A Season to Read

Dael and the Painted People

2011-10-04T12:19:00.000-03:00

Dael and the Painted People

Allan Richard Shickman

Earthshaker Books, 2011

ARC: 155 pp.

"...but who knew what was happening inside of him, or how fragile was the equilibrium of his soul?" p.63
3.5/5

This third installment of the Zan-Gah series will continue to engage its legion of fans as it continues the story of troubled twins in prehistoric times. Seeking peace among the painted people, Dael tries to shake the haunting images and violent tendencies of his past. Accompanying Dael on his journey, shy Sparrow grows confident as she finds her voice in the clicking language of their chosen people and Dael is able to make friends of men and crows alike. As Dael and Sparrow grow closer in the embrace of their new tribe, a new enemy emerges out of jealousy, threatening the calm they worked so hard to attain.

Though conflict and hate are still present, the intensity of such isn't quite so overwhelming as in the first two volumes of this series. Focusing mainly on Dael, this book is more about the healing process and how to work past the stumbling blocks set in the path to inner peace and happiness. Allan Richard Shickman manages to write about the universal themes of friendship, family and love without becoming sentimental or mushy (definitely a plus when trying to induce a readership of young adult males!).

I think the cover of this book is brilliant! First and foremost it is visually arresting, perfect to capture attention. Secondly, it depicts a relationship of garnered trust that you immediately want to learn more about and last but not least, the dripping hand posses an instant question in the reader's mind. Not sure if there is an award out there for exceptional book covers but this one would definitely get my vote! My only quip in reading Dael and the Painted People was that descriptive passages detailing the physical appearance of the shaman seemed a bit long winded, otherwise Shunar was the perfect antagonist.

Zan-Gah and other characters from Dael's past are reconciled in what feels like a natural and conclusive ending. I hope though, that the imagination of Allan Richard Shickman will continue on in new characters and book series as equally as entertaining as this trio turned out to be.

Evidence of Autumn

2011-09-30T12:41:00.001-03:00

Summer was slow to give way to Autumn this year, day time temperatures hit as high as 28 earlier this week but change is in the air. Cooler nights and shorter days; sweaters come out of storage as Autumn's colours begin to show in the trees. A little late but here too at A Season to Read, fall has arrived with change — hope you like the new background, I chose it to reflect the season and a planned shift toward darker reads!

On a personal note, I've been away from the computer for the best part of September and unable to visit my favourite book blogs while my father was in the hospital. Dad's home now and recovering so I'm hoping to catch up and get back on track with reviews over the next few weeks. As my daughter's current bookmark states, it's time to fall into reading.

The Making of Harry Cossaboom

2011-09-19T10:26:00.001-03:00

The Making of Harry Cossaboom

Jerrod Edson

Saint John: DreamCatcher Publishing, 2000

133 pp.

"But it would be nice to be looked at every once in awhile, instead of always being on the outside looking in." p.24
3.5/5

If I had read this book in 2000 when it was first published, I probably would have said something to the tune of ... a promising first novel, I look forward to reading more from this bright young author! Eleven years after the fact and now with six titles under his belt, I guess it's a little late for making statements like that about Jerrod Edson. 'The Making of Harry Cossaboom' caught my eye when our local library was spotlighting Canadian books for the month of July. I love the cover illustration, a painting titled "Roofs of Saint John" by Chris Lloyd, there was something about it reminiscent of days spent with a box of Crayola crayons. Thank goodness for warm memories of colouring in my youth, without them, I wonder if I would have been so drawn to this book?

The Making of Harry Cossaboom is about an average man, a bus driver who has an attainable dream of someday owning his own bus line, of having people remember his name. Almost out of the blue, love comes to Harry and for a brief moment life is very sweet. But just as quickly, the fickled finger of fate pokes in to point Harry down a dramatically different path to fame. This path is paved with personal demons that will bring Harry to the edge until one man intervenes with a plan, a plan to make Harry Cossaboom famous.

Dark humour that reads very much like a short story, I spent just a quick couple of days with this book. At only 133 pages, I'm sure there are readers out there who could finish it in one sitting which would make it an excellent choice for a read-a-thon. Not sure about the length of his other novels but with how much I enjoyed my first time with Jerrod Edson, I'm thinking we're destined to spend more time together soon!

* Curious about Jerrod Edson and his work? Click here to visit his blog and learn more.*

7/13 for The 5th Canadian Book Challenge.

Last Days in Africville

2011-08-23T10:32:00.001-03:00

Last Days in Africville

Dorthy Perkyns

Vancouver: Beach Holme Publishing,
2003 "A Sandcastle Book."

110 pp.

4/5

Here, between the two rail lines, lay the main part of Africville referred to by the residents as “up the road.” Small houses, all different from one another, were scattered over the rough hillside, their colourful walls and roofs bright in the sunshine. Whenever Selina jumped from the track at this point, she was swept along by the comforting feeling of coming home to a place where she was loved and understood, for she had known everyone in every house all her life. Page 10

Once situated on the northern end of the Halifax peninsula, directly south of the Bedford Basin, Africville suffered the social injustice of being razed in the name of urban renewal during the mid '60's. Another together read for 'C' and I, Last Days in Africville is about more than a lost neighbourhood and a broken community spirit. This book is also a celebration of what was good and right, of pride and faith in the face of prejudice and frustration. By focusing on 12-y.o. Selina and her family, the author takes us to the heart of this small Black community, of what it meant to belong to and be loved by an entire neighbourhood before its wrongful destruction.

The problem with reading historical fiction more often than not, is knowing the eventual outcome. I wish I could say that this book ended in hope, that the future ahead for Selina and the other residents of Africville looks bright and prosperous. For though their standard of living improves with such things as indoor plumbing and electricity (amenities denied to most of the residents in former Africville) goodbyes were overwhelmingly difficult and heartbreaking for this tight-knit family. No, not hope. More to its credit, the ending mood of this novel is instead one of determination and courage. Determination to move on despite the overwhelming loss, courage to face the challenges ahead while remembering Africville and carrying its spirit forever in their hearts.

6/13 for the 5th Canadian Book Challenge .

The Legends of Lake on the Mountain

2011-08-11T13:42:00.001-03:00

The Legends of Lake on the Mountain
An Early Adventure of John A. MacDonald

Roderick Benns

Whitby, ON: Fireside Publishing, 2011

217 pages

"Maybe doing the right thing has its own truth." p. 201
3.9/5

From the back cover:

When a grizzled man shoves a decades-old treasure map into thirteen-year-old John A. Macdonald’s hands, the young boy is certain this will be the best summer ever. But that was before a humpback lake serpent is seen at twilight by the people of Stone Mills in the mysterious Lake on the Mountain. As people flee in panic, John knows his family might be next unless he can figure out what dwells in the lake in time. Does he have what it takes to confront something he can’t see clearly - or will the serpent in the darkness win?

In Book Two of the Leaders & Legacies series, we are introduced to a young John A. MacDonald. Long before he became Canada's first Prime Minister, John lived and worked with his family in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Mixing historical fact and fiction, author Roderick Benns uses this setting and local legend as the basis for John's mystery/adventure in the summer of 1828.

A together read for my daughter 'C' and I, I liked this book only slightly less than the first in the series, The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder. Though there is the added bonus of humour (mostly supplied in part by John's adversary, Owen Boggart), keeping track of who's who among the abundance of characters became a bit of a chore at times. I must mention here though, that this was my problem alone, 'C' had no problem keeping the characters straight from chapter to chapter, one night to the next.

Benns descriptions of the area during the time period are vivid and easy to picture. Unfamiliar to me, I found myself looking up info on present day Lake on the Mountain and the local legend that helps inspire the mystery; Prince Edward County sounds like a cool place to visit! It's always a bonus when a book leads you to want to learn more; in the case of Legends of Lake on the Mountain that should hold true for both adults and children alike. My daughter and I both look forward to reading more in this series!

5/13 for the 5th Canadian Book Challenge.

Saturday Snapshot 8/6/11

2011-08-06T09:40:00.001-03:00

Please join me most Saturdays as I try to capture and post in pictures, what enjoying life is like in my little corner of the world — a little bit about me beyond my love of books.

(click pics to enlarge)

Spongebob's Paradise Playground!

In the Distance

These photos were both snapped by my husband, just a couple of the wonders we've witnessed while out in our little fishing boat. You really need to click on the second picture to appreciate that "in the distance" is a better vantage point than up close when you're in a little boat!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ At Home With Books. To participate, post a photo that has been taken by you (or a friend or family member). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

The Green Library

2011-08-05T12:41:00.001-03:00

The Green Library

Janice Kulyk Keefer

Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2009

272 pages

"Blood ties, family ties. You're born with family like a chain around your neck: metal rings, each one kissing, biting into the next. And even if you break a link, the chain doesn't dissolve. It just sinks under your skin, you wear it without knowing." page 41
4/5

From 1941 Kiev to 1993 Toronto, The Green Library spans years and encompasses what was lost and what remains of generations. When a mysterious old photograph resembling her son is slipped through her mail slot, Eva's world shifts in ways she couldn't have imagined. In her quest for answers, Eva is shocked to learn of her Ukrainian heritage and the secrets her mother has harboured. Traveling to Kiev, Eva stirs old memories of long ago desire when she seeks out a boy from her youth and reconciles past and present.

I really enjoyed the way this story unfolds, alternating between different time periods and countries. It's a bit of a mystery at first, trying to figure out who the narrator actually is but I had faith that all would be revealed in due time. There were a few twists that I wasn't expecting as the truth is brought to light. Though a couple light bulb moments are thrown in for dramatic effect, Kulyk Keefer also managed to illuminate some connections between characters more akin to the glow of a single creeping candle pushing back the shadows.

