Doug, my wonderful and charming fiance (brownie points), reads significantly more than I do. So I asked him one day when we were on the 5 1/2 hour drive to our cottage if he would let me post a list of his favourite books on my blog. When he agreed, we started drafting his list right away. That was 5 months ago. We forgot to finish it, and when I was going through some papers a few days ago I found the list we started making. So today he finally finished it for me, and I am now presenting it to you. The list is in no particular order and it is 51 because Doug has a slight case of OCD when it comes to even numbers (he can't even set his alarm clock to an even number!).
So finally, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...
Doug's Top 51 Preferred Book Of All Time (...so far!)
1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
3. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
5. All My Sons by Arthur Miller
6. The Adventures of David Simple by Sarah Fielding
7. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
8. I, Claudius by Robert Graves
9. The Short Reign of Pippin IV by John Steinbeck
10. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
11. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
12. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
13. The Europeans by Henry James
14. The Americans by Henry James
15. All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren
16. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
17. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
18. Animal Farm by George Orwell
19. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
20. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
21. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
22. Silas Marner by George Eliot
23. Persuasion by Jane Austen
24. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
25. Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
26. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
27. The Odyssey by Homer
28. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
29. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
30. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
31. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
32. Native Son by Richard Wright
33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
34. Deliverance by James Dickey
35. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
36. Poison Wood Bible by Barbare Kingsolver
37. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
38. Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (Series) by Sue Townsend
39. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
40. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt
41. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
42. Utopia by Thomas More
43. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
44. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
45. The Quiet American by Graham Greene
46. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
47. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
48. From Here to Eternity by James Jones
49. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
50. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
51. Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Canada Reads 2011: The Contenders
Today the contenders for Canada Reads 20011 were announced... and my guesses were WAY off! Oh well...
Just the same, here is the list of the contenders and defenders. Listen to CBC Radio One on February 7th, 8th, and 9th 2011 at 11:00am (EST) for the hour-long debates. The defenders will engage in afierce battle to the death radio debate about the books that will result in one final winner; the Canada Reads 2011 CHAMPION! (Sorry, I'm a little over zealous...)
Without further delay, meet the books and their defenders:
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Published by: McClelland & Stewart
Defended by: Ali Velshi (Awards Winning CNN Anchor)
About (from the publisher):
This book beat out work by Douglas Coupland and Will Ferguson because it is very, very good — a terrific Canadian political satire.
Here’s the set up: A burnt-out political aide quits just before an election — but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock — an engineering professor who will do anything, anything, to avoid teaching English to engineers — to let his name stand in the election. No need to campaign, certain to lose, and so on.
Then a great scandal blows away his opponent, and to their horror, Angus is elected. He decides to see what good an honest M.P. who doesn’t care about being re-elected can do in Parliament. The results are hilarious — and with chess, a hovercraft, and the love of a good woman thrown in, this very funny book has something for everyone.
The Birth House by Ami McKay
Published by: Knopf Canada
Defended by: Debbie Travis (Design Mogul)
About (from the publisher):
The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of Rares. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing. Dora becomes Miss B.’s apprentice, and together they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labours, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives. Filled with details as compelling as they are surprising, The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to have control of their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
Published by: NeWest Press
Defended by: Georges Laraque (Former NHLer and Philanthropist)
About (from the publisher):
Digger, an 85 kilo wrestler, and Sadie, a 26-year-old speed swimmer, stand on the verge of realizing every athlete’s dream—winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Both athletes are nearing the end of their careers, and are forced to confront the question: what happens to athletes when their bodies are too worn to compete? The blossoming relationship between Digger and Sadie is tested in the intense months leading up to the Olympics, as demanding training schedules, divided loyalties, and unpredicted obstacles take their draining toll. The Olympics, as both of them are painfully aware, will be the realization or the end of a life’s dream.
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Published by: Top Shelf Productions
Defended by: Sara Quin (Indie Musician, Tegan and Sara)
About (from the publisher):
Where does a young boy turn when his whole world suddenly disappears? What could change two brothers from an unstoppable team into a pair of bitterly estranged loners? How does the work of one middle-aged nurse reveal the scars of an entire community, and can anything heal the wounds caused by a century of deception?
