I was fortunate enough to not know about Iain Reid’s new book before it was available to me: I probably would have died of impatience, considering how I absolutely loved his first psychological thriller I’m Thinking of Ending Things. This…
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I usually only review Canadian books on MapleBooks, but the memoir of Tara Westover absolutely needs to be talked about. Educated is shocking, heart-breaking, but also extremely insightful and inspiring. Tara was born the last child of a large family…
When you want less, you consume less—and you also need less. First of all, I should mention that The Year of Less is not a self-help book nor a manual to achieve minimalist living. The Year of Less is a…
I have loved stories who blur the boundaries between humans and animals since I read Philipp Pullman’s Dark Materials series. They restore—even by mean of Fantasy—a sense of connection with Nature, an acknowledgement that we share a fundamental experience—life on…
This week, we moved on from January to February, which means that we’re slowly winning the yearly fight against Winter. In Ottawa, it’s been a very strange winter, with temperature swinging up and down like a squirrel on an electric…
This Week in CanLit is a new feature I’m experimenting with on MapleBooks. I’m reading so much about books that I figured I could write a weekly sum-up for people who have a better social life than I do! 1….
Have you seen movie The Quest For Fire (1981)? It features a group of prehistoric humans trying to re-acquire fire after they lost it in a battle. Their language is rudimentary and they mostly act like beasts. Although the movie…
Every so often, one must read a Young-Adult novel. Especially when there is a cat lady involved, as well as a witty title. Besides, I couldn’t resist Optimists Die First‘s book cover, which is darn awesome, no pun intended. Okay,…
You clash with my constructed atmosphere. The stories of First Things First feel so much like confidences. They are essentially the intimate thoughts of twenty-four women whose inner life is at odds with the outside world. Some of those ladies…