I had a slight problem with the main character Eva, in that I didn't care for her all that much. I realise though that the things I would count against her as character flaws, are indeed necessary to make the novel work. A rewarding reading experience, I learned a little about the history of war torn Ukraine while getting swept up in the story that is The Green Library.

4/13 for the 5th Canadian Book Challenge.

Top Ten Book Lists

2011-08-03T21:46:00.000-03:00

Over at The Book Mine Set, John has issued a call for top ten lists of Canadian books as part of the 5th Canadian Book Challenge. I've decided to do two, one from Newfoundland, a province I'd dearly love to visit and the other from my home province of Nova Scotia. I've linked to my own reviews where possible; ( * ) indicates an outside link to info on the book.

Newfoundland:

Other than 9 and 10 (books I really want to read but haven't quite gotten around to yet), I've enjoyed all the books on the rest of this list.

Nova Scotia:

Fall On Your Knees ~ Ann-Marie MacDonald *
Pit Pony ~ Joyce Barkhouse *
Heave ~ Christy Ann Conlin *
The Mountain and the Valley ~ Ernest Buckler *
Down the Coaltown Road ~ Sheldon Currie
World Enough ~ Lesley Choyce *
** Amos Elliot, Loyalist / Amos and the Bear / Amos and Orphy ~ Audrey Marsh **
To Find Us ~ Editor: Sue MacLoud *
The Bishop's Man ~ Linden McIntyre
Mercury ~ Hope Larson

I've read and would recommend any of books on this list. ** The Amos Elliot books are actually a trio of books about a 12-y.o. orphan boy in the late 1700's who lives a pioneer life in Willowdale, Nova Scotia. Apparently, these books were part of the curriculum for awhile in some schools in NS but neither I nor my children had ever heard of them before discovering them at our local library. No longer in print (as far as I can tell), I'm keeping my fingers crossed a publishing house will pick them up and give them the same treatment as Bernice Thurman Hunter's Booky Series.

Saturday Snapshot 7/30/11

2011-07-30T11:20:00.000-03:00

I've caught a few of Diane's Saturday Snapshot posts over at Bibliophile by the Sea and thought this was a great way to share a little bit about me beyond my love of books. Please join me most Saturdays as I try to capture and post in pictures, what enjoying life is like in my little corner of the world.

(click pics to enlarge)

Whale Bone ~ Clouds

Whale Bone ~ Sun

It's amazing sometimes, the gifts the tide will bestow upon us! Washed up along our shoreline a few years ago, this whale spine now sits atop a rock beside my garden. The last two smaller bones are now missing however, thanks to Angie - our lab/shepard mix. I prefer the strength of the first b/w photo but wasn't sure that anyone could actually tell what it was; so included the second photo for detail. Both photos were snapped by my daughter, (G).

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ At Home With Books. To participate, post a photo that has been taken by you (or a friend or family member). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Lures

2011-07-12T10:01:00.002-03:00

Lures

Sue Goyette

Toronto: HarperCollins, 2002

292 pages

"She didn't know how to stop this, how to pull the emergency brake." p.128
5/5

In Beaumont, Quebec where all the stop signs have recently changed to Arrêt and streets to Rue, two very damaged families become further fragmented as Grace and Lily forge a friendship of necessity. Often locked out of her own house where her father collects tools, her clean-freak mother worries about wasted money and her brother Gary lives in a self induced haze, Grace finds Lily's home warm and inviting, a refuge from the hysteria at home. Believing knowledge is the key, Lily is busy copying the encyclopedia into Hilroy scribblers; starting when she was 15, she is now on the letter 'C'. With a chatty little sister, a quiet brother who observes the world through a pair of binoculars, a house alive with music and decorated with her mother's sketches, Lily appears to have the perfect home but something is missing. Known as "Rave" to the residents of Beaumont, Lily's brother Jerry lives outside the family circle. Often the target of their father's quick temper, Jerry now wanders the refuge of the woods. As the lines between members of both families become tangled, the title of this novel will take on significant meaning.

As a fan of Sue Goyete's poetry I had high expectations going into Lures, I was not disappointed. A seductively somber read, I was an easy haul into the heart of this book! The prose is as exquisite as the plot is enticing and as much as I wanted to linger over pearls of woven words, the storyline kept tugging me to turn pages. Intense with fear, love and despair Lures is an emotionally powerful read that will leave you with clenched fists and a swollen heart. Easily my favourite read so far this year, I can't recommend it enough!

3/13 for the 5th Canadian Book Challenge.

Bannock, Beans and Black Tea

2011-07-06T10:27:00.002-03:00

Bannock, Beans and Black Tea
MEMORIES OF A PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND CHILDHOOD IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION

* By John Gallant and Seth *

Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2004

3/5

I'm not exactly sure what genre this book fits into. It's not really a graphic novel, nor is it what I would consider a memoir per se, so for the purpose of trying to define it, I'm going to call it an illustrated collection of short stories. True stories called forth from memory. I think the spark of these stories dies out a little in reading the printed version, as Seth himself makes these remarks in the introduction:

That is the only unfortunate part of this book--reading the written accounts is entirely different than hearing him tell them. My dad, like many Maritimers, is a born storyteller. He loved to "spin a yarn" and the charm of the story often lay in how he told it.

Bannock, Beans and Black Tea was my break between novels during the recent Under the Midnight Sun Readathon. At the time, I thoroughly enjoyed it's unconventional style and the way John Gallant seemed to infuse his re-tellings of horrible living conditions in a desperate time with warmth and humour. However, in re-examining the book with fresh eyes, there is a repetitive bit of thread that weaves its way through the book. A bit of a snag really but then one wonders if like with a sweater you pulled at the thread, would the whole thing unravel?

Having listened to similar stories from my own Acadian grandmother, there are parts of this book that genuinely resonated with me. I was particularly drawn to the story 'Picking Potatoes for the Priest' and how much it differed from 'Picking Potatoes for the Farmer' — the latter, even though they were long laborious days, was definitely the preferred choice for little "Johhny Wilfred". It was a bit of an uneasy feeling knowing that the food stuffs relied upon for survival by John Gallant and my grandmother are now what most people around here would consider treats. We haven't had fried eels in ages (much to the dismay of my eldest daughter), not since my father-in-law passed away. At $16.00 a pair, and with my "pote" taking at least two pairs, rabbits have become solely a Christmas time treat.

As this is my first time with Seth, I wish more of his illustrations and cartoons had been included, they were the perfect fit for his father's narrative. Not being an artist myself, all I can offer additionally about Seth's drawings is to say that the black and white and grey, and few sepia illos throughout, work well for the era they depict. I would recommend this book to any Maritimer! Readers with Acadian roots or an interest in the Great Depression would also enjoy this one.

* 2/13 for the 5th Canadian Book Challenge *

The Time In Between

2011-07-05T16:34:00.003-03:00

The Time In Between

David Bergen

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2005

273 pages

"What we have on our hands is always enough." p. 136
4.5/5

When Charles Boatman returned from the Vietnam war, everything had changed. For five years his wife continued an affair she started when Charles left, Charles had nightmares. Betrayed by his wife's infidelity and haunted by his experience as a young soldier, Charles leaves Monroe, Washington, leaves his children too and settles across the boarder in B.C. Canada, the place where he once entertained the idea of running to when he was first drafted.

When an accident sees Charles united with his children, they all live for awhile in the renovated caboose on Sumas mountain. Charles busies himself raising his children, yet still there are incidents of inner turmoil and when they bubble to the surface, Charles takes his family below to the bunker.

"This would happen several times a year, usually on the warmest nights of summer, when sleep was difficult and the air in the caboose was close and rank. They would sit in the cool darkness of the bunker and their father would shush them and listen for noises." p. 38

Years later, in the void left when the last of his children leave home, Charles feels compelled to visit the Vietnam that still haunts him. When his letters and messages home stop coming, two of his three children travel to Danang in an effort to solve the mystery of his disappearance.

Always a step behind her father, the answer that finally sets Charles free will only raise more questions for Ada. In her quest to understand and forgive, Ada comes to know herself better in this foreign country than she ever did at home.

The gentle unfolding of a deepening sadness kept me turning the pages of The Time In Between. I have my own theory about Yen, a boy who followed Ada around while searching for her father but of all the characters I came to care about in Bergen's book, Charles Boatman will remain with me the longest.

Also reviewed by:
Kate @ Kate's Bookcase

1/13 for the 5th Canadian Book Challenge.

Up For Grabs!

2011-07-04T15:58:00.000-03:00

Available To Be Won Around the Book Blogs:

The Ghost of Greenwich Village ~ Peeking Between the Pages (ends Aug. 6th)

Under the Midnight Sun Readathon

2011-07-02T18:53:00.005-03:00

I'm just about to head into my 7th hour of the readathon. I started off great and finished The Time In Between just as the first hour was ending. Next, I reached into my library bag and pulled out Sue Goyette's Lures. This was a book I've been wanting to read for quite awhile so I dove in with the best intentions but wouldn't you know it... the sun managed to cut through the fog and even though I swore off domestic duties for the readathon, the laundry began calling ... whispers at first but then it started nagging to be dancing in fresh air on the line. I caved to my conscience, did a couple loads, then went back to my book. Somewhere around page 12, my neighbour's children arrived to spend the afternoon with my daughter so, in between keeping an eye on them and attending to their snacking needs, I managed to make it to page 39 by supper time. Belly full, dishes done, I'm ready to settle in with Lures.

Update: 11:50 pm, almost to the half way point of the readathon. Hit the 100 page mark in Lures a few minutes ago and decided it was tea and toast time. I'll do a little blog hopping while I'm having my midnight snack and then it's back to the books.

