So Misguided

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn | Book Review

June 29, 2026 / Monique

I love Kate Quinn but this book fell short for me. Quinn is an amazing historical fiction writer and this is a different type of story. She’s trying her hand at fantasy and the premise is interesting, “have you ever wished you could live inside a book?,” but the novel is missing the depth of emotion and lure that her other works have.

Alexandria “Alix” Watson is falling apart. She has less than $40 in her bank account, she’s been kicked out by her roommate, she’s lost her job, and someone is committing financial fraud while renaming her accounts “Libby Bibb.” Everything is wrong, until Alix stumbles into an area of the Boston Public Library where she’s never been before. Indeed, many haven’t.

She has entered a magical library where you can go and live inside any book.

The problem is … bureaucracy.

The Library Board is threatening to modernize and monetize the library. Alix and the Librarian start receiving threatening red catalogue cards that initially lead them to believe patrons living in public domain books are at risk. They frantically help people escape into famous paintings and video games instead while trying to suss out what’s really happening.

There’s also a sort-of-boyfriend, Beau, who is a historical costume fashionista. He helps and hinders in various ways, ultimately proving to be a love interest worth loving. And there is a Librarian who can turn into a dragon. So cool.

Many elements here are exactly my kind of thing–but somehow the novel feels flat and uninteresting. This thing happens, then this thing happens, blah blah. It is plot-driven, but not in an exciting way. And the language and tone are not up to Kate Quinn quality. Her historical fiction is immersive, there’s an incredible amount of research, the characters are often extraordinary women whose stories have been overlooked. This has a clever premise, but it didn’t have the emotional pull I expect from her work.

Favourite part: The book itself is beautifully designed. The hardcover has lovely endpapers and printed edges like the scales of a dragon. It’s a very pretty objet.

So, I don’t want to be too harsh on Kate Quinn because I love her writing so much. I want authors to expand their writing style and experiment. And, I get that sometimes books need to be written. But this one isn’t a keeper for me. As a recommendation, it’s ok.

If you like cozy fantasy stories about magical libraries, literary portals, and bookish bureaucracy, then you may enjoy Astral Library more than I did. My final take is that as an objection to book banning, monetization of libraries, and a reflection on the actual purpose of libraries–the book gets there in the end.

The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor | Book Review

June 23, 2026 / Monique

The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor is my favourite summer read so far. The debut novel, and winner of Canada Reads, is a beautifully written, compelling story about two teen girls who become friends and lovers during a time when gender rules were rigid and difference was not rewarded. It’s 1939 and the world is on the brink of a war.

Kathleen McNair, known as Kit, has lived on her family’s Ontario farm all her life. She is a tomboy, a daredevil, and the middle child of a struggling Irish immigrant family whose land has never quite given them enough. Kit is also afflicted, or maybe gifted: water spirits, fairies, or family legend speak to her. She hears and sees things that others do not, and her mother carries the old stories like warnings.

Kit loves racing her horse against the trains coming into the village. This is how she is first seen by Rebekah Kromer, who arrives with her German father and Québécois mother. Dr. Kromer is the town’s new doctor, and Rebekah is immediately drawn into Kit’s orbit.

The two become fast friends, then more than friends. Their dalliances by the river are tender, secretive, and charged with positive energy. But as anti-German suspicion grows, the Kromers no longer feel safe in town and return swiftly to Montreal. Too swiftly for Rebekah to speak to Kit. The injury is full on heartbreak for Kit, who runs away from home and eventually joins the air force disguised as Chris, a boy she convinces to go home to his own family while she takes his kit and his place.

What I liked most about this novel is the writing. The story itself is propulsive—family secrets, queer first love, wartime fear, misdirection, longing—but the standout is Paylor’s prose. The rural Ontario setting feels like a familiar place. The magical elements feel rooted in family history rather than added on for magical effect. And Kit and Rebekah are such a compelling characters: stubborn, reckless, brave, lonely, and always pushing against the life other people are trying to assign to them.

