For a book about open relationships, this story is not as steamy as you might think (or at all, really). Instead, Peterson focuses on the psychology of it all. What does this kind of relationship look like, how do the characters feel about it, what are their long-term hopes, and how did they fall into … Continue reading Giller Longlist: Next Year, For Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson
Category: Shadow Giller
Giller Shortlist: Transit by Rachel Cusk
When I read Rachel Cusk's Giller shortlisted novel Outline two years ago, I had a luke-warm response to it. In fact, I returned it to the library after reading only half the book. So when Transit made it onto the list this year, I felt a little... apprehensive. Well there is something to be said … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Transit by Rachel Cusk
Giller Shortlist: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
I'm on a roll with these criminal type characters; all of them mostly into drugs. Johnny from We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds, Daniel from In the Cage, and now Jared. Jared is different, though, in a significant way - he's still a teenager, living at home with his mother. Except for the times … Continue reading Giller Shortlist: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
Giller Longlist: We’ll All Be Burnt In Our Beds Some Night by Joel Thomas Hynes
When I started reading this book, I had no idea what to expect. With a title like that, and a cover that looks like the world is on fire, and almost all the praise and reviews using the word "gritty". ("Gritty" means gross, right? Yes. And other things.) But the thing is, once I got … Continue reading Giller Longlist: We’ll All Be Burnt In Our Beds Some Night by Joel Thomas Hynes
2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize Shortlist
The Giller Prize shortlist is out! The Shadow Jury will be reading and reviewing these books over the course of the next 6 weeks, and will be choosing a shadow winner a few days before the official Giller Prize announcement on November 20th. Rachel Cusk for her novel Transit, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd My thoughts: Unfortunately I wasn't a … Continue reading 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize Shortlist
Stranger by David Bergen
The only books by David Bergen that I have read up to this point have been The Age of Hope and The Case of Lena S.. Both were good, but neither one blew me away. So I was surprised when, upon reading the first few pages of Stranger, I was sucked right in. With its … Continue reading Stranger by David Bergen
2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner
The Shadow Jury's winner: (my review) The Real 2016 Giller Winner: (my review) My thoughts: Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a beautiful book and a deserving winner of the Giller Prize. To hear Madeleine Thien's acceptance speech or to watch the entire program, visit CBC Books. Congratulations to the winner Madeleine Thein, and to all … Continue reading 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner
2016 Shadow Giller Winner
For the last few weeks, the Giller Shadow jury (Kim, Alison, and myself) have been reading and reviewing the shortlisted titles on the Giller Prize shortlist. (If you want to see my reviews, you can find them here.) As Kim says on Kevin's blog, "...it took a bit of deliberating, across time zones, provinces and … Continue reading 2016 Shadow Giller Winner
Shadow Giller: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Do Not Say We Have Nothing is all over the internet right now, perhaps due to its spot as a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, and more recently it has become the 2016 winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. Because of all the already-existing fabulous reviews that abound I'm going to try … Continue reading Shadow Giller: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Shadow Giller: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
There was always that shadowy twin, thin when I was fat, fat when I was thin, myself in silvery negative, with dark teeth and shining white pupils glowing in that black sunlight of another world. --Margaret Atwood What Mona Awad does so well in this book is to put us inside the head of a woman with … Continue reading Shadow Giller: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
Consumed by Ink 