Update: Day 2 - 6:31 am, didn't make it all the way through. Just after 2 am, the story started getting a bit loopy ... My daughter (the older one who got in just after midnight) was on the opposite coach and giggling, said it was too funny watching me, my eyes were closed but my mouth was moving. Not the first time that's happened, I tried to shake off the sleepies with some juice and it worked for a little while but when I woke with a start and stiff neck at 4, I knew it was time to hit the hay. So, I had a two hour nap (2 1/2 really if you count the time I was asleep on the couch) woke at 6am, quick shower, jolt of java and here I am. As much as I'm loving Lures, my pick this morning is Gallant and Seth's Bannock, Beans and Black Tea. I'll check in on a few participants while I finish my coffee.

Update: 10:41 am, just finished Bannock, Beans and Black Tea (the book not the meal). Only an hour and 15 minutes left, will spend it with Lures. Hope everyone else is hanging in there, will be back around after luch with a final update and to see who is still hard at it.

Final Update: I managed to squeeze in another 60 pages of Lures before noon. I'm just about due for a nap but look forward to completing Lures later tonight, it's quite a book and I'm surprised that in the time I've been blogging I've never come across a review for it. Wish I could have managed my time a little better and made a little more progress but I couldn't be more pleased with the books I did spend time with. Would definitely take part in another one, maybe even a winter edition. (fingers crossed!)

5th Canadian Book Challenge

2011-07-01T06:00:00.004-03:00

Can't think of a better way to say Happy Canada Day than with a shout-out to the 5th edition of the great Canadian Book Challenge! Once again John is our enthusiastic host and though I'm sure most everyone will agree that the true reward is in the reading, 13 may just turn out to be your lucky # if you can read and review that many or more by July 1st 2012!

Though I doubt I'll be doing much reading today, my daughter and I are set to finish The Legends of Lake on the Mountain tonight so that review will be coming up within the next few days. A recent trip to the library has me ready for the Under the Midnight Sun Readathon which is set to begin tomorrow.

These are the books I have lined up:

(already started, my own copy, just need to finish)

After The Time In Between I'm not sure which one's I'll start and stick with for the readathon but this is pretty much what my reading will consist of for a good part of the summer. Are you participating in either of these challenges, which book(s) do you plan to begin with?

Yellowknife

2011-06-27T15:42:00.002-03:00

Yellowknife

Steve Zipp

Canada: Res Telluris, 2007

286 pages

"People come here for the damndest reasons. Something to do with the North Pole, maybe. It attracts them, I think. Like, there's metal filings in their heads or something."
4/5

By the first sentence of the second paragraph when one of the characters finds himself "approaching a bouquet of flagpoles", I knew I was going to enjoy this book; I absolutely love this little nugget of imagery!! Can you imagine the shocking sensation of falling through the ice? A polar bear plunge into the unique and quizzical surroundings of Yellowknife will leave most readers a little disoriented but joltingly awake to a new kind of reading experience. Underground mining tunnels, a garbage dump community, The Ice Road Cafe, shacks in the wilderness and shacking-up on houseboats, the setting is as wondrous as it is wanting for a little warmth. Make no mistake about it though, the heat is in the humour that lies within these pages!

I don't know if there are as many fish in the arctic sea as there are characters in this book but each one is an interesting study. Hugo is obsessed with mosquitoes, a penniless drifter becomes P.I. Diamond Dan; there are businessmen, bureaucrats, biologists, beggars, bums and bush inhabitants whose stories are as varied as the vast expanse of the Canadian North itself. Story threads are as knotted as they are loose, some even fray; none are tied up in neat little bows — irksome to some I'm sure, but if you're ready to be wowed by a more experimental writing style, Yellowknife is not to be missed!

The book trailer is interesting but I'm warning you, it only adds to the mystery that surrounds Yellowknife, have a look:

Read more reviews at:
Jules' Book Reviews
The Bookmine Set
Kate's Bookcase

Mercury

2011-06-23T11:31:00.000-03:00

Mercury

Hope Larson

Atheneum Books for Young Readers
New York: Simon & Shuster, 2010

236 pages

Rating: 4/5

From the inside cover flap:

“In 1859 French Hill, Nova Scotia, Josey Fraser has just met handsome Asa Curry – a man with a mysterious and traveled past. While quickly winning young Josey’s heart, Asa reveals a secret ability to locate gold on the Fraser’s farm. But there is darkness in the woods…and in Asa.

In the same town one hundred fifty years later, Tara Fraser is dealing with the aftermath of her house burning down; a house that has been in her family – and Josey’s – for generations, when Tara discovers a pendant that turns out to be much more than a simple heirloom. As Josey’s story plunges into tragedy, Tara’s emerges with the promise of gold.”

Over a year and a half since my first graphic novel review and I'm still surprised how much I enjoy these quick little reads. I was particularly drawn to Mercury because of it's location and I did like the way Hope Larson captured both the past and present spirit of small town, Nova Scotia. In the first 13 panels alone, we are taken on a pictorial journey of over 600 years; just try fitting that much history on five pages of a more conventional novel!

Wonderfully expressive black and white illustrations depict the interconnected stories of Tara and Josey. Though separated by time, these distant relatives have many things in common: teenage crushes and friendships, as well as inner family issues and conflicts, proving that age old adage that as much as some things change, other things remain the same. Using darker borders for the past helps ease the reader into the alternating storyline; though I knew to look for this key element (thanks to Nicola's review), my daughter did not and still had no problem with the quick switching narrative.

Speaking of my 10-y.o.daughter, she absolutely loved this book! Truthfully, I was a little hesitant in passing it on to her at first. Oh, I knew the bulk of the book would be to her liking but with the quick mention of condom wrappers and syringes on page 112, I wasn't so sure about the recommended "Tween" reading range. Turns out my mother-worry was all for naught because 'C------' never even blinked. Either 10 is a lot older than it used to be or she simply put it in context with the rest of the garbage underneath the bleachers.

* Mercury is my 12th selection for the 4th Canadian Book Challenge. *

"Summer's here and the time is right ..."

2011-06-21T13:16:00.001-03:00

for a wonderful season filled with great books, good company and warm memories. It is also high time for a background makeover! I think this particular layout has a certain airiness and dream-like quality that reflects summer's relaxed pace yet, also plays to a sense of adventure. I hope all visitors of A Season to Read will like the new look as much as I do!

So, what does your summer reading landscape look like? Do you map out your reading destinations, plan an attack of the stacks, or take the road less travelled and look for lighter reading in warmer weather?

The Bishop's Man

2011-06-09T13:38:00.000-03:00

The Bishop's Man

Linden MacIntyre

Toronto: Random House Canada, 2009

399 pages

"I could trust you then. I could, at least, talk to you."
4.5/5

Trying to review a book you've read over six months ago is not an easy task! Problem is, I don't have time to re-read 399 pages and this book was too good not to at least mention so here are my thoughts on my experience reading The Bishop's Man.

I remember that this novel was so much more than I was expecting. Though it deals with sexual abuse within the priesthood, it is more about the conscience of one man and how his actions to "weed out the bad ones" becomes his own cross to bear. It is also a book about community and how we never really let go of where we come from.

A priest himself, Duncan MacAskill finds himself in charge of a parish very near to where he grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The past mingles with the present when Duncan finds out that a young man from this area is the victim of a priest he helped "sweep under the rug" some years ago. Dealing with guilt, loneliness and past secrets of his own Duncan turns inward examining his life, turns to the bottle, turns in many directions trying to get a grasp on his own spirituality.

I like the way MacIntyre's narrative weaved paths between past and present, slowly revealing the many layers of Duncan MacAskill as both a priest and a man. There was such a wonderful sense of place to this book that it had me recalling my own Roman Catholic upbringing in small town Nova Scotia; looking at old memories with new eyes and wondering anew about my neighbours, men of the cloth who served on the alter and lived in the Glebe house.

Also reviewed by:
John ~ The Book Mine Set
Kate ~ Kate's Bookcase

The Breath that Lightens the Body

2011-05-30T17:02:00.002-03:00

The Breath that Lightens the Body

Deirdre Dwyer

Vancouver: Beach Holme Publishing

Porcepic Books, 1999

93 pages

Earlier this month, fellow book blogger and friend John Mutford, issued a mini-challenge: "If we can read and review 10 or more Canadian books with a Japan connection, I'll donate $200 to the Red Cross. If we read and review less than ten, I'll donate $10 per book." What better time to highlight a favourite collection of poems!

Over a decade ago, Deirdre Dwyer travelled to Japan to teach ESL in Tokyo. In April of this year, she could be found at a local community event sharing memories of her time in Japan and talking about learning the language. Luckily for us, Mrs. Dwyer also recorded her experience in poems. In The Breath that Lightens the Body, we are able to journey with and reflect upon the wanderings of a woman who is at once a teacher and student both. Penned postcard observations allow the reader to share in the delight of how living among and coming to know another culture, can also lead to a path of self discovery.

About one third of the book is dedicated to her time in Japan, but Deirdre Dwyer didn't stop there! She went on to roam and write her way through Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Turkey, Greece and Spain. Following are a few lines from one of my favourite poems in the Japan section, "Spring's temple".

Spring's Temple

Go past the overturned umbrellas
that hang from railings
catching the first minutes of spring,
past the orchard blossoms
of burgundy and peach bonsai
trees at your feet.

(read the rest of the poem here )

Deirdre Dwyer (pictured here at The Old School Bazaar giving talk on learning Japanese) also has a second volume of poetry available titled Going to the Eyestone.

Photo credit: Snap Dartmouth

The Road to God Knows...

