Over the last year, I have been attracted to gothic mysteries and crime novels. Sometimes I google the genres I’m interested in to see what pops up on the screen. So when I typed “mystery gothic crime novels”, Elizabeth Brundage’s novel came up. What I thought would be an easy, quick, pulp fiction read turned … Continue reading All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage
Category: favourite books
Reflecting on 2020 and setting goals for 2021
Welcome, 2021! Last week I reflected on my year of reading. The titles, the genres, the authors. Around March last year, I had to take the reality of my “COVID mindset” and my inability to focus into consideration and set a milestone much lower than I usually do at 50 books. As an English teacher … Continue reading Reflecting on 2020 and setting goals for 2021
A Meditation on Thornton Wilder
“There arose a perfume of tenderness, that ghost of passion which, in the most unexpected relationship, can make a whole lifetime devoted to irksome duty pass like a gracious dream” (pg. 74) The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. I have fallen in love with Thorton Wilder because of this quote. How wonderful … Continue reading A Meditation on Thornton Wilder
A Book To Read on Remembrance Day
I’m not a “re-reader”. I rarely re-read books mainly because there are so many stories out there just waiting to be read I don’t want to “waste” my time visiting the ones I already know. One story I DO revisit at least once a year is the novel A Long Long Way by Sabastian Barry. … Continue reading A Book To Read on Remembrance Day
4 amazing novels by Black Canadian Authors and the one I want to read next.
I took this book (hardcover copy) to Japan with me on a school trip with students. It was so good I didn't mind waiting for the slow pokes to get ready to board the bus to Kyoto. I was content to perch on my suitcase and read and read and read. It came out as … Continue reading 4 amazing novels by Black Canadian Authors and the one I want to read next.
The Paragon Hotel
The Paragon Hotel was the selection for my February book club. I love Lyndsay Faye. It is always wonderful to find an author who not only writes a good suspenseful yarn but also a writer who has a delightful way with words. Although the Paragon Hotel is a story filled with murder, robbery, and disguise, … Continue reading The Paragon Hotel
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
Every once in a while I find a treasure. Actually, I went seeking this treasure. I Googled “Best books of 2019”, and up popped The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and the Horse. I thought I’d find it in the children’s section, but bookstore had it shelved under “graphic novel”. Truthfully, there should be a … Continue reading The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
Convenient Company
"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book". ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden I’ve always relied on books for company. In fact I can remember the titles of specific books that have kept me company during some of the loneliest times in my life. Even when … Continue reading Convenient Company
A True Hero Wears No Mask
“Then, when he was all shipshape, his father put his big arms around him, and held him close to him for a few moments. Like an actor on a stage. It was not a thing you would see in real life anyway, and there was a faraway look on his father’s face, like it was … Continue reading A True Hero Wears No Mask
Christmas Book Ideas
I teach High School English. One of my classes has decided they wanted to have a "secret Santa" so I acquiesced but only on the condition that the gifts MUST be a book and not just any book a used book nothing over 5 dollars. Well, the enthusiasm that ensued was far beyond my expectation. … Continue reading Christmas Book Ideas
Ink And Spine 