On a whim, armchair-atheist Richard Kelly Kemick joins the 100-plus cast of The Canadian Badlands Passion Play, North America’s largest production of its kind and one of the main tourist attractions in Alberta. By the time closing night is over, Kemick has a story to tell
This haunting novel will carry you from Ireland, to remote northern Ontario, to the big city of Toronto and all the way to Jamaica. The teenaged heroine, Irish-Canadian, Kathleen Dunkley, was desperate to leave her haunting pasts and horrific tragedies behind her.
There is a consistent good-natured irony and humour running through Lindsay Bird’s Boom Time.
Norman Ravvin skillfully weaves his story with images of the past and present in Vancouver and a small village in Poland.
Reviewing this book To See the Stars by Jan Andrews on International Women’s Day seems particularly poignant given the story between the covers. This story encompasses the fight for the rights of women garment workers after the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in 1911 that killed 123 women who were trapped there. Women exercising their right to strike even before they were allowed the right to vote.
Novels, like love and family, take many forms. On every page of Reproduction, his debut novel, Ian Williams finds ways to resist and defy conventional narrative practice while constructing an audacious and uniquely challenging story that crosses generational lines. In the process, he has written a poignant, resonant tale about intersecting lives and the ways that seemingly trivial decisions can have unexpected and far-reaching consequences.
Note: For the past three summers, Naomi of the Consumed by Ink book review blog and I have been swapping a book review. This year I reviewed The Afrikaner by Arianna Dagnino for her site, and she has written a review of the critically-acclaimed book by Jamaican-Canadian author Zalika Reid-Benta, Frying Plantain (2019, House of …
For the third year in a row, Naomi of the Consumed by Ink book review blog and I have guest-hosted each other’s reviews and my review of The Afrikaner by Arianna Dagnino can be found there. Her reviews are remarkable for their insight and perceptiveness of a novel’s strengths and weaknesses. I encourage you to …
(This is a guest review submitted by Naomi MacKinnon of Consumed by Ink.) Naomi often reviews books that I can never get around to reading, and such is the case with Ian Colford’s Perfect World.) We first meet Tom as a 13-year-old living in rural Nova Scotia with his parents and new baby sister. But …
(The following is an excerpt from a review written by Naomi MacKinnon at Consumed by Ink. It is reproduced here in part with her kind permission.) Malagash is a gem of a book. And I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend it to. The title of the book refers to the community where the …
(The following review is reproduced in part by the kind permission of Naomi MacKinnon of the Consumed by Ink book review blog. – James) Look at the cover of this book. It couldn’t be more stunning. With stories to match. Peninsula Sinking is David Huebert‘s first short story collection. He has won the CBC Short …
[dropcap]December [/dropcap]6, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion. Due to this, may books have been written to commemorate, revisit or try to understand how the Explosion shaped the lives of thousands. The books, past and present have appeared in both fiction and non-fiction genres. Naomi MacKinnon of Consumed by Ink has undertaken …
Once again, I am grateful for Consumed by Ink’s superb coverage of the books on the 2017 Giller Prize list. Here’s another one that Naomi allowed me to take an excerpt from. Author Michelle Winters is originally from New Brunswick and now lives in Toronto. Trucks play a big part in this story of a rural Acadian …
The nice thing about book bloggers is their willingness to share their posts on books I would like to read, but just can’t work them into my “to-be-read” stack. Here’s another Giller shortlist book reviewed by Naomi at Consumed by Ink. What I love so much about reading the Giller books is that there are …
The following review is by Naomi MacKinnon of Consumed by Ink, and is reproduced here with her kind permission. [dropcap]If [/dropcap]you’re looking for that one beautiful gem, David Chariandy’s Brother just might be it. It’s raw and honest, and the writing is as smooth as silk. Michael and his older brother Francis are close as …
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