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 →
The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Pub 1990. 20th anniversary edition, 2011
I chose this book after recently completing Burning Chrome by Gibson. The premise of this intrigued me, and I wanted another sci-fi book for my other book club project. The titular difference engine is a reference to an early computing machine created by Charles Babbage. He subsequently merged the difference engine with the Jacquard machine... Continue Reading →
Beneath the Surface of Things, by Wade Davis. Pub 2024
This was an impulse purchase at the local bookshop. By rights, I should have waited for a birthday or Christmas list (and for paperback), but impulses rarely give way to such sober second thinking. I was keen to read more of Wade Davis’ writing after enjoying The Wayfinders last year, as well as his public... Continue Reading →
Lightning Strikes the Silence, by Iona Whishaw. Pub 2024
Book 11 in the Lane Winslow series continues the excellent and engaging stories we’ve come to enjoy, with its usual cast of delightful characters. It’s hard to believe that barely three years has passed since Lane first arrived in King’s Cove, as so much has happened to her and around her. It is June 1948,... Continue Reading →
All My Friends are Superheroes, by Andrew Kaufman. Pub 2003. Tenth anniversary edition, Pub 2013.
I picked this book up last year as a possible Christmas present for my cousin's son. It came up in a book search as one of those, "other customers also bought..." suggestions when I was picking something else for him, and the idea sounded interesting. As I was heading up to visit the family for the weekend,... Continue Reading →
Followed by the Lark, by Helen Humphreys. Pub 2024
To me, a hallmark of a good book is one that I get so caught up in that I finish it in a day. Helen Humphreys usually does that for me. In Followed by the Lark, Humphreys novelizes the life of naturalist and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau. Based on his many writings and extensive journal, Humphreys... Continue Reading →
Held, by Anne Michaels. Pub 2023
Anne Michaels is, to me, a favourite and not nearly prolific enough writer. Her Fugitive Pieces remains an all-time favourite novel (might be time for a re-reading). Her second novel, Winter Vault, was not as good, both empirically and by comparison. With Held, she has burst out again as brilliant IMHO. Her writing style is not for everyone. It... Continue Reading →
Payback, by Margaret Atwood. Pub 2008
I've owned this book for several years, and thought that I had previously read it. I recall (now) reading at least part of the first chapter, as I remembered the elements of the modern history of mortgages, credit cards, and government loans. However, I realized very quickly that I had stopped reading at about page... Continue Reading →
Women Talking, by Miriam Toews. Book report #4 (2024)
Women Talking, by Miriam Toews. Pub 2018 I was interested in this book after learning about the movie version from 2022 that won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay. The premise I’d heard was that a group of women in a Mennonite community who are usually mostly silent have some special circumstance to gather and... Continue Reading →
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. Pub 2014
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. Pub 2014 I chose this book based on a recommendation in the acknowledgements of a book I read last year (The End of Men)*. It was interesting to read a second post-apocalyptic book so close after the previous one (Moon of the Turning Leaves), especially one set in... Continue Reading →
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