by Doug Diaczuk I honestly can’t get a lot of writing done in three days. (It probably took me about that long to write this review.) And here comes Diaczuk, the show-off. Not only did he write a book over that period, not only did that story win the 38th 3-Day Novel Contest, but that…
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by Dave Eggers Let’s talk briefly about gender in writing. (I’m hoping I can broach this subject in a way that doesn’t sound ignorant.) At this time, I’m specifically concerned about how the gender of the author relates to narrators and protagonists. You see, whether an author focuses on characters who share their gender or…
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by Agatha Christie This is the first book in quite some time that I really find myself struggling to comment on. I definitely enjoyed reading through it, devouring it in a day, in fact, but I’m just as positive that Murder on the Orient Express has some major issues plaguing the story. I guess part…
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by Stephen King I really don’t know how I feel about sequels. I sometimes feel as though it would be great if authors were able to just let stories end, to move on to new, unique things, but I understand the draw of providing more of something you love. And then there’s the business side…
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by Alexander Kosoris On the two-year anniversary of the publication of Lucifer, I thought it would be fun and at least a bit interesting to offer some thoughts on my book and attempt a hopefully impartial review at the same time. I suppose it can also be considered an informal foreword of sorts, one that…
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by J. J. Sherwood When Sherwood approached me to read and review Kings or Pawns, I remember immediately thinking––judging the book by its cover––that it wasn’t something that I would have normally picked up on my own. This is concerning on one hand, from the reviewer’s perspective, as I probably find myself outside the target…
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by Stephen King This wasn’t my first time reading The Shining but, my goodness, it’s been a long time. My original encounter with the story was back in Grade 8, and it sure left an impression on that younger version of me. I distinctly remember being super excited upon finishing it. I almost immediately ran…
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by Yahtzee Croshaw I’m a big fan of Croshaw, or at least his Zero Punctuation videos. From various spurts of watching episodes religiously, it became clear that Croshaw definitely knows a thing or two about humour. So, while I wasn’t certain that he could necessarily write a compelling fantasy story, I figured I would at…
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by Andrew F. Sullivan A story like Waste gets me a bit excited and at least a little bit sad, because I find myself tickled pink whenever an author can be as unflinching in their description of some very savage moments as Anakana Schofield or perhaps even Patrick deWitt as Sullivan is here. If an…
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by Joan Thomas One problem with overanalyzing everything, as I tend to do, is that deeper meanings aren’t always readily apparent after a single reading. In the example of The Opening Sky, I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the heavy-handed environmentalist preaching that suddenly appears partway in. Was this merely a measure of…
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