It’s that time of year again! The Women’s Prize for Fiction has released their longlist, and the bookish world is abuzz with excitement and predictions. I have not been doing a good job of keeping up with new releases over the past year, so for I think the first year ever, while I’ve heard
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | JONNY APPLESEED – JOSHUA WHITEHEAD
I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages, ever since it started making waves in the Canadian literary scene. I heard Joshua Whitehead talk a couple of times in online presentations, and loved his candor, humour and intelligence. But it wasn’t until this book was selected as September’s book for the Storykeepers podcast
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WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 | LONGLIST REACTION
The 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist has finally been announced! It’s always an exciting time of year for me because seeing a roundup of some of the best works of the past year written by women and being introduced to some I didn’t yet know about is a wonderful thing. I posted my
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WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 | LONGLIST PREDICTIONS
It’s that time of year again! The Women’s Prize for Fiction will be announcing their longlist on March 10th – just five days from when I’m writing this. It’s always an exciting thing to see which books make the list – partly to see which of the books you’re rooting for, and partly to
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WOMEN TALKING – MIRIAM TOEWS
This is a book I have been hearing about everywhere since its release two summers ago. At first I wanted to read it – Miriam Toews’ book All My Puny Sorrows is a favourite of mine – but then when I heard what it was about I wavered. I find it difficult to relate
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE INNOCENTS – MICHAEL CRUMMEY
This was the first book I read from my assigned reading for the BookTube Prize. It’s one I’d had on my radar – Crummey is a prominent Canadian author, after all – but that hadn’t grabbed me. I doubt I ever would have gotten to it if it hadn’t been for the prize. It’s
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QUARTERLY WRAP-UP | JULY-SEPTEMBER 2019 (& BOOKER WINNER PREDICTIONS)
Somehow another three months have gone by! I didn’t have as much time to read as I did in the first and second quarter of the year, so I only managed 8 books. But there were a couple of really great ones in there, so let’s take a look! July Ask
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER – BERNARDINE EVARISTO
I was intimidated going into this book. It’s long, and it’s written in an experimental style of verse that doesn’t include periods or capitals. I was nervous I’d be unable to find my feet and that it would prove too difficult for me to get into. Not so. It took about 50 pages, but
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BOOKER PRIZE | 2019 SHORTLIST
The wait is over! The 2019 Booker Prize shortlist was announced on Tuesday. It contained some obvious choices, but also a few surprises. I’ve only completed one of the books on the long list – Girl, Woman, Other (review to come shortly) – but I had been watching reviews and predictions of some of
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE WALL – JOHN LANCHESTER
I went into this with no expectations at all. I had been mildly interested in it before its nomination for the Booker Prize, and that made me pick it up sooner. But I don’t much care for dystopian books, and though the concept behind this is timely and brings up a few important issues,
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LANNY – MAX PORTER
I’ve heard wonderful things about Max Porter’s last novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. It wasn’t a story that appealed to me, but I was curious about Porter’s writing because all the rave reviews talked about his linguistic ability. Lanny has started to generate similar praise, bolstered now by the book’s inclusion on
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BOOKER PRIZE 2019 | LONGLIST
After a year of waiting, it’s finally Booker Prize season again! The 2019 longlist has just been announced and includes a “Booker’s Dozen” – thirteen books. Some of you may remember the furor last year’s longlist brought about on account of the inclusion of a thriller and a graphic novel. This year’s list is
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WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION | 2019 WINNER ANNOUNCED!
After months of waiting, countless hours spent reading the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019 longlist and shortlist, and very nearly making it through the six books in contention for this year’s prize, I’m thrilled that today the winner has been announced! (If you missed it and are still curious, you can check out my roundup
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WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION | 2019 WINNER PREDICTIONS
We are now just a few days away from the announcement of this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction winner. It’ll be announced on June 5th. This is the first year I’ve even come close to finishing the entire shortlist – and I’ve come very close. I’ve read five of the six books, and am halfway
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS – PAT BARKER
I didn’t want to read this book. Not because I didn’t think it would be good – I’ve heard mainly positive things – but because I don’t love mythology, I’m not big on re-tellings, and I just finished reading Circe, which is both. But I’m so close to finishing the entire shortlist for this
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | CIRCE – MADELINE MILLER
Greek mythology is not my thing. I’ve never read any of the original myths, nor have I had much exposure to movies or re-tellings based on them. I’m not quite sure why – I know some of them are rippingly good yarns – but they just don’t appeal to me. Perhaps a little too
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WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION | SHORTLIST PREDICTIONS 2019
The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of my favourite literary prizes. Regardless of the judges and books in a given year, the prize always raises the profile of books written by women, and that’s something I can definitely get behind. This year’s list isn’t my favourite, but there are some titles I was
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THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ORDINARY PEOPLE – DIANA EVANS
I came across this book last fall while browsing titles online. I loved the cover, and even more the description of the book. First of all, it’s set in London, and you all know how much of a sucker I am for that particular setting. Second, it’s about two young couples with young children
