My fellow bookclubber read and highly recommended this one, so I read it over the Thanksgiving weekend. Like previous Strout reads, this one was very good. Lucy Barton is an author and mother in New York. She grew up in poverty and with a disturbed family, and was able to break away from that by... Continue Reading →
The Silence, by Don DeLillo. Pub 2020
This was an impulse purchase during a recent bookshop trip. I had a vague notion that DeLillo is an important author, and this slim and inexpensive book appealed as an introduction. (I bought a second, longer but also inexpensive book, which will be a future read.) The best word to describe this book is “weird”.... Continue Reading →
The Death of Jesus, by JM Coetzee. Pub 2019
Book three of this trilogy, and I’m left no further ahead in truly understanding all of the connections between the story and Jesus. After finishing this one, I did extensive reading of other reviews and assessments of the books and found many were just as confused as me (although some readers were able to go... Continue Reading →
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Pub 1899
I first heard of this book on the podcast Backlisted, and then again in a book about banned books. The podcast praise made me interested in reading it, but I was hesitant due to comparisons with Virginia Woolf. Then the book was displayed at a bookshop during a recent shopping trip, so I took it... Continue Reading →
Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler. Pub 1993
I don’t recall where I heard about this book or what prompted me to get it, as I was completely unprepared for the story I encountered. Midway through, I did some online poking around to try to remind myself of why I picked this one, and while I found plenty of plaudits and effusive praise,... Continue Reading →
You Are Here, by David Nicholls. Pub 2024
I heard about this book on a podcast and was interested in the story of people meeting on a hike. The novel delivered on its promise of a nice little love story, with two ordinary likeable people meeting in somewhat unusual circumstances, and the freedom they have both to be themselves and explore new things,... Continue Reading →
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. Pub 1970
This is one of those “I can’t believe you’ve never read that” books. How did I make it through my pre-teen years without this one? Well, I did. I was reminded about this one recently while searching for books that have been banned, and so decided to at last check it off my list. Margaret... Continue Reading →
Foster, by Claire Keegan. Pub 2010
Another short delightful read from Keegan. Foster is really a short story or novella rather than a novel. Set in rural Ireland and told in the first person, the child (never named) is taken to spend the summer with a distant aunt and uncle who have no children of their own (their only son died... Continue Reading →
The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf, by Timothy Taylor. Pub 2024
Timothy Taylor has long been a favourite author, one who I search for regularly in the hopes of a new book. This summer, my persistence was rewarded: a new book in September! I saved it up for a vacation read. Taylor is a Vancouver-based writer whose stories are often set here. He’s also a food... Continue Reading →
Liberation Day, by George Saunders. Pub 2022
This was part of the Christmas bounty from my sister in 2022. I recall starting this in early 2023, and then abandoning it for something a bit lighter. It felt like a book that needed vacation time to devote to it, and so now was the right time. This collection of nine stories is good,... Continue Reading →
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