The Perks of Being a Wallflower... THE MOVIE!

So the other day I was looking up how to spell Stephen Chbosky's last name.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my favourite books, but I can't for the life of me remeber how to spell that name because I always feel like there is something missing...

So anyway, I look it up on "the Googler"and what comes up?  Movie information! Oh my friggin god.

So here is the link to the movie info on IMDB.  The most exciting things are:

1 - It is being directed by the author.  I don't think I have ever seen this with any books I have read and enjoyed.

2 - It is coming out next year.

3 - It actually has some actors I recognize (Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Melanie Lynskey, Kate Walsh)

No trailer yet that I can see.  SOOO excited about this!

Review: Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

NOTE: May contain **SPOILERS**

Another great one from my Canadian Literature class!  This book gave me a deeper appreciation of what natives went through in residential schools and how they were treated by colonists.  This is something I was admittedly ignorant of.

The story takes place over three days and slides back and forth with past and present events.  I have decided to stop giving too much of a synopsis of the books I read, and instead share my opinion of the book so that you might be more interested in reading it.  To give you a brief summary, a young man returns from the war quite damaged and over the course of the three day road with his aunt back to his home in the woods, you learn about his experience overseas and the awful consequences of participating in the war.

For someone who doesn't read or seek out war books, this is the second one in a row that I have read and  enjoyed.  It is less about the war and more about native issues, but a lot of the story takes place while two young native men are stationed overseas in the trenches.  I felt that the paralells it pointed out between serving in the military and living in residential schools frightening.  I don't know much about residential schools, but I have no illusions about them being good places.

My favourite part of this book is the regular reference to the lore of the Windigo and how it relates to certain people in the war.  There is something so disturbing about actual canibalism, but when you start to see the similarities that Boyden is showing between actual canibalism and bahivours during the war it is distressing.

I liked this book a lot and recommend it (as I did with Generals) to anyone who might normally hesitate to pick up a war novel like I would but enjoys a good story.   


Title: Three Day Road
Author: Joseph Boyden
Year of publication: 2005
Publisher: Penguin
Rating: 4/5

Holiday Reading List 2012

With a nice long holiday break from school reading and no midterm exam, I am free to read what I want for the next 5 weeks.  I am sharing with you below a few of the books I am hoping to read over the holidays.  The list is probably a little TOO ambitious, but oh well. 

I have put some Canada Reads books on here (The Tiger and Prisoner of Tehran) but not all of them because I don't think I can read non-fiction for 5 straight weeks.

So here are the books I hope to read over the holidays.  Feel free to share your opinions, reviews, etc.  And happy holiday reading!

The Antagonist - Lynn Coady

I am currently reading this book and enjoying it. It was a finalist for the Giller this year.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

This is the cover of the original 1843 edition (obviously not what I am reading).  I have wanted to read this book every Christmas for a few years and think that this year I might finally do it.

Foundation - Isaac Aminov

I recently found The Hamilton Book Club Meetup Group and this is their book for January.  I am hoping to join this group and would like to participate in January.

Klee Wyck - Emily Carr

 This is the first book I have to read next semester for Can Lit, so I would like to get a head start over the holidays.

Pursuasion - Arlene Dickinson

 I don't read a lot of business books, but I love Arlene Dickinson from Dragon's Den.  She represents everything that I think a good business person should be.

The Tiger - John Vaillant

 This is one of the two Canada Reads 2012 books that I plan to read over the holidays.  This year all of the books are non-fiction.

Prisoner of Tehran - Marina Nemat

This is the second Canada Reads 2012 books that I plan to read over the holidays.








 

The Sense of An Ending - Julian Barnes

This is the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2011. 

Movie Trailer: Hunger Games!!!

And since all of you already know what a psycho I am for anything Hunger Games, here is the first full trailer for the movie (which is releasing March 23rd, 2012):

Review: Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison

   I normally don't read war books and would have never picked this up if it hadn't been for my Canadian Literature course.  Now that I have read it, I am happy that it is part of the readings because it is an awesome book.  It also allows me to forgive my professor (only slightly) for leaving Atwood off the reading list.

   It takes place during World War I.  The narrator has no name and is both the "every-man" and the author (Harrison) who served as a machine gunner himself during that same war.  The book goes through the experience of life in the trenches and is an open critique of war and the military.  The imagery is pretty horrifying.  **SPOILER** At one point the reader gets the awful descriptive experience of having a bayonet stuck in between an opposing soldier's ribs.  Without going through all the gory details, the book is filled with horrors like this that inexperienced young soldiers were forced to go through during the war.  At no point do you feel coerced into believing that these descriptions are over the top or exagerated.  The book feels honest, and that makes it so much sadder.