This is also a Canadian historical novel that does something more interesting than simply place a romance against the backdrop of war. It looks at belonging: to a family, to a body, to a country, to a story that may or may not have room for you. Kit and Rebekah’s relationship is moving because it is both intimate and impossible. They are young, in love, and pulled apart by societal forces. The question is what they will do to survive, which seems like such as Canadian story.

The Cure for Drowning deserves its praise and awards. It is evocative without being fussy, romantic without being sentimental, and historical without feeling dutiful.

If you liked The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue or The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, then you’ll enjoy The Cure for Drowning. It has a similar vibe with strong female characters and a backdrop of war but, most important, stellar writing.

Endling by Maria Reva | Book Review

June 16, 2026 / Monique

Endling by Maria Reva is racking up the awards! Well deserved. The novel is a bit like a rubik’s cube in that there are different tales that twist and turn together, revealing the story. Set in Ukraine, 2022: Yeva is running a mobile lab for snails. She’s scouring the country’s forests and valleys for the “endlings,” the last of their species. There is lots of little snail science sprinkled throughout the book. As you can imagine, this is not the life Yeva’s family wants for her. They want her to marry. It’s unlikely, but to finance the lab, Yeva joins a dating agency for North American men looking for Ukrainian brides.

Nastia and Sol (Solomiya) are also part of the agency. Nastia as a beautiful blonde bride and Sol as a translator. Their mother would be displeased by their life choices too since she spent most of their childhood protesting against the marriage industry. But their mother has disappeared, and in a childish way the sisters think they may get her notice by being part of the problem. Unlikely.

During one of the romance tours, Nastia approaches Yeva about borrowing the van. Yeva forces her to submit a proposal and insists on pretending it’s like a government grant or funding proposal. It’s very funny, and sad. Yeva is at the end of her rope. The snails have died, except for one called Lefty. But Nastia persists and Yeva relents. Yeva soon finds the van full of 13 bachelors who Nastia is effectively kidnapping in protest, a last ditch effort to attract her mother’s attention. Well, things go wrong. Specifically Russia invades.

The story of the bachelors, the sisters and Yeva all twist together into the story of Reva’s own experiences as a Ukrainian expat watching her homeland be destroyed and worrying about family. There are sections of the novel that feel experimental, where there are rewrites of certain passages. There’s commentary on the agent-editor-publisher process and what North Americans’ understand (or want to hear) about the war. All of that works to create a sense of urgency and social commentary that makes the novel really interesting.

I enjoyed this story. It’s about love (not necessarily romantic love), passion for a job, hope, resilience, and the chaos of life.

The Cabin by Jorn Lier Horst | Book Review

June 5, 2026 / Monique

The Cabin by Jørn Lier Horst is a fantastic and thrilling police procedural. The author is a former senior investigator with the Norwegian police and the characters and scenario are realistic while still being sensational. Detective William Wisting has invited his journalist daughter Line into an investigation that starts off about boxes of money found in the cabin of a recently deceased politician and ends up being intertwined with a missing-person cold case from 15 years ago and an airport heist. There are thugs, late-night break and enters, prison confessions, leads that lead nowhere, financial intrigue, and great intuitive policing and investigation.

Nordic Noir or Norwegian crime thrillers are known for their sense of atmosphere, psychological drama, and story twists and turns. The Cabin delivers! I’m now keen to read more of Jørn Lier Horst’s work, especially The Katharina Code and other titles in the Wisting series.

My mom is a big Jo Nesbø fan (Harry Hole series) and I enjoyed Swedish author Stieg Larson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But from the blurbs, I’ve discovered a number of excellent Scandinavian crime thrillers worth exploring beyond Jo Nesbø, including Karin Fossum (Inspector Sejer series), Alex Dahl (Girl Friends and Cabin Fever) and Gunnar Staalesen (Varg Veum series).

