The Miramichi Reader highlights noteworthy books and authors across Canada from coast to coast to coast. We invite you to peruse our site for in-depth Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Literary Criticism and Essays, posted weekly.
“…the reviews are thoughtful, thorough, and entertaining in this publication!”
– Hannah Brown, author of “Look After Her”
Booker 2023 reviews
September 7, 2023 by Alison Manley and Clementine Oberst
*Shortlisted!
Alison: "This is brilliant."
Clementine: "Should it be on the shortlist? I think so!"
(We may have a winner here, folks!)
September 3, 2023 by Michael Greenstein
*Shortlisted!
“Longlisted for the Booker Prize, Bernstein’s second novel deserves to be advanced to the shortlist.”
August 22, 2023 by Clementine Oberst
*Shortlisted!
Clementine: "Should it make the shortlist? I think yes!"
August 16, 2023, by Clementine Oberst and Alison Manley
*Shortlisted!
Clementine & Alison review this title from the 2023 Booker Longlist. "Should it make the shortlist? I’m honestly not sure! "
August 18, 2023 by Alison Manley and Clementine Oberst
*Shortlisted!
Alison & Clementine review this 2023 longlisted title.
"This is an interesting choice for the Booker longlist, because it straddles the line between short stories and a novel, and the Booker is for novels. "
August 26, 2023 by Alison Manley and Clementine Oberst
*Shortlisted!
Alison: “I wouldn’t be upset if it was on the shortlist, but again, I wasn’t blown away."
Clementine "Another one I’m borderline about. I think it’s an impressive novel, but I don’t have the sense that this is my winner."
September 4, 2023 by Clementine Oberst
“I thought this would be my personal winner. And I liked it! But I wasn’t completely blown away by it. ”
August 30, 2023, by Clementine & Alison
Clementine: "Should it make the shortlist? I think you know my answer is no!"
Alison: "I…wanted to like this book."
September 2, 2023 by Alison & Clementine
Clementine: "I read this one in a day; it’s a pleasant, bite-sized read, but not one that’s likely to stick with me."
Alison: "The beauty of the final pages of the novel did take my breath away!"
August 27, 2023, by Michael Bryson
"Elaine Feeney’s second novel, the 2023 Booker Prize long-listed How to Build a Boat, is a tour de force."
August 26, 2023 by Alison Manley
Alison: “I don’t think it was mind-blowing, but it was beautifully written, and I wouldn’t be upset to see it on the Booker shortlist."
August 20, 2023 by Alison Manley and Clementine Oberst
Alison: “Starting off the 2023 Booker Prize list with a strong contender here.”
Clementine: "Should it be on the shortlist? I would be very disappointed to see it there!"
September 18. 2023 by Alison Manley
"The plot of this book is very, very thin - I mostly felt like I was waiting for the book to happen."
Giller 2023 Reviews
September 17, 2023 by Michael Bryson
"Award-worthy for sure."
September 12, 2023 by Laura Patterson and Christina Barber
"...an interesting yet beautifully poetic piece of writing."
September 11, 2023 by Sarah Marie
"Every sentence in this novel is a creation. David’s prose is understated, and his storytelling is larger than life."
September 6, 2023 by Michael Greenstein
"Obedience requires a listening to, and her ear is as finely tuned as her powers of observation."
March 13, 2023 by Wanda Baxter
"What makes We Have Never Lived On Earth stand out most, is how the collection of linked though disconnected stories feels as rewarding as a novel."
January 2, 2023 by Ian Colford
"We Meant Well, in the diverting manner of a whodunit, grips the reader from the first page."
April 10, 2023 by Michael Greenstein
"Eleanor Catton’s third novel, Birnam Wood, is a political and psychological cliff-hanger where characters do indeed fall of cliffs in a remote area of New Zealand. "
July 31, 2023 by Sarah Marie
"Beautiful and devastating."
April 8, 2023 by Laurie Burns
"Chong is a master weaver of fiction."
November 18, 2022 by Diana Stevan
Though the story of The Rooftop Garden is fictional, I’m reminded of something Salman Rushdie once said, “novels tell the truth.”