   This book is a good fictional read, but also feels like a documentary about the hell that is war.  Harrison  removes the "other" that is often present in stories that glorify and romanticize war, putting all men forced to fight for their country in the same boat.  As a soldier and an author, Harrison extends sympathy to his ground "enemies" and instead confronts the real enemies in war;  those at the top of the chain of command, lice, and God.

   Even if you are not a fan of war books, I would recommend this book to you for its thought provoking political commentary and great storytelling.  Generals Die in Bed is a book that should be taught in schools and read by book clubs.  It is an important glimpse at history and an all around good read.


Book Information
Title: Generals Die in Bed
Author: Charles Yale Harrison
Year of publication: Originally published as newspaper sectionals, circa 1929?
Publisher: Annick Press
Pages: 168
Rating: 5/5

My affair with comic books

On a recent business trip to Montreal, a co-worker and I stopped by a book store on our walk home from the trade. This was where my affair with comic books began…

It takes nearly no convincing to get me into a book store because I have a chronic book buying habit. I don’t read the books nearly as quickly as I buy them, so I have a large shelf at home of unread books that will probably take me my lifetime to get through. (See photo)

So it’s no surprise that my impulsive buying kicked in immediately when I started looking through the comic section. I left the bookstore that day with four new paperback comics. Suffice it to say, they did not sit on my “to read” shelf for long. This newly discovered realm of fiction has stories that are much faster to read and offers the visuals that you don’t get with books.

The comics I picked up were Astonishing X-Men Volume 1: Gifted, The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye, The Sandman Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes and The Wonder Woman Chronicles Volume One.
To give you an idea of how quickly I got sucked in, within the few weeks since that bookstore visit I have read several other comics… For Walking Dead alone I am up to Volume 9 (just finished).

My conclusion to this is that I think more people should read comic books. They are fast to read, the artwork offers a great visual supplement to the story, and the stories themselves are generally full of surprises and twists. Also, the stories are often interconnected, which I love. I find it so enjoyable putting the pieces together from different stories and seeing the connections as they happen. You feel like you have “inside information”.

The moral of the story here for all you book lovers (because you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t) is to read comic books. If you don’t want to dive in like I did, at least give one a shot. I hope that you will be as pleased with what you find as I was.

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games Trilogy - Book #3)

     Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy and completes the story for those of us who need endings. In my opinion the second and third books in this trilogy are not as good as the first, but they are enjoyable to read nonetheless and quench the thirst of readers who can’t get enough of this dystopian series.

     Katniss, the main character in the series, has now survived the Hunger Games twice.  In Catching Fire (Book #2) she not only survived her second imprisonment in the games, but sparks (hence the title) a revolution of the districts of Panem (the dominant nation where the story takes place) against the Capitol. Mockingjay (Book #3) is the story of the final war of the districts against the Capitol.

     In Mockingjay we see what many of the characters are really capable of and we get resolutions to the pressing questions that have developed over the course of the series. THE most important question for most readers being the choice Katniss must make between Gale and Peeta.

     ** SPOILER ALERT** Like in the conclusions of many book series’, in Mockingjay the reader is faced with the deaths of some major characters; the most jarring being the death of Prim (Katniss’ little sister). What makes this worse is that she is killed by an explosive created by Gale. In the end this is what makes the decision for Katniss between Gale and Peeta. Up until this point it is very difficult (in my opinion) for the reader to pick a side completely.

     This series is meant to be read in order without skipping any books; otherwise you will no doubt be extremely confused. It is easy to read and can satisfy a variety of reading tastes. I highly recommend it to anyone.

     A movie for the first book is due out in 2012. While it is understandably not going to be an R rated movie (the main readers and those mostly responsible for the book’s success are young adults), a small part of me hopes that a violent adult version will be made in the coming years. I realized the irony of this just recently…

     This book hinges on the idea that a society that thoroughly enjoys violence and blood sport will self-destruct. What makes this scary is, how many of you (like me) wanted that R rating as well?


Book Information
Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Year of publication: 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Pages: 400 pages
Rating: 4/5

News: Twitter bookclub coming... or a least that's what a little birdy told me...

If you enjoy book discussions and live social feeds, then you will be excited to find out that The Atlantic has launched an official Twitter book club.

Starting June 1st 2011, tuning in to hashtag #1book140 connects you to thousands of other book lovers just itching to be heard.  The chosen first book?  The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (McClelland, 2000). (LOVE ATWOOD!)