Critically-acclaimed cartoonist Jeff Lemire pays tribute to his roots with Essex County, an award-winning trilogy of graphic novels set in an imaginary version of the Ontario county where he was born. In Essex County, Lemire crafts an intimate study of one community through the years, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation. With the lush, expressive inking of a young artist at the height of his powers, Lemire draws us in and sets us free.
Unless by Carol Shields
Published by: Random House of Canada
Defended by: Lorne Cardinal (Gemini Award Winning Canadian Actor, Corner Gas, North of 60)
About (from the publisher):
Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy: Her three almost grown daughters. Her twenty-year relationship with their father. Her work translating the larger-than-life French intellectual and feminist Danielle Westerman. Her modest success with a novel of her own, and the clamour of her American publisher for a sequel. Then in the spring of her forty-fourth year, all the quiet satisfactions of her well-lived life disappear in a moment: her eldest daughter Norah suddenly runs from the family and ends up mute and begging on a Toronto street corner, with a hand-lettered sign reading GOODNESS around her neck.
GOODNESS. With the inconceivable loss of her daughter like a lump in her throat, Reta tackles the mystery of this message. What in this world has broken Norah, and what could bring her back to the provisional safety of home? Reta’s wit is the weapon she most often brandishes as she kicks against the pricks that have brought her daughter down: Carol Shields brings us Reta’s voice in all its poignancy, outrage and droll humour.
For more info, go to CBC - Canada Reads
Just the same, here is the list of the contenders and defenders. Listen to CBC Radio One on February 7th, 8th, and 9th 2011 at 11:00am (EST) for the hour-long debates. The defenders will engage in a
Without further delay, meet the books and their defenders:
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Published by: McClelland & Stewart
Defended by: Ali Velshi (Awards Winning CNN Anchor)
About (from the publisher):
This book beat out work by Douglas Coupland and Will Ferguson because it is very, very good — a terrific Canadian political satire.
Here’s the set up: A burnt-out political aide quits just before an election — but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock — an engineering professor who will do anything, anything, to avoid teaching English to engineers — to let his name stand in the election. No need to campaign, certain to lose, and so on.
Then a great scandal blows away his opponent, and to their horror, Angus is elected. He decides to see what good an honest M.P. who doesn’t care about being re-elected can do in Parliament. The results are hilarious — and with chess, a hovercraft, and the love of a good woman thrown in, this very funny book has something for everyone.
The Birth House by Ami McKay
Published by: Knopf Canada
Defended by: Debbie Travis (Design Mogul)
About (from the publisher):
The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of Rares. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing. Dora becomes Miss B.’s apprentice, and together they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labours, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives. Filled with details as compelling as they are surprising, The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to have control of their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
Published by: NeWest Press
Defended by: Georges Laraque (Former NHLer and Philanthropist)
About (from the publisher):
Digger, an 85 kilo wrestler, and Sadie, a 26-year-old speed swimmer, stand on the verge of realizing every athlete’s dream—winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Both athletes are nearing the end of their careers, and are forced to confront the question: what happens to athletes when their bodies are too worn to compete? The blossoming relationship between Digger and Sadie is tested in the intense months leading up to the Olympics, as demanding training schedules, divided loyalties, and unpredicted obstacles take their draining toll. The Olympics, as both of them are painfully aware, will be the realization or the end of a life’s dream.
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Published by: Top Shelf Productions
Defended by: Sara Quin (Indie Musician, Tegan and Sara)
About (from the publisher):
Where does a young boy turn when his whole world suddenly disappears? What could change two brothers from an unstoppable team into a pair of bitterly estranged loners? How does the work of one middle-aged nurse reveal the scars of an entire community, and can anything heal the wounds caused by a century of deception?
Critically-acclaimed cartoonist Jeff Lemire pays tribute to his roots with Essex County, an award-winning trilogy of graphic novels set in an imaginary version of the Ontario county where he was born. In Essex County, Lemire crafts an intimate study of one community through the years, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation. With the lush, expressive inking of a young artist at the height of his powers, Lemire draws us in and sets us free.
