Category: New books

The Radcliffe Ladies Reading Club

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Julia Bryan Thomas

This is an easy quick read perfect for summer.
It’s 1954 and Alice Campbell has decided to make a big change in her life, giving up everything for independence. So she buys a small bookshop in Boston and makes it her own. One day, Alice decides to create a book club where individuals will meet once a month to discuss books of her choosing…and they just so happen to be books about and/or written by women who are, themselves searching for a life to call their own. Alice’s little book club is made of four young women (Tess, Caroline, Evie, and Merritt) who just happen to be attending nearby Radcliffe College, all are young and edited with their own newfound independence.
I liked this book well enough. It was a very quick read that was suitable after a workday where I had to tax my brain. I found the description of Alice’s bookshop and the details of the simple life she has created for herself is simply charming. I also enjoyed the simplicity of characterization, it was easy to understand the choices and motivations of each. My favourite part of the novel was how the author attempted to weave the various themes of the books studied in the book club with the lives of the characters who read them. (Jane Eyre, Age of Innocence, Essays of Virginia Wolfe).

Trigger warning for sexual assault and miscarriage.

You will be able to purchase this book June 18th!

Thank you to Source Books and Netgalley for the free copy.

Lady Tam’s Circle of Women

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Lisa See

“Friendship is a contract between two hearts. With hearts united, women can laugh and cry, live and die together” (Lady Tam’s Circle of Women)

I love it when I start reading a book and it immediately transports me into a world where I am captivated by the characters, intrigued by the plot, and seduced by the setting. I started reading this novel one Sunday and my world stopped for the entire day until I was finished. 

The story follows The life of Tan Yunxian, one of the few female doctors in 15th Century China. We first meet Yunxian when she is 8 where her feet are newly bound and her mother is teaching her traditional ways in which to be a wife and mother. However, upon the unexpected death of her mother, Yunxian is sent to live with her father’s parents. Her grandparents are of a different sort, they are a noble family, but not merchants or politicians but rather, her grandfather and her grandmother are doctors. They soon realize that Yunxian is a brilliant girl and her grandmother begins to teach her how to be a ‘doctor of women’ focusing on the four components of Chinese medicine: listening, looking, touching, and most importantly asking.

Obviously, it’s not easy being a woman in 15th century China where women are treated as belongings and the gaps between social classes are vast, so as Yunxian grows older she has to navigate her traditional role as a wife and mother in a noble family and as a doctor for women of every class without bringing “shame” upon her husband’s family.

This is a wonderful book about female friendship. The bond between mother and daughter, and the bond between women friends is beautifully developed and I found myself tearing up in scenes where the love and loyalty between characters shone. As women we truly are stronger when we stick together through adversity, support each other in our successes, and laugh and cry with each other through heartbreak and joy. 

You will be able to buy this novel June 6th!! An awesome addition to your summer reading list!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the free copy.

Closer by Sea

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Perry Chafe

It’s been 3 years since 12-year-old Pierce Jacobs lost his father to the sea, and his heartache and guilt haven’t gotten any better, not even with the support of his two friends, Bennie and Thomas. The only person who seemed to know what he was going through was Anna Tessier, a girl a couple of years older than him, but now she, too, has disappeared.
Pierce has always felt the authorities gave up too soon when finding his father. He is determined not to let the same thing happen to Anna, so with the help of his friends and Bennie’s cousin Emily, they go “undercover” to determine who is responsible for Anna’s disappearance. Living on tiny Perigo Island, just off the coast of Newfoundland, their suspects are few. Could it be the “outsider” Solomon Vickers, a recluse who lives on the island for part of the year? Or maybe it’s one of the “Arseholes”, a group of older boys who take pride in bullying the younger kids? Then there is the assortment of visitors on the island, many of whom have the potential to kidnap a young girl. Then there is also the sea itself. Unforgiving and unrelenting in its beautiful destructiveness.
I really loved this book. As soon as I started reading it, I knew immediately it would be perfect for a novel study for junior and senior high. It possesses beautiful imagery, an interesting assortment of characters, and a variety of themes (friendship, grief, coming of age, industrialization, identity, and environmentalism, to name a few) with the potential for rich classroom discussion.
Thank you to Scribner Canada and Netgalley for the free copy.

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Patti Callahan Henry

Well, this was an absolutely wonderful book.