While face-to-face book clubs offer a more intimate space for discussion, online book clubs have become very popular because of variety, high volumes of members, and convenience.  With online book clubs you aren't limited to the people living within a certain distance of you, and you aren't restricted to only discussing once a week or even once a month (depending how often you want people in your house).  Book sites like the hugely popular GoodReads can offer discussions with thousands of people, for a variety of books, anytime, anywhere (with an Internet connection of course).   It also offers hundreds of book lists, trivia, and other fun extras.  There is no question as to why its successful.

Or how about BookCrossing?  The awesome site where you can tag your books (the way a researcher will tag an animal) and "release them into the wild".  Not only do you get to "hunt" for free books (why is that girl digging through that dumpster? She must be hungry... Poor thing...) but you can track your book's migration.

For a lot of people the Internet has brought a new excitement to reading by making it more social and fun, and in some cases, competitive.  (Side note: I am amazed at how many reading savants there are nowadays.  Many "top readers" on GoodReads are at a pace of 2 or 3 novels every day! WOW! Where do I sign up for the pills you guys are taking?)     

But, if the Internet enabled ability to "brag" about reading more than your weight in books before breakfast or the 140 character opinions that #1book140 will generate gets more people reading, then I'm all for it! 

Just one piece of advice to the participants of #1book140... soar like an eagle, don't sh*t like a seagull!

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I loved this book! A friend told me that she loved it (you know who you are muffin!) so I decided it was something I had to read. I consider this of the “freaky moral” genre. I’m pretty sure I made that up. It has a bit of a surreal fairytale feel to it that held my attention right to the end.

Dorian Gray is a pure young man when he first meets Henry Wotton. Personally, I view Henry as the embodiment of the devil in the story. Henry is the reason that Dorian transforms into the vain and evil man that he becomes by the end of the book. There is also another character, Basil Hallward, who is the embodiment of reason, morality, good and sanity. Like an angel and a devil on each shoulder, Basil and Henry play tug of war with Dorian until finally Henry’s wild and eccentric personality wins, corrupting Dorian forever.

At the beginning of the story Basil paints a picture of Dorian. The picture becomes the embodiment of Dorian’s soul. No one really knows how this happened, it just does by something invisible magical force. During the course of his life, Dorian never ages and changes but the always picture does, reflecting his true self. The picture also changes to reflect Dorian’s soul and the marks left on it by the evil things he does. Dorian is responsible for a young woman’s suicide, for murdering someone else, for blackmail, for drug use, for adultery, and the list goes on. By the end of the book, the picture (Dorian’s soul) is distorted and grotesque. Dorian obsesses about his soul and the picture, refusing to let anyone see it and eventually not even being able to look at it himself. Ultimately, this leads to his complete madness and self-destruction.

This book is also homoerotic. Innuendos aside, many men outwardly profess their love for other male characters in the story. There is no doubt that the reader is intended to question Henry in particular’s sexual orientation. His love for Dorian, as well as Basil’s, are not platonic in nature. It is also implied that Henry is married simply for appearance and we find out that his wife is not only suspicious of the same thing. I am not sure what the purpose was for this, but I definitely enjoyed it. It is not something you expect to find, especially in novels of that time period.

This book’s representation of the human soul is also interesting. The implied frailty of the soul is ever present with the picture and Dorian’s obsession with it. The shame that Dorian experiences when visually faced with his rotting soul is a really interesting concept. It also begs the question, what is a soul and do they really exist?

I would recommend this book. There is no doubt that it is a classic for a reason. Scholarly studies aside, anyone should read this book because it really is a good story.


Book Information
Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde
Year of publication: 1891
Publisher: Ward London
Purchased at: Free Kobo Book
Reading Time: Rating: 5/5

Doug's Top 51 Preferred Books Of All Time (...so far!)

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

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 a fierce 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

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.

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.

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! :)

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

2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize: The Shortlist

It's that time of year again!  The Giller Prize shortlist has been released.  The winner will be announced on November 9th, 2010 at the annual Gala in Toronto.

Here are the finalists:

David Bergen for his novel:
THE MATTER WITH MORRIS
(Phyllis Bruce Books/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)

When Morris Schutt, a prominent newspaper columnist, surveys his life over the past year, he sees disaster everywhere. His son has just been killed in Afghanistan, and his newspaper has put him on indefinite leave; his psychiatrist wife, Lucille, seems headed for the door; he is strongly attracted to Ursula, the wife of a dairy farmer from Minnesota; and his daughter appears to be having an affair with one of her professors.

What is a thinking man to do but turn to Cicero and Plato and Socrates in search of the truth? Or better still, call one of those discreet “dating services” in search of happiness? But happiness, as Morris discovers, is not that easy to find.