2011-05-07T15:36:00.000-03:00

The Road to God Knows

Von Allan

Ottawa: Von Allan Studio, 2010

145 pages

from page 112 "Just keep walkin', Marie. Some real broken people are here."
4/5

I won this book as part of a Von Allen prize pack over at The Book Mine Set and really enjoyed it. I wasn't familiar with Von Allen's work so it was a real treat to read yet another fine Canadian graphic novelist.

The Road to God Knows is a very straight forward and honest look at how Marie copes with the challenges in her young life. Being thirteen is awkward in it's own right and having parents who are separated isn't easy either; add one cold and domineering Math teacher and you have a pretty good idea of what Marie is up against; not so out of the norm in the '80's or even now for that matter. What is different and frightening for Marie, is her mother's battle with mental illness.

I felt this book had me thinking about why it is that some people break and others grow stronger. Is it something within the core of a person that helps them cope or is it something more simple? In Marie's case, having the support of her best friend Kelly, is the key coping mechanism. Just having someone lend an ear and a shoulder can make all the difference in the world.

Have a look at this book trailer I found recently on YouTube, it really captures the tone of the story.

You know, the number one rule when writing poetry is show, don't tell — the more GN's I read, the more convinced I become that graphic novelists must share a similar conviction. Cracks in the cold linoleum floor, peeling paint on bare walls and the Canadian flag-curtain are just some of the finer details that lend to the mood of the story and the specifics of Marie's situation. It's books like this one that has my appreciation of graphic novels growing with how well ideas translate through pictures and sparse words.

* The Road to God Knows is my 9th selection for the 4th Canadian Book Challenge. *

Miss Elva

2011-04-07T10:02:00.000-03:00

Miss Elva

Stephens Gerard Malone

Random House Canada, 2005

243 pages

"And only Elva remembered why she turned her face away."
2.5/5

From the Book Jacket:
1970. A tiny fisherman's shack on the dark Nova Scotia coast, eccentrically covered with folk art images, which are all the work of a benign, disfigured mute whom the locals dismiss as a misshapen nobody. Miss Elva. Only one man knows that the whimsical, primitive art old Elva painfully creates is her voice, damning the madness of love and lamenting decades of lies.

He is also the only person still alive who remembers Elva as she was in the summer of 1927, a crippled little thing in the shadow of her beautiful half-sister, Jane. That peculiar summer of snow and rum-runners when the black sheep Gil returned to a troubled town for his father's funeral, dogged by sin and retribution - only to find that his handsome twin brother, Dom, has become Jane's lover. The unhappy reunion breeds rivalry and self-loathing, complicated by racial violence and religious intolerance ...

I really wanted to like this book—a dark read with interestingly well drawn characters and it's set in my home province of Nova Scotia—so why the lower rating for something that should have been right up my reading alley? Truthfully, I think I'm too close to the "imagined" setting of this book to give an objective opinion. In creating the fictional town of Demerret Bridge, the author incorrectly uses place names from various communities along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia and squishes them together with physical features of Cape Breton. I grew up in the area that Gil and Dom come from and now reside in a lovely seaside hamlet that in this book, becomes an actual lake instead of a village. Reading of theTar Ponds as though they were located here, instead of Cape Breton, was too jarring for me and became a distraction that was hard to overcome. Yes, NS may well be a tiny province but one place is nowhere near the other.

Kate, another book blogger, described this book as ugly and in a sense, I have to agree. Almost everyone has a definite mean streak (save one or two) and the fictional village and its inhabitants are sure to gain the contempt of most readers. I guess that's what makes those rare moments of beauty stand out, like in this passage from page 17,

"Following Jane through the acres of silvery grass, she came to her disappearing place ... There, if she lay among the reeds filling the void between the harbour and the lake, ripe with strawberries by early June, dragonflies buzzing ferociously over her head, the sun would melt Elva into sweet dreams ..."

Though I may not have liked this book in its entirety, the storyline itself was never dull. I may have taken issue with a few points, including Elva's likeness to Maud Lewis but one can't deny that Stephens Gerard Malone did a fair amount of homework when researching the area. I became fascinated with how familiar some scenes were to places I know and past histories I've been told. For instance, though the church I know in West Chezzetcook may not be a monestary, it is a huge and impressive structure considering the small size and meager wealth of the community which it serves. When I came to a part in the book where Dom hikes out across the frozen bay to shovel snow to clear the way for old blue-haired ladies attending services, I had to call my father to see who he had been talking to! Taught by french nuns in a school located within a stones throw of the church, my father and his school buddies often took this shortcut in the winter.

Let me also say this, if the characters in this book are at all true to form of the way people regarded each other in the 1920's, thank God that somewhere along the line things have changed! Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, especially if you like darker reads / no, if you need a fairytale ending. Miss Elva may not be a book I'd gush about but it is one I'm definitely glad to have read.

Having previously enjoyed I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin, this is my second time around with Stephens Gerard Malone. Miss Elva is my 8th selection for the 4th Canadian Book Challenge.

Sweet Tooth

2010-11-30T11:54:00.000-04:00

Sweet Tooth Out of the Deep Woods

Jeff Lemire story and art

Jose Villarrubia colours

Pat Brosseau letters

Vertigo, DC Comics 2010

124 pages

"My dad said I ain't never supposed to leave the woods."
3.5/5

Gus lives alone with his father in the woods, a boy born after the "Affliction", he knows very little of what lies beyond his sheltered cabin. Billions died a decade ago and any children born since have all had animal like features, Gus looks like a deer and is in great danger. Hybrid kids can bring big bucks and once spotted, hunters leap like hounds on poor Gus. Then out of the blue Mr. Jepperd appears and saves the boy but is he the hero Gus so desperately needs?

Sweet Tooth (so named by Jepperd because of his fondness for candy bars) is a kind and sensitive boy. I like that Jeff Lemire used a visual metaphor when creating this character; Gus's hybrid features seem to mirror a certain gentle doe-like innocence. I found myself quickly pulled into caring about the fate of this boy, so much so in fact, that I was able to get through all the violence and blood shed that I typically don't care for in super hero style comics. I don't know that I have a preference for black and white or colour illustrations in graphic novels but I did appreciate the way the colour in this particular GN seemed to intensify the mood of certain scenes. Though I may not be as enthusiastic about Sweet Tooth as Jeff Lemire's previous Essex County series I am curious enough to look forward to the next book, Sweet Tooth Vol. 2 In Captivity due out December 8th!

The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder

2010-11-05T13:24:00.000-03:00

The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder
An Early Adventure of JOHN DIEFENBAKER

Roderick Benns

Toronto: Fireside Publishing, 2009

245 pages

"...and who will take up this challenge if not us?"
4/5

Historical fact and fiction combine when 12 y.o. John Diefenbaker and his younger brother Elmer are caught up in trying to solve the mystery of his neighbour's shooting death. When a family friend and member of the Plains Cree band is wrongly accused, the Diefenbaker family take in his daughter, Summer Storm. Together, they race against time collecting clues and evidence hoping to to prove the man's innocence.

As a mystery, this book works quite well. More than one seedy character comes into play and just when you think you have a handle on "whodunnit", a twist in the plot keeps you guessing. Even better though, is all the historical facts weaved into the story by author Roderick Benns. In the summer of 1908, on the prairies near Borden, Saskatchewan, the hardships of immigrant settlers and first nations people is a growing concern for young John Diefenbaker. Through this high interest story, we learn how this future leader of Canada would have developed some of his decision making skills and ideals.

I enjoyed this book as a together read with my daughter who just turned 10. Reading alternating chapters aloud, it became a nightly ritual that we slipped into with ease. Completed in early September, "C" liked the book so much she took it to school to show her teacher and friends (where it remained until earlier this week)! It was the perfect way to introduce her to one of Canada's previous Prime Ministers; sparking enough interest that before we were even finished she was asking if the next one was out yet. The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder is Book One in the Leaders & Legacies series; with Book Two The Legends of Lake on the Mountain to be released Nov. 30th, my first Christmas gift for "C" is on pre-order. ;)

** The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder is my 6th selection for and a book prize won in the 4th Canadian Book Challenge. **

Dream Wheels

2010-09-22T17:12:00.002-03:00

Dream Wheels

Richard Wagamese

Doubleday Canada, 2006

398 pages

"Scars and breaks make us what we are. Give us character. Make us unique. Make us beautiful."
4.5/5

I came to this novel looking for something a little different than what I've been reading lately; Dream Wheels did not disappoint. A modern day western steeped in the tradition of rodeo is a pretty far stretch from my latest batch of books.

Joe Willie Wolfchild is at the height of his career, just seconds away from becoming World Champion all around cowboy when a crippling accident lands him back at the family homestead. Aiden Hartley is a troubled youth on track to becoming a hardened criminal. A mutual friend brings Aiden and his mother to the Wolfchild rodeo stock operation hoping they can make a fresh start. Joe Willie isn't too keen on visitors and resents the intrusion on his privacy. It's a long hard road to the friendship Joe Willie and Aiden eventually pave. Together, and with the wisdom of generations around them, these men learn to trust each others skills and match their determination to common goals and healing.

Maybe it's all the true life adventure Disney movies I watched growing up but using personification to breath life into the characters of the great bull See Four and later a mysterious bear is too cool! The thing I loved most about this book though, is its strong sense of place and purpose. That Richard Wagamese could do that without actually naming the "lush valley in the mountains" made it easy to imagine the setting as somewhere in Alberta; others could just as easily imagine Montana. I wonder if leaving it open like that gives it a better chance of being opted for a movie? Dream Wheels definitely has the potential to come to life on the silver screen!

