Michelle Cohen Corasanti’s The Almond Tree is the fictional memoir of Ichmad Hamid, a Palestinian man who is forced to the head of the family at the age of twelve when his father is arrested for terrorism.

I am of two minds when it comes to this book. On the one hand, I appreciate the author’s effort to tell a comprehensive story about Palestine that illustrates the hardship experienced by so many throughout the last 63 years.

Say the word Islam and what words come to mind? Extremism, violence, complexity, anger? Not surprising, particularly in the wake of the violence that erupted following the publicity around that god-awful trailer, “Innocence of Muslims.”  And of course, it’s a bad rap that is far removed from the religion’s actual teachings.

But would you think of words like “fantastical,” “surreal,” “mysterious” and “magical”? Probably not.

Unless, that is, you’ve wandered off the beaten track to discover G. Willow Wilson’s delightful first novel Alif the Unseen.

If this review were a sports headline it would read "COADY IN THE TIME OF CROSBY." At least that's what I imagine some media factions coming up with between the six of them over a three thousand dollar power lunch at The Keg Mansion as we learn that a book about a hockey thug's lexical revenge has just been shortlisted for the Giller Prize.

Coady, who calls Edmonton home now made a huge entry into fiction in 1998 when her book Strange Heaven was nominated for a Governor General's Award. She also won the Air Canada Award for most promising writer under 30. Her last major literary undertaking was The Anansi Reader which she edited in 2008 for the press's 40th anniversary.