At the beginning of the book our main character, Hazel is working at an antiquarian bookstore unpacking and itemizing rare books (my DREAM JOB)! However, she is soon off to bigger and brighter experiences moving on to a much more elitist job at an auction house in London. But before she leaves this charming little shop, she comes across a storybook that possesses a tale that shakes her to her very core. You see, when she was a young girl she used to tell her little sister Flora the story of  “Whisperwood” , an imaginative world where they would be safe and happy and distracted from the war. Hazel and Flora have had to flee their home and parents in London to escape the bombing and it is up to Hazel to protect her little sister while they are away. Tragically, one day Flora disappears, everyone believing she accidentally tumbled into the river and drowned. And now, like a ghost from the past, the story she has told to only her little sister has appeared. Hazel then sets out in search of the author of this book in the hopes to find out information on her sister’s disappearance or maybe, hopefully, finding her sister alive after all these years.

A lovely, lovely, story. Well written, suspenseful, wonderful plot complications and characterization. Definitely one to put on your summer reading list.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the free copy. The Secret Book of Flora Lea is in bookstores now!

Looking Glass Sound

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Catriona Ward

Looking Glass Sound is the second book of Catriona Ward that I’ve read this year, and with it, Ward  has proven to be one of my new favourite authors. 

Our protagonist Wilder Harlow seems to be a troubled youth who, having no real friends at school, is happy to meet two young people at the family’s summer home in Maine. However, what at first seems to be a summer of fun and sun and new friends soon turns into a nightmare when Wilder begins to believe that someone he loves may be a serial killer.

Flash forward and we find Wilder, a university student where he has begun to deal with  PTSD of that notorious summer by writing a memoir about his experience. Unfortunately Wilder’s trauma is exploited by someone he is close to who takes his memoir and uses it to write a best selling novel. To deal with this betrayal, Wilder returns to the summer home to face the memories and heartache life has dealt. 

I was expecting this novel to be an easy mystery with tinges of horror (like Little Eve) but I soon realized that it is also an assortment of complex character studies woven into a layered plot that leaves the reader wonderfully perplexed at times. I’ve read some reviews from people who found it a confusing read, but if you take your time to enjoy the story, all will be revealed with patience. 

I would recommend this novel to my high school students (and use portions of it) for examples of suspense, character building, and author craft.

I loved this book. I will be buying it in hard copy for a re-read. 

Looking Glass Sound will be available to purchase in August!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the free copy.

The Memory of Animals

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Claire Fuller

Claire Fuller’s writing style made me love Unsettled Ground and now that I’ve read another novel of hers, The Memory of Animals, she has absolutely become one of my favourite writers. The Memory of Animals is  a “Pandemic” dystopian story. A new virus has arrived and Netty, our main character, volunteers to be a test subject for a new vaccine. Netty brings with her all sorts of baggage: unresolved family issues, she’s had to take a forced hiatus from her career as a marine biologist because she “liberated” a captive octopus with whom she has an oddly close relationship, and she’s not sure how she feels about her current boyfriend.

While in a state of delirium (having been both infected with the virus and injected with a test vaccine) the world literally goes to hell in a handcart. New variants evolve causing mass death of the citizens and crime runs supreme. In the meantime, a select few individuals, all volunteer test subjects, have been abandoned but safely secluded in a medical facility while the world collapses around them. Along with Neffy are Rachel, Yahiko, Leon and Piper. This crew needs to work together, first of all, to survive in a world that is vastly different from the one they had known before, which isn’t easy for the obvious reasons, but also because they each possess secrets that could disrupt their fragile little community.

To make matters even more complicated,  they possess an object, an object called a “Revisiter” that when used, can immerse an individual so vividly in past memories they feel as if they are  there.

I loved Neffy’s character arc. She starts off as an insecure young woman who, at the beginning of the novel, seems to only volunteer as a test subject in an attempt to escape her reality rather than for selflessly participating in an attempt to find a cure. Her obsession with the Revisitor with an attempt to again avoid her reality also supports this need of her’s to escape when life gets difficult.  As we progress through the action, Neffy becomes a strong, selfless,  rather heroic character, who faces her reality straight on and begins to make decisions and take control in order to not only survive but to also make a little world that is worthy of living in.

So far Fuller is two for two when it comes to my appreciation for her writing. I will be looking to add more titles of hers to my TBR list in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tin House for the Advanced Copy

Hello Beautiful

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Ann Napolitano

I loved this book. It has become one of my favourites of the year.
I loved its characters, I loved its themes, and I absolutely loved how it was written.