Unless by Carol Shields
Published by: Random House of Canada
Defended by: Lorne Cardinal (Gemini Award Winning Canadian Actor, Corner Gas, North of 60)
About (from the publisher):
Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy: Her three almost grown daughters. Her twenty-year relationship with their father. Her work translating the larger-than-life French intellectual and feminist Danielle Westerman. Her modest success with a novel of her own, and the clamour of her American publisher for a sequel. Then in the spring of her forty-fourth year, all the quiet satisfactions of her well-lived life disappear in a moment: her eldest daughter Norah suddenly runs from the family and ends up mute and begging on a Toronto street corner, with a hand-lettered sign reading GOODNESS around her neck.
GOODNESS. With the inconceivable loss of her daughter like a lump in her throat, Reta tackles the mystery of this message. What in this world has broken Norah, and what could bring her back to the provisional safety of home? Reta’s wit is the weapon she most often brandishes as she kicks against the pricks that have brought her daughter down: Carol Shields brings us Reta’s voice in all its poignancy, outrage and droll humour.
For more info, go to CBC - Canada Reads
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Canada Reads 2011 - Top 10
I am a little late in posting the top 10 for Canada Reads 2011. This year will be a competition of previous books. The final 5 will be announced this Wednesday, November 24th 2011.
I submitted my entry for the CBC's contest to guess the final five. Below I have listed the final 10, and any marked with a * are my guesses for the final 5.
Come back and visit on Wednesday as I will be posting the final 5 so that everyone can get reading!
The Final 10:
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
The Birth House by Ami McKay*
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill*
Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Life of Pi by Yann Martel*
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden*
Unless by Carol Shields*
To read interviews and articles and/or participate in discussions and contests, go to the CBC Books - Canada Reads 2011's main web page by clicking here.
I submitted my entry for the CBC's contest to guess the final five. Below I have listed the final 10, and any marked with a * are my guesses for the final 5.
Come back and visit on Wednesday as I will be posting the final 5 so that everyone can get reading!
The Final 10:
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
The Birth House by Ami McKay*
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill*
Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Life of Pi by Yann Martel*
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden*
Unless by Carol Shields*
To read interviews and articles and/or participate in discussions and contests, go to the CBC Books - Canada Reads 2011's main web page by clicking here.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Awards: 2010 Governor General's Literary Awards - Fiction
More awards announced! The GG awards were announced yesterday.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Governor General's Literary Awards in Fiction:
Cool Water
By Dianne Warren (Regina, SK)
Published by Phyllis Bruce Books - HarperCollins
Book Description (Source: http://www.harpercollins.ca/)
Juliet, Saskatchewan, is a blink-of-an-eye kind of town -- the welcome sign announces a population of 1,011 people -- and it’s easy to imagine that nothing happens on its hot and dusty streets. Situated on the edge of the Little Snake sand hills, Juliet and its inhabitants are caught in limbo between a century -- old promise of prosperity and whatever lies ahead
But the heart of the town beats in the rich and overlapping stories of its people: the foundling who now owns the farm his adoptive family left him; the pregnant teenager and her mother, planning a fairytale wedding; a shy couple, well beyond middle age, struggling with the recognition of their feelings for one another; a camel named Antoinette; and the ubiquitous wind and sand that forever shift the landscape. Their stories bring the prairie desert and the town of Juliet to vivid and enduring life.
This wonderfully entertaining, witty and deeply felt novel brims with forgiveness as its flawed people stumble towards the future.
