Tag: #booklove

If We Were Villains

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by M. L. Ric

I love Shakespeare and upon reading this novel it is apparent that M. L. Ric loves Shakespeare too! 

The  characters are literally Shakesperian actors, or rather students studying to be Shakespearian actors. Our cast of characters range from a villain to an ingenue.Our main character, Oliver, is neither a villain or an ingenue, rather he is “every man” that one character Shakespeare always includes in his play that seems close enough to the audience that we can understand and believe the events and motivations of the characters more readily.

Like Shakespeare, Ric organizes his novel in 5 acts, then, each scene in each act serves as chapters. I love the parallels in organization. 

The similarities to Shakepeare’s craft just don’t end in how the novel is organized. The themes in the novel are as big as Shakespeare’s themes, love, hate, guilt, power, betrayal and the repercussions from choices taken within each theme. Obviously I have first read this novel for the plot, but it is definitely worth a reread in order to see just how layered and interconnected he made his story to the plays themselves. 

An engrossing story in the genre of Dark Academia (my new favourite) that is totally worthy of a reread. I would also use it to “hook” my high school students into studying Shakespeare. 

So far, If We Were Villains is one of my favourite books I’ve read this year!

The Sleeping Car Porter

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by Suzette Mayr

“9: 45 P.M. Standing next to his step box, Baxter hovers: immobile and elastic, ready to spring forward to lift a suitcase, dissect a timetable, point to the conductor, nod, lift more suitcases, now hat boxes, answer more questions, and nod, nod, nod. Trouser cuffs drag in the dust, shiny boot heels clap against the train station platform; a child runs toward an observation car, ribbons and cuff-links and tickets and goodbye letters swish to the ground. Hands reach toward him, grab at him for a lift up, grab his coat pocket, wave in his face. A sea swell of passengers, spilling toward his car; a maelstrom of departure-time panic”. The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr pg 11.

I want to write like Suzette Mayr. Vivid descriptions, an interesting cast of characters, and a main character whose story is one of heartache, confusion, and blinding determination.
Baxter is a Black sleeping car porter working the Canadian National railway on routes that span a multitude of provinces. Obviously being a porter is anything but glamorous, and Baxter is constantly taken advantage of, verbally abused, and dismissed by a plethora of passengers who demand attention to the most frivolous of requests. Throughout it all, Baxter attempts to go above and beyond his duties so that he does not run the risk of being written up, gaining demerit points or ultimately being fired from his job. However, what keeps Baxter focused on performing the best job possible is the possibility of tips. You see, Baxter is saving up to go to dental school, and at the beginning of the novel we learn he only needs $101 more dollars in his dentistry fund in order to go to school for four years. Throughout the novel we can’t help but root for Baxter to defeat his exhaustion and survive the demands of the passengers so that this can be his final route and he can move forward to fulfill his dream to be dentist.
I was particularly interested in the way Mayr creates her main character. Weaving together flashbacks, events in the present, and Baxter’s fuzzy hallucinatory recollections and interpretations of his reality (brought on by lack of sleep) Mayr places us as close as possible in the shoes and mind of this man.
I would definitely use portions of this novel as a mentor text in a high school classroom. Using the quote above one could discuss a variety of literary devices (imagery, onomatopoeia, metaphor, personification) and how to use colons and semicolons!
Please note that there are portions of this novel that are sexually explicit so be careful of its use in the classroom.

Girl Out of Time

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Delicious Monsters

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by Liselle Sambury

Daisy can see dead people- something she spends most of her life avoiding when she isn’t with her manipulative and controlling college boyfriend, Noah. unfortunately (unfortunately?) Noah has since broken up with her, and now Daisy has found herself stalking his whereabouts and dodging spirits. So when her mother calls and tells her that she has inherited and house and property away from the city, Daisy figures this is as good a time as any to move on with her life.

Brittany is a young woman with an entrepreneurial spirit and a very toxic relationship with her mother. She and her business partner Jayden have been moderately successful with their YouTube series on haunted houses. Now, they are about to research and film another series about a supposed haunted house with a history of violence. But this haunted house is different. Not only does it have a fascinating past, but it is also that house that Brittany’s mom claims “changed her from an abusive and neglectful parent to a completely reformed woman”. Miracle Mansion, she has named.
Miracle Mansion is also the same house Daisy and her mother moved to 10 years earlier.

I loved this book. It so, so well written. It is also very, very creepy and gruesome at times. Both Dasiy and Brittany are characters that become independent through courage. Even though the book is heavy on the supernatural, the internal conflict both protagonists experience and how they deal with it are realistic.

Thank you to Netgalley and Margaret K McElderry Books for the advanced copy.

The Puzzle Master

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by Danielle Trussoni

“Puzzle’s are composed of patterns. They are meant to be solved.” (Trussoni).

If you like Dan Brown’s Da Vinci’s code, you’ll love The Puzzle Master.

