moss (MacMillan Audio, 2025) (narrated by Flora Montgomery) The… Continue reading What I Read – October 2025

(Audio) Book Review: Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa

I received an Advance Listening Copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm. All opinions are my own.  When I read Thammavongsa's debut short story collection in 2021, I finished by saying that I would look forward to a novel from her. So when I saw an audiobook version of her first novel… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa

What I Read: July 2025

Read: The Sea - John Banville (Vintage International, 2005) The Weekend - Charlotte Wood (Riverhead Books, 2019) The Riches of Your Grace - Julie Lane-Gay (InterVarsity Press, 2024) Universality - Natasha Brown (Knopf Canada, 2025) (narrated by Norma Butikofer, Anushka Chakravarti, Clare Corbett, Daniel Weyman) Why I Write - George Orwell (Penguin Books, 2005) Anne… Continue reading What I Read: July 2025

(Audio) Book Review: Universality by Natasha Brown

I received an audio version of this book thanks to Libro.fm and the publisher. All opinions are my own. Universality is the sort of book that just as I felt the story was getting somewhere or I was understanding the characters, it moved to a new section or, finally, just ended. There's a story here… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Universality by Natasha Brown

Book Review: Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf Canada, 2025) I've been a fan of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's work since I first read Half of a Yellow Sun and I've since read everything else by her, including her non-fiction work. I've find her writing to be incisive and informative. I immediately added her new book to… Continue reading Book Review: Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Book Review: The Certainties by Aislinn Hunter

The Certainties - Aislinn Hunter (Knopf Canada, 2020) The Certainties is exactly the kind of dreamy, poetic novel that I find it so easy to fall in love with. It's a style of writing that I adore but I also know that it isn't for every reader. This novel reminded me of others I loved… Continue reading Book Review: The Certainties by Aislinn Hunter

Book Review: Fight Night by Miriam Toews

I received an Advance Readers' Copy of this book thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Swiv is 9-years-old. She lives with her mother, who is in her third trimester of pregnancy, and her grandmother. Swiv is writing a letter to her dad, who has recently disappeared out of their… Continue reading Book Review: Fight Night by Miriam Toews

Best Fiction – The Third Annual Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards

Fiction being what I read the most of, I always feel like the Best Fiction category is the best reflection of my favourite books of the year and I would say this year is no exception. So far this year I've read 62 novels. I narrowed the least down to sixteen, then down to five,… Continue reading Best Fiction – The Third Annual Karissa Reads Books Literary Awards

Book Review: Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell

Hamnet & Judith - Maggie O'Farrell ( In the 1580s, a couple living in Henley Street, Stratford, had three children: Susanna, then Hamnet and Judith, who were twins.The boy, Hamnet, died in 1596, aged eleven.Four years or so later, the father wrote a play called Hamlet.Hamnet & Judith - Maggie O'Farrell With this historical note… Continue reading Book Review: Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell

What I Read – September 2020

Read: Family in Six Tones - Lan Cao and Harlan Margaret Van Cao (Putnam, 2020) God in My Everything - Ken Shigematsu (Zondervan, 2013) Hamnet & Judith - Maggie O'Farrell (Knopf Canada, 2020) The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead (Bond Street Books, 2020) The Apothecary - Maile Meloy (Puffin Books, 2011) How Much of These… Continue reading What I Read – September 2020