The Ladies Lending Library

2010-09-15T12:31:00.000-03:00

The Ladies Lending Library

Janice Kulyk Keefer

Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2007

288 pages

"...what happens this summer appears to them a calamity, the social equivalent...of an earthquake or a hurricane."
3/5

A good summer read, I finished this one a couple of weeks ago when it still felt like you were wearing the weather it was so unbearably humid and hot. Not exactly what I would call a steamy read but it didn't do much to cool me off either.

The Ladies Lending Library is about a group of Ukrainian women who are part of a summer community of cottage keepers on Georgian Bay, Ontario. However, keeping secrets while keeping the cottage clean and the kids in line isn't exactly easy in the summer of '63 for this particular group of ladies. Swapping "racy" books and gathering for gossip once a week before the husbands pull in for the weekend may feel like a diversion but a lot more gets hashed out between the women during these weekly meetings.

The kids. Oh boy, the kids. There are quite a few of them (some with secrets of their own) and wow, can they make mischief — except perhaps baby Alix, who's developmental problems are hinted at but never really revealed. This hinting trend became irksome for me, as it is also used to "sort of" explain why Sonia, Alex's mother, is so afraid to go swimming. An incident that took place in the "homeland" reveals the reason for Sonia's fear but alludes to something much more dark and sinister yet, leaves the reader to sketch in the details. I'm fine with this in some books, the trust the author puts in their audience to figure it all out on their own. Janice Kulyk Keefer however, penned my absolute favourite poem, Oranges. From her, I wanted more meat on the bones; though her characters were well fleshed out, the storyline was a bit skinny in parts.

Not giving up though, I enjoy her poetry much too much not to try another novel. Any JKK fans out there who can suggest something a little meatier are most welcome to drop a title or two (especially if they link to reviews).

Winterhouse Winner!

2010-09-14T09:45:00.000-03:00

With just six entrants in on this one I decided to let a simple roll of the die determine the winner. Turns out that idea wasn't so simple because at 11:50 PM last night, my computer completely froze when I went to random.org. What to do, what to do? Well, with no shortage of board games at my house I simply grabbed a die from good old snakes and ladders this morning and ...

John, it looks like 4 is your lucky #! Congratulations, I'll send you an email in a jiffy.

The Winterhouse (review & giveaway)

2010-08-24T10:14:00.001-03:00

The Winterhouse

Robin McGrath

St.John's: Killick Press, 2009

219 pages

"The reward is proportionate to the suffering"

Ben Hay-Hay, Ethics of the Fathers (page 139)

4/5

From the Publisher

"My father has married me to a mad old man." These words, written on a slip of paper inside a fading brocade collar, are a clue to the unlikely marriage of a Jewish remittance man and a 14-year-old orphan in a remote Newfoundland fishing station. More curious still are the connections that entangle a retired schoolteacher and an Israeli scholar almost two centuries later. When the bereaved Rosehannah Quint and her mysterious "mister" retreat into winter quarters at the back of Ireland's Eye, the two begin to develop an understanding based on curiosity as well as upon need - an understanding that works its way down the years. The Winterhouse is a compelling novel about finding oneself and creating one's own community.

After reading and so enjoying Stranger Things Have Happened I was yearning to get back to Newfoundland. True though I've never actually been, until I can pay a visit to the fair province, I've learned to make due with little nuggets of Newfoundland literature. If you are a follower of A Season to Read, you may remember this one from a previous Cover Attraction post. Though I'm not so sure a window that size would have been found in any winterhouse in 1820's Newfoundland, the harsh beauty beyond the window frame most certainly would have existed.

A winterhouse (also known as a tilt) was a rather simple yet necessary structure built further inland than the main house to provide shelter from the damp chill winds coming in off the Atlantic Ocean. Rosehannah, being a lifelong island resident of Ireland's Eye, knows full well the difficulties the "mister" faces in his insistence to remain behind. When an emergency calls Mr. Harris out to the community of tilt dwellers, his "forced" decision to stay forges his growing relationship and understanding of the people he must live and work among.

Definitely my brand of historical fiction, The Winterhouse is a story of a rugged place and a hardworking people. Carving a living mostly dependant on the cod fishery while working to establish a viable community in outport Newfoundland was labour intensive to say the least. At just fourteen years of age, Rosehannah did more in a day just to get a meal on the table than I do in a week of suppers! The preparations required to get through one season to the next were exhausting. Indeed, though I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about this hardy stock of people (to which I'll loosely claim a connection through my maternal grandfather), the novel had a way of making me feel guilty for even having the time to read it!

* This book accompanied me on a few trips to the beach this summer but is none the worse for wear. If you'd like to win my copy just let me know by including your email along with comments. Open to Canada and U.S. residents only, I'll draw for a winner Sept. 13, 2010. *

Last Night in Montreal

2010-07-29T13:07:00.000-03:00

Last Night in Montreal

Emily St. John Mandel

Denver: Unbridled Books, 2009

247 pages

"Stop looking for me ... I wish to remain vanishing."
4.5/5

From the Publisher

Lilia Albert has been leaving people behind for her entire life. She spends her childhood and adolescence traveling constantly and changing identities. In adulthood, she finds it impossible to stop. Haunted by an inability to remember her early childhood, she moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers along with way, possibly still followed by a private detective who has pursued her for years. Then her latest lover follows her from New York to Montreal, determined to learn her secrets and make sure she’s safe. Last Night in Montreal is a story of love, amnesia, compulsive travel, the depths and the limits of family bonds, and the nature of obsession.

On a cold Quebec night, Lilia, in bare feet, runs out across the snow to the waiting arms of her father. She is only seven years old and this night is where her memories will begin. Abducted—that's what the papers will say; that is the song her mother will sing to the private detective she hires to find her small daughter. Alternating between past and present, the story of Lilia unfolds alongside the story of Michaela. Michaela is about the same age as Lilia; the daughter of the detective. Helpless to do anything about it, Michaela is witness to the disintegration of her family as her father grows increasingly obsessed with Lilia's case. Inevitably, the world of these two girls collide, each holding the key to the unanswered questions of the other.

I slipped into this book like a comfortable pair of Jeans—it fit my reading style to a T! The steady pace never faltered and a certain smoothness in prose was a joy to linger over, especially those passages that touched on lost and dying languages. The imagery, though never overindulgent, is just liberal enough so one could easily visualize the beauty or harshness of a given scene or moment. A first novel as delectable as the dust jacket it's wrapped in, I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Testimony

2010-07-23T08:39:00.001-03:00

Testimony

Anita Shreve

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2009

352 pages

"...images segueing into the words police and rape and alcohol and press,"
3.5/5

From the Publisher

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Considering Testimony is over 300 pages, it's a little surprising how quickly this book goes by. Shorter chapters with alternating points of view add behind the scene details to the graphic opening event. The camera doesn't lie but it doesn't tell the whole story either; what the media sensationalizes differs in the eyes of each person involved and finding blame in the characters isn't as straight forward as one may think.

I found the above paperback cover a little misleading because although the book definitely has an emotional draw, it does not come from the 14-y.o. girl. There is more than one victim in this scandal; indeed the whole town of Avery suffers a shocking blow. However, it is Silas and the events that led to his involvement that are the true heart of this story.

Guessing the outcome for one of the main characters was fairly easy right from the start and I admit to feeling a little let down by this but it certainly didn't keep me from flipping the pages. Though the story itself wasn't as particularly gripping as some of her other novels (Eden Close, Strange Fits of Passion, Resistance, The Weight of Water), I did appreciate that same sense of urgent unravelling I've come to expect when reading Anita Shreve.

Stranger Things Have Happened

2010-07-12T15:29:00.001-03:00

Stranger Things Have Happened

Carmelita McGrath

St. John's: Killick Press, 1999

176 pages

"...the wind carried the drift into my eyes and carried me away somewhere." pg.4
5/5

Reading Carmelita McGrath's second collection of short stories made me feel just that, "carried away". A main of excellent prose had me tossing in the tide of 14 tales; awash in the emotions and histories of how these women came to be shaped into their current forms.

If the cover looks a tad familiar than you've either caught previously posted teasers, here or here, or you've been to the Canadian province of Newfoundland where these stories take place, some in outports, others in the city; one in a place between earth and heaven. The narrators range in age from a six-year-old girl to a woman in her mid-forties and no matter if they are living in a contemporary present or sifting through the dust of days past, each becomes someone you know; their trials and triumphs something you care about.

Maybe it was because I hadn't read a collection of fiction in so long that my initial reaction to the first story Stranger Things Have Happened was one of annoyance. I became so wrapped up in the past of a child who had seen an angel, that I wanted all of the middle too! I felt it jumped too quickly to the present. I put the book aside for awhile, not ready to take on the particular rhythm and nuances of the short story form. I recently picked it up again on a whim, remembering how captivated I was by the prose. Going back to the title story after completing the rest, I see now that the problem was more mine than the writer's, the reader in me always wanting more!

It's hard to pick a favourite really, though I suppose I could most closely relate to certain events in "Sweet Fruits of the Dead". Opening with the main character back for a visit alone to her childhood home, she's up early on a Monday, using the old wringer washer to launder the linens. And just like that I'm smiling with the memories of being ten-years-old; helping my own grandmother on washdays, catching the clothes she'd feed to the wringer of that incomparable washing machine! Though it was cranberries on my part and not the blueberries that the protagonist of this story gets reamed out for, picking them anywhere near a graveyard is never a good idea, especially when "we" had cleaning obsessed mothers who feared so many taboos.

I'd highly recommend this one to short story lovers, especially to those who prefer their fiction from a female perspective. Getting to know the characters crafted by Carmelita McGrath will make you feel as though you've been camping out on their doorstep like a worried best friend, or parting a curtain like a nosey neighbour.

Blogger Bugs. GRRRRRRR!