Ru
By Kim Thuy (Longueuil, QC)
Published by Libre Expression
Description du livre (Source: http://www.edlibreexpression.com/)
Ru est composé de très courts récits liés un peu comme dans une ritournelle : la première phrase du chapitre reprend le plus souvent l’idée qui terminait le chapitre précédent, permettant ainsi de faire le pont entre tous les événements que la narratrice a connus : sa naissance au Vietnam pendant la guerre, la fuite avec les boat people, son accueil dans une petite ville du Québec, ses études, ses liens familiaux, son enfant autiste, etc. La vie de l’auteure est bourrée de gens charmants, singuliers, de situations difficiles ou saugrenues vécues avec un bonheur égal, et elle sait jouer à merveille avec les sentiments du lecteur, oscillant entre le tragique et le comique, entre le prosaïque et le spirituel. Écrit sur un ton féminin, maternel, chaleureux, poignant et très original, qui dépasse la tranche de vie traditionnelle, Ru dénote un grand talent dans l’art de raconter, où le souvenir devient prétexte tantôt au jeu, tantôt au recueillement. Un récit d’une adorable et candide survivante, un récit qui contient toute la grandeur de la vie.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Governor General's Literary Awards in Fiction:
By Dianne Warren (Regina, SK)
Published by Phyllis Bruce Books - HarperCollins
Book Description (Source: http://www.harpercollins.ca/)
Juliet, Saskatchewan, is a blink-of-an-eye kind of town -- the welcome sign announces a population of 1,011 people -- and it’s easy to imagine that nothing happens on its hot and dusty streets. Situated on the edge of the Little Snake sand hills, Juliet and its inhabitants are caught in limbo between a century -- old promise of prosperity and whatever lies ahead
But the heart of the town beats in the rich and overlapping stories of its people: the foundling who now owns the farm his adoptive family left him; the pregnant teenager and her mother, planning a fairytale wedding; a shy couple, well beyond middle age, struggling with the recognition of their feelings for one another; a camel named Antoinette; and the ubiquitous wind and sand that forever shift the landscape. Their stories bring the prairie desert and the town of Juliet to vivid and enduring life.
This wonderfully entertaining, witty and deeply felt novel brims with forgiveness as its flawed people stumble towards the future.
By Kim Thuy (Longueuil, QC)
Published by Libre Expression
Description du livre (Source: http://www.edlibreexpression.com/)
Ru est composé de très courts récits liés un peu comme dans une ritournelle : la première phrase du chapitre reprend le plus souvent l’idée qui terminait le chapitre précédent, permettant ainsi de faire le pont entre tous les événements que la narratrice a connus : sa naissance au Vietnam pendant la guerre, la fuite avec les boat people, son accueil dans une petite ville du Québec, ses études, ses liens familiaux, son enfant autiste, etc. La vie de l’auteure est bourrée de gens charmants, singuliers, de situations difficiles ou saugrenues vécues avec un bonheur égal, et elle sait jouer à merveille avec les sentiments du lecteur, oscillant entre le tragique et le comique, entre le prosaïque et le spirituel. Écrit sur un ton féminin, maternel, chaleureux, poignant et très original, qui dépasse la tranche de vie traditionnelle, Ru dénote un grand talent dans l’art de raconter, où le souvenir devient prétexte tantôt au jeu, tantôt au recueillement. Un récit d’une adorable et candide survivante, un récit qui contient toute la grandeur de la vie.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Awards: The Giller & The Writers' Trust 2010
Congratulations to this year's winners of two very prestigious book awards; The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize 2010 and the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010. Well done!
The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction prize 2010:
Room
By Emma Donoghue
Published by HarperCollins
Room is an emotionally powerful story of five-year-old Jack and his mother, who has been held captive in an eleven-by-eleven room for seven years. To Jack, Room is all that is real, but when he turns five he starts to ask questions, and his mother reveals to him that there is a world outside. Told entirely in the inventive, often funny voice of young Jack, this is not a horror story or tearjerker, but a celebration of resilience and the love between parent and child.
Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010:
The Sentimentalists
By Johanna Skibsrud
Published by Gaspereau Press
Johanna Skibsrud’s debut novel connects the flooding of an Ontario town, the Vietnam War, a trailer in North Dakota and an unfinished boat in Maine. Parsing family history, worn childhood memories, and the palimpsest of old misunderstandings, Skibsrud’s narrator maps her father’s past.
