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Book Review: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
March 8th is International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate or spend some time reflecting on the achievements or cultural significance of why International Women’s Day is important, then look no further than Chimamanda Ngozi’s We Should All Be Feminists. We Should All Be Feminists is a short, 52-paged essay adapted from the excellent TedTalk of the same name that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave in 2012. While an essay might be off-putting to some, We Should All Be Feminists reads as a conversation. It is filled with stories, observations, and other anecdotal…
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Frying Plantain: Growing up between the worlds
When does one come of age? Most of us tend to remember it through definable landmarks: working after school hours, graduation, a first kiss, and the sensation of that first sip of alcohol. But reading Zalika Reid-Benta’s debut novel Frying Plantain reminds us that the journey to adulthood is more subtle than that. It is in the moment when you unravel the meaning of adult conversations you have heard before. It is in the shock at reactions to unexpected events of daily life. Coming of age happens through a series of events in which a child’s awe at the unknown but defined world evolves into the acceptance of its unpredictability.…
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5 Canadian Authors Who are Breaking the Boundaries of Genre Fiction
If some readers see a clear distinction between different genres of fiction, these Canadian writers are opening the door to something new. Whether they’re blending horror and satire, incorporating folklore into dystopic narratives, or using genre fiction to shine a light on mental health and LGBTQ2+ issues, here are five Canadian writers you should check out: 1. Amber Dawn Think paranormal thriller with a twist: Amber Dawn’s Sodom Road Exit (Arsenal Pulp Press) gives a ghost town a whole new meaning. Taut with queer desire, humour, and flawed characters, Amber Dawn blends literary fiction, horror, and magic realism. If you haven’t read Amber Dawn, you should get to it. More books by…
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Love Lives Here: A Review
“Exposure is important. If you haven’t experienced something personally and learned about it that way, the next best thing is to learn from someone who has.” When Amanda Jetté Knox decided to write about her family in her memoir, Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family, she did it because she knew there weren’t a lot of positive stories out there about trans families. “We know that that’s not everyone’s story and that’s why we had to tell ours,” she said to the audience at an event organized by Toronto PFlag and the Toronto Trans Coalition Project on Jan. 13. Love Lives Here is about Jetté…
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Book Review: Six of Crows
We’ve all got secrets, we all carry shame, and there are things each of us desperately wants, especially things that are wrong for us. Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows isn’t just a fast-paced, frantically page-turning heist story; it speaks to the complexities of each person, how we’re made of contradictions. Six of Crows is set in the fantasy city of Ketterdam (similar to Holland), where thugs and thieves run the streets and Kaz Brekker is their crippled, trickster king. Multiple viewpoints bring to life the diversity of characters who are all coming together to pull off the impossible: breaking into one of the most notoriously guarded prisons in the world…
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Life Erupted
Review of the Debut Novel by Mary Stanik By Rebecca Taylor I must admit I was skeptical at first about reading Life Erupted by Mary Stanik. I have read many self-published books before, and to be honest, it is often self-evident that they are self-published. However, this book was different. The idea for the book, the way it was written, and the way everything in the novel flowed together was like a book that was published by a major publishing house. There were some line-editing errors, but there are grammatical oversights in novels that are printed by major publishers, if we are being perfectly honest. But despite the occasional error,…
