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List: author:origin:canadian

Cover of A Succession of Bad Days.

A Succession of Bad Days

by Graydon Saunders · published 2015 · last read 2023-03-12
★★★★★
Following The March North is not easy in any way, and yet, Saunders manages. Same world, directly after the events of the first book – but in a completely different role, keeping only side characters around. I'm very into this sort of con
Cover of The March North.

The March North

by Graydon Saunders · published 2014 · last read 2023-03-10
★★★★★
Sometimes I read books that make me very happy, so that I have to focus a lot to find reasons why other people would not be into them. Not so for The March North.
Cover of This Is How You Lose the Time War.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

by Amal El-Mohtar · published 2019 · read 2019-09-21
★★★★★
This Is How You Lose the Time War was written by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. They must be magic. They can't just write like this without magic. Trust me.
Cover of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

by Chris Hadfield · published 2013 · read 2018-08-26
★★★★★
This book is just nice reading in every regard. You'll learn something about space. You'll learn about NASA and interntional space agency relations. You'll learn about Chris Hadfield's life on earth and in space. It's a peculiar mix of his
Cover of The Handmaid's Tale.

The Handmaid’s Tale

by Margaret Atwood · published 1985 · read 2017-12-21
★★★★☆
Oh yes, definitely the dystopic tale I needed without knowing it. Nicely done.
Cover of Blindsight.

Blindsight

by Peter Watts · published 2006 · last read 2026-02-09
★★★★☆
Re-read notes: I love a couple of things about this book. I love that it is well-written, particularly for sci-fi, particularly for hard sci-fi. It reads well, if you're into sci-fi in the first place. I love that it is clever, and that i
Cover of Kings of the Wyld.

Kings of the Wyld

by Nicholas Eames · published 2017 · read 2019-05-18
★★★★☆
Ever wanted to read a self-aware Expendables in a Fantasy world? Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is for you. I wasn't a fan for the first half (it was solid, but annoying, and Getting The Band Back Together isn't a story I enjoy),
Cover of The Economy of Cities.

The Economy of Cities

by Jane Jacobs · published 1969 · read 2021-07-25
★★★★☆
This classic (pub. 1969) on city development was extremely accessible to read, particularly considering the ugh field that surrounds economics for me. Jacobs' main premise is that cities don't arise as a consequence of agricultural settleme
Cover of Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd.

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d

by Alan Bradley · published 2016 · read 2017-11-28
★★★★☆
Woop! I like the slightly-older Flavia, who is more devious, and still terribly clever. Also, evil cliffhanger.
Cover of As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust.

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

by Alan Bradley · published 2015 · read 2017-11-26
★★★★☆
Even more Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm a sucker for training stories, y'know.
Cover of The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches

by Alan Bradley · published 2014 · read 2017-11-26
★★★★☆
Oh-HO, here we go! Suddenly it's much more A Series of Unfortunate Events and less just Kalle Blomkvist!
Cover of Sailing to Sarantium.

Sailing to Sarantium

by Guy Gavriel Kay · published 1998 · read 2021-02-10
★★★★☆
Sailing to Sarantium was my first Guy Gavriel Kay book, and it won't be my last. Not just that it didn't wrap up in one book (boo! … kidding), I also enjoyed the style a lot. Kay lets his story take place in Byzantium during Constantine's r
Cover of Artifact Space.

Artifact Space

by Miles Cameron · published 2021 · read 2022-04-08
★★★★☆
Wonderful book. Takes the old orphan formula and runs with it – no subversions, no edgy darkness, just that: The protagonist flees her life into the sci-fi navy, and starts to train on a Greatship. She finds companions, teachers, a proper s
Cover of Queer Tattoo.

Queer Tattoo

by Brody Polinsky · published 2022 · read 2022-09-05
★★★★☆
My tattoo artist had this on her shelf when I went and got my first ever tattoo. It caught my eye (the binding is very distinctive!), and I immediately ordered it when I got home. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing to exist. The breadth of s
Cover of The Summer Tree.

The Summer Tree

by Guy Gavriel Kay · published 1984 · read 2022-11-26
★★★★☆
Pretty Tolkienesque, which I liked. And the "adults in strange fantasy lands" was very Dark Tower, only of course better written. Enjoyed it more than Sailing to Sarantium, too. I do wonder how much time, if any, Guy Gavriel Kay has spen
Cover of The Cybernetic Tea Shop.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop

by Meredith Katz · published 2016 · read 2021-09-05
★★★☆☆
Short, sweet queer sci-fi romance, telling the story of a world where production of humanoid robots has been banned, but the last remaining ones are allowed to live out their life. Ace robot trope though.
Cover of Safely You Deliver.

Safely You Deliver

by Graydon Saunders · published 2016 · last read 2023-03-12
★★★☆☆
Similar to the previous book, we get to see the posse from a different point of view. There is a unicorn, and Saunders has a good take on unicorns. It explains the world some more, both the state and the people. I liked it, but I wouldn't h
Cover of Under One Banner.

Under One Banner

by Graydon Saunders · published 2018 · last read 2023-03-14
★★★☆☆
The series started dropping off for me a bit here: I didn't find the protagonist compelling, and her recovery from an active magic user to a military adviser only as interesting as the world it exposed. But the focus on military matters did
Cover of Little Brother.

Little Brother

by Cory Doctorow · published 2008 · read 2013-05-01
★★★☆☆
Cory is always preaching. I don't like preachy books (look at all my Narnia hate). Even when I like the message, as I do here, I'd like to be taken more seriously as a reader.
Cover of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley · published 2009 · read 2017-11-23
★★★☆☆
Well, that was fun. I'm not too much of a fan, the rambling style of Flavia's train of thought is annoying, I think. But at the same time it's definitely well-written and just fun to read. I'm looking forward to the next parts.
Cover of A Red Herring Without Mustard.