Napoleon Haskell lives with Henry in the town of Casablanca, Ontario, on the shores of a man-made lake beneath which lie the remains of the former town. Henry is the father of Napoleon’s friend Owen, who died fighting in Vietnam. When her life comes apart, Napoleon’s daughter retreats to Casablanca and is soon immersed in the complicated family stories that lurk below the surface of everyday life. With its quiet mullings and lines from Bogart, The Sentimentalists captures a daughter’s wrestling with a heady family mythology.
PS - Betcha can't find a copy! :)
The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction prize 2010:
By Emma Donoghue
Published by HarperCollins
Room is an emotionally powerful story of five-year-old Jack and his mother, who has been held captive in an eleven-by-eleven room for seven years. To Jack, Room is all that is real, but when he turns five he starts to ask questions, and his mother reveals to him that there is a world outside. Told entirely in the inventive, often funny voice of young Jack, this is not a horror story or tearjerker, but a celebration of resilience and the love between parent and child.
Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010:
By Johanna Skibsrud
Published by Gaspereau Press
Johanna Skibsrud’s debut novel connects the flooding of an Ontario town, the Vietnam War, a trailer in North Dakota and an unfinished boat in Maine. Parsing family history, worn childhood memories, and the palimpsest of old misunderstandings, Skibsrud’s narrator maps her father’s past.
Napoleon Haskell lives with Henry in the town of Casablanca, Ontario, on the shores of a man-made lake beneath which lie the remains of the former town. Henry is the father of Napoleon’s friend Owen, who died fighting in Vietnam. When her life comes apart, Napoleon’s daughter retreats to Casablanca and is soon immersed in the complicated family stories that lurk below the surface of everyday life. With its quiet mullings and lines from Bogart, The Sentimentalists captures a daughter’s wrestling with a heady family mythology.
PS - Betcha can't find a copy! :)
Review: Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'neill
This book is heartbreaking. Lullabies for Little Criminals is Heather O'Neill's debut novel. It won Canada Reads 2007 plus a slew of other awards, rightly so.
It's the story of Baby; a young girl growing up in Montreal's Red Light District. Baby faces realities that "regular" children (even many adults) don't ever come close to experiencing. Baby's mother died when Baby was very young. Baby struggles constantly with the idea that she is motherless, questioning it frequently. Baby's father, Jules, is a young parent and heroin addict who is more nurturing high than clean. Baby's lack of good guidance is apparent throughout the story especially when Baby's personal reflections intermingle childhood curiosities with adult analogies. Living sometimes together and sometimes apart, Jules and Baby's living situation changes many many times throughout the book, which seems to span the length of roughly 2 years. From foster homes, to dingy hotels, to homeless shelters, to rehabs; there is never a place called "home". This is proof of the instability in Baby's life. Baby is constantly left to her own devices, most often during times when support and strong role models are most essential to her well being. She makes many poor choices mostly due to her lack of (good) guidance. Throughout the story, Baby meets many characters who never become fixtures in her life; kids in a foster home, street kids at a community centre, homeless people, prostitutes, school friends, drug addicts, social workers, etc. The only two characters who play a constant role in Baby's life are Jules (her father) and Alphonse ** SPOILER ALERT** (her adult lover and eventual pimp). This seems to cause a lot of tension for Baby considering how different both characters are in regards to the roles that they play in Baby's life.
The book's ending is somewhat hopeful, although you don't truly feel like Baby will ever recover from what she has been through. You don't feel like you, the reader, will recover either. Baby is a representation of all kids in these circumstances, which I am afraid to say is probably more common than we are willing to admit.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is graphic, disturbing (especially the detailed descriptions of the physical and sexual abuse of kids), and at times can be uncomfortable to read. Based on my very limited knowledge of street life, it feels like it may also be frighteningly realistic. This book is a mix of the everyday realities of puberty and the world of drugs, prostitution, abuse, and street life for any kid in these. This is a suggested read for anyone stuck in the bubble like me; sheltered by a life where a support network of great friends and family is a given. This book makes you want to reach out and take care of Baby, and never let her go.
Book Information
Title: Lullabies For Little Criminals
Author: Heather O'neill
Year of publication: 2006
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 352
Awards: Canada Reads 2007
Purchased at: Can't remember
Rating: 4.5 / 5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)