Burning Questions is my third collection of essays and other occasional pieces. The first Second Words, which began in 1960, when I started publishing book reviews, and ended in 1982. The second was Moving Targets, which gathered materials from 1983 to mid-2004. Burning Questions runs from mid-2004 to mid-2021. So, twenty years, give or take, … Continue reading Burning Questions | Margaret Atwood #CANessays
May featured some wonderful, interesting stories, but I still don't feel up to writing about them in any length. I would like to acknowledge Cathy @746 Books and her glorious review of Claire Keegan's novella, Small Things Like These, last year that was the impetus for me picking up this book as soon as it … Continue reading May Mini Reviews
The very first thing I want to know is how does Emily pronounce her middle name? Does she say it as it looks, 'saint john', or does she use the English pronunciation 'sinjin'? I have no idea, or any good reason, why it has taken me so long to get around to reading this terrific … Continue reading Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel #CANfiction
Dearly: Poems by Margaret Atwood was a book I savoured slowly over the Christmas/New Year period. I tucked the lovely slim volume into my work backpack to read one or two before work over my morning coffee, or to take with me to lunch. I would read a few more each time, sometimes rereading lines, … Continue reading Dearly: Poems | Margaret Atwood #CANpoetry
I've been dragging my feet about writing (or finishing) off several reviews for books read a month ago. Part of the problem has been a recent return to work which has left me wondering how on earth I used to fit everything in before Covid-19 came along and slowed things down for a while. But … Continue reading Cherry Beach | Laura McPhee-Browne #AWWfiction
My work has been a bit crazy this year. And during August and September it was hectic and full of changes. So a lot of the hype surrounding the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale passed me by. I saw some excited chattering on blogs, twitter and goodreads. I heard some of the discussion around it's … Continue reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Reading Washington Black by Esi Edugyan was like eating a big bag of sweets. Some were good, some not so good. And after gorging myself on the first half, I found the second half a bit too much take.The first half of Washington Black was unputdownable. I loved the engaging voice of the child narrator. His … Continue reading Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
When I was in my twenties and thirties, my friends and I spent a lot of time discussing and dissecting each others dreams (#lifebeforesocialmedia)! We read books, kept dream journals and wondered about the significance of what happened in our heads in the middle of the night. We were searching for meaning and trying to … Continue reading Motherhood by Sheila Heti
The first time I read The Blue Castle, I read it soooooooo fast that I recall very little of the detail. I had just found out about the controversy surrounding this book and my long-time favourite Colleen McCullough book, The Ladies of Missalonghi. Therefore I read The Blue Castle constantly comparing and looking for similarities and differences; … Continue reading The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
For four days I've been trying to write a review that would do this rich, engrossing, mosaic of a book due justice.It wasn't so much writer's block as writer's muddle.There was soooo much to say! I couldn't even decide which lens or which perspective to choose?Because I was enjoying Do Not Say We Have Nothing … Continue reading Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
A whole swath of shortlists have been buzzing around the bookish world lately. Some have got me bibliograpically excited but some have left me scratching my head. Kim @Reading Matters alerted me to the Canadian literary award - The Giller Prize. It has been around for twenty years and recognizes 'excellence in Canadian fiction'. For a … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #11
Miss Moon is one of those delightful picture books for children, that's really for the grown-ups (and dogs) in their life!Full of simple truisms and etiquette advice designed to remind us of what really matters. Each double page spread elegantly highlights such gems as -Always give the warmest of welcomes.A tidy space is a welcoming … Continue reading Miss Moon: Wise Words from a Dog Governess by Janet Hill
Earlier on in the year I attended an author event with Thuy and read Ru. I adored it. It was beautiful, heart-felt and poetic.Last week I was in need of some beauty and picked up Thuy's latest book, Man in anticipation.Once again, Thuy explores the immigrants story. The search for self, family and belonging is … Continue reading Man by Kim Thuy
I love it when I discover a new author that simply bowls me over with the beautiful simplicity of her story. Reading Thuy's (pronounced twee) autobiographical novel, Ru has been a magical, moving experience."I came into the world during the Tet Offensive, in the early days of the Year of the Monkey, when the long … Continue reading Ru by Kim Thuy
L. M. Montgomery only wrote 2 adult novels. One of them was The Blue Castle published in 1926.I had never heard of it until last year when I wrote a post about The Ladies of Missalonghi by Australian author Colleen McCullough. McCullough was accused of plagiarism because of the number of similarities between the two books.I have … Continue reading The Blue Castle by L M Montgomery
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