I've had this one on my shelves for a while now, and recall starting it at least once but getting distracted from it as it seemed to be going in a very bleak direction. But a few months ago, another reader friend mentioned having finished and enjoyed it, so up it rose in my own... Continue Reading →
Tauhou, by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall. Pub 2023
This was an impulse purchase last month when picking up some other books. I've been encountering situations with Indigenous communities and relations more and more in my work, and so this book seemed like perhaps a timely way to engage with those, however obliquely. However, the author herself proscribes such engagement, saying in the afterword,... Continue Reading →
Hangman, by Julie Burtinshaw. Pub 2022
I purchased this book because it is written by a friend-of-a-friend, and because I thought it was something my mom might enjoy. This is the story of Canada's first official executioner, one John Radclive (or Ratley or Ratcliffe or Radcliff as he variously called himself). Drawing heavily on Radclive's own diaries and other historical documents... Continue Reading →
Unnatural Death, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Pub 1927
The third in the Wimsey series, and by far my favourite so far, the eccentric Lord Peter takes on a pseudo-murder investigation, almost on a whim, thus setting in motion a series of additional crimes and murders that ultimately lead to the capture of the killer. Sayers is brave for her time, introducing several characters... Continue Reading →
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene. Pub 1955
I heard an episode of Backlisted (the show that gives new life to old books) discussing various books of Graham Greene, and The Quiet American was the only one I happened to already own and had never read. Greene's story and the story of his many novels was very interesting and well-told (it is a favourite podcast because of... Continue Reading →
Murder Before Evensong, by The Reverend Richard Coles. Pub 2022
Since reading The Madness of Grief a few years back, I've been a quasi-fan of Coles. He retired from parish duties in 2022, and continues his writing, presenting, and social media activities. This book is his first work of fiction, creating a new accidental-detective-in-an-English-village character for a series of murder mysteries. In Murder Before Evensong, we meet... Continue Reading →
This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger. Pub 2019
This is not a book I would have picked for myself, but came as part of a bounty that I won in a prize draw at my local bookstore. There are a few from that set that are on my to-read list, and some others that will eventually go right to charity. This one was... Continue Reading →
The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway. Pub 2008
I had read this only once before, not long after it first came out, but the story has stuck with me and it felt worthy of being read again (that, and "book with a place name in the title"). Using as inspiration the story of a cellist who played at various sites in 1992-3 during... Continue Reading →
The Missing of the Somme, by Geoff Dyer. Book report #31 (2022)
The Missing of the Somme, by Geoff Dyer. Pub 1994, updated 2016 Last year, one of my favourite reads was But Beautiful by Geoff Dyer. At the time, I looked at his bibliography, but nothing leapt out at me. Then I heard him on a book-chat podcast a few months ago, and enjoyed his discussion, including a... Continue Reading →
At Night All Blood is Black, by David Diop. Book report #27 (2022)
At Night All Blood is Black, by David Diop. Pub 2018. Translation by Anna Moschovakis published 2020. I selected this book knowing only a few things about it: it is an award winner (Booker International 2021), it is a translation from the original French, titled Frère d'âme, and it has a colour in the title. It... Continue Reading →
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