by Emily St. John Mandel A novel that explores characters living across six centuries, through several pandemics and amid human-manufactured rivers and skies is no small feat, let alone one to be accomplished smoothly. Yet, such a read exists in Emily St. John Mandel’s newest book, Sea of Tranquility. Like many recent novels, this is […]
by Susan Juby This summer, Richmond Public Library invites the community to read and talk about Mindful of Murder, a brand-new, humorous mystery novel by award-winning BC author, Susan Juby. Ms. Juby, a Vancouver Island resident, has won numerous awards and accolades for her teen and adult titles, including the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour […]
by Lyn Liao Butler Days away from finalizing the adoption of a boy from a Chinese orphanage, Tony and Tam are looking forward to welcoming him home and to repairing their at times shaky marriage. Just as we take a moment to celebrate their joy, Tam receives word that Tony has been suddenly taken from […]
Natalie is a 21 year old student who has moved from her predicable life in her hometown of Blaine, Washington, to attend the Visual Arts College in New York. She is glad to be away from home, her creepy high school ex-boyfriend, and her mom and step-dad, looking forward to the independent opportunities New York […]
This is a short book covering three main topics, but the issues it struggles with are complex and while the author lays out his arguments very clearly and with rigorous case studies and data backing him up. Originally written in Dutch, this is an excellent translation, and most of the case studies and examples are […]
It’s 1974 and Willow Greenwood is living in her Westfalia, travelling to various logging camps with her son, Liam, in tow. Willow’s intent is to sabotage logging operations and generally interfere with the industry that is destroying B.C.’s vast and beautiful forests. In fact, she has devoted her life to this endeavour. Unexpectedly, Willow is […]
By Fredrik Backman Is it possible for a book to be at once heart-wrenching yet heart-warming, improbable yet realistic, farcical yet deeply, utterly human? If so, Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People has done just that. Anxious People follows a group of people who, while attending an apartment open house, find themselves held hostage […]
by Philip Nel February is Black History Month, which is a time to celebrate Black voices and Black lives while also recognizing the work that must be done in the present to ensure diversity and racial justice is part of the future. One part of this necessary work is highlighting the importance of creating […]
Songs for the End of the World By Saleema Nawaz If I had to guess, I’d say that most people are a bit tired of hearing about the pandemic and dearly wish they could be thinking about other things. Yet there is something cathartic about reading a novel about a pandemic during a pandemic. Frankly, […]
by Kim Thuy Vi by Kim Thúy is this year’s choice for One eRead Canada, a national eBook reading event which runs from January 1 – 31st. The title character Vi, the youngest of four children and the only girl, narrates this moving story of a Vietnamese family over several decades of the 20th century. […]