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Books

Waking Gods (Themis Files Book 2) – Book Review

Following from Sylvain Neuvel’s debut novel, Sleeping Giants, I took the first chance I could to go buy the next in the series of the Themis Files. Waking Gods was as much an excitement to read as the first book was (read my review of Sleeping Giants, here). So, of course, after tearing through it, I knew I had to write another review for it. Though in all honesty, I struggled with writing this review, mainly because the story is so engaging and complex simultaneously that I find it hard to describe it without including spoilers. With that said, Here…

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Reflections

Batwoman: Challenging Traditional Gender Norms

In lieu of the exciting news that DC Comics character Batwoman will be made into a TV series (starring Ruby Rose), I hearken back to a time when I studied Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams’ graphic novel, Batwoman: Elegy (2009-2010), in university. This Batwoman edition is part of the modernized Batwoman canon (starting in 2005), in which Kate Kane (formerly Kathy) is written as a Jewish lesbian woman. Now, this depiction is incredibly important because it takes major leaps for the LGBTQIA+ community, as queer main characters are not often found, particularly in the superhero genre. Archaic gendered notions of macho…

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Books

Canongate Myth Series Review: Jeanette Winterson’s “Weight”

For the first review in the Canongate Myth Series I chose to pick up Jeanette Winterson’s novella, Weight. Winterson has an interesting reputation as a writer of being completely unpredictable and incredibly insightful, which is a description that perfectly sums up Weight. Weight retells the story of Atlas, who carried the world on his shoulders and Heracles, the half-god hero, from Greek mythology. Already, by choosing to rewrite such popular stories, Winterson was in for a challenge. However, it is not simply the story of Atlas or of Heracles that she writes, but that of herself. Many of her novels…

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Books

On Reading Shakespeare

I’m sure that a lot of you have, at some point, understood the struggle of reading Shakespeare plays during our school days. Of course, we have always been taught that William Shakespeare, the Bard himself, whose works have survived for over a whopping four centuries later, is one of the most timeless and classic playwrights ever. And hey, I am certainly not one to doubt that; Shakespeare’s vast repertoire offers a variety of genres, historical events, themes, and plotlines with an intelligence and wit that will always be considered pertinent. As a Canadian living in Toronto, “Shakespeare for Kids” versions…

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Books

Man Booker Dozen – The 2018 Man Booker Prize Longlist!

The longlist, or the “Man Booker Dozen” was announced earlier this week and I am so excited. For those of you who may be unaware, the Man Booker is £50,000 prize to a writer from any nationality, writing in English and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Prior to 2016, the Man Booker Prize had been open to only citizens of commonwealth countries. As such it had become a part of British literary culture. However, since 2016 it has been opened up and the last two winners have been from the United States. This might suggest an opening up…

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Books

Introducing the “Canongate Myth Series” Book Reviews

One of the things I was absolutely obsessed with as a kid was mythology and folklore of any kind. If it had to do with old-time gods and impossibly perfect heroes and heroines, I would be drawn to it. Things like Hercules had be as excited as the muses. So, obviously, the moment I heard about the Canongate Myth Series, I jumped on it. Conceived in 1999, the project aimed to have authors rewrite a myth in a series of short novels. The first books of this series came out in 2005 with Karen Armstrong’s A Short History of Myth,…

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