This is a middle grade book that evokes all the delightfully terrifying aspects of the children’s books I remember reading when I was a kid. It is the story of a young orphan, Clementine, who is being kept captive by her aunt and uncle – the type of old school storybook villains that will READ MORE
Category: Book Review
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE SALT PATH – RAYNOR WINN
As I’m sure all of you can attest to, 2020 has been rough. There is the whole pandemic thing, but on top of that both my daughter and I have had multiple health issues to contend with, our house has needed ongoing work, and we are stuck at home, mostly inside, trying to fill READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WE ARE THE WEATHER – JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
I’ve never read Jonathan Safran Foer’s work before, but as a vegetarian, I have been told about his book Eating Animals many, many times. After reading Fast Food Nation, however, I felt like I’d had enough on the subject (I’m already a vegetarian, I don’t need all the horrific details of how factory chickens READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HOW TO BE BLACK – BARATUNDE THURSTON
I have tried to read this book a few times. I first picked it up a few years ago and got about a third of the way through it. Then earlier this year I tried again, and got only a tiny bit further. I enjoyed it both times, but there was something about it READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE FIRE NEXT TIME – JAMES BALDWIN
This book is tiny. Standing at just 89 pages, it can easily be read in a single day – if not a single sitting. But don’t let that fool you. This is likely going to be one of the most impactful, important books you’ve ever read in your life. I, much to my shame, READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT – BECKY ALBERTALLI
I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for YEARS, but by the time I got it I had mostly forgotten what happened in Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and didn’t have a clue who Leah even was (I had forgotten who Blue was as well, and even that he was called Blue, so READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HELLO I WANT TO DIE PLEASE FIX ME – ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY
Since yesterday was World Mental Health day, I thought now would be a good time to bring this book to your attention, as it is a great one on the topic. As those of you who have been here for a while know, mental health is of interest to me. Both because I find READ MORE
RE-READ REVIEW | SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA – BECKY ALBERTALLI
After re-reading and very much enjoying The Fault In Our Stars, I decided to follow it up with another YA book I had enjoyed (also because I had been meaning to re-read it so I could get to the sequel properly contextualized). Enter Simon. This was one of the first YA books I read READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE SKIN WE’RE IN – DESMOND COLE
This review is going to be short, because there’s really only one thing to say: Read this book. Here’s why. This book takes us through 2017, looking at some of the instances of racism that happened each month of that year in Canada (mostly in Ontario). Each of these instances was shocking, catastrophic and READ MORE
RE-READ REVIEW | THE FAULT IN OUR STARS – JOHN GREEN
It has been more than seven years since I was first introduced to Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. After a particularly rough month, it seemed like the right time to revisit this favourite, partly because it has been a while and my memories of it were beginning to fade, but also because my health READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | 21 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE INDIAN ACT – BOB JOSEPH
This is one of those books that, no matter what I write, I will not do justice to. I am so grateful for this book. The Indian Act is something I learned absolutely nothing about in my high school education, but something that forms the entire foundation of colonial relations with Indigenous Canadians, and READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SMALL ISLAND – ANDREA LEVY
This is one of those books I’ve been meaning to read for years, and kept putting off. But my mom decided to read it, and I enjoy talking to her about books we’re both reading, so I figured now was the time! (I also really wanted to watch the mini-series but wanted to read READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | GHOST – JASON REYNOLDS
I first heard about this book while watching PBS’ The Great American Read. I hadn’t heard of it before that, but now I really don’t know why. This is the story of a young man named Castle Cranshaw – better known as Ghost. Ghost hasn’t had an easy life. He lives in the projects READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT – LUCY ELLMANN
This book is a beast. I was defeated by it before I even began – over a thousand pages, most of it comprised of a single sentence – yep, I was fully intimidated. And then it was selected for my pool in the BookTube Prize (I suspected my luck would bring me that outcome READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE SECRET GARDEN – FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT
I have read this book at least once before – but possibly two or three times. It’s one of those stories that feels like it was irrevocably woven into the fabric of my childhood. I feel like Mary is, in a sense, a part of me. I came across the Kindle In Motion edition READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | CITY OF GIRLS – ELIZABETH GILBERT
This was another of the books on my BookTube Prize reading list, and another I likely wouldn’t have gotten around to without it. In large part because I’ve not had great success with Elizabeth Gilbert in the past. I particularly struggled with Eat, Pray, Love, her best-known work all about the trauma of her READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | MIDDLE ENGLAND – JONATHAN COE
I haven’t read any Jonathan Coe before, but I have a few of his books on my shelves because they’ve caught my attention. So when this book turned up in my round for the BookTube Prize I was excited to have a reason to pick it up. Technically this book is third in a READ MORE
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 READ MORE