This is one of those that’s been sitting on the bookshelf for ages, with the occasional false start over the years. I decided to start again and finish it off, if for no other reason than to satisfy the “place name in the title” category. Also, I enjoyed my last dip into McEwan’s work, which... Continue Reading →
The Nightingale Won’t Let You Sleep, by Steven Heighton. Pub 2017
This book was an accidental purchase. When I read last year about the death of Canadian poet and writer Steven Heighton, including a few moving elegies about his impact on CanLit, I ordered two books of his poetry. Or so I thought. This book is a novel, and I found the premise intriguing. Plus, I... Continue Reading →
Hillbilly Elegy, by JD Vance. Pub 2016, with update in 2018.
This book was an unlikely addition to my list this year. My fellow book-clubber had read and reviewed it back in 2017, and did not love it. But not long ago, the author rose to prominence in the 2024 US election, and it seemed like one way to learn more about this new face. In... Continue Reading →
Bruno, Chief of Police, by Martin Walker. Pub 2008
This was an impulse purchase during a recent visit to a favourite bookshop in Victoria. I was looking for something light, a new-to-me mystery series in the vein of the Lane Winslow books by Iona Whishaw. Something about the shape of the book and the style of the cover, as well as the praise on... Continue Reading →
Thick Skin, by Hilary Peach. Pub 2022
Hilary Peach is a poet, author, and boilermaker. This book is a memoir, her recollections of her decade in the field and on the road in a difficult, dangerous, demanding, and essential trade. She is part of a different 1% - the women in the boilermaker’s union. While the discrimination and misogyny of the industry... Continue Reading →
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, by Wayne Johnston. Pub 1998
I recall buying this book >10 years ago at a favourite used book shop in Victoria. I had previously read The Custodian of Paradise, and while I enjoyed it, I realized too late that it would have been enhanced by having read this book first. While I made a start on Colony back then, it drifted on to... Continue Reading →
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Pub 1911
This is one of those "I can't believe I've never read it" books, one that it seems everyone has read except me. I was moved to read this after a conversation about books with a coaching client, who said that this was their favourite book ever. I decided to give it a try ahead of... Continue Reading →
The Tenth Man, by Graham Greene. Pub 1985
After thoroughly enjoying The Quiet American last year, I found this slim book in the bargain bin during my post-Christmas binge. I knew nothing about it, so the story and the novel’s history were both a delightful surprise. Greene was both novelist and screenwriter, and in that latter mode he wrote this short novel in... Continue Reading →
The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. Pub 2020
Before diving into some more weighty tomes, I opted for this mental palate cleanser of light fiction. Very entertaining and enjoyable. Meet Nora, whose life is not going well. After a series of terrible turns and even worse choices, she finds herself alone, jobless, friendless, cat-less, and broke. She decides to end it all. Losing... Continue Reading →
The Suite Life, by Christopher Heard. Pub 2011
I bought this book in ~2015, from the bargain bin at my favourite local bookshop. After starting it, I was distracted by something else, and the book moved to the dusty bottom of my shelves for several years. In my reorganization of books earlier this year, I found it again, and chose it as my... Continue Reading →
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