I wrote this article in collaboration with @mimiisreading for The Interlude. Read the full list here or below. As a new year of outstanding books begins, readers like us are already anticipating new releases. The excitement is building for titles that can help us separate the failures we want to bury in the past from…
Category: Books
Book Review: Fragments of Riversong by Farah Ghuznavi
Genre: South Asian, Contemporary, Short Story Anthology Goodreads Blurb: ‘Fragments of Riversong’ showcases a dozen masterfully-crafted tales that bring alive the beauty, chaos and contradictions of contemporary Bangladesh. Here are scenes from lives less often examined. A visa applicant at the US Embassy struggles with her conscience. Strange things happen when a street child finds…
Book Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery Goodreads Blurb: A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded…
ARC REVIEW: Yume by Sifton Tracey Anipare
Genre: Literary Fiction, Fantasy Publication Date: September 14th 2021 Goodreads Blurb: A modern-day fantasy novel about demons, dreams, and a young woman teaching English in Japan. Cybelle teaches English in a small city in Japan. Her contract is up for renewal, her mother is begging her to come back to Canada, and she is not…
ARC REVIEW: Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls (Jane Doe Chronicles #2) by Jeremy Lachlan
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy Publication Date: February 1st 2020 Goodreads Blurb: Strap in. Hold on tight. The follow-up to the award-winning Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds is here! Jane Doe is in more danger than ever before. Her father is still imprisoned. The Manor – the hallowed world between worlds – is still dying….
Thoughts on Fictitious Volume 2 by Shout
I like to think I’m a better reader than a writer and I read more than I can comprehend with my tiny brain, but I read on and it is my favourite form of meditation. I find fictions to be mind-numbingly addictive. I also get easily attached to things and get emotional when I have…
Book Review: Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Genre: Magical Realism, Sci-fi, Japanese Literature Goodreads Blurb: ‘A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan, unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that…
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom – duology that ages like fine wine
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Goodreads Blurb (Six of Crows, #1): Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But…
Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Genre: Magical Realism, Japanese Literature Goodreads Blurb: What would you change if you could go back in time? In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to…
Book Review: The Outlands by Tyler Edwards
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: In the ruins of the world that was lies the city of Dios, a haven protected from the hostile environment known as The Outlands. Ruled by an oppressive Patriarch, the people of Dios are conditioned in fear. The smallest infraction could result in banishment to the Outlands, a fate…
Book Review: Nathaniel’s Got the Blues by Daniel L. Heaney
Genre: Children/ Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy, Animals Goodreads Blurb: In the winter of his life, Nathaniel, a fruit rat, is bored, angry and depressed. Even his longsuffering wife, Birgit is becoming impatient with his litany of complaints and ailments. Nathaniel has grown increasingly self-focused possessing little interest in his gray-hued world. Sometimes he wistfully recalls…
Book Review: Burning Souls by David Chernushenko
Genre: Literary Fiction, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: To survive, the world must change. To survive, four friends must remain steadfast. Burning Souls is a dramatic tale of courage and friendship in a time of political turmoil and ecological collapse. Long time best friends Simone, Sagan, Jenny and Jiro learned of the predatory practices driving climate breakdown and social collapse,…
Book Review: The Good Witch of the South by T.C. Bartlett
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy, Classic Re-telling Goodreads Blurb: There is a darkness brewing in the West and alarming rumors of dragons and an evil enchantress building an army to overthrow the Great Head of Oz. A demon fairy witch the Land of Oz hasn’t seen since Dorothy Gale destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West. Soon…
My Thoughts on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Speculative Fiction, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: In one of the most acclaimed and original novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkle skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now thirty-one, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her…
ARC REVIEW: Shaula (The Stinger #2) by A. M. Kherbash
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy Publication Date: September 30th, 2021 Goodreads blurb: The sight of the body did not sicken Ben. Not right away. Guilt was what got him: the mounting consequences rising in his throat, and the truth which would inevitably come spilling out. Sometime after the events at Duncastor (See Lesath), two men are dispatched…
My Thoughts on NO LONGER HUMAN by Osamu Dazai
Genre: Fiction, Japanese Literature Goodreads Blurb: Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being. Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels incapable of understanding human beings. Oba…
ARC REVIEW: The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as Told to His Brother) by David Levithan
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Contemporary Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021 Goodreads Blurb: New York Times bestselling author David Levithan takes young readers on a twisting journey through truth, reality, and fantasy and belief. Aidan disappeared for six days. Six agonizing days of searches and police and questions and constant vigils. Then, just as…
The Grishaverse Trilogy – a rant review
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Goodreads Blurb (Shadow and Bone): Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has…
ARC REVIEW: LOVE AND LOCKDOWN BY ALICE CASWELL
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult Publication Date: March 4th, 2021 Goodreads Blurb: Angela wouldn’t usually be caught dead within two metres of Colin Cooper—and that was before a global pandemic broke out—but she’s just been evicted and he’s offered her his spare room for free. Except Colin’s not exactly a knight in shining armour. He…
BOOK REVIEW: 1Q84 BY HARUKI MURAKAMI
Genre: Contemporary, Adult, Magical Realism, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way,…
ARC REVIEW: PERFECT ON PAPER BY SOPHIE GOZALES
