Livyers World is a young-adult science fiction novel with a fascinating premise. It’s set in a future Newfoundland — or rather, two future Newfoundlands. The young protagonist Viddy is drawn into what he first thinks is an interactive computer program, but it quickly begins to seem more like a parallel world to his own, an [...]
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 [...]
Cloud of Bone is another of those books that I’m much too prejudiced to be reviewing, but I will anyway. Bernice Morgan is not only my favourite Newfoundland author, not only a friend and mentor, but also my aunt. I have to tell you that in the interests of full disclosure, and then I have [...]
I’m not sure quite what to say about Bishop’s Road, except that I enjoyed it. It’s a good book, but an odd one. The novel is set in a boarding house in downtown St. John’s, and follows the interconnected lives of five eccentric women boarders over the course of a year or so. [...]
Black Water Born is the story of two young lovers, Lucky and Helen, in the tiny Newfoundland community of Burgoyne’s Cove in 1913. Lucky is seen as an outsider in the community although he has grown up there, since his pregnant mother drifted ashore after falling off a ship and died after giving birth [...]
Janice Wells writes a column (same title as the book) in my local paper, which I occasionally read and usually enjoy. When I saw that this book — a collection of her columns — was for sale, I picked it up on impulse to add to my mom’s Mother’s Day gift bag, thinking it [...]
Helen Porter is a writer about whom I can’t even pretend to be unbiased, since I count her as one of my literary and life mentors. I couldn’t say anything bad about her: if I hadn’t thoroughly enjoyed her book, I just wouldn’t have reviewed it. But I did enjoy it, so here I am [...]
You might want to refer to my recent review of Jonathan Harr’s The Lost Painting for a refresher on my relationship with non-fiction. While I always prefer a novel, I am getting better at reading non-fiction that is both informative and engaging. Domino definitely falls into this category, as Maura Hanrahan does her usual deft [...]
I would never have known about The Dying Days if Shannon Patrick Sullivan hadn’t posted a comment here on Compulsive Overreader, which just proves blogging is good for something. At least, I might have heard of the book (after all, it was published by Creative/Killick, a local press with whom I have more than a [...]
this much is true is the second of two novels by local authors that I brought along on my trip with me, and I finished it on the plane on the way to England — so the first thing I can say is that it’s a quick read! (Of course, it’s also a long flight!)Tina [...]
