“Bad coffee can only keep you company for so long at four a.m. in a bus depot.” Caitlin Press, 2014 All of the characters in Janine Alyson Young’s debut collection seem as though they would immediately recognize the truth of that. They all seem to have a spot
Among other books enjoyed in September were some standout novels that will be featured later this month, including Michael Crummey's Sweetland and Magie Dominic's Street Angel. There was also Diversiverse and the launch of RIP IX, and much musing on future Read-a-Thon choices. Award longlists began appearing (including the Toronto Book
It seems perfect. Sheila Heti's How Should a Person Be? is not really a novel. And this is not really a review. It's a collection of my collisions with understanding. Opening sentence: "How should a person be?" Subtitle: A Novel from Life Off the page, there is an interview with Shelagh
The reader moves onto the floor with great excitement, turning the initial pages of a debut novel, heartbeat slightly accelerated, hopes and expectations heightened. It is a dance: this movement between reader and story. Alice Simpson's Ballroom takes that connection seriously. HarperCollins, 2014 The very structure of the
Each of these novels considers a shattered state of being, whether the devastation plays out through the cycle of addiction or societal breakdown or international conflicts. The characters employ a variety of coping mechanisms and the authors' styles are diverse; Elizabeth Renzetti's Based on a True Story, Edan Lepucki's California and Audrey