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult Fiction, LGBTQ+ Publication Date: March 9th, 2021 Goodreads Blurb: “Perfectly wonderful.” ―Becky Albertalli, New York Times–bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda In Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates…
ARC REVIEW: SAY GOODBYE AND GOODNIGHT BY DAVID RUGGERIO
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance Publication Date: June 11th, 2020 Blurb: Anthony Marino, a young, up-and-coming fighter, maneuvers through all the pitfalls and minefields that existed in 1977 Brooklyn. Yet beneath the harsh surface, Brooklyn offered much more. It was the time of disco, the music that liberated a generation. And through it all, Anthony found…
ARC REVIEW: ELEPHANT BY NATALIE RODRIGUEZ
Genre: YA, Suspense Goodreads Blurb: Summer of 2006. Four childhood best friends. A family secret. After a strange encounter leaves him hospitalized, a timid teenage boy named Matt “Matty” Smith comes home to a continuous series of events met with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Under the guardianship of his grandma, Lucia, Matt lives with unspoken…
BOOK REVIEW: WHITE CITY BY ALEX EXARCHOS
Genre: Dystopian Goodreads Blurb: They say that in the beginning and in the end there is only Darkness. And that, at some completely random point in time, a naked man who cannot speak appears on White City’s First Street, with nothing on him, save three images on his mind:The image of a girl; the image…
GRAPHIC NOVEL ARC REVIEW: PISTOUVI by Merwan, Bertrand Gatignol
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: Childhood should last forever… Jeanne is a little girl who lies with a mischievous young fox named Pistouvi. They share a charming little treehouse surrounded by a magical prairie tended by a giant ‘tractor-man’ and the wind-spirit he loves. Together, Jeanne and Pistouvie spend frolicking days without a…
RANT REVIEW: A SKY BEYOND THE STORM (AN EMBER IN THE ASHES #4) BY SABAA TAHIR
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off… The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning. At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself…
BOOK REVIEW: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. SCHWAB
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Adult Goodreads Blurb: A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget. France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and…
BOOK REVIEW: TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM by YAA GYASI
Genre: Fiction Goodreads Blurb: Yaa Gyasi’s stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama. Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana,…
ARC Review: Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back by Alicia Cook
Genre: Poetry, Contemporary Goodreads Blurb: Sorry I haven’t texted you back, (I’ve been so anxious and depressed) I haven’t had time to catch my breath, you know how life gets! Returning to the form of Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately, Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back is a poetic mixtape dedicated to those who struggle or have struggled with their…
Book Review: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBTQ Goodreads Blurb: A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days…
Thoughts on Demian by Hermann Hesse
Genre: Coming of Age, Fiction, Philosophy, Bildungsroman, Classic Goodreads Blurb (roughly translated from German by Google Translate): Like all of Hermann Hesse’s main works, Demian, which the then 40-year-old author wrote in the middle of the First World War, had a story that was both unusual and exciting. The fact that this book, completed in…
BOOK REVIEW on Shibuya Nemesis: A Journey Towards the Top of Tokyo BY Alex Lund
Genre: Fiction Goodreads Blurb: Super-guitarist and songwriter. The looks of a rock star. Josh, straight out of high school in Vancouver, has what it takes to make it. The only problem is that as an extreme introvert, he has only ever had the guts to play in front of his own brother. As Josh struggles…
BOOK REVIEW: HARLEY IN THE SKY BY AKEMI DAWN BOWMAN
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mental Health, Fiction Goodreads Blurb: Harley Milano has dreamed of being a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her soul that…
BOOK REVIEW: FELIX EVER AFTER BY KACEN CALLENDER
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, LGBTQ Goodreads Blurb: From Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time. Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants…
ARC REVIEW: LONER BY GEORGINA YOUNG
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult Fiction Publication Date: February 9th, 2021 Goodreads Blurb: Lona, a cynical, introverted artist and part-time roller-DJ traverses life’s sorrows and joys in this heartfelt look at new adulthood. Set in Melbourne, Loner is a humorous and heartfelt exploration of new adulthood. Lona kills her days by sneaking into the “dark room”…
BOOK REVIEW: THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS by URSULA K. LE GUIN
Genre: Sci-fi, Philosophical Goodreads Blurb: Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.The story “Omelas” was first published in New Dimensions 3, a hard-cover science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, in October 1973, and the following year it won Le Guin the prestigious Hugo Award for…
BOOK REVIEW: THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER BY SHAUN BYTHELL
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Contemporary, Humour Goodreads Blurb: Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown – Scotland’s largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover’s paradise? Well, almost … In…
A SHORT BOOK REVIEW: ONCE UPON AN EID
Genre: Anthology, Short Stories, Fiction, Young Adult, Children, Contemporary Goodreads Blurb: Once Upon an Eid is a collection of short stories that showcases the most brilliant Muslim voices writing today, all about the most joyful holiday of the year: Eid! Eid: The short, single-syllable word conjures up a variety of feelings and memories for Muslims….
BOOK REVIEW: HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD (CRESCENT CITY #1) BY SARAH J. MAAS
Genre: New Adult Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Romance Goodreads Blurb: Bound by blood.Tempted by desire.Unleashed by destiny. Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds…
BOOK REVIEW: LITTLE UNIVERSES BY HEATHER DEMETRIOS
Genre: Young Adult Fiction Goodreads Blurb: One wave: that’s all it takes for the rest of Mae and Hannah Winters’ lives to change. When a tsunami strikes the island where their parents are vacationing, it soon becomes clear that their mom and dad are never coming home. Forced to move to Boston from sunny California…
Mist Ghost 