Book Reviews

Rob McDowell’s $MALL TOWN FINANCIAL: An Atypical Narrative For Atypical Times – a new book from Write Now! with Jon Tattrie

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Launch day for a new book! I’ve been working with Rob McDowell on $MALL TOWN FINANCIAL: An Atypical Narrative For Atypical Times since January, when he approached me at Write Now! with Jon Tattrie seeking advice on his manuscript. He’d spent his career as a financial advisor and wanted to create a book to store … Read more

How the Vellum Easy Button and Pharmacy Half Life brought me Full CircleΒ 

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Pharmacy Half-Life: Maximizing Your Time At Steady State by John R. Marshall My favourite new book on my bookshelf isn’t even one I wrote: it’s one I produced at Write Now! with Jon Tattrie.Β  Earlier this year, John R. Marshall was talking to a friend in Truro, … Read more

Inside Indonesia’s Big Bang brings a Canadian eye to international development

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Inside Indonesia’s Big Bang, by Mark Gilbert, Phd. For many years I taught writing classes to civil servants. I always looked forward to those classes, as the students came ready to learn and eager to get better at that aspect of their job. In our conversations … Read more

Read your way home with Emma Davie’s Home to Christmas Island, a holiday romance

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Home to Christmas Island, by Emma Davie. $3.99 on Kobo or Indigo. Perhaps it’s the constant streaming of Chris Rea’s Driving Home For Christmas that has me in the mood to read romance and Christmas stories. If you, too, are reaching for a tranquil state of … Read more

Call it a Puppy Love Romance – Heidi Tattrie’s Good for Goodness’ Sake brings Christmas cheer

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Good for Goodness’ Sake by Heidi Tattrie. $2.78. If Christmas Tree Farm by Taylor Swift was a novel, it would be Good for Goodness’ SakeΒ by Heidi Tattrie. I absolutely ripped through this wonderful romance set in the fictitious Maritime Bay and could not believe it was … Read more

Imagine if the Shag Harbour aliens returned but abducted all of Nova Scotia. Welcome to Patchworld Nova by Jude Mire

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Patchworld Nova, by Jude Mire Last month I told you how much I enjoyed Bretton Loney’s historical speculative fiction novel Unsettling Time, wherein a time traveller discovers 1749 Halifax. This month, we’re going the other way: into space, and into the future.Β  Nova Scotia’s most famous … Read more

Halifax time-traveller races to get back to the future in Bretton Loney’s Unsettling Time

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Unsettling Time, by Bretton Loney.Β  Unsettling Time rapidly became one of my favourite historical fiction novels as I raced through its pages. Perhaps that should be historical speculative fiction, as author Bretton Loney uses Halifax’s Noon Gun and a bad fall to throw a SMU lecturer … Read more

Let Deep Freeze by Anne O’Connell warm you up this summer!

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Deep Freeze, a novel by Anne Louise O’Connell I read the last chapter of Deep Freeze in the hospital emergency room, which was a perfect location to finish this fun and feisty cosy mystery. Cosy in the sense that (per Wikipedia) it’s a β€œa sub-genre of … Read more

A Recipe for Rhyme and Rescue, by Wanda Taylor

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With Nova Scotia serving up β€œspring” days like this, you will want to displace yourself into the warm and delicious world Wanda Taylor has created in her second novel for young readers. Wanda is an author I really admire, ranging as she does from hard-hitting history books like π΅π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘β„Žπ‘‘π‘œπ‘€π‘› π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π΅π‘™π‘Žπ‘π‘˜ πΏπ‘œπ‘¦π‘Žπ‘™π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘  to this … Read more