2010-07-06T09:35:00.001-03:00

First, my apologies to Diane and Dar. I saw, published, and responded to the comments left on Flowers for Elvis but for some reason blogger has decided to pick on my little book blog and not display any of those. This is very frustrating! I've switched to word verification hoping not to loose anymore comments but unfortunately, I won't know if this works until someone takes a chance and leaves a comment again. And why oh why can't I figure out a way to have word verification displayed upfront on the comment page? When I tried reporting the problem to blogger, all I get are links to known past problems. Honestly, it's enough to make a person want to throw their hands in the air and say, "I QUIT!"

Rant over for now. Sorry. :(

Flowers for Elvis

2010-07-05T15:35:00.000-03:00

Flowers for Elvis

Julia Schuster

Smyrna: Bell Bridge Books, 2009

247 pages

"The wry, observant spirit of a dead child follows the twists and turns of her twin sister's turbulent life."
3.9/5

How many ghosts can fit in one closet? How many secrets can be squirreled away in waiting? Well, if you're a member of the Southern Gothic Clancy Hersh (Baxter) family, they swarm around you like bees; piercing the skin of the present with the venomous sting of the past. Sisters Genevieve and Willard grow up with the ugliest kind of secrets, their children are the product of yet even more. Suspicions, half truths and bold face lies entangle this family like weeds, hacking through them will take it's toll on everyone.

I am so glad I finally found this book! Even if it was a bit preachy at times, it was still a very enjoyable read that southern fiction fans will surely enjoy. My only other qualm is that Flowers for Elvis contained more than a few editing mistakes; otherwise it would have earned a 4. The writing style though, was spot on! Vivid characters are so easily pictured in one's mind. Loud, Elvis obsessed Genevieve, is sadly funny. Quiet Willard prays for strength and guidance along with the "flawed" Reverend Mother. Madson is strong and supportive but harbours secrets of his own, and the girls— Anna Beth, Louisa and little dead Olivia—will keep you turning the pages trying to keep up with their blossoming antics and growing awareness.

Don't think I can sum it up any better than Olivia does in the opening of this book, so here from page 6, I'll leave you with this quote.

I came into this world and left it on the same day. I guess God knew what He was doing. Being the illegitimate daughter of a nun would have been restrictive, to say the least. Then, when you factor in that my mother was white and my father black, that they lived in the podunk town of Iuka, Mississippi, and the year was 1956—I guess I should really feel blessed to be dead. Still, it would have been nice to hang around in the flesh for a while. Instead, God put me in charge of my other half, my twin, whose lungs were a tad bit more developed than mine at the time of our premature entry into the world. She became my responsibility—and, oh, what a time that child gives me. What a time indeed.

Canadian Book Challenge

2010-07-02T18:51:00.001-03:00

My favourite challenge on the book blog block entered it's fourth year yesterday and where was I? At the beach of course, celebrating Canada Day! I did bring along a couple of books though, one of which will be my first selection for CBC4, Stranger Things Have Happened, a short story collection by Carmelita McGrath. The reason I like this challenge so much is because there are so many different ways to approach it; for once I get to be as flexible as I was in my 20's! I've met some cool book bloggers over the past three years too, like our host John and veteran participant Teddy Rose. Winning a couple of prizes along the way was a nice bonus but the best part was discovering some fabulous reads that I otherwise may have overlooked, like Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop or the graphic novel Essex County series by Jeff Lemire.

For more details and to join in on the fun of the fourth installment of this great reading challenge, visit John here at The Bookmine Set.

42 Miles

2010-06-28T16:29:00.124-03:00

42 Miles

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
illustrated by Elaine Clayton

New York: ClarionBooks, 2008
73 pages

"Everything was easier until this year."
3/5

Joey to her Dad; Ellen to her mom, this girl was used to bouncing back and forth between her divorced parents. When JoEllen's father makes the decision to move 42 miles away to the old family farm, nicknames become separate identities. Cincinnati is a great place for "Ellen" who enjoys playing sax, going to old movies and eating takeout with her mom, and hanging out with friends in a second hand store. On weekends with her father,"Joey" becomes a country girl who loves to get creative with cooking, go fishing and horseback riding with her cousin, Hayden, and enjoys listening to bluegrass. At odds with her two selves, JoEllen creatively designs a plan to meld her two worlds and define her one true identity.

A very quick read, I liked this free verse novel. My daughter enjoyed it enough to select a dozen of the poems to read aloud to her class. Though not alike in their living circumstances, my youngest identified with JoEllen's problem solving skills, her loyalty to friends, and she was particularly fond of the way JoEllen dealt with the school bully. A YA book that's perfect for pre-teens too! The mishmash of collage illustrations add an extra element of interest, rather like found visual poems.

"Are you ready for the summer..."?

2010-06-21T11:44:00.000-03:00

Well, I'm not! I still have two reviews to finish for books I've read in the spring and though I've changed my background I can't seem to get my header to work even though it works fine on the test blog, same problem as last time but the fix won't work either. I'll figure out something ... just not today! My eyes are already starting to flicker staring at this screen, it's been a major problem for me lately and as a result I've been spending less time with the blog and more with books. Think I'll steer clear of the memes for awhile and concentrate on the reviews.

I'm looking forward to relaxing with some great reads this summer, I currently have Flowers For Elvis on the go with Testimony waiting in the wings. Hope everyone has a chance to enjoy some great reads this season!

The Map of True Places

2010-06-19T21:11:00.001-03:00

The Map of True Places

Brunonia Barry

New York: William Morrow, 2010

403 pages

"The years had not been easy."
4.5/5

From the Publisher
Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She's also about to marry one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee's patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she though she'd left behind.

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly's funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.

Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.

When I first heard that Brunonia Barry had a 2nd novel coming out I started counting the days. Having really liked her first novel The Lace Reader , I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Map of True Places. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to win a copy and dove in the minute it arrived. A pleasure to read that I zipped through it in just under a week, it's been awhile since I enjoyed a book so much.

All the twists and turns that I was expecting were there and even though I found myself making mental notes along the way, I was still surprised by the outcome of some of the plot lines. I found the writing tighter than in the previous novel; the connections between past and present bound in tangled knots.

Don't you love that sense of deja vu when knowledge of a previously read novel makes you sit up and take notice? That's exactly what happened with the mention of the murders that took place on the Isle of Shoals. I was quite pleased with myself knowing exactly to what event the book was referring, The Weight of Water is a favourite book from a few years back; it appears that Brunonia Barry is also a fan! I knew there was something about this author I especially liked, she writes with the same sense of urgent unraveling that I so enjoy when reading Anita Shreve!

Anyone who has read the first novel will be happy to again see Ann! In The Map of True Places she is Zee's "Auntie" and mostly balking the attentions of Zee's Pirate King uncle. A few more characters from The Lace Reader make brief appearances but are not central to the story. Now the long wait for the 3rd installment in this trilogy begins. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Ann will show up a third time, she is one lady whose character I'd love to see further developed!

A few others who have chimed in:
jlshall at Joy's Blog
Nise at Under the Boardwalk
Kaye at Pudgy Penguin Perusals

Good-Bye Marianne

2010-06-15T12:04:00.007-03:00

Good-Bye Marianne The Graphic Novel

Irene N. Watts
Illustrated by Kathryn E. Shoemaker

Toronto: Tundra Books, 2008

124 pages

"We will try to find safe places ..."
3/5

Berlin, 1938, Marianne Kohn is a young Jewish girl growing up in Nazi Germany. No longer allowed to attend school, Marianne struggles with keeping her Jewish heritage hidden. Her friends are suspicious, her father is missing and on the run; her mother is trying hard to keep Marianne safe. When an opportunity exists to send Marianne on a Kindertransporte to the relative safety of England, Marianne and her mother must make a difficult decision.

Focusing more on the uncertainty and sadness of separation rather than the horrors of pre-war Nazi Germany, this book works well as an introduction to the history of the Holocaust for children ages 7-9. Pencil drawings effectively illustrate the somber mood and raw emotions of living in such troubled times.

** Author and playwright Irene N. Watts was born in Berlin, Germany and was herself a participant in a kindertransporte to Britain. Now living in Vancouver, British Columbia she is once again collaborating with illustrator Kathryn E. Shoemaker on turning Remember Me — the next book documenting the events of the Kindertransporte — into graphic novel form. **

Teaser Time!

2010-06-08T08:09:00.002-03:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read and open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Started reading this one the minute it arrived, here is a teaser from page 49 of The Map of True Places.

"We think we're free," she said, "but we're not. We're the product of every association we've ever made, and sometimes of ones we inherited from people we never even knew."

Did you post a teaser this week? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up over at Should Be Reading.

Mailbox Monday

2010-06-07T10:53:00.001-03:00

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme where we share the books that we've received through the mail. It is kindly hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

Thanks to Steve Zipp for sending along a copy of his novel Yellowknife and to Gwendolyn for hosting a giveaway for The Map of True Places where I was lucky #38!

What books did you find in your mailbox this week?

Made in the U.S.A.

2010-06-03T11:16:00.000-03:00

Made in the U.S.A.

Billie Letts

New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2009

355 pages

"... the more miles they put between them and home, the better."
3/5

From the Publisher
Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her eleven-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy, her father's 300-pound ex-girlfriend.

As if their life were not dismal enough, one day in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy''s old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no particular interest in the kids he left behind. Alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming Made in the U.S.A. is the story of two children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they finally find a place where they belong.

