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In Defense of the Beach Read
I had a conversation with a friend a week ago about what I was reading now that the semester is over which brought us to a confounding realization: the lofty works of literature we had been dying to pick up for months now were too depressing. Were they well-written? Yes. Were they interesting and thought-provoking?…
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Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill
A tale of innocence and adolescence will crack your heart right open. Lullabies for Little Criminals is the coming-of-age story of Baby, who lives mostly on the streets of Montreal with her father Jules, a drug addict. O’Neill’s bildungsroman looks at the myriad of issues surrounding street kid culture. Readers are forced to question why…
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Read Harder 2015: Looking Back
Since it is the New Year, it only seems appropriate to reflect on what I’ve read in the past year and make resolutions for the coming one. Last December I took on Book Riot’s first Read Harder challenge. I love the idea of diversifying reading choices and found their list to be a thorough guide to…
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Family Life by Akhil Sharma
I was transfixed reading Akhil Sharma’s Family Life. The semi-autobiographical novel is full and heavy with grief and comedy following the story of the Mishtra family from the perspective of Ajay, the youngest son, as they cope not only with immigrating to America from India but the tragic loss of their eldest child. Birju becomes brain…
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Truth & Bright Water by Thomas King
I picked up my copy of Truth & Bright Water at the 2015 Hagey Lecture featuring Thomas King. His lecture entitled “Love in the Time of Cholera: Canadian Edition” was moving, topical, and, of course, exceedingly funny. Meeting authors I adore is always a panic-filled moment for me. I fear that meeting my hero may reveal a…
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Reading Austen’s Juvenilia
I haven’t really been able to live up to my weekly blogging schedule since the school term started so I can only say from here out to do my best to post every now and again. Although the majority of my reading life right now is what my professors have put on my syllabi so…
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When to give up on a book
It’s pretty common for people to struggle with finishing books and there have been many cases made for the benefits of seeing a book from discovering one rectifying moment to showing respect for the craftmanship of the work. But I’ve been struggling with a very different problem: what to do when a book simply disagrees with…
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Season: Taking a break from books!
I’ve been thinking about writing this post for quite a while. It’s not uncommon for me to take a break from blogging for several months — not a great habit but usually necessary to make time for school — but recently I’ve found that even with the time to do it I just haven’t been…
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The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie was recommended to me by a beloved professor after I had mentioned reading The Inconvenient Indian. This is not my first time reading Alexie. Although I am more familiar with his body of poetry, his short story collection carries his signature voice: thoughtful, well-spoken,…
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The Silver Star by Jeanette Walls
I often find in the pursuit of creating a touching, artistic story novels turn the world into a dark and unfair place, which it can be if we’re being honest, but sometimes what readers need is a good storybook ending. It’s okay to say you like a book that has a predictable ending where everything…
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And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier
I’ve been putting off writing this blog. Mostly because a) I once again failed to read all of the Canada Reads books in time for Canada Reads and b) I did not like this book. Both of which are a pretty big deal for me since I hate not finishing things and usually like most…
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The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
What does twenty-two years old look like? “In love, impressed, humbled, scared.” That is exactly how Marina Keegan felt as she was graduating from Yale in 2012 and how it feels to read her book The Opposite of Loneliness. I selected Keegan’s book after I read the original essay. I heard about her talent, her job…
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