I was drawn to this book on the recommendation of a friend, who knows the author. I was promised a light and engaging murder mystery, and this delivered. Set primarily at the Yatra Institute, a meditation centre and lodge on a remote island in BC, we follow Helen and her colleagues, all recent graduates of... Continue Reading →
The Stone Diaries, by Carol Shields. Pub 1993
Like so many favourite books from the distant past, this is one I hadn’t read since the first time, so didn’t remember much of the story (and in fact was confusing it in my memory with The Stone Angel). Like with A Prayer for Owen Meany, I decided to read it again to refresh the... Continue Reading →
The Forty Rule of Love, by Elif Shafak. Pub 2010
This book was recommended by a friend (the same who recommended The Berry Pickers), and was already in my book pile, so it was a good next choice. The poet Rumi has always seemed like a mythical romantic, someone one “should” read, and this seemed like a gentle way to get introduced. The novel has... Continue Reading →
I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman. Pub 1995. Translation by Ros Schwartz, Pub 1997/2019.
Despite this book being on display at the local bookshop and its (unknown to me) TikTok fame, I had never heard of this book, so I consider it to be non-mainstream. Spoiler alert (trying to not give much away): when we meet the unnamed narrator (called by the others, “the child”), she is an adolescent... Continue Reading →
Normal Rules Don’t Apply, by Kate Atkinson. Pub 2023
I’ve read a few Kate Atkinson novels before, and especially enjoyed Life After Life, a clever branched reality speculative fiction story, and so was expecting more of the same here in shorter versions. I was not overly disappointed, but I did find this collection to be uneven in quality. The eleven stories each stand on... Continue Reading →
The Cost of a Hostage, by Iona Whishaw. Pub 2025
The latest in the Lane Winslow series, this time we find Lane and Darling in the wilds of Mexico seeking Darling’s kidnapped brother, while back home in Nelson the young police officers solve a local kidnapping, murder, and smuggling ring. I enjoyed this split story – I bit like A Match Made for Murder –... Continue Reading →
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver. Pub 1981
This book - the copy I read - was my pop's. He was a big short story lover, favouring the works of Raymond Carver and Anton Chekov, among others. This book is part of the small collection my sister has kept from his effects. When we were going through them a while ago, I asked... Continue Reading →
The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier. Pub 2020. Translation by Adriana Hunter, Pub 2021.
I wish I could recall where I first heard about this book and from whom, as I would give them a hearty thank you. This book is in the time-bending genre, but in a different way than others read recently. We start by meeting a series of characters who share one thing: they were all... Continue Reading →
On the Calculation of Volume, by Solvej Ball
On the Calculation of Volume - I, by Solvej Ball. Pub 2020. Translation by Barbara Haveland, pub 2024. On the Calculation of Volume - II, by Solvej Ball. Pub 2020. Translation by Barbara Haveland, pub 2024. I found these when looking at the Booker International list for 2025. I was interested as a time stories... Continue Reading →
Fifteen Dogs, by André Alexis. Pub 2015
A friend suggested this to me, not really as a recommendation but just something she happened to be reading (which surprised me, as she's previously said she's not a fan of anthropomorphizing animals in stories). This turned out to be an enjoyable light-ish and short read, just the thing to truly cleanse the reading palate.... Continue Reading →
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