I just finished reading Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, and I have emerged from its pages feeling sunburned. The novel is set in Almería, in southeast Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It's an unfriendly landscape, with blazing sun, burning sand, and harsh salt. There are sweltering plastic greenhouses, unlovely gas canisters lining the beach, and … Continue reading Mothers, Daughters, and Jellyfish: Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Are you following this year's Canada Reads competition? It's down to the wire! With two books left out of five, I have to say that I am rooting for Francesca Ekwuyasi's Butter Honey Pig Bread. I loved, loved, loved this book—it was a real standout novel for me this year. Full of colour and warmth … Continue reading Canada Reads 2021: Team Francesca Ekwuyasi
March is here. It came in like a race between the lion and the lamb…yesterday we alternated between glorious sun and blue sky, and wild squalling blizzards. Today is grey and cold; when I tried to let my cats out, they blinked in the frigid air, flicked their paws, and went back to bed. I … Continue reading Careful Attention: Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
I love the winter. It's an unpopular stance, I know. Especially since I'm not particularly into winter activities. But I love the snow, the way it blankets everything and muffles sound, creating a silent, insulated world that glitters in the light. I love curling up inside with a warm blanket and a mug of tea, … Continue reading Winter Reading Roundup: The Tove Jansson Edition
Usually in the winter, I like to read wintry books. (In fact, I have a winter reads round-up coming your way soon). But recently I finished a book set in hot and sunny places, and I must admit, it was nice to be immersed in the fictional sunshine during these endlessly grey and snowy Ontario … Continue reading Stories about Stories: The Night Counter by Alia Yunis
Although I am a big fan of mystery novels, I have read very little in the way of noir. I am ever so slowly remedying that, and thus far can count The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, and, now, Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes, as under my … Continue reading Murder, Glamour, and #MeToo, 1940s-Style: Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes
Perhaps you'll notice that I didn't do a "Best Books of 2020" roundup at the end of December. To be honest, I wasn't really feeling it. For one thing, most of my "best books" of the past year have already been rhapsodized about on this blog. For another thing, as the year wound to a … Continue reading Reading Ruts and Looking Forward
As I write this, the rain outside has turned to snow, the wood stove is glowing with warmth beside me, and I have a little striped cat stretched out on my lap in contentment. It is Christmas Eve day, and although in many ways this is a strange and sad holiday, I also have lots … Continue reading The Tall Tales Now that We Told by the Fire: Christmas Reads 2020
I used to say, only sort of in jest, that I was in favour of public shaming. I didn't mean that I thought we needed to bring back the stocks or anything like that (okay, okay, I may have joked that we needed to bring back the stocks), but I had an idea that people … Continue reading Ideas and Revolutions: I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom
The lady herself: Muriel Spark in 1960. For a long time, Muriel Spark was a name in the back of my mind. I saw her books in used bookstores and thought, I should read those. I knew of the film adaptation of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but I wasn't sure about it—not only … Continue reading Muriel Spark & Me
