Category Books
I kept getting this niggling feeling that I’d read something like this before, but that could just be that I’d read a number of reviews and/or that I read a preview snippet somewhere. That being said, I was enthralled by… Continue Reading →
My friend Marina is a movie aficionado and podcaster and invited me to a special press screening for The Book Thief last week. After seeing the movie, we recorded a special podcast for Row Three: After the Credits (Episode 140:… Continue Reading →
We went to go see Ender’s Game on opening weekend and were really pleased that it wasn’t in 3D. We saw it in UltraAVX, which was quite sufficient. Having just finished reading the book, I was really interested in the… Continue Reading →
SPOILER WARNING: Consider yourself fully warned that I will talk about the book in detail. In fact, I will talk about the entire series. If you have not read book one (Divergent) and two (Insurgent) then this review will spoil… Continue Reading →
I love Flavia de Luce! Speaking from Among the Bones is the fifth book in the Buckshaw Chronicles. I’ve read and reviewed the first four books: Sweetness from the Bottom of the Pie (book 1) The Weed that Strings the… Continue Reading →
I jumped on the book-to-movie bandwagon again and picked up a copy of Ender’s Game last month. It originated as the short story published in August 1977, which Card expanded to a book and published in 1985, receiving both the… Continue Reading →
I finished Divergent several months ago, and Insurgent picks up right where it left off, so it took me a little while to get back in the groove. One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice… Continue Reading →
Following up on her acclaimed novel, February, Lisa Moore penned Caught which was published earlier this year. It’s already garnered award attention on long- and short-lists. I saw in several places that Caught was being marketed as a crime thriller,… Continue Reading →
Local author Aislinn Hunter will soon be publishing a new novel, and her debut novel, Stay, has been adapted into a film (TIFF, 2013). Stay follows the story of a young Canadian woman living in Ireland with an older man…. Continue Reading →
I picked up a (hard)copy of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan at one of my favourite local bookstores, Pulpfiction Books. I’ve been eying the book for a while—I even had a discussion with a staff member at Armchair… Continue Reading →
When I heard about The Maze Runner being adapted for the silver screen, I wanted to read the book. I didn’t realize I’d already heard about the book from a friend who was excited to read the prequel, The Kill… Continue Reading →
Horns by Joe Hill is already being adapted for the big screen, starring Daniel Radcliffe (the photo is worth seeing!). I am vain about keeping on top of reading trends—although it’s probably impossible—and I wanted to read this before the… Continue Reading →
The opening chapters had a fantastic set-up: the robot uprising has been defeated (barely), here is what happened. Then, back to the beginning to find out what happened and why. Each subsequent chapter built on the suspense and urgency of… Continue Reading →
This past week I was thrilled (and nervous) to be a guest host for Before the Dawn, a podcast for book to screen adaptations, especially YA fiction. The show originated in 2009 as a Twilight podcast created by movie bloggers… Continue Reading →
I’ve been participating in FictionKNITstas, the 2013 edition of Fictionistas. The project is a collaborative of independent Canadian publishers who bring female authors together for meaningful book events, and the 2013 edition threw knitting into the mix. As I already… Continue Reading →
On Sunday I got back from a week on the road up and down Vancouver Island with two authors shortlisted for The BC Book Prizes—Anne Fleming, author of a book of short stories entitled Gay Dwarves of America, and Alan… Continue Reading →
I am doing my degree with a minor in Publishing, so I had the chance to read some publishing-related texts this past semester. Here are my (rough) thoughts and musings. On the Subject of Literary Criticism: Considering the topic of… Continue Reading →
I enjoyed The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan so much that I’m kicking myself for not reading her first novel when it came out in 2009. The Day The Falls Stood Still was getting hype in 2010 from various… Continue Reading →
Victoria (BC, Canada) author Esi Edugyan was already getting all kinds of award nods for her second novel, Half-Blood Blues, when I finally picked it up. It locally won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize at the BC Book Prizes, and… Continue Reading →
What really increased my experience while reading Malarky was getting to interview Anakana Schofield for an article I wrote for The Peak. A lot of the interview didn’t make it into the article, but having Anakana articulate her interests around… Continue Reading →
Many great authors got their start writing serialized fiction for the newspaper, notably Charles Dickens for The Pickwick Papers. The difficulty with serial fiction is that the author has to keep the attention of readers so they will return for… Continue Reading →
You already know I have a problem. My TBR Pile would crush me to death if it fell over. And it seems that 2013 isn’t helping the pile… Armchair Books in Whistler: Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley… Continue Reading →
Divergent by Veronica Roth is the first book in a new dystopian series. You’re probably thinking that this concept has already been done to death, but Roth’s approach and premise is really entertaining. The second title, Insurgent, is already out… Continue Reading →
“There are worse crimes than burning books,” said Russian poet Joseph Brodsky. “One of them is not reading them.” One of the things I’m a huge advocate for is Literacy, with a capital L. And Freedom to Read Week embodies… Continue Reading →
I’ve been meaning to read Bedtime Story since hearing the author, Robert J. Wiersema, at The Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival in 2010 with Kathleen Winter and Emma Donoghue. Bedtime Story, tells two tales concurrently: the first of a… Continue Reading →
