-
Rich and Poor by Jacob Wren
I picked up Rich and Poor at the Book Thug tent at Word on the Street. Struck at first by its beautiful cover, the synopsis really hooked me with its brutal honesty: “Rich and Poor is a novel of a man who washes dishes for a living and decides to kill a billionaire as a political act.”…
-
Lattes with Ladies: Victoria Stacey!
Victoria Stacey is a graphic designer, photographer, blogger, event planner, and A+ volunteer. She founded and ran Passion8 magazine for three years, is an executive for Young Women in Business – Toronto, and an avid crafter. HPL: What are you reading right now? VS: The Magicians. I’ve read three chapters of it because I don’t get…
-
Introducing Lattes with Ladies!
So, I haven’t been able to post a review for a while and I’ve realized that with my schedule the way it is, I can’t really keep up this blog on reviews alone — and I wouldn’t want to! I’ve made quite a few posts about my reading life which have gone over well and…
-
An Ode to Festivals
The Word on the Street book and magazine festival hits the Harbourfront this Sunday, September 25, 2016. After four years of attending, I decided to spice things up this year and volunteer for the first time! If you’ve never attended Word on the Street you should definitely check it out this weekend. Literary festivals are…
-
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
I woke the next morning knowing that nothing would be the same. It would change and go on changing. Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea has been on my list for a long time. The story gives new voice to Bertha, the boogeywoman from one of my favourite novels, Jane Eyre. Reimagined as Antoinette Cosway in Rhys’ beautiful, ripe world…
-
Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull
Ed Catmull’s Creativity Inc. was an accomplishment for me. I’ve never been a huge fan of non-fiction books. Not that I shy away from the genre as a whole but that I prefer a deep delve into a narrative which many authors of non-fiction don’t fulfill. Catmull, as one of the founders of Pixar, doesn’t…
-
The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks
I first heard about James Rebanks through his Twitter account @herdyshepherd1 which features beautiful photos of his flock and brought the rural Lake District of England into my daily life. The Shepherd’s Life is Rebanks’ first novel, a memoir told in seasons, capturing the traditional farming lifestyle he was born and raised into. His story and sense…
-
Am I reading the right books?
I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not reading the right books. When plied with the question “Have you read…?” I almost always shrink with embarrassment because the answer is usually, “No I haven’t.” When asked to recommend a good book to someone I struggle because my reading choices are often miscellaneous, ranging from popular…
-
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee has been most aptly compared to the works of Cormac McCarthy and Kazuo Ishiguro. The post-apocalyptic fiction is grim and lyrical but I find it sticks out in a way which its peers haven’t. Lee’s novel has a thread of comfort sewn throughout it in the form…
-
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
I only wrote this review a few months ago, but there has been an exciting new development in the real world which Lawrence Hill drew inspiration from. The Nova Scotia government has released the real Book of Negroes as an open data set for researchers or anyone to use really. You can see a digitized…
-
FOLD + Lawrence Hill Live!
Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to hear Lawrence Hill in conversation with Farzana Doctor as part of FOLD, the Festival of Literary Diversity. I found out about FOLD late so I was only able to drop by on Sunday afternoon, but I was very excited to check out a festival dedicated to diversity…
-
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay’s essay collection, Bad Feminist, is essential reading. The professor cum Twitter personality works through the question: “How do we reconcile the imperfections of feminism with all the good it can do?” Beginning with herself, Gay presents the body of a black woman as a platform for analysis, examining the politics of that state…
Got any book recommendations?
Connect with me