• Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

    Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

    I first saw Hot Milk in the recommended books section at Green Apple Books in San Francisco. Its beautiful cover and intriguing title drew my attention but I passed on it to save room in my suitcase. This past Christmas, a friend gifted it to me from an equally cool bookstore here in Toronto, ReReading,…

  • A Year of Missed Reviews

    A Year of Missed Reviews

    A lot has happened in 2017, I took a short break from blogging which turned into a long break so I could focus on my job and non-profit activities. I don’t regret my choice really but every now and again I’ll be riding the subway or walking down the street and I would think of…

  • The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King

    The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King

    The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King was recommended to me by the same friend (and fan of King) who suggested I read Truth and Bright Water. It should come as no surprise to anyone that I loved both of them! The Back of the Turtle follows a few different characters, each chapter alternating…

  • No Place Strange by Diana Fitzgerald Bryden

    No Place Strange by Diana Fitzgerald Bryden

    I seem to have made it a habit of picking books that are difficult to write about even though I know that I will spend more time going back and forth about what I can and can’t say than actually sitting down and trying to write a review. First, it was student suicide, now it…

  • Lattes with Ladies: Jasmine Gui

    Lattes with Ladies: Jasmine Gui

    I finally got the chance to transcribe this exciting interview with Jasmine Gui, translator, editor, and co-founder of the Project 40 Collective. She is a really, really cool lady whose passion for diversity and accessibility in literature have helped to create LooseLeaf Magazine and Col.lab Incubator. I became familiar with her stuff through Instagram and when I realized…

  • Monoceros by Suzette Mayr

    Monoceros by Suzette Mayr

    Lately, I’ve been challenging myself to read more outside of my comfort zone. When I spotted Monoceros‘ beautiful cover on the discount shelf at TYPE Books, I thought why not give it a shot? I read the summary on the back and it seemed alright. I was not disappointed! Inside was a beautiful and tragic story. Unfortunately,…

  • No-No Boy by John Okada

    No-No Boy by John Okada

    I picked up John Okada’s No-No Boy in the Alcatraz Island gift shop when I was visiting San Francisco. It was part of a display about the time period that Alcatraz prison existed in, and when I found out that Okada’s novel is considered the first Asian-American novel I knew it was going to be my choice…

  • Tales from The Moth

    Tales from The Moth

    The Moth is releasing its second book, All These Wonders on March 21st! What better time to review their first collection? From the outset, I wasn’t sure how I was going to write about The Moth book, or even if I should. As a collection of stories from the incredibly popular podcast and touring show, which features…

  • Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

    Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

    The funny thing with reading a lot and only writing in my odd spare moment on weekends means that I often have to remind myself what I read and if I had written a blog about it yet. I was surprised this morning when I realized that I hadn’t actually written my review of Hag-Seed…

  • Lattes with Ladies: Alex Dunn!

    Lattes with Ladies: Alex Dunn!

    This week we feature the lovely Alex Dunn! A true entrepreneur, after finding there were few Canadian subscription boxes for book lovers like her Alex set out to create her own. Novel Editions launched in November 2016 and it is already become one of my favourite sources for the best new fiction. Alex opens up…

  • Top 10 Bookstagrammers you need to follow

    Top 10 Bookstagrammers you need to follow

    Ah, #Bookstagram. That wonderful world of photos of books and avid readers on the hunt for their next beautiful, great read. I only discovered bookstagram myself a little while ago, but since then I can’t get enough. In fact, you can follow me @hplreads to see some bookstagrams of my own. My favourite thing about…

  • The Pain Tree by Olive Senior

    The Pain Tree by Olive Senior

    I picked up The Pain Tree at the Word on the Street festival in Toronto this past fall. It was recommended to me at the Cormorant Books tent, and always happy to pick up more Canlit and Caribbean lit, I couldn’t say no! Olive Senior is a prolific writer, having published many volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and…

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