Reviews

“This is what Haynes does expertly: exercises the restraint to let her father’s own phlegmatic humility tell us what we need to know about him. She consistently plucks just the right excerpts of dialogue, pertinent descriptive detail and gestures, and adds only enough carefully curated backstory to provide crisp and concise vignettes of the people

“. . . full of details, concepts and questions that are cleverly designed to keep young readers fully engaged with this very entertaining story.” Thank you Michelle Shaw with SaskBooks Reviews for the lovely review of Kohkum’s Royal Bannock by Wilfred Burton! Read the full review here.

“These stories demand a second or even third reading as characters reappear, and some change over time. The gift of a small community is that everyone knows everyone; it’s also a bit of a curse. In Gaston’s hands, it’s mostly a gift as closeness seems to create a sense of balance.” Candace Fertile reviews Bill

Thank you Quill & Quire for the fantastic review of Bill Gaston’s Tunnel Island! “Gaston, one of Canada’s most respected writers, with multiple prize nominations and awards, renders the key dichotomies of human nature, and of life on the island – beauty and violence, trust and betrayal, isolation and community, joy and heartbreak – with

Check out this stellar review of Lloyd Ratzlaff’s Walking Upstream on the SaskBooks Reviews website: https://reviews.skbooks.com/walking-upstream/ “Ratzlaff possesses a gift for evoking emotion in just a few poignant lines—some might consider this poetry’s raison d’être—and his poems reflect that over a lifetime, the former counsellor’s mastered the oft-ignored art of listening.” —Shelley A. Leedahl, SaskBooks

“[Wallace’s] final lecture, if you will, is both a roadmap to and a celebration of a life well lived. It is also a mature and moving meditation on mortality.” —Theresa Shea, Alberta Views Theresa Shea wrote a lovely review of Jo-Ann Wallace’s A Life in Pieces in Alberta Views Magazine! Click here to read the

“Vanderhaeghe is an award-winning historical novelist who has managed to bridge the tricky gulf between populist appeal and literary fiction — and here we’re seeing how it all began. This is a book of many rewards.” Thank you to Jamie Portman from Postmedia Network for the excellent review of Because Somebody Asked Me To by

“Readers will become engaged with all the quirky characters in this easy-flowing story about friendship, family, and self-worth.” Thank you to Calgary Herald for featuring The Genius Hour Project in the January 2025 Children’s Books list! Read the full review and see the rest of the list here.

“I have written this in the spirit of whimsy, one of Wallace’s more captivating themes. Whimsy also combines with pluck and candour to render her distinctive voice. I’m aware, of course, that my existence is separate and apart from Wallace’s. I sit here, at my desk, while she writes no more. A Life in Pieces

“. . . a feast of compelling material, a peeling back of the curtain sure to enthrall existing fans of Vanderhaeghe, CanLit enthusiasts, and general readers.” “The subjects of this collection truly are his obsessions. The voice in these pages really is his voice. Because Somebody Asked Me To is Guy Vanderhaeghe: wise, wry, authentic, and principled.”—Brandon

“Who is – was – Jo-Ann Wallace? A Life in Pieces tells us. Eloquently. Enjoyably. Who are we, the reader? A Life in Pieces tells us. . . In the ultimate goal of memoir, resonance and relevance, it is a success.” Read this beautiful review of A Life in Pieces by Jo-Ann Wallace here.

“Splendid on all levels—and a satisfying ending—The Genius Hour Project deserves a gold star.” —SaskBooks Reviews Check out the full review of Leanne Shirtliffe’s The Genius Hour Project here.

“Marlis Wes­sel­er . . . has paint­ed a sen­si­tive por­trait of a mid­dle-aged woman in cri­sis. Despite the gen­er­a­tions of trau­ma and alien­ation that rever­ber­ate through both Lisa’s and Ben’s fam­i­lies, Wesseler seems to sug­gest that rec­on­cil­i­a­tion and redemp­tion are possible.” —Jewish Book Council You can read the complete review for Marlis Wesseler’s The Beech