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Book Review :: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

I have been remiss in posting this review because I’m already absorbed in the next book in the series. However, I really enjoyed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and believe it should get the… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Inferno by Robin Stevenson

Dante thinks high school is an earthly version of hell. She hates her new home in the suburbs, her best friend has moved away, her homeroom teacher mocks her and her mother is making her attend a social skills group… Continue Reading →

Canada Reads Indie & Canada Also Reads

Some people have been disappointed with the Canada Reads 2010 list. Reasons include the authors/publishers/books being too well-known already. There are two new grassroots challenges called Canada Reads Independently and Canada Also Reads which aim to shed light on the… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Nikolski by Nicholas Dickner

Initially I was apprehensive about Nikolski, written by Nicholas Dickner, because it was translated from French. Translations can go one of two ways and I was worried that a lot would be lost in translation. However, I was pleasantly surprised… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy

The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy will be defended by Samantha Nutt during Canada Reads 2010. I finished this book several weeks ago but wanted to wait until after I met with our book club to discuss it. I missed… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott is one of the contending titles for Canada Reads 2010. The Canada Reads website has my favourite synopsis: Marina Endicott’s compelling novel Good to a Fault begins with a bang — two cars… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Red: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulaanas

Michael Nicoll Yahgulaanas (MNY) is the creator of a new style of graphic novel, Haida Manga. Haida Manga combines First Nations’ art style and tales with the Japanese graphic novel form of manga. MNY uses his distinct style of art… Continue Reading →

Canada Reads 2010

The booklist for Canada Reads 2010 has been announced. You may recall last year I mentioned Canada Reads when I posted my review of The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. It was a fantastic book and won Canada Reads… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

I chose to read Too Much Happiness because (to my knowledge) I haven’t read anything by Alice Munro before. I’ve been told that her novels are extremely well-written, but decided to start with her latest book of short stories. I… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Red Dog, Red Dog by Patrick Lane

Honestly, I don’t know what all the fuss was about. This book took me a long time to get through and I wasn’t particularly enraptured with the story. The prose is quite poetic, and it is definitely character driven, but… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: That Tune Clutches My Heart by Paul Hendrick

“On the eve of her first day of senior high, May Sutherland’s mother gives her a diary in which to record her experiences. It’s 1948 and the entire student body at Magee High in Vancouver is divided according to their… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: The Old Brown Suitcase by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz

The Old Brown Suitcase narrates the story of Slava and her family as a Jewish family living in Poland during the Second World War. The story details her childhood, a war-torn Poland, being forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, having to… Continue Reading →

CBC Canada Reads & The Book of Negroes :: Book Review

I was a little late on the whole Canada Reads debate due to how busy life has been these past couple of months. But fortunately CBC Radio is magnificent about having Podcasts available. I got to listen to the debates… Continue Reading →

Unfinished Books

I have a confession, I can’t finish these books! I am just not feeling into them. I normally don’t read more than one book at a time, but I couldn’t get into one, so I put it down and started… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa

I wanted to read this book because the author, Anthony De Sa, is a Canadian and the book got shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2008. Unfortunately it didn’t win, but it was an interesting read. Barnacle Love is about… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Y in the Shadows by Karen Rivers

Y in the Shadows is the second book in the XYZ Trilogy by Karen Rivers. The story followed Yale, a socially awkward girl with distant, child-like parents, and no real friends. After an embarrassing incident at a gymnastics meet, she… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Flight of the Hummingbird by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment is a very short, but powerful book by local BC artist and writer, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas. This book came into work, and it’s one of my bosses favourites this year. We… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: X in Flight by Karen Rivers

X in Flight is the first installment of the XYZ Trilogy by Karen Rivers. “X in Flight” centers on the lives of three intriguing teens. Xenos (“X” for short) will never be a normal kid. And it isn’t his looks… Continue Reading →

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews (book review)

Hattie has always had to take care of her sister Min to some degree. So when Min falls of the deep end of depression again and is checked into a physciatric ward, Hattie returns to Winnipeg, Manitoba to take care… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

I can definitely see why The Cellist of Sarajevo got longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Through a series of characters, the reader is shown various aspects of the seige of Sarajevo. The scariest part of this book? I was… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

I was so excited to get to read this book. I’ve been hearing about it all over blogs, it’s been popping up in my book radar (out and about) constantly. I only knew that it was about a burn victim… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: Getting the Girl by Susan Juby

Do any other readers have trouble at the beginning of a book establishing the speaker’s gender? I always seem to immediately assume the speaker is a female — but Getting the Girl by Susan Juby is narrated by Sherman Mack,… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: First Time by Meg Tilly

Meg Tilly’s new book, First Time, is directed towards reluctant teen readers. The book is small (just over 100 pages), and the font is fairly large (probably 12pt Arial). The story however, is not for a younger reader, it’s geared… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: For Now by Gayle Friesen

I almost didn’t pick up this book becasue both the title and cover were unappealing for a YA novel.* However, I’m really glad I did. For Now is an interestingly written first-person account (by Jes) of a “blended” family —… Continue Reading →

Book Review :: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

This was an amazingly written story of Ishmael’s childhood in Sierra Leone. It really opened my eyes — I didn’t realize that child soldiers, hopped up on drugs and other things, were forced to fight and kill just to stay… Continue Reading →

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