So Misguided

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelous | Book Review

May 19, 2026 / Monique

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) is an absolutely stunning tale of growing up lonely and timid and yet finding your seat of power. Marguerite (Maya) Johnson and her older brother Bailey are raised by their powerhouse paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. They are well versed in Southern manners and their Bible. Maya is whip smart academically but less wise in the ways of the world.

At eight, she and her brother find themselves living with their mother in St. Louis. It’s a strange and different world, but Maya learns city ways and unfortunate learns hard lessons about trust and rape. The brother-sister team are sent back to their grandmother, where they mostly recover. Maya credits Mrs. Flowers, a well-spoken woman in the community, as her mentor and fellow fan of poetry and Shakespeare.

When Maya has graduated at 14 from her country school, then she and Bailey once again move in with their mother, this time in Oakland. Maya joins her father for awhile in San Francisco, but his current relationship and status seeking leads to a crazy adventure in Mexico where Maya ends up driving his car back across the border. Eventually aftera blow-up with her father’s girlfriend, Maya leaves, and in doing so learns how brave she is, how much she can do for herself, how valued she is in a community, and how strong she can be.

This is story about longing and freedom, and it’s an honest look at hatred and racism. No wonder Maya Angelou became the force that she was, and her legacy continues to be. This is a story worth reading. It’s unparalleled.

Sweetland by Michael Crummey | Book Review

May 18, 2026 / Monique

Gosh, Michael Crummey is an extraordinary storyteller. I loved Sweetland.

Moses Sweetland has lived all his life on a remote island off Newfoundland’s south coast, which is called Sweetland. In fact, 12 generations of inhabitants have called this rugged and unforgiving bit of rock home. But now the government is keen to relocate the few residents. They are offering a nice relocation package and everyone is on board except Sweetland. He’s living off the land as a fisherman and trapper. He’s the former lighthouse keeper, lifelong bachelor, and odd-job man with neighbours who need help with a calf or a grave dug. Sweetland just cannot imagine leaving. I said earlier he’d live all his life here, but he did have a stint on the mainland where he tried to make some real money with his buddy Duke. But the drink and drugs and general lack of employment opportunities did him in.

This character rankles. He’s kind and stern, he’s forthright and sullen, he’s cunning and an imbecile. A true force of nature.

If you like Niall Williams, Tana French, John Banville, then you’ll love Michael Crummey.

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng | Book Review

April 14, 2026 / Monique

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng is a historical fiction novel set in 1921 and 1910 in the Straits Settlement of Penang. In the present day (1921), Somerset Maugham, one of the greatest writers of his day, has come to Penang to visit his long-time friend Robert Hamlyn. Maugham and Hamlyn met during the war and Robert, now a successful lawyer, is a dutifully reader of all of Maugham’s books. Robert is excited about his friend’s visit but wary of ending up in one of Maugham’s novels.

Maugham is travelling with his secretary Gerald, who is obviously more than a secretary, and the big question is whether the couple will stay together given that Maugham has just lost all his money in a poor investment. The next question is whether Maugham’s wife Sadie will finally divorce him because of it. Needless to say, none of is the primary story of the novel. Rather it is a quiet series of conversations that Robert’s wife Lesley has with Maugham about her friend Ethel who was tried and convicted of murder in 1910, and Lesley’s friendship with Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese revolutionary who founded the Republic of China.

This is a fabulous novel about unhappy marriages, finding love with the right person at the wrong time, and surprising friendships. The imbalance between genders, cultures, and status are on full display throughout the novel, giving us a deep look at public vs. private scrutiny of morality, love, and betrayal.

As Maugham struggles to write his next bestseller to recoup some of his financial losses, he is most interested in a story Lesley tells him about her connections to the Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who was growing his movement in Penang in the 1910s. He’s curious about how deep Lesley’s friendship went with Sun Wen. “Willie” is also fascinated by Lesley’s friendship with Ethel, an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts. She’s accused not just of the murder, but of having an affair, which is the more salacious point for the community.

Tan Twan Eng has woven all sorts of historical accuracies into this fictional tale, which makes it delightful. I am interested in learning more about the Straits Settlements, an administrative unit of the East India Company (1826-1867) then British crown colony (1867-1946) on the Strait of Malacca. Plus, I had to look up some great, new-to-me, words in this novel.

