The Dime Box by Karen Grose My rating: 5 of 5 stars For a debut novel, this is an author to watch. Karen Grose carefully weaves the present with the past in the story of Greta….neglected, abused and isolated with her parents in the woods of Muskoka. In the present, she is the prime suspect […]
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood My rating: 5 of 5 stars Masterful. If I could write like anyone in the world, it would be Margaret Atwood. Make time to read The Handmaid’s Tale, binge watch the series, and read this book. We finally get to understand the Gilead system inside and out. We find out […]
Chasing Painted Horses by Drew Hayden Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars The visions of this horse painting are like a portal between the past and the future, the rural reserve community and also the urban setting. I wish that I could see the chalk drawings that Danielle makes to feel the magic that […]
Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is my favourite book that I’ve read this year HANDS DOWN. It first came to my attention because I enjoy reading from the Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen book list each year. I enjoyed the audiobook version through Audible as Hernandez narrates her own book. […]
School Library Makerspaces: Grades 6-12 by Leslie B Preddy My rating: 3 of 5 stars As a secondary librarian, without planning time, without my own students focused on design/construction/creativity, I’m launching a full-time makerspace this fall that is filled with mostly donated items from the now-extinct home economics and fashion programs at my school. We […]
The Magicians Trilogy Boxed Set by Lev Grossman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Do you remember how you felt at the end of the Harry Potter books…you couldn’t believe it was all over? Lev Grossman’s world renderings have left me feeling like I have been to another world and back again. Truthfully, I didn’t […]
They Left Us Everything: A Memoir by Plum Johnson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I first became interested in Plum Johnson’s They Left Us Everything as it has won the Ontario Library Association’s 2016 Evergreen award for best in Canadian adult fiction. This book is my surprise read of the year. Aging parents and […]
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins My rating: 4 of 5 stars Being a librarian, I rarely buy books anymore just for me but every now and then one leaps out at me, circulates through my family, and then makes its new home in my library where I recommend it to my secondary […]
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m gradually working my way through the Amnesty International Book Club recommendations and this book This book is written in a simple style, at times, overstating the emotion involved in this heartwrenching tale of gendercide and survival as Asha searches to find the […]
I’ve just finished reading George Couros‘ “The Innovator’s Mindset” and I think it’s time that we addressed the elephant in the room. The word “mindset” is so five minutes ago. There I said it. What I mean is that putting the words innovator and mindset together in the same phrase is oxymoronic…it’s a contradiction in […]
The Jaguar’s Children by John Vaillant My rating: 5 of 5 stars Remember how when you studied Canadian literature we were referred to Margaret Atwood‘s book Survival? The Jaguar’s Children is a fine example of how this same theme is evolving in the year 2016 as our main character aims to travel to El Norte […]
Punishment by Linden MacIntyre My rating: 5 of 5 stars MacIntyre masterfully combines a serene small town setting with the incestuous secrets of the past. Tony, a retired guard from the nearby penitentiary, returns home to create some space between himself and the drama of his former employment only to discover that his past won’t […]
Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor The entire Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy is just delicious. For anyone new to fantasy it gently eases the reader into the world that author Laini Taylor builds by starting us with our protagonist, Karou who is an art student in Prague with a mysterious past […]
A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mary Quinn finds herself in a bit of a Nikita situation….as she reforms her life, she is given a proposal to give up her traditional woman’s destiny and become part of The Agency. The really interesting part happens though when Mary […]
The Art of Getting Stared At by Laura Langston My rating: 5 of 5 stars I read this book as it is nomineed for an Ontario Library Association White Pine Award. I have been criticized for praising books too highly but honestly, the White Pine selection committee does such great work. I loved this book […]
threadbare beauty 