Review: Cadillac Couches by Sophie B. Watson Source: Paperback, Published September 4, 2012 by Brindle and Glass Publishing Verdict: Excellent Book Description: Cadillac Couches is a picaresque road trip novel that journeys from prairie to big city and back again. A quixotic tale set in the late ’90s and framed by the popular Edmonton Folk Music Festival, it follows two […]
Review: The Anatomist’s Wife (Lady Darby Mystery #1) by Anna Lee Huber Source: Paperback, Published November 6, 2012 by Berkley Trade Verdict: Very Good Book Description: Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister’s estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the […]
I have written a post about the good highlights of my 2014 reading year so far. However, as with any reading year, there are bound to be some stinkers. Okay, maybe ‘stinker’ is too harsh a word, but let’s just say, these titles just fell flat. Some I had high expectations for, which is why the let down was even greater. In no particular order: Jeffrey Brown’s Kids Are Weird: And Other Observations from Parenthood. Now, I quite enjoyed Darth Vader and Son and Vader’s Little Princess, so I thought this non-fiction collection of comics about parenting would be fun. I…did not find it funny. To be honest, I do not understand the point of this book at all. (Hey, maybe that was the point? For it to be as non-nonsensical, head-scratching, or jarring as some of the nattering in the comics?). Guy Delisle’s A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting is, in my opinion, a much stronger and pithier graphic novel option on a similar topic. This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. Though I read through this YA graphic novel in one sitting, I did not have the greatest experience. I kept reading and flipping, waiting and hoping for something. Stronger dialogue between the main characters, some character development, a spark, something. I mentioned on my brief Goodreads review that the illustrations are pretty wonderful and expressive, but I felt that the written component really let the entire novel fall quite flat. […]
“I carried a watermelon” Do you have a particular genre or author(s) you favour over the summer months? I don’t entirely eschew heavier or darker reads over the summer, but I do have a tendency to enjoy comics, contemporary, old favourites, and the funny (…much like I do in the middle of our Canadian winters, actually!). Just some of my picks: Rose Cooper’s Blogtastic! series Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy, The Long Secret Lois Lowry’s Anastasia Krupnik series Ellen Conford’s Seven Days to a Brand New Me The Spoiled series by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan Judy Blume’s Just as Long as We’re Together, Tiger Eyes Kit Pearson’s A Handful of Time Sophie B. Watson’s Cadillac Couches I Was a 98 Pound Duckling by Jean Van Leeuwen Jaclyn Moriarty’s Feeling Sorry for Celia Morgan Matson’s Second Chance Summer Jenny Han’s Summer series Vikki VanSickle’s Summer Days, Starry Nights Tera Lynn Childs’ Medusa Girls series (note: I still have book 3 left to read!) Sarah Dessen’s Along for the Ride, The Truth About Forever Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series Nina LaCour’s The Disenchantments Elinor Lipman’s The Inn at Lake Devine, The Pursuit of Alice Thrift Anything from Meg Cabot; The Boy Series in particular is a good, funny pick Sophie Kinsella’s The Undomestic Goddess, Can You Keep a Secret?, or the Shopaholic series Losing Joe’s Place by Gordon Korman Bill Amend’s FoxTrot comic strip series Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott’s Baby Blues […]
It’s August, so we’re already more than halfway through the year. For various reasons, I have not had as much time for reading as I would have wished. (…I also may have had to edit my Goodreads challenge a few times…cough). So, what have been the big kickers of my reading year so far? The surprises and goodies? From adult […]
Oy. Writer’s/blogger’s block. Having it is not conducive and/or helpful to writing book reviews. In the meantime, I will share a passage or two from Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, which I am currently in the midst of. (And which I am reading for the first time!). There are so many utterly lovely turns of phrases and descriptive sections […]
