The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls

Both this book and the last one (Nervous System) were books that other people loaned me, saying “I think you might like this.”  It’s always interesting to see what other people think you might like.  Kind of a glimpse into how they perceive your interests. This one was loaned me by my boss, and it’s [...]

Nervous System, by Jan Lars Jensen

When Canadian writer Jan Lars Jensen had his first novel accepted by a publisher, things seemed to be going well.  But Jensen’s life quickly started to unravel.  He had had no previous diagnosis of mental illness (though there was a history of mental illness in his family, but then, whose family doesn’t have some history [...]

Passion, by Jude Morgan

Unlike the last book I reviewed, Conceit, to which I brought a lot of preconceived notions, Passion took me by surprise. In many ways.
It has some similarities to Conceit, and indeed to my own novel The Violent Friendship of Esther Johnson, in that it’s about a women who are known to history mainly because [...]

Conceit, by Mary Novik

I heard about this book, through the publishing grapevine, long before it was ever released, and made a mental note at the time that I would want to read it.  My anticipation was based on knowing that the novel dealt with the life of one of my favourite writers, seventeenth-century love poet and priest John [...]

The Lollipop Shoes, by Joanne Harris

I’ve enjoyed many of Joanne Harris’s previous novels, the best-known of which is probably Chocolat.  My personal favourite is Gentlemen and Players, which I read earlier this summer and found absolutely engrossing, and quite a departure from her earlier work.
The Lollipop Shoes is like Chocolat meets Gentlemen and Players.  The main character of Chocolate, Vianne [...]

Lisey’s Story, by Stephen King

I’ll admit it: I’ve never read a Stephen King novel before this. For many years I just knew that Stephen King was an immensely popular writer of horror novels, which pretty much guaranteed I would never in a million years ever pick up one of his books, since I find real life quite scary [...]

All Gone Widdun, by Annamarie Beckel

Maybe it’s because I read Cloud of Bone so recently, but I found myself in the mood to read something else about the Beothuk, and I picked up this novel from a few years back which I’d somehow missed reading when it first came out.
All Gone Widdun is another telling of the story of [...]