Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Tabish Khair’s The Thing About Thugs

Posted on 10 November 2013 by andyq

The Thing about Thugs by Tabish Khair My rating: 5 of 5 stars First and foremost, Tabish Khair’s novel, The Thing About Thugs, is a great read. Both literary and accessible with beautiful writing and colourful characters, it’s well worth … Continue reading →

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Books I’ve Read: 2010 and before

Posted on 3 February 2013 by andyq

I first kept this list on my webpage, but then figured that it would be easier to edit (and access) on my blog. So, I started this list on 7 July 2008 (my 39th birthday), and try to keep it … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Benjamin Law’s Gaysia

Posted on 31 January 2013 by andyq

Gaysia by Benjamin Law My rating: 3 of 5 stars I like to think it’s a compliment to a book if I’m interested enough in it, engaged or enraged, in order to want to write a review. I also think … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jonathan Franzen’s Strong Motion

Posted on 16 January 2013 by andyq

Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen My rating: 4 of 5 stars In Jonathan Franzen’s 1992 novel, ‘Strong Motion’, we see the prodigious talent that would bring him worldwide fame with ‘The Corrections’ and the more recent ‘Freedom’. I enjoy reading … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Paul Kane’s Work Life: New Poems

Posted on 1 October 2012 by andyq

Work Life: New Poems by Paul Kane My rating: 4 of 5 stars Poetry is mostly undercover these days, so I think it’s interesting how you stumble across a book. I happened to be at a reading in Glebe in … Continue reading →

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Books I read in 2011

Posted on 12 January 2012 by andyq

With a comment or two, if I felt so inclined. Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems Volume 2 (Poetry) – some gems, and better in small doses, I was surprised that I wasn’t taken by the work of this celebrated … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Anne Tyler’s Back When We Were Grown Ups

Posted on 26 November 2011 by andyq

Back When We Were Grown Ups by Anne Tyler My rating: 2 of 5 stars I’ve read a few Anne Tyler novels, way back when, and obviously liked them enough to keep returning to them. She creates memorable, fully-dimensional characters … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Anita Desai’s The Zigzag Way

Posted on 21 November 2011 by andyq

The Zigzag Way by Anita Desai My rating: 3 of 5 stars At university, with the incomparable Geoffrey Eathorne as our professor for our Commonwealth Literature course at Trent University in Canada, I read Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road

Posted on 23 October 2011 by andyq

Michael Chabon is one of those names that I scan bookshelves for, all on the basis of one book: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It was a big, substantial novel with ideas and history, whimsy and sadness, and … Continue reading →

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R.I.P. Visual Library, hello Goodreads?

Posted on 20 October 2011 by andyq

Through facebook I discovered the application ‘Visual Library’ and I really did like it. You typed in a book name, and it showed up on your screen where you could not only click that you’ve read it, or owned it, … Continue reading →

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