Two of my three sisters both claim that Billie Letts' Shoot the Moon—(still need to nab this one out of our lending circle)—was one of the best books they have ever read; Where the Heart Is became one of my favourites years ago! Perhaps my expectations going into Made in the U.S.A. were a little high but for me, this one was just an O.K. read. I didn't really care for Lutie or the self centered teen stereotype she represented. Even though I felt sorry for her at times, especially when she gets caught up in the seedier side of Las Vegas, I had a hard time getting past some of the decisions she made. I guess being smarter about how to spend what precious little funds they had and who to trust wouldn't have made for a very exciting story but I never really did warm up to this girl.

The story moved at a good pace, I was never once bored with this book but I think it's charm lies in Part Three when the setting moves from Las Vegas to Hugo, Oklahoma. Fate was a character I absolutely adored! After the deprivation of love and caring that he suffered, what Fate finds in friendship makes a reader's heart soar! Hugo is the wintering ground of Vargas Brothers Circus. Here, we learn more about "the mystery man" who helped Fate and Lutie, and about what it takes to repair family ties once they've been frayed.

Free Verse Novel Challenge Update

2010-06-01T13:08:00.000-03:00

** Due to a lack of interest, the Free Verse Novel Challenge has been cancelled. My sincere apologies to Alee and Karen for any inconvenience this decision may have caused. **

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

2010-05-26T08:01:00.004-03:00

What My Girlfriend doesn't Know
Sonya Sones

NY: Simon Pulse, 2008

291 pages

"... a lot more complicated than that."
4.5/5

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know is like the flip side of a coin, a continuing story but this time from the guy's point of view. It picks up where What My Mother Doesn't Know leaves off and just as I suspected, "the course of true love never did run smooth" especially for these two teens. Bucking against a barrage of peer pressure, Sophie and Robin find some pretty crafty ways to show others that their relationship isn't a joke. However, when old insecurities start welling up inside, Robin wrestles with some heavy ~~breathing~~ thinking.

Like it's companion, this free verse novel quickly pulls the reader into the story. Although you could read it independently, having the background info from the first book certainly enhances ones perspective. There are ample funny moments but there are tender and malicious moments too. One scene in particular actually had me in tears when a child's seemingly innocent remark, is more the echo of a cripplingly cruel joke and the culmination of past and present hurts.

There was a certain playfulness to some of the poems that gave this book a more masculine feel, like the poems really were coming from a teen males brain. This is especially evident in the few concrete poems. Although I laughed and rolled my eyes in recognition of I Do Not Have a One Track Mind I did enjoy the more subtle humour of Is My Nose Growing? where Sophie quizzes Robin on what it was like to sketch a female nude model.

In What My Mother Doesn't Know there were several postage stamp sketches near the end so I was just a tad dissapointed not to see something similar in What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know. The door was kind of left open for a third installement, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that if there is a next one, it will include a sketch or two.

Mailbox Monday

2010-05-17T11:17:00.004-03:00

I've been quite lucky lately to have won giveaways hosted by other book bloggers! Here are the most recent ones to have made their way to my mailbox and kitchen door:

Thanks to Gwendolyn, Vera and Teddy!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme where we share the books that we've received through the mail. It is kindly hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

What treasures did you find in your mailbox this week?

The Flying Troutmans

2010-05-16T19:18:00.031-03:00

the Flying Troutmans

Miriam Toews

Toronto: Alfred A. Knoph Canada
2009

275 pages

"What happens if they break a rule? ... "
4/5

Take one Aunt who just got dumped by her boyfriend in Paris, add one eleven year old white girl who talks like she's from "the hood" and has an aversion to bathing, and one basketball loving moody teenage boy; throw them together in a van and send them on a trip across America to find the kid's long-lost dad and what do you get? A highly entertaining take on a family in crisis!

Was the mother in me appalled at some of the things the aunt let the kids do and get away with? You bet! Did I cringe at the absence of quotation marks to set off speech between the characters? Not really. You get used to the writing style really quick and it works well within this type of book, adding a sense of urgency. Did I enjoy tagging along with the Troutmans for the ride? As a reader/fly on the wall, yes but there is no way I'd want to be an actual passenger in that van!

Once again Miriam Toews has managed to make me smile through sadness. Like her earlier novel A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans is liberally peppered with off beat humour but it definitely has a dark side. At the heart of this story is Min, long suffering with mental illness. Though we do get to know Min better through her sister Hattie's memories and the few facts her kids share, it is the focus on other family members and how they relate to each other while living under a cloud of mental distress that makes this book such a memorable read.

** The Flying Troutmans is my 15th completed book for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge and my 3rd selection for the Books Won Reading Challenge. **

Miss Elva Giveaway Winner!

2010-05-12T08:53:00.001-03:00

Congratulations Kate!

List Randomiser has placed you on the top! As such, you are now the winner of a brand new copy of Miss Elva by Stephens Gerard Malone! To claim your book simply respond to the email I'll be sending you shortly. I'll be looking to hear from you soon and can have this one in the mail as early as Friday.

Many thanks to all who entered! Stay in tune with the changing of the seasons for more book giveaways here at A Season to Read! ;)

Teaser Time

2010-05-11T12:17:00.002-03:00

From page 116 of Made in the U.S.A. ~ Billie Letts

They were quite for a long time, as if respecting each other's private thoughts.
Fate was hoping Lutie had fallen asleep when she said in such a soft voice, he could barely hear her, "You suppose he was thinking about us when he died?"

Haven't got a clue about what's going on here! I have 30 pages left to go in my current read before moving on to this one.

Did you post a teaser this week? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up over at Should Be Reading.

Stitches

2010-05-07T09:55:00.002-03:00

Stitches
a memoir...

David Small

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
2009

329 pages

"I was scared ..."
5/5

Ah, my daughter knows me so well! She warned me NOT to read the back of the book when she gave me Stitches for Christmas. Glad for the warning and glad I listened! I've read previews and reviews since that, like the back of the book, give a tad too much away. For me, going into this one completely blind was much more rewarding; I didn't have a clue about what I was about to be hit with. This not knowing allowed me to experience the book more through David's eyes, and in truth what he saw, what he lived through, held me mesmerized.

I can read most books just about anywhere, at the bowling alley, in the living room where other members of my family are watching TV, and waiting for appointments with teachers, dentists and doctors. Not so with Stitches, the intensity of this book was so overwhelming that I needed total silence to take it all in.

As a graphic novel this memoir works incredibly well! David Small illustrates his memories with eerie detail and symbolism. Imagination sparked by fear and uncertainty appear throughout as little vignettes. Some of these sketches are soothing; more are nightmarish containing characters as threatening and scary as those he knew to be family. Together, creative imagination and the stark reality of actual happenings cast a haunting light on the very dark and troubling childhood of David Small.

Highly recommended! This book is a keeper, my sister borrowed and thoroughly enjoyed Stitches (her first graphic novel) but I made sure I got it back!

Also reviewed by:
Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea
Kathy at Bermudaonion

** Stitches is my 3rd selection for Graphic Novels Challenge 2010. **

Free Verse Novel Challenge

2010-05-01T23:01:00.001-03:00

Well, this is the place where I had hoped to ask for links to reviews. As I've only had one person sign up so far, I'll provide the links to reviews within this post.

I really enjoy free verse novels and my purpose in starting the challenge was 1. to get others to try them, and 2. to connect with those who already enjoy these fast paced reads. I'll leave the challenge up for another month to see if it generates anymore interest. You can find details on how to sign up here.

April Reviews for the Free Verse Novel Challenge:

Alee ~ 42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Wanda ~ Ann and Seamus by Kevin Major

The Origin of Species Giveaway Winner!

2010-04-30T09:14:00.000-03:00

Congratulations Debbie F!

Email will be sent shortly.

The sooner I get a reply, the sooner I can pop this one in the mail!

Booking Through Thursday ~ again, I'm left questioning HIS divine wisdom!

2010-04-29T09:59:00.001-03:00

Booking Through Thursday Asks:

God* comes to you and tells you that, from this day forward, you may only read ONE type of book–one genre–period, but you get to choose what it is. Classics, Science-Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Cookbooks, History, Business … you can choose, but you only get ONE.

What genre do you pick, and why?

GOD would never do that! Would he? Then again, didn't he try to test Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his own son? That bible story scarred the heck out of me when I was little so I would definitely not go with religious fiction, lol!

No need for reflection, I'd go with literary fiction and if I had to narrow it down even further, Can Lit. Oh wait ... but that would mean saying buh-bye to Southern Fiction. Hmmm, OK maybe I would have cause for pause but only if I had to narrow it down.

Ann and Seamus

2010-04-28T13:26:00.001-03:00

Ann and Seamus

Kevin Major

art by David Blackwood

Toronto: Groundwood Books/
Douglas & McIntyre, 2003

109 pages

"... like seabirds clinging to the rocks."
4/5

Ann and Seamus is based on the historical rescue by Ann Harvey and her family of 163 passengers from the wreck of the Despatch. In 1828, Ann was only seventeen when at the oars of the rescue boat, she was able to summon the strength and courage to keep rowing upon a roaring sea. Each time out, she'd return with more who were left stranded from the Irish immigrant ship to her home on Isle aux Morts.

A few summers ago, my youngest daughter and I enjoyed a children's picture book based around the same event. When I learned that Kevin Major, who just happens to be the author of my favourite Christmas book The House of Wooden Santas , wrote a free verse novel on the same subject, I knew it was one I'd want to read!

More than just a rescue story, by introducing an imagined eighteen-year-old Seamus Ryan as a character, Kevin Major has weaved a poetic tale of young love and hard times. Not only does the imagery take you along the shores of a Newfoundland fishing out port, but also to the Ireland that young Seamus left behind in search of a better life.

Adding to the pleasure of reading this book are the few illustrations by David Blackwood. They are a cold blue and almost ghostly echoing of the words of Kevin Major. My favourite is of a single cod, the mighty fish favourite of what some would call "better days".

