Stephanie Domet

The Secret Mulroney TapesPeter C. NewmanWhatever you might think of Peter C. Newman’s journalistic methods (or understanding of friendship, for that matter), his juicy expose of the man Canadians love to hate (in Mulroney’s own words, even better) is solid entertainment. Relive the arrogance of the Mulroney years at a safe distance, and get worked […]

Talk to the HandLynne TrussThe author of one of last year’s best books (Eats, Shoots and Leaves, an outraged treatise on this culture’s appalling grammar) delivers an outraged treatise on this culture’s appalling manners. I know it doesn’t sound like much fun, but oh, oh, oh, fun is exactly what it is. Especially if you’re […]

The WreckageMichael CrummeyThe Wreckage is a gorgeous novel set sometimes in a Newfoundland outport, sometimes in the city, and sometimes in a World War Two prisoner-of-war camp in Japan. Michael Crummey writes beautiful sentences of the sort that make other writers wonder why they bother. The book is loosely based on bits of Crummey’s family […]

A Year of Magical ThinkingJoan DidionJoan Didion had an annus horribilis to rival Queen Elizabeth’s that time. First, a few days before Christmas, her only child, 33-year-old Quintana fell seriously ill, was hospitalized and put into an induced coma. Then, the night before New Year’s Eve, her husband died of a massive heart attack while […]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly CloseJonathan Safran FoerJonathan Safran Foer is one of those tricky new writers (he was born in 1977) whose work sometimes appears to be more clever than smart. But in this case, it’s both, plus a whole lot more. While I grudgingly enjoyed his first book, Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and […]

The Disappointment ArtistJonathan LethemIt’s hard for me to feel that I’ve said enough good stuff about Jonathan Lethem. If you haven’t read any of his novels, you should get on that. No, go, it’s okay, I’ll wait. Perhaps you prefer non-fiction, in which case, do yourself a favour and pick up The Disappointment Artist. It’s […]

A Great Feast of LightJohn DoylePeople who think television is a waste of time have probably never read John Doyle’s excellent column on the subject in The Globe and Mail. I feel a little sorry for those people, because they’ll probably also never read his memoir of growing up in Ireland at the dawning of […]

Map of GlassJane UrquhartLaced with fanciful images, like a hotel entirely and literally lost to the sands of time, a glass ballroom floor, three-dimensional maps made of fabric and bits of nature, and a dead man encased in ice floating down a river, Map of Glass is certainly Jane Urquhart’s finest book, and there’s a […]

Miss ElvaStephens Gerard MaloneStephens Gerard Malone wrote this novel years ago, couldn’t find a publisher for it and tucked it away in a cedar chest in the basement. It finally saw the light of day this year, and a good thing, too. It’s an unsentimental story based loosely on the life of Maud Lewis, that […]

Race Against TimeStephen LewisIt’s not good in the way a novel is good, in that it takes you away from your real life. Race Against Time does that, but it takes you to a place you’d probably rather not go; a place you’re lucky you don’t have to visit, let alone inhabit. Still, it’s a […]