This is a novel about love and loss and family, and self-discovery and about something near and dear to my heart, it is about sisters. 
Beautifully written, Hello Beautiful is a novel not to be missed. I was lucky enough to be sent an advanced digital copy, but today it will be out on bookshelves and I’m about to buy myself a hard copy to have on my shelf to reread and share with others.
If you’re already compiling a summer reading list this is definitely one to add!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the free copy.

Homecoming

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Kate Morton

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Kate Morton’s writing is easy to love. Engaging plots, an interesting collection of characters, and secrets of varying degrees begging to be uncovered. Homecoming is probably my favourite of Morton’s novels thus far. The story starts in 1959 with the death of a mother and all her children. The bodies of Mrs. Turner and her children are discovered lying peacefully by the side of a creek, all looking as though as if they were asleep. Was it murder, or a murder suicide?

Sixty years later we meet Jess, a young woman journalist  living in London who is, trying to “find” herself, after breaking up with a long term boyfriend and losing her job.  When Jess learns her grandmother suffered a serious fall, she travels to Australia to care for her loved one, and maybe find a change she needs to find a story worth writing about.

Once in Australia, Jess learns of her familial connection to the suspicious deaths of the Turner family and then begins a journey of research, investigation, and coming to terms with family secrets she never knew existed. Jess finds that sometimes your own family history possesses incredible stories that are worth writing.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It is a long one though so I would recommend putting it on your summer reading list so you can take  your time immersing yourself in the story. 

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the free copy.

You will be able to purchase Homecoming April 4, 2023

Girl Out of Time

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Clyde Boyer

 Anna Armstrong is a brilliant precocious girl who has always been fascinated by space. In fact, she has attempted to launch herself several times into space but unfortunately her homemade rocket ships did not have sufficient enough power to get her there. Tragically, on the day of one of her “launches”, she learns that her mother and father have died on their way back home from Europe. Thirteen year old Anna then goes to live with her kind uncle Jack on his farm research center outside Smartt Indiana.

 Very soon upon her arrival, Anna sees strange lights in the distance and eventually goes and investigates. There, she discovers a different dimension in time and space, where  girl named Mara exists. Anna soon becomes involved in trying to help Mara save the world from the repercussions of time travel using Science to help them.

This is such a wonderful book about responsibility, friendship and science. The young people presented are supportive and caring towards each other and lessons learned about curiosity, responsibility and friendship abound.

This book should be added to school libraries as well as any little classroom library. It is a science fiction novel that is accessible to upper elementary and middle school students.

Thank you to Girl Friday Books and Netgalley for the free copy. Girl Out of Time is available for purchase on March 7

The Adult

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Bronwyn Fischer


Bronwyn Fisher is a master of first-person narration. I cannot remember the last time I felt so connected to the thoughts and emotions of a character. I cared so much for Natalie! I could have very easily found her insecurities and naivety annoying, but instead, I found myself rooting for her in the hope that she would become stronger and more self-confident. I just wanted her to be ok!
Natalie is an 18-year-old young woman who is moving away from home for the first time. She is off to university, and all the “things” university entails. New information, new perspectives, new friends, new loves, new new new…which all ends up so confusing for someone like Natalie, who second guesses everything she says and everything she does.
Early in the novel, Natalie meets Nora, an older woman with whom she starts a romantic relationship. Although Nora seems authentic with her feelings towards Natalie at first, we (and Natalie) soon begin to suspect that there is more to Nora than meets the eye.

Even though I figured out Nora’s secret before Natalie did (I think we are meant to), I dreaded waiting and watching how Natalie would react. I truly didn’t want her to be brokenhearted because I didn’t know if she would be strong enough to recover!

Wonderful book. I will definitely read more from Bronwyn Fisher.

Thank you to Netgalley and Algonquin Books for the free advanced copy.

The Adult will be available for purchase May 23

Museums, Memories and Murder

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Christina Rivera Garza

Long, planned letters or scribbled notes in the margins of her lecture notes. Poems transcribed cleanly and carefully, over and over again. Song lyrics. The last time she picked up her purple-ink ballpoint pen was on July 15, 1990, at 10:30 AM. Eighteen hours later, according to her death certificate, Lilana stopped breathing” (Liliana’s Invincible Summer)

Years and years and years ago, I decided to go to London alone. It was a wonderful trip. I went to plays and palaces, museums and galleries. One such visit was to the Saatchi Gallery. There was a little room amongst the exhibit of the shark in formaldehyde and the bust of a man carved in frozen blood. The walls of this room were covered in drawings, pages and pages of writing. When you entered the room and began to read, you began to realize that you were reading the journaling of a young teenage girl. She wrote of loves and fears and day-to-day life. Soon you were immersed in the life of this girl, you began to know her a bit, and you definitely began to like her. Near the exhibition’s exit were newspaper articles telling of a murder, her murder. It was one of the most impactful gallery installations I have ever experienced. Since then, I’ve tried to find the name of it online but to no avail.