David Bergen’s most accomplished novel yet is an unforgettable story with a vitality and charm and intelligence all its own. Bergen proves once again that he is one of our finest writers, dazzling us with his wit and touching us with his compassion.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alexander MacLeod for his short story collection:
LIGHT LIFTING
(Biblioasis)

Light Lifting, Alexander MacLeod’s long-awaited first collection of short fiction, offers us a suite of darkly urban and unflinching elegies. These are elemental stories of work and its bonds, of tragedy and tragedy barely averted, but also of beauty, love and fragile understanding.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sarah Selecky for her short story collection:
THIS CAKE IS FOR THE PARTY
(Thomas Allen Publishers)

Sarah Selecky’s first book takes dead aim at a young generation of men and women who often set out with the best of intentions, only to have plans thwarted or hopes betrayed.

These are stories about friendships and relationships confused by unsettling tensions bubbling beneath the surface. A woman who plans to conceive ends up in the arms of her husband’s best friend; a man who baby-sits a neglected four-year-old ends up questioning his own dysfunctional relationship; a chance encounter at a gala event causes a woman to remember when she volunteered for a nightmarish drug-testing clinic; another woman discovers that her best friend who is about to get married has just had an affair; a young teenager tries to escape from her controlling father and finds an unexpected lover on a bus ride home; a wife tries to overcome her dying mother-in-law’s resistance to her marriage by revealing to her own strange aural stigmata; a friend tries to talk another friend out of dating her cheating ex-boyfriend; and a superstitious candle-maker confesses to a tempestuous relationship that implodes spectacularly.

Sarah Selecky is a talented young writer who evokes a generation teetering on the shoals of consumerism and ambiguous mores. Reminiscent of early Atwood, with echoes of Lisa Moore and Barbara Gowdy, these absorbing stories are about love and longing, stories that touch us in a myriad of subtle and affecting ways.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Johanna Skibsrud for her novel:
THE SENTIMENTALISTS
(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.

Kathleen Winter for her novel:
ANNABEL
(House of Anansi Press)

In 1968, into the beautiful, spare environment of remote coastal Labrador, a mysterious child is born: a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once. Only three people are privy to the secret -- the baby's parents, Jacinta and Treadway, and a trusted neighbour, Thomasina. Together the adults make a difficult decision: to raise the child as a boy named Wayne. But as Wayne grows to adulthood within the hyper-masculine hunting culture of his father, his shadow-self -- a girl he thinks of as Annabel -- is never entirely extinguished, and indeed is secretly nurtured by the women in his life.

Haunting, sweeping in scope, and stylistically reminiscent of Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, Annabel is a compelling debut novel about one person's struggle to discover the truth in a culture that shuns contradiction.


Best of luck to all!!!

Review: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I just finished reading the Scarlet Letter for my American Literature class and I really enjoyed it. The story is about a woman named Hester Prynn who is being punished for getting pregnant out of wedlock in a Puritan New England community. She is branded by being forced to wear a piece of fabric on her dress with the letter “A” for adultery, which is her crime. The book goes through the beginning of her life with her daughter Pearl and how they are viewed by their rigidly religious community. For the first half of the book the story hinges a lot on who the father is (which isn’t overly difficult to guess after the first 20 pages or so). It is also a social commentary on the backwards morals of the 17th century. There is even a villain in the story, although I consider the entire community to be blood thirsty and villainous from the very beginning. The role of nature and the part it plays in the story is also fascinating; is nature good or evil?

I felt like I was reading a fairytale set during the first years of what is now the United States. When I say fairytale I mean Brothers Grimm and not Disney. It doesn’t end with happily ever after. If you are like me and are fond of the old fairytales where the stories aren’t watered down like their contemporary counterparts, then you will enjoy this book. It’s scandalous and magical!




Book Information
Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Year of publication: 1850
Purchased at: The Tank @ McMaster University
Rating: 4/5

Mockingjay - FINALLY!

