Literary Pilgrimages: Visiting Middle-Earth (Part 2)

22 September 2016 / literary pilgrimage / 6 Comments
Literary Pilgrimages: Visiting Middle-Earth (Part 2)

Part 1  Earlier this year, I spent three months travelling around New Zealand. My primary reason for doing so? Exploring locations starring as Middle-earth in Peter Jackson’s films, of course! Come along as I revisit what will likely remain my most extensive ‘literary’ pilgrimage’. Twizel My next destination after visiting Mt. Sunday was Twizel. Twizel, a town in the Canterbury region with a year-round population of about 400, played host […]

Review: A Song to Take the World Apart by Zan Romanoff

13 September 2016 / review / 2 Comments
Review: A Song to Take the World Apart by Zan Romanoff

Author: Zan Romanoff Title: A Song to Take the World Apart Format/Source: ebook/Publisher Published: 13 September 2016 Publisher: Knopf Length: 320 pages Genre: YA with touch of magical realism Why I Read: Cover + comparison to Leslye Walton and Jandy Nelson Rating:  ★★★½ GoodReads | IndieBound | Indigo | Amazon I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Hanging out with Chris was […]

Review: The Conjoined by Jen Sookfong Lee

9 September 2016 / review / 2 Comments

Author: Jen Sookfong Lee Title: The Conjoined Format/Source: Paperback/Publisher Published: 13 September 2016 Publisher: ECW Press Length: 262 pages Genre: Contemporary Why I Read: Premise + setting intrigued me Rating:  ★★★★ [ratings guide] Links: GoodReads | IndieBound | Indigo | Amazon Thanks to ECW Press for providing a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review,  On a sunny May morning, social worker Jessica Campbell sorts through her mother’s belongings after […]

Family Reads: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

5 September 2016 / family reads, review / 0 Comments
Family Reads: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

  Born out of a desire to get a family of book lovers to connect more over what they’re reading, Family Reads is an occasional feature where my mom, dad or sister select a book for us to read and discuss.   Sister: I previously read Patrick Ness’ the Chaos Walking trilogy and More Than This. I kept walking past A Monster Calls at work and thought it looked really […]

Brief Thoughts: Urban Dystopia

1 September 2016 / brief reviews / 1 Comment
Brief Thoughts: Urban Dystopia

Are these books technically dystopias? To me they are! If we want to describe them more generally, I’d call them ‘furturistic YA scifi’.  In the Unwind Dystology, Neal Shusterman thrilled readers with the story of a society that deals with its out-of-control teens by “unwinding” them—transplanting more than 99% of their bodies into other people. In the latest installment of this sequence, Shusterman—along with collaborators Terry Black, Michelle Knowlden, Brendan […]