If you’re a fan of modern crime thrillers, then The Cabin is a page turner.

Buy on Amazon.ca or use Booksellers.ca to buy from a Canadian bookstore.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelous | Book Review

May 19, 2026 / Monique

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) is an absolutely stunning tale of growing up lonely and timid and yet finding your seat of power. Marguerite (Maya) Johnson and her older brother Bailey are raised by their powerhouse paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. They are well versed in Southern manners and their Bible. Maya is whip smart academically but less wise in the ways of the world.

At eight, she and her brother find themselves living with their mother in St. Louis. It’s a strange and different world, but Maya learns city ways and unfortunate learns hard lessons about trust and rape. The brother-sister team are sent back to their grandmother, where they mostly recover. Maya credits Mrs. Flowers, a well-spoken woman in the community, as her mentor and fellow fan of poetry and Shakespeare.

When Maya has graduated at 14 from her country school, then she and Bailey once again move in with their mother, this time in Oakland. Maya joins her father for awhile in San Francisco, but his current relationship and status seeking leads to a crazy adventure in Mexico where Maya ends up driving his car back across the border. Eventually aftera blow-up with her father’s girlfriend, Maya leaves, and in doing so learns how brave she is, how much she can do for herself, how valued she is in a community, and how strong she can be.

This is story about longing and freedom, and it’s an honest look at hatred and racism. No wonder Maya Angelou became the force that she was, and her legacy continues to be. This is a story worth reading. It’s unparalleled.

Sweetland by Michael Crummey | Book Review

May 18, 2026 / Monique

Gosh, Michael Crummey is an extraordinary storyteller. I loved Sweetland.

Moses Sweetland has lived all his life on a remote island off Newfoundland’s south coast, which is called Sweetland. In fact, 12 generations of inhabitants have called this rugged and unforgiving bit of rock home. But now the government is keen to relocate the few residents. They are offering a nice relocation package and everyone is on board except Sweetland. He’s living off the land as a fisherman and trapper. He’s the former lighthouse keeper, lifelong bachelor, and odd-job man with neighbours who need help with a calf or a grave dug. Sweetland just cannot imagine leaving. I said earlier he’d live all his life here, but he did have a stint on the mainland where he tried to make some real money with his buddy Duke. But the drink and drugs and general lack of employment opportunities did him in.

This character rankles. He’s kind and stern, he’s forthright and sullen, he’s cunning and an imbecile. A true force of nature.

If you like Niall Williams, Tana French, John Banville, then you’ll love Michael Crummey.

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng | Book Review

April 14, 2026 / Monique

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng is a historical fiction novel set in 1921 and 1910 in the Straits Settlement of Penang. In the present day (1921), Somerset Maugham, one of the greatest writers of his day, has come to Penang to visit his long-time friend Robert Hamlyn. Maugham and Hamlyn met during the war and Robert, now a successful lawyer, is a dutifully reader of all of Maugham’s books. Robert is excited about his friend’s visit but wary of ending up in one of Maugham’s novels.

Maugham is travelling with his secretary Gerald, who is obviously more than a secretary, and the big question is whether the couple will stay together given that Maugham has just lost all his money in a poor investment. The next question is whether Maugham’s wife Sadie will finally divorce him because of it. Needless to say, none of is the primary story of the novel. Rather it is a quiet series of conversations that Robert’s wife Lesley has with Maugham about her friend Ethel who was tried and convicted of murder in 1910, and Lesley’s friendship with Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese revolutionary who founded the Republic of China.

This is a fabulous novel about unhappy marriages, finding love with the right person at the wrong time, and surprising friendships. The imbalance between genders, cultures, and status are on full display throughout the novel, giving us a deep look at public vs. private scrutiny of morality, love, and betrayal.

