Awarding “the best” is always fraught with contention, as any avid sports fan will quickly tell you. Be it a Hall of Fame induction or an MVP honour, there is almost never universal agreement on any winner. The Baseball Hall of Fame, as it is well known, has never once had a unanimous inductee. Hell, […]
Republic of Dirt by Susan Juby – review
It’s never a good omen when a book review starts with a caveat but alas, I am doing just that. In fact, having never been one to dwell in the lower echelons of omendom, I’m making two. The first is relatively benign, though potentially embarrassing in Canadian literature and book club circles. I had no […]
Poles Apart by Terry Fallis – review
This book, Terry Fallis’ latest, Poles Apart, had me in tears. Unfortunately those tears resulted from disappointment rather than the presumably preferred laughter, hardly the desired reaction by reader, of author, to a finalist of a major humour award such as The Leacock Medal. It’s been well over a week since I finished reading it […]
When The Saints by Sarah Mian – Review
There’s nothing like embarking on a new challenge by inadvertently cuffing yourself upside the head, which is precisely how I feel right now about this book. When The Saints, by Sarah Mian is the first of the three finalists for the 2016 Leacock Medal I chose to read. It was a purely random act, that […]
My 2016 Leacock Medal Challenge
I’m about to write something incredibly insulting to a great number of people who are complete strangers to me. I will post this on the internet where such screeds are, shall we say, plentiful. Please do bear with me, for my statement is not borne of hubris or disrespect but is rather wholly a product […]
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson – Review
Based on my entirely anecdotal, but undoubtedly accurate research, motivational quotes have got to be the least successful method for enacting measurable change in people’s behaviours. Oh they make for terrific Facebook and Pinterest fodder but a quick look around on any given day clearly indicates they are having zero impact on the people who […]