Why am I sharing this memory? Because while reading Christina Rivera Garza’s book Liliana’s Invincible Summer, I had the same experience. 

Garza’s book is a detailed account quest to acquire the police file of her sister Liliana’s murder. With the information from this file, letters, notebooks, journals, photos, interviews and her own memories, Garza pieces together a mosaic, her sister’s tragedy, in an attempt to understand why and how Liliana could have been so brutally murdered by a boyfriend. Garza does this skillfully, not editorializing but rather allowing us, the readers, to be immersed in her sister’s story, slowly getting to know Liliana for ourselves and making her death emotionally impactful.

There are a number of ways I would use this in the classroom as a mentor text. Garza’s writing is incredibly poetic. What could very easily have become a “Dateline” treatment of her sister’s murder ended up instead as an extended poem of sorts, woven with facts and emotion. So the amount of research and how it was organized is extremely impressive. 

I also really loved Garza’s sentence structure. I am a huge fan of sentence fragments juxtaposed beside long sentences. I find it SO impactful. “They were always there, bulky and lined up next to each other, on the top shelf of the closet. Seven cardboard boxes and about three or four wooden crates painted in lavender. Liliana’s possessions. (Liliana’s Invincible Summer)

And how beautiful is this sentence: “Childhood ends with a kiss. The dream is not hundreds of years old, and the fleshy mouth does not belong to prince charming, but that pure expectation that is childhood finally comes to an end with a kiss. Lips on lips. Teeth. Saliva. Shortness of breath. Eyes open. Childhood ends with the inauguration of secrecy.” (Liliana’s Invincible Summer) We could talk about SO MANY things (theme, metaphor, allusion, imagery, sentence structure, all with this small excerpt!

This book has so much potential in the classroom.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the free advanced copy.

Liliana’s Invincible Summer will be on shelves February 28th.

A Most Agreeable Murder

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

By Julia Seales

This is a humourous and lighthearted novel about, of all things, murder.

Beatrice Steele is one of a trio of daughters, but she is different from her sisters. Instead of dreaming of love and marriage, or obsessing over balls and tea parties, she is consumed by her fascination with solving murders, especially the murders she reads about in the newspapers. The newspapers tell of gruesome London murders being solved by the handsome and brilliant gentleman Detective Sir Huxley and his assistant Vivek Drake. 

In the conservative and traditional village of Swampshire, Beatrice has to hide her morbid curiosity, else be cast as a social misfit by her community and banished from society.

Until one day, Murder comes to Swampshire and Beatrice, along with the inscrutable Vivek Drake, have to find the killer before they strike again.

This novel is an easily readable tale with engaging characters. The plot is at times predictable but there are several twists and turns at the end that come out of the blue and make it a fulfilling reading experience. The ending sets itself up nicely for a series!  I would love to travel along with Detective Beatrice to solve crimes in the future.

You’ll be able to purchase this novel in summer. A perfect addition to your summer reading list.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advanced copy.

Chrysalis

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Anna Metcalfe

I loved this book! It is a story about transformation, deciding to design your own life after trauma, and the reinvention of self, in a way. A common theme but written in a very unique format. I loved how it was organized, and I loved the fact that the only information we get about our main character (who remains nameless….unless I missed it) is from other people. So, how biased is this information? We have to form our own opinions about her using only the judgements and opinions of others. The three sources of our information are Elliot, an introverted, socially isolated (by choice) fellow who notices her at the only other place he inhabits besides his home; the gym. Our second source is Bella, her mother, who gives us her daughter’s back story, and Susie, our main character’s best friend, who offers us information from our main character’s life as an adult and her explanation of the catalyst that inspired her transformation.
Personally, I was not too fond of our central figure. Even though I tried to sympathize with our central character’s circumstances and admire her determination. Did I feel this way because I was manipulated by the point of view of others? Probably.
I would consider using this text in a high school English class as an example of author craft. The themes presented would also lend themselves to deep and interesting classroom discussions. I will be on the lookout for more of Metcalf’s work in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the Advance copy. Chrysalis will be available for purchase in April.