Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens
reviewdate:
Jan 29 2020
isn:
9781534430679
Tagged with canada
10 Things I Can See from Here
reviewdate:
Apr 30 2017
isn:
9780399556272
recommendation:
Anatomy of a Girl Gang
reviewdate:
Jun 30 2015
isn:
9781551525297
author gender:
medium:
author demographic:
Station Eleven
It took me a little while to get into this post-pandemic novel, but once I was in it, I was uncomfortably in the lonely world where only .6% of the population survives a flu outbreak. I'm still not getting a flu shot, btw.
reviewdate:
Jan 8 2015
isn:
978-0-385-35331-1
author gender:
book type:
medium:
recommendation:
Tale for the Time Being, a
There's a lot to love, literarily, in Ruth Ozeki's metafictive split narrative novel, but it's not the fastest read. I was completely engaged in the parts of the book that are the diary of a bullied, out-of-place Japanese teenager, but found the second person story about the characters Ruth and Oliver (the author and her husband's real names) and their cat Schrödinger (not their cat's real name) less compelling. I didn't dislike it, but it was a struggle, like Ruth's life.
reviewdate:
Mar 30 2013
isn:
978-0-670-02663-0
author gender:
book type:
medium:
recommendation:
author demographic:
Blood Trail
This time our visually impaired private detective is tracking a killer of werewolves, which she didn't even know existed until the end of the first chapter, and she's doing so in rural Ontario. A lot of times I didn't entirely follow Huff's connections, but I still found the book compelling and am intrigued enough by the hint that a cop character could be transgender that I'll read the third installment.
reviewdate:
Feb 17 2013
isn:
978-0-7564-0387-4
author gender:
book type:
medium:
Blood Price
A Toronto ex-cop with night blindness and decreasing peripheral vision, turned private investigator, finds herself hunting a demon. It's a compellingy told first entry in a vampire series. My only complaint is that there were some weird typos and spelling mistakes, e.g., MacDonald's for McDonald's and I Dream of Genie instead of Jeannie. I'm pissy like that, though.
reviewdate:
Nov 23 2012
isn:
978-0-7564-0501-4
author gender:
book type:
medium:
recommendation:
Complicated Kindess, a
At first I was dazzled by Toews’ clever and funny language and her decreasingly subtle but accurate depiction of adolescent depression. Eventually it started to wear on me, though. It’s the same thing that annoys me about Jasper Fforde: the cleverness is relentless. But, I still think this book will appeal to people who like reading about religious sects (the protagonist comes from a Mennonite family and town), enjoy women coming-of-age stories, or who can handle a lot of clever. Also--Look at the cover closely; it’s as perfect a match to a novel’s contents as I’ve ever seen. Kudos to Kelly Hill, designer.
reviewdate:
Jun 13 2011
isn:
1-58243-321-6
author gender:
book type:
medium:
Grrrl
Marlie, a Toronto teen, starts keeping a journal in August 1990 and keeps it up through October 1992. In that time she obsesses over the the Pretenders, learns to play guitar, discovers riot grrrl, starts a band, makes and loses friends, falls in love with a girl, falls in love with a boy, sees a lot of shows, and basically embraces and releases her inner fierceness.
reviewdate:
Apr 21 2011
isn:
0-9753964-4-7