When our hero Mike Brink was young he suffered a concussion playing high school football. When he awoke, he was suddenly aware “there was a system, an essential order to the world”  (Trussoni) He saw it” as patterns…patterns everywhere. At first, “all he knew was that he was experiencing highly structured geometric hallucinations on a regular basis” (Trussoni) After years of learning how to live with his “gift” Brink made a name for himself as the foremost puzzlemaker of the world. As such, he is asked by psychologist Dr. Moses to make sense of  a puzzle created by Jess Prince, one of her patients who is herself “living in a puzzle”. Ms Prince, famous writer now infamous murderer, is serving her sentence at the New York State Correctional Facility abd has taken to communicating in complex cryptic symbols.

When Brink meets Miss Prince he feels a strange connection and they have a surprisingly intimate encounter where Prince secretly passes him another puzzle. 

Soon Mike finds himself in a world of rare porcelain dolls, the supernatural, and ancient Hasidic texts which are all as intricately connected as the diagramed puzzles Trussoni includes in her text. 

I had forgotten I liked Trussoni’s writing (read Angelology a decade ago).The Puzzle Master was an easy thrilling read and a great story to reintroduce me to Danielle Trussoni’s writing. Now I have to go back and read her titles I’ve missed.

This novel will not be published until June 2023

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

The Sour Grape

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by Jory John and Pete Oswald

I can identify with Grape. When life doesn’t go exactly as planned or I don’t think I”m getting the attention I deserve , , I DO take it persnallly and hold grudge after grudge after grudge. Because, after all, it is all about me. 

But, just like Grape, I have come to realize that by being honest and listening I will feel less sour and my face will become “less squishy”.

A wonderful story about patience and gratitude told using relatable prose and colourful humorous pictures. 

Even Though I Knew the End

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by C.L. Polk

The beautiful Marlowe has asked private detective Elena Brandt to find the White City Vampire, a serial killer leaving a trail of blood across the city. The only thing is Elena is not an ordinary investigator; she is a magical warlock who the Magical Brotherhood had banned for selling her soul to the devil to keep her brother alive. And Marlowe, well, Marlowe isn’t your average client, Marlowe is a demon who promises Elena that she will return her soul if she finds the killer. 

Elena desires to work alone, not wanting to risk the lives and souls of those she loves; after all, hunting a supernatural serial killer is dangerous work. However, she is soon forced to work with her one true love and companion Edith (who has a very interesting sec\ret of her own) and the one person she has put her spiritual survival at risk for, her brother Teddy.

This is a short, fast-paced novel that reads in the pulp fiction style of the dime store detective novels of the 30s. I loved it and wished it was longer to spend more time in the world of auguries, fallen angels and secret brotherhoods.

Two Lovely Picture Books

~ Lisa Helm ~ 1 Comment

If you are looking for great picture books for the littles in your life these two would be the best Christmas presents:

Lou by Breanna Carzoo


Lou is a story about a fire hydrant who just knows in his heart of hearts that he is meant for something greater than being, well being a “loo” for the dogs in the neighbourhood. One day a building catches fire and Lou finally realizes his true purpose. The story is humorous and the artwork is simple and fabulous.

Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers

Lizzy and the Cloud is a story of a young girl who goes to the park to buy a pet cloud that she decides to name Milo. Now Milo comes with a list of instructions, and Lizzy is sure to follow each one as best as she can so Milo can be well taken care of. Soon, however, Milo becomes too big for her bedroom, and he begins to rumble and grumble forcing Lizzy to make some pretty big decisions about what to do with her unusual pet. The story is charming and the artwork is so beautiful you will have to revisit each page to immerse yourself in the whimsical world created.

Weyward

~ Lisa Helm ~ 1 Comment

By Emila Hart

Weyward is a multigenerational story about three incredible women. First we meet Altha. It is 1619, and Altha is accused of using witchcraft to murder the husband of her estranged best friend, Grace. Next is Kate. It is 2019, and Kate has fled an abusive relationship in London to find sanctuary in the Old Weyard cottage her great aunt Violet has bequeathed her. Finally, we meet Violet. In 1942 Violet is a young girl who unfortunately hears all sorts of rumours about her “mad” mother, who died when she was born. Neglected by her cruel father, Violet finds solace in befriending spiders and marveling at damselflies.

After their introductions, we quickly learn that the lives of each of these women are interwoven. Their histories begin to crossover and run parallel to each other. Violet eventually learns about her ancestor Altha and uses Altha’s wisdom to help take direction of her own life. And Kate, well, Kate soon has to channel the wisdom and strength of all the strong Weyward women before her to not only survive but to protect her unborn daughter.

I really, REALLY liked this book. One of my favourite formats of novels is to have different chapters written from different characters’ viewpoints and then have their stories diverge either with regard to plot or theme. It was an easy escapist read that was the perfect book to finish on a cold, snowy day. I may have to buy a hard copy once it is published because the cover looks absolutely beautiful.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for the free copy.