Clik here to view.
Poetics of Dissent: The Fourth Canvas by Rana Bose
While reading a thriller, I anticipate — and usually get — a twisty, testosterone-ridden plot. If I’m lucky, there’s a strong female character; really lucky, a good sex scene. What I don’t expect: a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Last River Child by Lori Ann Bloomfield
This debut novel by Toronto writer Lori Ann Bloomfield offers many riches: a vivid potted history of Canada in the time surrounding WWI, a nicely detailed account of small town life in rural Ontario,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Canadian Book Challenge #4
I’m not a big fan of blog challenges–they are sometimes a bit frantic, and reading is, or should be, a slow pleasure. But I’ve signed up for a couple this year for causes I believe in, like the Person...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Random Bookish Stuff #2
Sloughing off my dealings with ethically-challenged magazines and focusing on my upcoming reviews. 1. My review of TOK 5, a collection of stories and poems about immigrant Toronto, will appear in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Green Books Campaign: Can’tLit
This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 200 bloggers take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 books printed on recycled...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A reading by Alissa York, Camilla Gibb
and Kate Taylor occurred a few days ago in my part of the world. I wasn’t acquainted with Taylor’s work, but I knew and liked the others’ writing, and so made it a point to attend. Despite my son’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Women of the Short Story Tour
I live at a tantalizingly inconvenient distance from Toronto. The accursed highway that links me to literary activity is a perpetual jam; what should be a 45-minute drive takes two hours most evenings....
View ArticleClik here to view.
A reading with Rohinton Mistry, Wayne Johnston and James Bartleman
I attended the World Literacy Canada reading at the Park Hyatt Toronto earlier this week to see these three authors. There was a line-up, of the sort you’d expect to see at a samizdat store selling...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Canada Day Book Giveaway!
UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. It’s Canada Day on July 1, and along with a host of other Canada-based bloggers, I’m giving away a Canada-themed book to mark the day. Huzzah! I’m giving away the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Book Launch: Sleeping Funny by Miranda Hill
I asked Random House for a review copy of Sleeping Funny for the most ignoble of reasons–I figured my neighborhood would appear in the book. Miranda Hill lives a few streets away from me. I once saw...
View Article
