Rave Reviews: CASE STUDY, ORDINARY WONDER TALES, THE POWER OF STORY, ON BROWSING and more!

IN THE NEWS!

CASE STUDY

Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet (November 1, 2022) has been featured by The New York Times as one of “100 Notable Books of 2022.” The article was published online on November 22, 2022.

You can read the full article here.

Pick up your copy of Case Study here!

ORDINARY WONDER TALES

Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart (November 1, 2022), has been reviewed by Robert J. Wiersema in the Toronto Star! The review was published online on November 24, 2022. Read the review here.

Wiersema writes,

“A book of both deep thought and intense feeling, Ordinary Wonder Tales is, literally, a collection of wonders, and a truly beautiful account of a life lived in the nexus of the temporal and the eternal. It’s a treasure.”

Emily Urquhart, author of Ordinary Wonder Tales was interviewed by Jackie Sharkey on CBC Afternoon Drive! The episode was posted on November 15, 2022. Listen to the full interview here.

Ordinary Wonder Tales has been reviewed in the Midwest Book Review! The review was published online on November 14, 2022. Read the review here.

Reviewer Susan Bethany writes,

“A collective masterpiece of literary criticism, insights, observations, perceptions, and appreciation, Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart is an extraordinarily thoughtful and thought-provoking read.”

Ordinary Wonder Tales was also reviewed by Kerry Clare in Pickle Me This! The review was published online on November 21, 2022. Check it out here.

Clare writes,

“These essays—beautiful, rich and absorbing—will change the way you see your place in the world, and they’ll leave you noticing all the magic at its fringes.”

Grab your copy of Ordinary Wonder Tales here!

A FACTOTUM IN THE BOOK TRADE

A Factotum in the Book Trade by Marius Kociejowski (April 26, 2022) has been featured on the Globe and Mail’s list of “The Best Books to Gift This Year.” The list was published online on November 18, 2022. Read the full list here.

The Globe and Mail writes:

“Poet and former London antiquarian bookseller recalls his life between the covers, from growing up in rural Ontario to his journey among eccentric buyers, sellers and other obsessives.”

Get your copy of A Factotum in the Book Trade here!

YOU ARE HERE

You Are Here: Selected Stories by Cynthia Flood (November 15, 2022), has been reviewed in the BC Review! The review was published online on November 21, 2022. Check it out here.

Reviewer Ginny Ratsoy writes,

“Curated from a body of work published over a 35-year period, You Are Here presents insightful, often incisive, glances into fictional lives … Cynthia Flood employs a realistic style to glances into characters who are products of their respective time and place, while at the same time surprising, sometimes jarring, us with unpredictability.”

Get your copy of You Are Here here!

TRY NOT TO BE STRANGE

Try Not to Be Strange: The Curious History of the Kingdom of Redonda by Michael Hingston (September 13, 2022), has been reviewed in The Spectator. The article was published on November 24, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Leaf Arbuthnot writes,

“There is an island in the Caribbean so small that it doesn’t appear on many world maps … The island is the subject of the Canadian writer Michael Hingston’s often excellent Try Not to Be Strange. I can see booksellers scratching their heads over where to shelve it. Part memoir, part travelogue, it’s also a beer-soaked history of pub-going in mid-20th-century Soho, and an exhaustive record of a made up and deeply eccentric monarchy.”

Pick up your copy of Try Not to Be Strange here!

THE POWER OF STORY

The Power of Story: On Truth, the Trickster, and New Fictions for a New Era by Harold R. Johnson (October 11, 2022) has been reviewed in the December issue of the Literary Review of Canada. The review was published online on November 21, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Christina Turner writes,

“Johnson’s idea is a powerful one: that a person is not only the “author” but also the “editor” of his or her life, that reframing a narrative is enough to change it.”

The Power of Story has also been reviewed in The Link. The review was published online on November 24, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Claire Helston-VanDuzer’s writes,

“[The Power of Story] is quite the legacy to leave behind … Clear and telling, this final work by Johnson is educational, cohesive and a very intriguing read.”

Get your copy of The Power of Story here!

ON BROWSING

Jason Guriel’s On Browsing (October 4, 2022) was listed as a best book of 2022 at the Times Literary Supplement. The list was published online on November 20, 2022. Find the whole list here.

A.E. Stallings writes,

“I enjoyed Jason Guriel’s hymn to life before algorithms, On Browsing, in which I recognized my own youth among malls, bookstores and card catalogues.”

Grab your copy of On Browsing here!

BIG MEN FEAR ME

Big Men Fear Me by Mark Bourrie (October 18, 2022) has been reviewed in the Winnipeg Free Press. The review, “Press baron’s rise and fall a riveting read,” was published online on November 19, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Douglas Johnston writes,

“Bourrie’s research is meticulous, and his writing has great pace and bounce. McCullagh’s rags-to-riches accession to press baron, and dark sudden demise, is a remarkable story.”

Get your copy of Big Men Fear Me here!

ESTATES LARGE AND SMALL

Ray Robertson, author of Estates Large and Small (August 16, 2022) was interviewed by Bookin podcast. The interview was published online on November 21, 2022. You can listen to the full episode here.

Estates Large and Small was also reviewed in the December issue of the Literary Review of Canada. The review was published online on November 21, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Jules Lewis writes,

“Sinking deeper into these existential questions, as Estates Large and Small does, scrapes away a sheltering layer of existence, bringing the reader into closer proximity to both joy and loss. Musing about his profession, Phil at one point says, ‘I was only renting my books.’ Indeed, Ray Robertson asks us to think about life as a rental, and to make the best out of it before our lease runs out.”

Grab your copy of Estates Large and Small here!

CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES

Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories (November 1, 2022), have been reviewed by Lindsey Childs in Prairie Fire! The review was published online on November 15, 2022. Read the full review here.

Childs called this year’s stories:

“A nice, creepy reprieve from all the holly and jolly of the holidays. Seth’s black and white illustrations provide a delicious sense for foreboding and unease to these tales of the dearly departed.”

Pick up the 2022 Christmas Ghost Stories here!

Check out the whole series here!