The Scent of Light by Kristjana Gunnars Toronto: Coach House Books, 2022 $25.95 / 9781552454381 Reviewed by Carol Matthews * In his introduction to The Scent of Light, Kazim Ali describes the five novellas that make up Kristjana Gunnars’ s collection as “transgeneric books comprised of a dynamic blend of fiction, autobiography, literary theory and…
Read more 1592 Five novellas
Small Talk by Christopher Levenson New Westminster: Silver Bow Publishing, 2022 $23.95 / 9781774032152 Reviewed by Al Rempel * Christopher Levenson’s latest book, Small Talk, is a collection of short poems that is poignant, insightful, or humorous, and filled with observations that resonate with lived experience. Levenson has decided to showcase his small poems —…
Read more 1591 Short poems, deep pauses
Hesitating Once to Feel Glory by Maleea Acker Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2022 $19.95 / 9780889714144 Reviewed by Theresa Kishkan * This is how the title poem in Maleea Acker’s new poetry collection, Hesitating Once To Feel Glory, begins: Sometimes I think we can see the world before it began, and that’s what makes us so…
Read more 1590 The art of looking
Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (McClelland and Stewart), 2021 $22.00 / 9780771096488 Reviewed by Michelle Ha * “How do you grieve, if your family doesn’t talk about feelings?” This is a question that I feel like many children of immigrants can relate to, and most may have asked themselves as…
Read more 1589 The empty spaces of love
Dearly by Margaret Atwood Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (McClelland & Stewart), 2020 $24.00 / 9780771000799 Reviewed by gillian harding-russell * In Dearly, Margaret Atwood returns with a poetry collection after nearly two decades since Morning in the Burned House (1995). The poems do not disappoint. Here the unexpected angles of perception with their edge…
Read more 1588 Wit, irony, and blackberries
Johnny of Maillardville by Marie-Laure Chevrier with illustrations by Michael Kluckner Vancouver: Midtown Press, 2021 $15.95/ 9781988242422 * Monsieur Maillardville: Un Pionnier Visionnaire par Marie-Laure Chevrier avec illustrations par Michael Kluckner Vancouver: Éditions du Pacifique Nord-Ouest, 2021 $15.95 / 9782925064121 Reviewed by Patricia E. Roy * …
Read more 1587 Monsieur Maillardville
305 Lost Buildings of Canada by Raymond Biesinger & Alex Bozikovic Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2022 $22.95 / 9781773102368 Reviewed by Martin Segger * What do we do about dead buildings? In our own time do they just sort of fade in community memory, like the guy in the office several cubicles down the hall…
Read more 1586 Touching down in the past
Sunny Days Inside and Other Stories by Caroline Adderson Toronto: House of Anansi (Groundwood) 2021 $16.99 / 9781773065724 Reviewed by Alison Acheson * Caroline Adderson’s work, whether for adults or children, crackles with vibrancy of language, and colour-filled image and tone. Always. Her recent and covid-inspired collection of connected short fiction for middle-grade readers —…
Read more 1585 Truisms of the quarantine
Damages: Selected Stories 1982-2012 by Keath Fraser, with an introduction by John Metcalf Windsor, ON: Biblioasis, 2021 $22.99 / 9781771962933 Reviewed by Bill Paul * Last year marked the publication of Keath Fraser’s highly anticipated collection of short stories, Damages: Selected Stories, 1982-2012, with an introduction by John Metcalf. The fiction collected in this volume…
Read more 1584 The mighty Fraser
Beneath the Coal Dust: Historical Journeys Through the Elk Valley and Crowsnest Pass by Wayne Norton Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2022 $26.00 / 9781773860923 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Blowing the Dust Away: A historian digs out unique local stories that shed light on our national history Wayne Norton is a master of footnote history….
Read more 1583 Blowing the dust away
Fire on Headless Mountain by Iain Lawrence Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Margaret Ferguson Books), 2022 $23.99 / 978082344654 Reviewed by Phyllis Reeve * Iain Lawrence’s novels for young readers fit into two sub-genres. In last year’s Deadman’s Castle — winner of the 2022 Silver Birch Fiction Award — as in his earlier swashbuckling trilogies The…
Read more 1582 The art of the possible
Tsqelmucwílc: The Kamloops Indian Residential School – Resistance and a Reckoning by Celia Haig-Brown, Garry Gottfriedson, Randy Fred, and the KIRS Survivors Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022 $22.95 / 9781551529059 Reviewed by Mary Ann Moore * Celia Haig-Brown’s Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School was the first book ever published in Canada about…
Read more 1581 Resistance and resilience
Because of Nothing at All by Paul Sunga Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2022 $24.95 / 9781773102467 Reviewed by W.H. New * On first glance, I thought that the title of Paul Sunga’s new novel, Because of Nothing at All, seemed awkward, but I soon changed my mind. Because the moment you start reading, it’s clear…
Read more 1580 Because matters
Art for Art’s Sake by Maria Tippett Cambridge, UK: Pegasus Publishers (Vanguard Press), 2022 $16.99 / 9781800164130 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * This nonet of stories is unified, as the title suggests, by a focus on visual art — unsurprising given that Tippett is a renowned art historian. The book’s title is sometimes straight up…
Read more 1579 Swindles, scandal, affluence
They Don’t Pay Me To Say No: my life in film and television props by Dean Goodine Victoria: FriesenPress Publishing, 2022 $24.99 / 9781039144316 Reviewed by Valerie Green * If you were asked what a “property master” does for a living, you would most likely assume the job was connected to real estate in some…
Read more 1578 Guns N’ Poses
Falling Hour by Geoffrey D. Morrison Toronto: Coach House Books, forthcoming February 2023 $22.95 / 9781552454466. To pre-order, click here Reviewed by Danial Neil * From the very beginning of this novel, there is a sense of something significant at work, an epic, perhaps, or something quite different, but equally triumphant. The table is set…
Read more 1577 Meet Hugh Delgarno
Vancouver, Howe Sound & the Sunshine Coast, Including Princess Louisa Inlet & Jedediah Island. New, Revised Fourth Edition. A Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide No. 3 by Anne Yeadon-Jones and Laurence Yeadon-Jones Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2022 $49.95 / 9781550179859 Reviewed by Kenneth Campbell * To explore British Columbia’s intricate coastal waterways safely and enjoyably by boat…
Read more 1576 South coast cruising
My Indian Summer by Joseph Kakwinokanasum New Westminster: Tidewater Press, 2022 $22.95 / 9781990160127 Reviewed by Brett Grubisic * With chapters that share titles with huge seventies radio hits by the likes of ABBA, Kenny Rogers, Nick Gilder, and Captain & Tennille, My Indian Summer appears to point readers in the direction of a wholly…
Read more 1575 The Red Rock chronicles
Meet Me in Cairo: Tales of Hitchin’ in the ’60s by Jim Kerr Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2022 $26.95 / 9781989467527 Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart * Jim Kerr’s story of hitch hiking around North America, Europe, North Africa, and the Levant is truly a tale from another age. An era when one could count…
Read more 1574 From Kelowna to Casablanca
The Dating Plan by Sara Desai Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Berkley), 2021 $22.00 / 9780593100585 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * A software engineer and her brother’s childhood best friend, Daisy and Liam, have a complex history of attraction and heartbreak. When they run into each other after years spent pursuing their own lives and…
Read more 1573 A pick-me-up romance