The Seaboard Review of Books, December 10, 2025
Volume 2, Issue 55 of The Seaboard Review of Books, December 10, 2025
In this issue:
Choose Life: A Review of Child of War (Poetry)
What Matters: Seeing Things by George Amabile (Poetry)
At Home in the Cold: Domestic Culture in Arctic Exploration, 1890-1940, by Katherine Crooks (Non-Fiction)
The Black Wolf by Louise Penny (Fiction)
River Becomes Shadow (Taggak Journey Book 2) by Anne M Smith-Nochasak (Fiction)
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
Fiction
The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
Cryptic notes on a map. People gone missing. A sense that an ominous plot is about to unfold.
River Becomes Shadow (Taggak Journey Book 2) by Anne M Smith-Nochasak
In post-apocalyptic Nova Scotia, former veterinarian Andrea finds herself one of three fugitives from the Elect and their vicious rebel hunters. The bombs have fallen; the world is burning up, and the Elect are rising to control the few survivors. But their methods are not kind, and their religion is psychotic.
Non-Fiction
At Home in the Cold: Domestic Culture in Arctic Exploration, 1890-1940, by Katherine Crooks
At Home in the Cold is an academic examination of the idea of “home” as seen and documented by five women who experienced cross-cultural life in the Arctic. In many ways, travel to and from the Arctic was the only thing these five women had in common. Still, Crooks examines their experiences in order to understand their concepts of “home” and how that …
Poetry
Choose Life: A Review of Child of War
“I call heaven and earth to witness you today: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse — therefore choose life!” (Deuteronomy 30:16)
Michael Greenstein Reviews
What Matters: Seeing Things by George Amabile
“Thing” is one of the least poetic words in the English language; its plural form becomes slightly more poetic, and by the time George Amabile chooses Seeing Things for the title of his fourteenth collection of poetry, possibilities spread to include multiple meanings. “The Ice Thing” begins as a slender entity and broadens to galaxy or amber moons in i…
New, Old & Notable is a recurring column by Gordon Phinn in which he concisely reviews several books from the past and present.
Contents of Issue #3:
The Death Of Tony: On Belonging In Two Worlds by Antanas Sileika (Stonehewer Books 2024)
Three Way Renegade: Samuel Steward Without Apology by Keith Garebian (Frontenac House 2023)
Best Canadian Essays 2026, ed. Brian Bethune (Biblioasis 2025)
A World of My Own: A Dream Diary by Graham Greene (Viking 1994)
Click the banner to dive in!
Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare
This 2023 novel explores the enduring bond of women’s friendships, which are tested over time and distance. Clara and Jess met in 1989 at university, and their lives became stitched together by this circumstance. When their friendship begins, Jess is unexpectedly pregnant and has an appointment for an abortion, which Clara supports her through.
The bond is such that they become unofficial roommates in Clara’s dorm room. Jess’s abandoned roommate, Muffy, is suspicious of the situation. Themes explored in the book include difficult decisions, coming of age, feminism, and what it means to be a feminist, as well as the desire to be a mother. The novel follows the two characters through long periods, through separations, and a brief love triangle. This is a lovely novel and a great read. The characters and their struggles felt real, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them. (Contributed by Pamela Sinclair)
The Seaboard Review of Books is proud to be a sponsor of The New Brunswick Book Awards!