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…

Book Review: Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun by Paul Seesequasis

Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun - Paul Seesequasis (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2019) Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun is the culmination of Paul Seesequasis' work to collect photos of Indigenous communities across Canada. The photos are taken by a variety of photographers, some Indigenous and some not, in a variety of places and times. Most…

Book Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (Ecco, 2012) The story of the Trojan War has been told countless times and in countless ways. It's amazing that a tale so old and so familiar can still be compelling and yet Madeline Miller had me rushing through this novel to find out what happens. (Warning: This…

Book Review: What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

I received an Advance Reader's Copy from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own. What Strange Paradise ends with such a gut punch that it's almost impossible to think back over the novel without thinking of it in light of those final lines. At the same time,…

What I Read – August 2021

Read: What Strange Paradise - Omar El Akkad (Penguin Random House Canada, 2021) Interior Chinatown - Charles Yu (Pantheon Books, 2020) A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (Bantam Book, 1989) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (Ecco, 2012) Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun - Paul Seesequasis (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2019) Front…

Book Review: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Interior Chinatown - Charles Yu When it comes to a book like Interior Chinatown where the author is creating something so unique and different, I'm able to forgive a lot even when there are other weaknesses in the work. Charles Yu uses film tropes and a screenplay style on the page to tell the story…

Book Review: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (A Virtuous Reading Challenge)

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (Bantam Books, 1989) A Tale of Two Cities was only the second book by Charles Dickens that I ever read. In the years since, I've read several more but still have always claimed A Tale as my favourite work of Dickens. Re-reading it now, probably a decade…

What I Read – July 2021

Read: The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton (HarperCollins Publishers, 2020) Made in China - Anna Qu (Catapult, 2021) Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi (Bond Street Books, 2020) Notes on Grief - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Alfred A. Knopf, 2021) Did Not Finish: Floating City - Kerri Sakamoto I picked this up because it…

Book Review: Hao by Ye Chun

Hao - Ye Chun (Catapult, 2021) I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. It will be available for sale 7 September 7, 2021. This was such a unique short story collections. Many of these stories centre around language, particularly the Chinese language and its writing, and each story…

Book Review: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi (Bond Street Books, 2020) Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi was one of my top reads of 2020 so I went into reading Transcendent Kingdom with very high expectations. While Transcendent Kingdom has a lot in it that is beautiful and thoughtful, it does suffer by comparison to Homegoing and it was…