New Stories about Old People.

Book Review for “Old Babes in the Wood” Stories by Margaret Atwood. Summary: "The two intrepid sisters of the title story grapple with loss and memory on a perfect summer evening; "Impatient Griselda" explores alienation and miscommunication with a fresh twist on a folkloric classic; and "My Evil Mother" touches on the fantastical, examining a … Continue reading New Stories about Old People. →

Connecting Jewish Worlds

Book Review for “White Zion” by Gila Green. Miriam’s father is a dark-skinned Israeli from Yemen, and her mother is a fair-skinned Jew from Canada. Their histories and families, together with Miriam’s own experiences, span across many decades and take us from pre-Statehood Israel, to Ottawa, to modern Jerusalem. This is the essence of this … Continue reading Connecting Jewish Worlds →

The Tempers of Historic Toronto.

This book was published in 1987 and frankly, I’m shocked that I hadn’t read this before now. It should have caught my eye sooner, since it is actually historical fiction. I mean, talk about my genre, right? Plus - HELLO! Ondaatje! Well, I have no excuses, but thankfully, I’ve now rectified this embarrassing oversight.

Theatrical Turbulence

Book Review of "Hag-Seed" by Margaret Atwood. It was Felix’s dream to mount his own version of Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” at the (Canadian) Makeshiweg Theater festival, but before he could get started, he found himself ousted as their artistic director. That was the last blow, since came on the heels of a broken marriage, and … Continue reading Theatrical Turbulence →

Tell me who you love

Book Review of "A Place Called Winter" by Patrick Gale. After Harry's father died, leaving him and his brother Jack orphans, Harry finds his inheritance will keep them both far from poverty. With their good education and status, they are good catches to settle down with any moderately well off Edwardian women, so that's exactly … Continue reading Tell me who you love →

A Nobel Introduction?

Book Review of "Vintage Munro" - a collection of short stories by Alice Munro. In 2013, Alice Munro received the Nobel Prize for Literature. What made this award unique was that it was the first time they gave it to an author who exclusively writes short stories. To honor this, Vintage books put out a … Continue reading A Nobel Introduction? →

Teaser Tuesdays (December 1 2015)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read (or the next book on your reading list) Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure … Continue reading Teaser Tuesdays (December 1 2015) →

What a Trader!

https://commodity.com/blog/straw-millionaire/?off

Book Review of "One Red Paperclip" by Kyle MacDonald. UPDATE: Follow this link to see this amazing infographic about Kyle's amazing journey that he took to get a house! Trading something seemingly worthless until you get something of real value might be a cheap trick, especially if it starts out with something as insignificant as … Continue reading What a Trader! →

21 days on an Ocean Liner with an 11-year-old boy

Book Review of "The Cat's Table" by Michael Ondaatje. Michael Ondaatje (author of "The English Patient"), has a distinctively unique style to his writing. His literary voice is poetic and fluid, yet also highly accessible. This comes through in all his writing, giving his work a deceptively simplistic feel, while remaining evocatively beautiful. However, he … Continue reading 21 days on an Ocean Liner with an 11-year-old boy →

A Novel that Sweeps in like the Tide

Book Review of "A Tale for the Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki. We’ve all read books where the first thing we’ve wanted to do when we finished reading the last page was to start over again from the beginning. Ruth Ozeki’s latest novel “A Tale for the Time Being” is certainly one of those books; … Continue reading A Novel that Sweeps in like the Tide →