A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. Pub 2016 This book was suggested by a friend, and since a book with a place name in the title was still unticked on my list, I decided to give a shot. I was initially daunted by the book length, but got over that soon enough. By page … Continue reading
Book report #29 (2020)
Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. Pub 1925 Another of the should-reads and never-read-agains, I sought this out specifically for the pre-1925 category. Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is having a party tonight. We see the entirety of the day told in considerable detail and meet many people in her circle and beyond. The perspective shifts throughout as … Continue reading
Book report #28 (2020)
Permanent Record, by Edward Snowden. Pub 2019 This was the last of the vacation reads – a gift from my sister at Christmas last year, and long overdue to read. I’ve stayed up late a few nights this week with this one. Edward Snowden needs no introduction as the whistleblower of the US NSA mass … Continue reading
Book report #27 (2020)
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. Pub 2012. I wanted to have a “sure thing” in my vacation library – a book that I knew would be good and that I’d enjoy, even if all the others were bad or boring. This seemed like the ticket (based on reviews by friends), so into the … Continue reading
Book report #26 (2020)
Always Home, by Fanny Singer. Pub 2020 This book was an unexpected birthday gift from a friend living in California. She knows of my love of good writing and good food (and of our book club), and read some favourable review of this book and so sent it my way. It came along in the … Continue reading
Book report #25 (2020)
Into That Darkness, by Steven Price. Pub 2011 This is the second book I’ve read by Steven Price, and his debut novel (thank goodness for that, or it wouldn’t fit into any category this year…). Into That Darkness is set in Victoria, BC, and tells of the days on and immediately following a series of … Continue reading
Book report #24 (2020)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid. Pub 2016 I don’t recall when I ended up with this book, or why – I think I may have read a blurb online, but I know now that I mistakenly thought this was a different author (Iain Banks). Since I purchased it, the book has received … Continue reading
Book report #23 (2020)
Translated from the Gibberish, by Anosh Irani. Pub 2019 I recognized the author’s name as the playwright of something I’d seen years ago (the play was The Matka King). I was intrigued by the jacket description, so added this to the tsundoku back in January and took it along on vacation. Irani’s book consists of … Continue reading
Book report #22 (2020)
Dubliners, by James Joyce. Pub 1914 I’ve had this slim old book for many years now, and since “a book you feel you ought to read” is one of this year’s categories and Joyce is one of those canonical authors one feels should be read, I decided to add it to the vacation library. I … Continue reading
Book report #21 (2020)
The Dangerous River, by RM Patterson. Pub 1966 This is one of my all-time favourite books about the outdoors (yes, I have read it before). A rollicking story of adventures in the Canadian North, Patterson details his summer and then full year in the South Nahanni region of the North West Territories in 1927-29. His … Continue reading
