What Jane Ozkowski captures beautifully in Watching Traffic is the very sensation embodied in the debut novel's title: Emily is overwhelmed by motion even while in a state of stillness. Groundwood Books, 2016 It's the summer after high-school gradulation, and Emily is working at a catering company, making egg-salad sandwiches and
All published in the season which would make them eligible for this year's Giller Prize, the kaleidoscope of covers for 2016 is now available on Pinterest, a text-based collection here. They had me at list-making, but also there are prizes, for lucky list-makers (rules, here). The images link to the
“'What the hell makes you think,' she said, in her most glacial voice, 'that I am anybody’s victim?'” Soho Press, 2016 Nina's question, in an earlier volume of the series, is ironic in this context: The Considerate Killer begins with two blows to the back of Nina's head
In which I discuss some of the skinny volumes, which have nestled into my bookbag. (Meanwhile longer works, like Timothy Findley's The Piano Man's Daughter and Greg Iles' Natchez Burning, were left at home.) Stephen Thomas' The Jokes is not funny-haha, but funny-hmmm. It's not meant to be funny-haha either, although many
Excerpt from my reading journal: Having read all of Jane Hamilton's novels, and having waited since 2009 for another, I was pretty psyched for The Excellent Lombards. Grand Central Publishing, 2016 My favourites were The Short History of a Prince and The Book of Ruth, which I read