By this time tomorrow I will have a copy of Mockingjay (the 3rd book in the Hunger Games trilogy, releasing tomorrow).  I have to work at a Gift Show all day in Montreal, but as soon as the show is done I plan to run (not walk) to Chapters on St Catherine to get myself a copy of that book.  If you haven't started to read these books yet, I highly recommend them.  They will consume you!!! :)

Review: The Comfort Table by Katie Lee

    I spent the Canada Day long weekend this summer at the cottage looking through cook books… Why am I telling you this? Well, I always love trying new recipes and flipping through my cookbooks up there because I have the energy (and the time!) to try new recipes and to perfect old favourites. I also realized that I always seem to be reviewing novels here on my blog and never any non-fiction that I read including cookbooks. I know it’s not the same kind of reading but cookbook reviews can be just as (it not more) useful than novel reviews. No one cares about my opinion of books, but I can sure help save you 30 or so bucks on warning you about bad cookbooks (and also encourage you to spend your money on the good ones!).  So I have made a decision to start sharing my favourite cookbooks with you as well. So if you don’t like cooking, just ignore those bits. But if you are like me and have a bookshelf in your kitchen dedicated only to cookbooks (No joke… See photo!) then you have come to the right place. I am going to start with one of my favourite cookbooks called “The Comfort Table” by Katie Lee.

     There are many reasons this cookbook is on my list of favourites. Not only are the recipes delicious, but she hits all seasons and events (major and mundane), and she also focuses on whole food ingredients. If you are anything like me, you would be disgusted to open a cookbook that calls for a can of Campbell’s soup or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese as ingredients to a recipe. Bleh. Yuck!

     The other super cool thing about this cookbook is that for every occasion she puts together a meal rather than just one recipe. She also suggests a drink recipe and a play list of songs that fit the occasion. A lot of recipes have beautiful photos to entice you (and to make sure what you made looks somewhat correct). The occasions/events range from “Breakfast with Friends” to “Romantic Dinner for Two” to “Chinese New Year”. You can also just pick individual recipes to make one at a time. I recommend the “Rustic Apple Pie” or “Dijon Brussel Sprouts”!

     This cookbook is a must have for entertainers, potluckers, and lonely chefs alike. While some of the recipes do require some cooking experience, nothing is overly complicated that after a few tries anyone couldn’t figure it out. But lookout… It is definitely not a weight loss cookbook! The Comfort table is suitable only for those who love decadent and delicious meals!


Book Information
Title: The Comfort Table
Author: Katie Lee
Year of publication: 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Purchased at: Indigo Bay & Bloor
Rating: 5/5

Review: In Plain Sight by Mike Knowles

    In Plain Sight is a mob story set in Hamilton, Ontario and is part of a series of books with the same main character. He is a vigilante who gets played by the mob and the police to serve their purposes, but always seems to be one step ahead. There is a bit of history to the story that you are missing if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, but these bits do not seem crucial to understanding the story in this book.
    
     This was my first time reading a book that takes place in a city that I am very familiar with. It was sort of strange to read about the lethal underground mob life in Hamilton (where I currently live). Because I don’t see Hamilton as a city plagued by anything other than poverty, this story of a city taken over by the mob was hard to take seriously. I found myself laughing at a lot of parts in the book, though I’m sure the story wasn’t meant to be funny. I don’t think this review will be un-biased in the same way I might review something that takes place in NYC or Vegas. I know it’s not fair, but I simply can’t imagine any of these things taking place where I live the way they would in a glossy Hollywood movie. It’s like watching a Canadian Movie and seeing a briefcase filled with colourful Canadian bills; it doesn’t have the same harsh effect as those crispy green USDs. It’s hard to imagine the places you grocery shop, where the first apartment you lived in is, or even your gym, being the same places where undercover hit men have shoot outs, store cash, and plots come to dramatic and violent endings. I know it’s fiction and that if I only read “realistic” novels, then I wouldn’t be reading much at all but it’s more difficult to rate a story taking place in your everyday environment. I’m not trying to seem naïve (I have heard many things about the mob in Hamilton), but I just don’t think I can take a book too seriously when it tells me about gun fights and high speed chases on Barton Street. Or, that the main character went to Shoppers Drug Mart (one of those super centre ones, the book clarifies) for supplies including a gas can (to set a house on fire), rope (to tie someone up), and a plain black baseball cap (for camouflage).

     What I will credit Knowles for doing is writing a book in a series where you have no real need to read the other books first to understand what’s going on. For some this might actually be a negative trait, but others might appreciate not having to commit to several books to enjoy a story. From the beginning of the book you know exactly what is going on with very little use for any history from the previous books in the series. This book is short, to the point, and has absolutely no filler. I have to be painfully honest that I don’t think based on this book I would read any other books in the series. The plot was extremely simple and the ending wasn’t overly shocking. The story relies mostly on the consistent and extreme violence. I felt more like I was reading a newspaper article than a made up mob story. I think the story was clear and for those looking for a quick read can offer some light entertainment, but it won’t be on my recommended list.


Book Info
Title: In Plain Sight
Author: Mike Knowles
Year of publication: 2010
Publisher: ECW Press
Purchased at: ARC
Rating: 2/5