As Maugham struggles to write his next bestseller to recoup some of his financial losses, he is most interested in a story Lesley tells him about her connections to the Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who was growing his movement in Penang in the 1910s. He’s curious about how deep Lesley’s friendship went with Sun Wen. “Willie” is also fascinated by Lesley’s friendship with Ethel, an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts. She’s accused not just of the murder, but of having an affair, which is the more salacious point for the community.

Tan Twan Eng has woven all sorts of historical accuracies into this fictional tale, which makes it delightful. I am interested in learning more about the Straits Settlements, an administrative unit of the East India Company (1826-1867) then British crown colony (1867-1946) on the Strait of Malacca. Plus, I had to look up some great, new-to-me, words in this novel.

The House of Doors was longlisted for the Booker Prize so if you’re a fan of reading award-nominated titles then this is a good read for you. It’s a fantastic historical fiction, especially if you’re interested in writers like Somerset Maugham, Chinese-Malayan history, and British colonialism.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang | Book Review

April 12, 2026 / Monique

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is full of lies and half truths, and I’m not sure we know which is which, even at the end. This is a classic, unreliable narrator, and she is not charming.

June Hayward is envious of her more successful author friend Athena Liu. When Athena unexpectedly dies, June finds Athena’s unpublished manuscript in her hot little hands. June is our narrator, and she wants us to believe that she had good intentions, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, June’s version of Athena’s unpublished work is a runaway success story. I loved all the inside-publishing stories with the gossip, snark, and crazy deadlines. And I especially enjoyed the struggles June and her publishers face in terms of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation. I think in novel form, some readers may feel more confident examining these issues.

If you liked, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green then this novel also tackles the highs and lows of social media fame and how friendships are formed and lost when celebrity status is up for grabs.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick | Book Review

April 10, 2026 / Monique

The Measure is set in a world where everyone over 22 receives a box with a piece of string that is equivalent to the duration of their life. The novel was published in 2024, so after the COVID pandemic. Like with the pandemic, the anxiety and fear either draws out the best or worst in people.

The Measure follows the lives of eight different characters, mostly New Yorkers, and how their perspectives on their lives change.

Nina (a magazine/newspaper editor) and her partner Maura (former musician, now working in publishing) have very different string lengths. Nina’s is long and Maura’s short. Their love story is perhaps the clearest through the novel. They are a solid partnership and weather the storm, with the expected ups and downs.
Amie is Nina’s younger sister. She’s a teacher and decides, like some, to not open her box. When she starts writing letters to an anonymous pen pal in a “short-stringer” support group that meets in the evenings in her classroom, we see the supportive yet strained relationships that many are having.
Anthony Rollins is a manipulative, long-stringer politician, who is running for president, exposing his short-stringer competitors, and generally making an ass of himself by fear mongering and implementing stringist policies.
Rollins’ nephew Jack is a long-string solider who secretly trades strings with his bestie Javier.
Javier is a short-stringer who won’t accept the Administration’s limitations on his dreams. He’s going to be a military hero.
That leaves Hank (doctor) and Ben (architect) who meet Maura at a short-string support group and become lifelong friends (pun mostly intended).

My favourite part of the novel is a protest movement, #strungtogether. It’s the counter to political divisiveness and promotes compassion and solidarity. The protesters urge their communities to support each other, regardless of their string length, and they create beautiful art that highlights the extraordinary contributions of people who’ve lived short lives, think Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi.

That positive narrative is woven into the stories of the eight main characters and the supporting people in their lives.

As a novel, it’s a great philosophy exercise to think about the measure of your life, how you’d measure it–ideally not just by length but by strength.

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer | Book Review

April 8, 2026 / Monique

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, is a sweet yet firm look at how our economy is rooted in scarcity and competition. We hoard resources, we strip the land and water of its fruits, we do harm, and we assume the distribution of wealth is something that should be controlled. Robin Wall Kimmerer offers an Indigenous, and ecological look, at circular systems, and how we could all flourish with sharing, taking a community focus, and giving (not just taking).