Category Books
I was having difficulty putting my thoughts and feelings into words when it comes to Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards. It’s a darkly depressing book but weaves a tale that really makes you feel compassionate towards the… Continue Reading →
I’ve been using LibraryThing for a couple years now. I started with Shelfari but didn’t like the interface or widgets and quickly switched to LibraryThing. I enjoy the Early Reviewers program, although as of late haven’t had anything appeal to… Continue Reading →
I will admit I was a bit apprehensive about this book initially because I am not well-versed in politics — nor do I want to be. However, Terry Fallis managed to make the political observations, proceedings, and commentary manageable enough… Continue Reading →
The thing that makes this cookbook, Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection, so accessible for non-vegetarians, is that (I believe) these are all recipes originally published in Canadian Living magazine, which is not a strictly vegetarian audience. I am no master… Continue Reading →
I absolutely fell in love with The Birth House and couldn’t put the book down. I pretty much read it in just two sittings. Dora is a fantastic character with honest opinions, flaws, and wisdom beyond her years. The Birth… Continue Reading →
My initial musings on my Sony eReader were not very positive due to technological issues. However, I do have some good news, some improvements, adjustments, and (of course) bad news. Problem 1: Calibre did not work on my Macbook (Calibre… Continue Reading →
As soon as I read the back cover copy for Sub Rosa by Amber Dawn, I knew I wanted to read it. The themes and character setting sounded a bit like Lullabies for Little Criminals, which I really enjoyed. In… Continue Reading →
I’ve been meaning to read The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon since it came out last year. The Golden Mean got tons of great reviews, nominated for the 2009 CanLit triple crown (the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award… Continue Reading →
I don’t want to call this a review, because the opinions I’m going to express are personal and relate mostly to my trials, errors, and experiences. In the spirit of full disclosure, I received this ebook device as a gift… Continue Reading →
I loved The Innocent Traitor and recently finished The Lady Elizabeth, both by historian-turned-author Alison Weir. I’ve noted before that Alison Weir’s writing gets a bit slow in places, and I think it’s the historian in her that needs to… Continue Reading →
I’ve been hearing about Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill for a few years now in the Canadian Lit scene as it was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award and won the 2007 Canada Reads. When it popped… Continue Reading →
I have taken so long to write a review for Room by Emma Donoghue because I don’t really know what to say other than “love love love love it!” I’m still having difficulties expressing what I liked so much about… Continue Reading →
It’s a very exciting time for book people this time of year. All the major prizes are announcing their long lists, or shortlists, or winners. Lots of great book chatter happening. I’ll sum things up as best I can. In… Continue Reading →
On Wednesday night last week (October 20th)—the second day of the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival— I headed down to Granville Island to see four authors discuss writing about the parent/child relationship. The complex love between parent and child… Continue Reading →
Canada Reads will be celebrating it’s 10th anniversary in 2010/2011 and have decided to change things up a bit. Before, Canada Reads picked five Canadian public figures and had them champion books for a week-long debate in February. The books… Continue Reading →
The final installment of the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson began where The Girl Who Played With Fire ended — with Lisbeth Salander in the hospital and near-death with a bullet to the head. From there, the claws came out… Continue Reading →
I finished The Lady Elizabeth a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to muster a review. I think it’s a little bit of ambivalence; I enjoyed the book, but it lagged a bit in places. I read Innocent Traitor… Continue Reading →
Come, Thou Tortoise is a heart-warming book with really lovable characters. There was subtle humour with a quiet yet engaging plot. Audrey is brilliant, quaint, silly, admirable, and really just honest-to-goodness good. The book jacket blurb doesn’t do the novel… Continue Reading →
I finished the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy in three days, about the same length of time it took me to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Read: Review for book one of the series,… Continue Reading →
I’ve been a fan of Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe books since I was a kid. I was given Home From the Vinyl Cafe for Christmas when I was maybe 11 or 12. When I found out Stuart McLean also had… Continue Reading →
Kathleen Winter’s first novel, with House of Anansi Press, is the story of a young Labrador family secretly raising their hermaphrodite child as a boy. Winter’s prose is lyrical and lonely, yet relatable. Wayne’s story is magnetic, powerful, and has… Continue Reading →
The Book of Awesome is actually not that awesome. Some blog-to-book stories have been very successful and some blogs sell a lot of funny merchandise, but The Book of Awesome doesn’t stand up. Based on www.1000awesomethings.com, Neil Pasricha started the… Continue Reading →
Christopher Moore is a hilarious fiction writer. The first novel of his I read, A Dirty Job, had me laughing out loud. Then I picked up Fool, a satirical comedy loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, which I also enjoyed…. Continue Reading →
I’ve been meaning to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon for a few years because I’ve heard extraordinary things about it. It came out in 2003, was a #1 international bestseller, and received… Continue Reading →
I enjoyed the second book in Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy in a different way than I enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (book review / movie review). In the first book, it’s very much about the mystery at hand, and… Continue Reading →