A Red Herring Without Mustard

by Alan Bradley · published 2011 · read 2017-11-24
★★★☆☆
Still a lot of fun and enjoyable, while being nothing too special.
Cover of The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag

by Alan Bradley · published 2010 · read 2017-11-23
★★★☆☆
Continues to be lighthearted and utterly enjoyable.
Cover of I Am Half-Sick of Shadows.

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

by Alan Bradley · published 2011 · read 2017-11-25
★★★☆☆
Still funny, still thoroughly enjoyable, but … not really more than three stars for me. (This one's about a visiting cinema troupe and a dead actress.)
Cover of Speaking from Among the Bones.

Speaking from Among the Bones

by Alan Bradley · published 2013 · read 2017-11-25
★★★☆☆
The Flavia de Luce books started blurring together before this one, and even series-changing big reveals didn't change that fact. Too much time spent demonstrating sassy storytelling – completely in line with the rest of the series, but inc
Cover of For He Can Creep.

For He Can Creep

by Siobhan Carroll · published 2019 · read 2020-02-12
★★★☆☆
Cat-lovers, take note: This short story lovingly combines cat stereotypes, and then goes two steps further. Very enjoyable.
Cover of Station Eleven.

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel · published 2014 · read 2019-05-08
★★★☆☆
Sometimes, you find books that are good books, and you notice how they are good books, and you like the parts that make them good books, but you don't like them. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is such a book for me. It's not
Cover of The English Patient.

The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje · published 1992 · read 2019-11-20
★★☆☆☆
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje is a lyrical, slow, pain-ridden book about the trauma and separation and surreal life of people in and after WW2. It's not really for me, but it wasn't an unpleasant read, either.
Cover of Starfish.

Starfish

by Peter Watts · published 1999 · read 2018-02-26
★★☆☆☆
Not my thing. Good solid characters, and the whole "living on the ground of the ocean evolving into something else was alright". The only part I really liked were the headcheese (erm, neural nets), and the fact somebody figured out which ge
Cover of A Mist of Grit and Splinters.

A Mist of Grit and Splinters

by Graydon Saunders · published 2020 · last read 2023-03-16
★★☆☆☆
Saunders goes back to military fiction here, and I didn't find any part of it particularly compelling, apart from the sneaky worldbuilding updates. The characters had enough personal stories, but didn't interest me, the overarching plot was
Cover of Starship's Mage: Omnibus.

Starship’s Mage: Omnibus

by Glynn Stewart · published 2014 · read 2019-11-22
★★☆☆☆
I really liked the premise of Glynn Stewart's Starship Mage, but the execution was meh enough to get me to drop the book two thirds in. A world with magic for space travel, with defined rules and organisations and governance? Super co
Cover of I (28M) created a deepfake girlfriend and now my parents think we’re getting married.

I (28M) created a deepfake girlfriend and now my parents think we’re getting married

by Fonda Lee · published 2019 · read 2020-02-12
★★☆☆☆
About as good as the title suggests (and about as much content, too). Got the tone of voice right, more or less, though catering to the wider crowd/immersion break with the user names.
Cover of The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse.

The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse

by Alan Bradley · published 2014 · read 2017-11-26
★★☆☆☆
Copper corpses will never not sound like Dorothy Sayers to me.
Cover of The Library of the Unwritten.

The Library of the Unwritten

by A.J. Hackwith · published 2019 · read 2020-10-30
★★☆☆☆ (did not finish)
The Library of the Unwritten clearly caters to book readers more than every book does in general: Fantasy where the hero is a supernatural librarian, on a quest to retrieve souls and books? Starring in a conflict between Hell and Heaven? He
Cover of We Are Legion.

We Are Legion

by Dennis E. Taylor · published 2016 · read 2022-04-16
★★☆☆☆
This is what peak geek power fantasy looks like. Jeez. Bob makes a strong case for Most Punchable Protagonist. I suppose you could read it as reminder that a singularity doesn't mean problems are solved, and that AI can be just as incompete
Cover of Sea of Tranquility.

Sea of Tranquility

by Emily St. John Mandel · published 2022 · read 2023-02-08
★★☆☆☆
Inoffensive to a fault. Read for book club. Feels odd in several ways: feels slice-of-life even when it's not; doesn't feel sci-fi even when it isn't. The characters are cool but I won't remember them. The author stand-in is awkward. The ti
Cover of The Connoisseur.

The Connoisseur

by Victoria Goddard · published 2020 · read 2024-01-17
★★☆☆☆
Cute, until you start thinking about it – and not written well enough to compensate for that. But not bad, not bad.
Cover of Gardens of the Moon.

Gardens of the Moon

by Steven Erikson · published 1999 · read 2019-01-05
★☆☆☆☆
I did not finish Gardens of the Moon – I gave up after a month, and that's saying something with 180+ read things in 2018. I just wasn't feeling it. It dragged on and on and on and – I'm sure this is a good book to many, and I have the feel
Cover of The Glass Hotel.

The Glass Hotel

by Emily St. John Mandel · published 2020 · read 2023-02-09
★☆☆☆☆
Again with the flat emotional affect and the repeating characters. Jumbled, didn't go anywhere, and wasn't compelling enough to convince as a slice-of-life. The only things I slightly cared about were the less obvious connections to [Sea of
Cover of Spellslinger.

Spellslinger

by Sebastien de Castell · published 2017 · read 2024-01-03
★☆☆☆☆
Incredibly annoying. Every twist signalled miles in advance (hint: the society subjugating some of its people based on who has magic or not? Not great, it turns out), a random cowboy lady introducing the worst tonal dissonance, more predict