The House of Doors was longlisted for the Booker Prize so if you’re a fan of reading award-nominated titles then this is a good read for you. It’s a fantastic historical fiction, especially if you’re interested in writers like Somerset Maugham, Chinese-Malayan history, and British colonialism.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang | Book Review

April 12, 2026 / Monique

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is full of lies and half truths, and I’m not sure we know which is which, even at the end. This is a classic, unreliable narrator, and she is not charming.

June Hayward is envious of her more successful author friend Athena Liu. When Athena unexpectedly dies, June finds Athena’s unpublished manuscript in her hot little hands. June is our narrator, and she wants us to believe that she had good intentions, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, June’s version of Athena’s unpublished work is a runaway success story. I loved all the inside-publishing stories with the gossip, snark, and crazy deadlines. And I especially enjoyed the struggles June and her publishers face in terms of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation. I think in novel form, some readers may feel more confident examining these issues.

If you liked, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green then this novel also tackles the highs and lows of social media fame and how friendships are formed and lost when celebrity status is up for grabs.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick | Book Review

April 10, 2026 / Monique

The Measure is set in a world where everyone over 22 receives a box with a piece of string that is equivalent to the duration of their life. The novel was published in 2024, so after the COVID pandemic. Like with the pandemic, the anxiety and fear either draws out the best or worst in people.

The Measure follows the lives of eight different characters, mostly New Yorkers, and how their perspectives on their lives change.

Nina (a magazine/newspaper editor) and her partner Maura (former musician, now working in publishing) have very different string lengths. Nina’s is long and Maura’s short. Their love story is perhaps the clearest through the novel. They are a solid partnership and weather the storm, with the expected ups and downs.
Amie is Nina’s younger sister. She’s a teacher and decides, like some, to not open her box. When she starts writing letters to an anonymous pen pal in a “short-stringer” support group that meets in the evenings in her classroom, we see the supportive yet strained relationships that many are having.
Anthony Rollins is a manipulative, long-stringer politician, who is running for president, exposing his short-stringer competitors, and generally making an ass of himself by fear mongering and implementing stringist policies.
Rollins’ nephew Jack is a long-string solider who secretly trades strings with his bestie Javier.
Javier is a short-stringer who won’t accept the Administration’s limitations on his dreams. He’s going to be a military hero.
That leaves Hank (doctor) and Ben (architect) who meet Maura at a short-string support group and become lifelong friends (pun mostly intended).

My favourite part of the novel is a protest movement, #strungtogether. It’s the counter to political divisiveness and promotes compassion and solidarity. The protesters urge their communities to support each other, regardless of their string length, and they create beautiful art that highlights the extraordinary contributions of people who’ve lived short lives, think Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi.

That positive narrative is woven into the stories of the eight main characters and the supporting people in their lives.

As a novel, it’s a great philosophy exercise to think about the measure of your life, how you’d measure it–ideally not just by length but by strength.

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer | Book Review

April 8, 2026 / Monique

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, is a sweet yet firm look at how our economy is rooted in scarcity and competition. We hoard resources, we strip the land and water of its fruits, we do harm, and we assume the distribution of wealth is something that should be controlled. Robin Wall Kimmerer offers an Indigenous, and ecological look, at circular systems, and how we could all flourish with sharing, taking a community focus, and giving (not just taking).

River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta | Book Review

April 4, 2026 / Monique

Alicia, Mars and Heaven are twenty-something coworkers who find themselves on a quest to return River Mumma’s comb. They share knowledge of their Jamaican heritage in order to move through different stages of the quest.

Alicia is the first to see River Mumma, who appears to her late one night as she walks home alone through a dark Toronto park. River Mumma drags Alicia down into a river where Alicia sees her ancestors and starts to reconnect to the magic and folklore of Jamaica. In contrast, Heaven, who is most knowledgable of her heritage, is the last to see River Mumma. Her pride and convictions work against her, but her friendship with a healer really saves the day when Alicia and Mars are infected wtih duppie sickness (duppies are malevolent spirits who chase the trio through the city, preventing them from completing their task).

River Mumma has a quiet level of magical realism to it. Yes, there’s a diety, a quest, duppies, and weird, unexplainable stuff that happens but it’s mostly a novel about accepting your family history and embracing your life journey.

The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown | Book Review

March 25, 2026 / Monique

The Society of Unknowable Objects is about a group of four who protect a collection of magical items and are constantly on the lookout for other magical items that can be added to their collection.

