Girls, Interrupted by Lisa Whittington-Hill
Until I read these essays, I hadn’t taken note of the ways that men and women are treated and portrayed differently in the media.
Naomi MacKinnon
We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed
In We Speak Through the Mountain, we get to revisit the world built in Mohamed’s previous book, The Annual Migration of Clouds, in which Reid lives in a pulled-together community in the future living off scraps left behind by a society that no longer exists.
Soft Serve by Allison Graves
Soft Serve is Allison Grave’s debut collection of short stories, arising from her master’s program at Memorial University. These stories are mainly contemporary stories written about “middle-class millennials” – the world my children will occupy soon, one that I can only observe from a distance of about 25 years.
Leaving Wisdom by Sharon Butala
Sharon Butala’s new novel begins with the wrong kind of bang when retiring social worker Judith falls on the ice on the way to her retirement party. The debilitating concussion that follows seems to shake loose a confusing whirl of memories.
Tucked Away by Phyllis Rudin
It seems like a dream gig when Daphne gets the job offer—live in Montreal’s Underground City for a full year and blog about the experience.
Mukbang by Fanie Demeule, Translated by Anita Anand
Mukbang is a grimy, shocking, and darkly funny dive into our relationships with food, self-image, and intimacy.
The Broken Places by Frances Peck
Frances Peck’s debut novel examines the unpredictable ways in which disaster can shake up lives and test personal resilience.
Rosa’s Very Own Personal Revolution by Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge
Eric Dupont seems to have his own distinct writing style. Like Songs for the Cold of Heart, Rosa–while not quite as epic–is whimsical and entertaining. Rosa grows up in a small village on the Gaspé Peninsula – isolated enough to have developed their own unique dialect. (“In the village, pronouncing one’s Ks was associated with Montreal, and …
Fearnoch by Jim McEwen
[Editor’s note: this review, written by Naomi MacKinnon, appeared at her Consumed by Ink book review blog and is reproduced here with her kind permission.] As soon as I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it (I do love judging a book by its cover!). But who knew I would love it …
The Santa Rosa Trilogy by Wendy McGrath
These three novellas (published by NeWest Press), that make up the Santa Rose Trilogy, are beautiful in every way; to look at, to hold, and to read.
Jude and Diana by Sharon Robart-Johnson
The only mention of Jude in Nova Scotia’s official history relates to her death: a slave-owning family was brought to trial for her murder in 1801. They were acquitted despite overwhelming evidence that they were guilty. Sharon Robart-Johnson pays tribute to such archival glimpses of enslaved people by re-creating the fullness of sisters Jude and Diana’s survival, emphasizing their joys alongside their hardship.
Trappings by Vanessa Winn
For fans of historical fiction and/or Canadian history, Trappings is a book based on real people and events in mid-nineteenth-century British Columbia. What’s more, it offers a woman’s view of politics and life during this time.
A Forest for Calum by Frank MacDonald
A Forest for Calum takes place in the 1950s and 60s rural Cape Breton.
Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta
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 …
Perfect World by Ian Colford
(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 …
