Literary

If the first page of this brilliant debut doesn’t hook you, you should probably get your eyes checked. Long-listed for the Giller Prize, Y is that rare breed of novel that deftly employs a complex pattern of image and metaphor with a steady hand—does not choke you by shoving its purpose down your throat, but […]

Picture this: apes sprouting flowers from every orifice; a person made out of a pancake offering therapy to a “half deerdog, half pony;” a wild turkey wearing a “rock ’n’ roll mixed tape bonnet;” a dove dressed up like Prince with the caption, “When doves cry;” questionable uses for wedding registry items; sections like “How […]

Olympos If there is a genre for approachable, engaging and relevant non-fiction, The Virtual Self by Canadian journalist Nora Young definitely belongs in it. The book tracks our self-tracking, or online-reporting, habits, which have exploded along with websites like Facebook and Twitter. In accessible language, Young, the host of CBC Radio’s Spark, discusses the history […]

Nominated for the Orange Prize, On The Floor by Aifric Campbell is the story of 28-year-old Geri Golloy, an investment banker in London. She’s made her name by doing business with a star client in Hong Kong who is now insisting that she move there, even though she doesn’t want to. The novel takes place […]

What the hell just happened? I waited half the summer for Neil Gaiman’s new book (his first in 10 years!) to come out, and I’m speechless with disappointment. There were moments within the first 50 pages where I thought, This could be my new favourite book. Gaiman’s dark, dreamlike prose and ability to slip into […]

Low is a tapestry of things that are broken: broken families, broken hearts, broken people. It chronicles a mental health care system that is, in many ways, broken. But it also explores the love that lives in the cracks between the broken pieces, and the reservoir of strength inside each of us. When the novel’s […]

The boarding school epic is not a new genre, but Pamela Errans writes, through her uniquely outcast-ish protagonists, Aviva and Seung, a slightly off-kilter tale in The Virgins. First of all, the two lustbirds maintain their virginity until the bitter (tragic) end: different. Their courtship takes place in abandoned chemistry buildings, in patrolled dorm rooms, […]

Translated from Spanish, Sabina Berman’s novel Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World is a story with a narrator as unconventional as the title. The strong and unusual voice belongs to Karen Nieto, a highly functioning autistic who was a once-feral child in Mexico with an incredible bond with the ocean. Discovered by […]

Now with green type and gorgeous illustrations by Tom Percival, the 10th-anniversary edition of Kaufman’s acclaimed love letter to Toronto, All My Friends Are Superheroes, has never been better. After the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex-boyfriend (Hypno) at her own wedding to believe that her brand new husband, Tom, is invisible, she leaves for […]

“How angry am I? You don’t want to know.” This is Nora Eldridge, a middle-aged third grade teacher, artist and eponymous Woman Upstairs. “It’s important, when you’re the Woman Upstairs, never to think of yourself–but never, do you understand–as alone or forlorn or, God help us, wanting.” Nora is content with her life, is happy […]

I’ve thought about it for weeks and I still can’t wrap my head around this book. Sometimes, that’s a good thing–not here. Barnes’ last book, The Sense of an Ending, was infinitely re-readable, gorgeous and effective. I expected more of the same. But subject matter got in the way. When Barnes’ wife passed away, he […]