Magda Sparks is one of the members and she loves magic. Her mother was in the society and when she died, Magda was given her place. This is how the society runs. Each member has been handed down the responsibility. Frank Simpson is the self-proclaimed director, Henry (Henrietta) is an absent member, and Will is a reluctant member. So really it’s Frank and Magda. But when a connection to Will’s father turns up with a magical chess piece, everything Magda believes about the society is blown out of the water. Will and Henry reveal to Magda that Frank has been keeping secrets. Magda learns how to use magical items, which has always been forbidden by the society. And she learns that her mother’s death was unlikely to be an accident.

To add to the drama, entering the chess piece to the collection becomes impossible when it’s stolen by a madman wielding a gun and another magic item. Unbeknownst to the society, there’s a lot of magic floating around that has inadvertently fallen into the wrong hands.

The Society of Unknowable Objects is by Scottish author Gareth Brown, the bestselling author of The Book of Doors, another fantastical novel about magical books that give the owner special powers. They too need to be locked away and protected. Seems I neglected to review that one. It was fantastic and I enjoyed it more than this one. In The Book of Doors, Cassie Andrews is slogging her way through a low-paying job when she is unexpectedly gifted a beautiful book full of strange writing and mysterious drawings. Cassie quickly realizes that the book allows her to open a door anywhere in the world. She uses it to travel and eventually learns she can time travel as well. Her roommate/best friend Izzy warns her not to use the book. And when a stranger starts following them, Izzy’s worst fears come true. There are many magical books and many nefarious characters vying to get their hands on them. Drummond Fox, the “librarian” may be their only hope but he’s running from his own tormentors.

Overall The Society of Unknowable Objects is a fun, flight of fancy. I found it hard to get into at first but the story picked up the pace halfway through and was enjoyable.

My Last Friends on Earth | Book Review

March 24, 2026 / Monique

My Last Friends on Earth by Pete McCormack is a young-adult sci-fi novel about the last human on Earth, who escapes a lab and his captors, finds some unlikely friends, and defeats (or at least survives) an army of bots and aliens who are seeking to destroy him.

The novel opens with humanity on the brink—actually, past it. A devastating alien invasion has wiped out most of the population, but 15-year-old Harlo Kanu is the last human left inside a data lab. He’s kept his head down to avoid attention but suddenly the lab data on his brain shows that there’s intel there that Tri-General Nezkaban wants destroyed. Harlo doesn’t know what’s in his data, but he knows that his time is up. With the help of two of his captors and a mutant creature, Harlo is able to escape the unescapable lab.

That escape kicks off Harlo’s awareness of a small resistance group. He meets a former Queen, a fierce warrior, a brilliant 9-year-old weapons designer, a techni-colour dreamcoat scientist, and a mysterious collective known as the Council of Many Sizes. It’s quite the cast of characters!

What follows is a fast-moving fight not just for survival, but for truth, connection, and the possibility of a future.

YA sci-fi is not my usual genre—but author Pete McCormack is my friend and I can absolutely see why this book is finding readers.

It’s imaginative and energetic, with a clear sense of stakes right from the start. There are plenty of exciting moments, near-misses, and cliffhanger-style turns that make it easy reading. The world-building here is big, sweeping, and ambitious—at times it reminds me of a younger, more accessible Dune, with layered systems, factions, and a sense of a much larger universe beyond the page.

The heart of the book is about friendship, resilience, and refusing to be broken.
If you like scrappy heroes and strong found-family vibes, this will hit the mark.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz | Book Review

March 15, 2026 / Monique

Annalee Newitz’s writing in Automatic Noodle is as fun as the cover. The story is about a set of robot friends who run a fast-food joint and are trying to work off their contracts. These robots were deactivated after the California-US war, and they find themselves in various states of “free”. Some have higher debts and worse contracts than others. But what they all share is a passion for making delicious food, which is not what the current owners of the joint care about, but those owners have renegade on their lease and are awol.

One of the bots speaks to a block-chain bot and gets the lease put into a new name. The bots have set up a shell company to hide the fact that they are now in charge because although the war brought them their “freedom”, they are still indebted and not allowed to own businesses.

This fun sci-fi novella is a nod to San Francisco, noodles, the imperfections of capitalism, and the continued algorithmic madness guiding human (and robot) lives. If you’re looking for a bot-friendly read sprinkled with some heavier philosophical moments, then this is a great next pick. It’s lighter and shorter than Klara and the Sun by Kazou Ishiguro but has some of that reckoning about robot and human relationships. And it has some of the post-war collapse yet optimism of Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.