Category Books
As I’ve mentioned, I’m back to school this fall. I’m doing my BA, majoring in communications. I’m attending Simon Fraser University and they have a specific requirement that you take a certain number of credits outside your major. So this… Continue Reading →
“BBAW” stands for Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and 2011 marks the fourth anniversary of the event. Concocted up by Amy of My Friend Amy, I’ve been helping with the BBAW website and graphic design stuff for the past three years…. Continue Reading →
Fruit: A Novel About A Boy and His Nipples by Brian Francis is a heartfelt tale about 13-year-old Peter Paddington, who is overweight, gay, and unpopular. When his nipples poke out and start talking to him—with brutally honest opinions—he tries… Continue Reading →
In general, I’m sort of lukewarm on short stories, so I was pleasantly surprised when I read Up Up Up by Julie Booker. I did not want to put it down; Julie Booker’s writing is eloquent, thoughtful, funny, and tight…. Continue Reading →
A Clash of Kings is the second book ins George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (aka The Game of Thrones). After becoming absorbed in the first book, A Game of Thrones, I picked up a copy… Continue Reading →
The good news is that I didn’t cry as much reading Voyager (book three in the Outlander Series) as when I read Dragonfly in Amber. But I still fell hard for the story and the characters. Diana Gabaldon just has… Continue Reading →
Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me is a graphic novel by Vancouver author and artist, Sarah Leavitt. As the subtitle indicates, it’s the powerful and emotional (true) story of Midge Leavitt’s battle with Alzheimer’s and the effect… Continue Reading →
Nearly immediately after finishing Outlander, the first book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, I picked up book two, Dragonfly in Amber. [Click here for my review of Outlander] The first book had immediately drawn me in to Claire… Continue Reading →
Off the Highway: Growing Up In North Delta is a memoir by local author Mette Bach and installment 18 in the Transmontanus Series published by New Star Books. The Transmontanus series, edited by Terry Glavin, are “short illustrated books about… Continue Reading →
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is the first in a historical semi-mythical series which includes war and violence, relationships, family and society, questions of morality, honour, and spirituality, love and sex, adventures, journeys, and violence. Truly, this book has everything I… Continue Reading →
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman hits all the right buttons on the back cover copy and inside flaps. In theory, it sounds like a great coming-of-age novel dealing with race, culture, immigration, acceptance and adolescent violence. However, I had a… Continue Reading →
I picked up this book when I heard about the series HBO was producing and the guy at the till said “your friends won’t see you for weeks.” Confused, I asked why. “You’ll need to catch up on the entire… Continue Reading →
I finished Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid by Evelyn Lau at least a month ago. I’ve had a bit of blogger-block and had difficulties pinpointing my feelings about this book. It’s very strange to read a non-fiction/memoir that takes… Continue Reading →
Alan Bradley wove another enjoyable and intriguing tale starring Flavia de Luce, the darker, British version of Harriet the Spy. I had already fallen hard for Flavia when reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed… Continue Reading →
I’m not sure if it was the melancholy tone, the lack of plot, or the fact that the main character is a writer writing about writing… but I had a lot of trouble getting into the book. Fortunately, I persevered… Continue Reading →
Did you know1 that: Among working age Canadians, 3 million (14.6%) struggle with very serious literacy challenges. They have difficulty with even the most basic written materials. Another 5.8 million (27%) can work with print information but not well. More… Continue Reading →
Incite: An Exploration of Books and Ideas is a new reading series curated by the Vancouver International Writer’s Festival and hosted by the Vancouver Public Library. It takes place every second Wednesday evening at 7:30pm in the downstairs rooms at… Continue Reading →
I was a little apprehensive when I first read the jacket copy for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. But the book came highly recommended by a bookish friend, so I plunged ahead. Initially I was concerned my… Continue Reading →
So I began playing around with GoodReads. Several of you may notice I tried to add you. I have to say though, I’m not that impressed. First of all, GoodReads didn’t recognize nearly 100 of my books from LibraryThing. Now… Continue Reading →
I first learned about Michael Christie’s book, The Beggar’s Garden, at the inaugural Incite reading series programmed by the Vancouver Writer’s Festival and hosted by the Vancouver Public Library. Michael read an excerpt from the first short story in his… Continue Reading →
February 20-26 is Freedom to Read Week 2011 — the Canadian version of Banned Books Week. I like Freedom to Read Week’s message: positive, open, and cheerful. Every year I say I’m going to read a challenged/banned book but never… Continue Reading →
I was shocked as most people to find out that Essex County by Jeff Lemire, a graphic novel, made the Canada Reads list this year. Canada Reads has strict criteria — no short stories, no poetry, fiction only. I was… Continue Reading →
A couple months ago I saw a tweet from Leanne Prain, one of the authors of the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit and Crochet Graffiti. The tweet linked to the yarn bombing website and said they were organizing… Continue Reading →
Originally published in 2007 by NeWest Press, The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou is currently a contender for CBC Canada Reads. I love that Canada Reads exposes me to authors and books that I wouldn’t have initially picked out —… Continue Reading →
Book Review :: Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner
Zsuzsi Gartner’s writing is witty, wry, satirical, and very intelligent. In her book of short stories, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives, Gartner scrutinizes everyone. From the real estate agent in her Hummer to the homeless person getting publicly funded plastic… Continue Reading →