One Book, Two Reviews: Johnny Delivers by Wayne Ng
Johnny Delivers by Wayne Ng is a top read of this year for me … Family tensions dominate the action in Wayne’s Ng’s pulsating novel, Johnny Delivers.
Ian Colford
The Philosopher Stories by Jerry Levy
Karl Pringle, the luckless misfit at the centre of Jerry Levy’s collection of linked short fiction, The Philosopher Stories, is someone most of us can identify with, regardless of (or maybe because of) the fact that he is often deceitful, sometimes deluded, and pretty much always mired in a sinkhole of self-pity.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
In 1962, a Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq family travels to Maine, where they have gone for many years to spend the summer picking berries. That year there are five children, the youngest, Ruthie, just four years old. One day, Ruthie and six-year-old Joe go off together to eat their lunch. Joe, distracted by something, leaves his sister on her own, and Ruthie goes missing.
The Harvesters by Jasmina Odor
Mira and Bernard are both suffering the effects of recent losses. In her forties, childless and recently divorced from David, Mira’s past is very much on her mind.
Jumbo by Stephens Gerard Malone
Jumbo, Stephens Gerard Malone’s latest masterful melding of fact and fiction, is an unflinching, at times brutally heartrending, portrait of 19th-century circus life.
Apples on a Windowsill by Shawna Lemay
Shawna Lemay’s engrossing collection of essays, Apples on a Windowsill, should be required reading for anyone with an interest in creating art and being human in challenging times.
Lásko by Catherine Cooper
A writer who is not afraid to explore the darker recesses of the human heart.
Five for Forteau by Kevin Major
The fifth book in the Sebastian Synard mystery series takes our intrepid tour guide/private detective on a jaunt across Newfoundland and into Labrador, in pursuit of those towers of intrigue—lighthouses!
Burn Man: Selected Stories by Mark Anthony Jarman
Drawing together the best of his short fiction published over the last four decades, Burn Man: Selected Stories showcases Mark Anthony Jarman’s sharply observed characters and acrobatic, voice-driven prose in stories that walk the tightrope between the commonplace and the mystical.
The Gull Workshop by Larry Mathews
The Gull Workshop is a collection of stories that features a unique combination of thematic seriousness and comic style.
No Stars in the Sky by Martha Bátiz
The nineteen stories in No Stars in the Sky feature strong but damaged female characters in crisis.
What Comes Echoing Back by Leo McKay
A poignant novel imbued with music from the Giller Prize — shortlisted author of Like This and Twenty-Six that follows two social outcasts as they navigate through their traumatic pasts.
The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman’s Life
Winner of the Brage Prize, the most prestigious award in Norwegian Literature, The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman’s Life is a quiet, beautiful exploration of solitude and how we relate to other beings.
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
A Minor Chorus tells the story of a young unnamed narrator who becomes disillusioned with the academic life, abandons his PhD dissertation and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
Everything Affects Everyone by Shawna Lemay
Everything Affects Everyone, is a novel about listening, about how women speak to one another, and about the power of the question.