I gave this to my daughter to read telling her she'd like it and wanting to know if she'd recognize the story. Loved the light bulb moment upon her face when she said, "Hey, this is about that dog and the girl who saved all those people from the ship wreck!" Did you notice how she phrased that? Dog before girl. Interesting that she remembered the story at the mention of "Hairyman", the Harvey's dog. Glad the Canadian Coast Guard was more impressed with Ann when naming one of their vessels.

To enjoy a great review of the first book we read about Ann Harvey (and her dog ;) ), click here to go to The Book Mine Set; say hello to John while you're there ...

** Ann and Seamus is my first selection for the Free Verse Novel Challenge and is my 14th completed book for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge. **

Teaser Tuesday

2010-04-27T20:29:00.000-03:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read and open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

From page 93 of The Flying Troutmans ~ Miriam Toews

I gently massaged her scalp. It was discoloured from the purple dye and speckled with dirt and glue and glitter. Hey, I said, where's the scalpel stuck?

Did you post a teaser this week? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up over at Should Be Reading.

The Paperboy's Winter

2010-04-23T11:28:00.000-03:00

The Paperboy's Winter

Tim Bowling

Penguin Canada, 2003

278 pages

"...I knew something big was going to happen soon."
4.5/5

In The Paperboy's Winter, a thirty year old Callum Taylor spots a face from his past. The sight of the eccentric old fisherman sets his mind to wonder through memories of a winter from his childhood. In 1975 Callum had landed his first paper route delivering the Vancouver Sun to his neighbours in Chilukthan, British Columbia. A village of corn and potato fields and where "ancient plum orchards ended abruptly at the bank of the Fraser River". His father is a salmon fisherman and so when Callum isn't in The Haunted Bookstore, at school or out doing his paper route, he spends a lot of time down at the dyke and around other fisherman and their boats.

To Callum, Ezra Hemsworth isn't just another fisherman, he's a man shrouded in mystery. In trying to determine the cause of Ezra's strange ways and behaviour, Callum and friends embark on a journey of increasing awareness of an adult world that posses more questions than answers.

Laughter and tragedy are served up in equal doses through an enigmatic cast of characters that are a pure pleasure to ponder. I loved the pace of this novel, how it always kept you on the edge of the mysterious. I felt like a fly on the wall reading this book! An omnipresent, descriptive prose, easily transports the reader to a different place and time; never once slowing the rhythmic animation of the book or feeling overdone.

More than anything though, I enjoyed how much I could identify with the main character. Just two years later and on the opposite coast of Canada, Iike Callum, I too would be ten. Though I didn't have a route of my own, I often helped a friend deliver papers. I remember well what it was like to knock on doors, a little knot in your stomach at being asked inside. The thrill of a ten cent tip would have our mouths watering for penny candies from a jar. Cutting through the graveyard and stopping to play among the boats tied up at Fisherman's Wharf were all part and partial to being a kid in a small fishing community in the '70's. From the tiny, crowded country store to the (more than one) eccentric neighbour; so familiar and yet so far away, Callum's childhood world was not unlike my own.

Containing all the elements I crave from Can Lit, The Paperboy's Winter has left me wanting more from Tim Bowling!

In celebration of Poetry Month ...

2010-04-19T11:03:00.000-03:00

J.T. Oldfield is hosting today's stop on the Poetry Month Blog Tour. Just for fun, I thought I'd play along with "The Regie Gibson Method".

These are the words I was left with:
silver, Taj Mahal, one, King Lear, knee

Here is the poem I came up with:

Torn

Slight silver webs
cob walls of memory;
spidering veins creep
regret.

King Lear’s question,
a tempest’s test brews
such tragic tea of indecision.
Who loves me?
Who loves me best?

Years of yearning
yet, never
learning to choose
just one.

Loneliness—
the weight of a book
left open

the Taj Mahal
rests
on her knee.

(Lost and Found) Friday Finds!

2010-04-16T10:57:00.001-03:00

Giveaway: MISS ELVA ~ Stephens Gerard Malone

2010-04-15T11:32:00.003-03:00

The last time I went on a book buying spree, I spotted this one at a great price so I picked up two, one to keep and one to giveaway! Stephens Gerard Malone's I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin was a striking novel that I reviewed here and though I haven't read Miss Elva yet, it sounds fabulous!

Here's how to enter:

1. For one entry, leave a comment on this post that includes your e-mail. If you win I need to be able to let you know!

2. Posting this giveaway on your blog and coming back to tell me about it will earn you another chance to win.

3. Though I don't display them in my sidebar, I do appreciate those who follow A Season to Read! If you are or become one of my faithful, let me know in the comments to earn a third shot at winning!

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere who is 18 years of age or older and has a mailing address where the book can be sent.

This giveaway will end on May 11th with the draw to be held the following morning. Once the winner is announced he or she will need to respond within three days to claim the book.

That's it, good luck!

** A Season to Read is comment moderation enabled. Please be aware that your comments may take some time to appear. **

GIVEAWAY: The Origin of Species ~ Nino Ricci

2010-04-13T14:57:00.093-03:00

Up for grabs is my gently read, hardcover copy of Nino Ricci's The Origin of Species. This Governor General's Literary Award Winner for 2008 didn't exactly do it for me but if you're wanting to read it for yourself, here's your chance.

Here's how to enter:

1. For one entry, leave a comment on this post that includes your e-mail. If you win I need to be able to let you know!

2. Posting this giveaway on your blog and letting me know about it will earn you another chance to win.

3. New comments left on any of my book reviews at A Season to Read between now and contest closing, will earn one additional entry per review comment.

This giveaway is open to Canada and US residents who are 18 years of age or older and have a mailing address where the book can be sent.

This giveaway will end on April 29th with the draw to be held the following morning. Once the winner is announced he or she will need to respond within three days to claim the book.

That's it, good luck!

** A Season to Read is comment moderation enabled. Please be aware that your comments may take some time to appear. **

Mailbox Monday

2010-04-12T11:04:00.000-03:00

Look at the beauty that arrived in my mailbox last week! I have more than a few waiting their turn to be read but I'm really looking forward to getting around to this one which I won over at A Bookshelf Monstrosity. Thanks Amanda, love the "blog card bookmark" too, nice touch!

Here is a little about the book From the Publisher:

... a literary historical novel about an orphan girls journey from poverty to film stardom, set against the grand backdrop of World War I Berlin, the cabaret era, the run-up to World War II, and the innovations in art and industry that accompanied it all. Big, rich, intelligent, and masterfully written, here is a page-turning story of glitter and splendor, drama and love, friendship and identity, and an illuminating account of a period of history that foreshadowed much of the twentieth century.

As the clock chimes the turn of the twentieth century, Lilly Nelly Aphrodite takes her first breath. The illegitimate, orphaned daughter of a cabaret performer, she finds early refuge at a Berlin Catholic orphanage. From there follows a lifetime of reinventions, from orphan to maid, war bride, tingle-tangle nightclub girl, and script typist. Her eventual transformation into one of Germany's leading silent-film stars, and a partner in a remarkable romance that crosses decades and continents, could ultimately cost her everything she has worked for.

Gripping and seductive like few other literary novels, "The Glimmer Palace" showcases the glamour, spectacle, and theatrical energy of the brief heyday of the Weimar Republic, while at the same time telling the story of that other great twentieth-century illusion—cinema.

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme where we share the books that we've received through the mail. It is kindly hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-03-30T10:00:00.000-03:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read and open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from the short story Night Sky Falling, the 2nd in Carmelita McGrath's collection of short stories titled Stranger Things Have Happened.

From page 13:

Before I can look closely, see all the details of the pink room changed by the dark, before I can make out the lumps like feet in the shadows by the door, before I can find the source of the breathing that comes from behind the toybox, the light is gone. I hold my breath, waiting for the next car to pass, and then before the cowboy on my elbow can shoot the Indian above my left wrist, the darkness covers me in again and I can hear myself—and the other thing—breathing.

Did you post a teaser this week? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up over at Should Be Reading.

ZAN-GAH and the Beautiful Country

2010-03-26T12:06:00.002-03:00

ZAN_GAH and the Beautiful Country

Allan Richard Shickman

Earthshaker Books, 2009

151 pages

"... what he had been dreading had come."
4/5

In the sequel to Zan-Gah A Prehistoric Adventure the story of two brothers continues. Opening with a tragic event, the light of hope and healing is quickly snuffed. Twins Zan and Dael enjoyed a happy, carefree childhood but have seen their lives take drastically different paths. Although reunited and now living among their own tribe, Dael's troubled past will continue to torture his mind causing not only a division between the two brothers but tension among their people and even their enemies.

The bountiful land in which the Ba-Coro people have settled is in bright contrast to the violent circumstances they seem doomed to live. Every time peace seems close at hand, failure to achieve it soon follows. Though Zan refuses to give up on his brother, Dael's increasingly explosive behaviour will test his love and devotion.

A tense read that explores the darker reaches of a disturbed mind, this action adventure held my attention through to the finish. I also enjoyed the suggestion of where some of man's earliest inventions came from. Another added element of interest comes in the character of Rydel. Rydel's inquisitive nature and inventiveness—though ridiculed by Dael—would make him a star pupil in a classroom setting!

A high interest read that should do well in the hands of students grades five and up, I'm delighted to have found an action adventure set that I'm sure boys especially would like.

Free Verse Novel Challenge

2010-03-24T14:26:00.004-03:00

Hello, welcome to the Free Verse Novel Challenge! Being fond of this narrative form, I thought, what better way to share my enthusiasm for free verse novels than with a reading challenge! With their increasing popularity, chances are most book lovers are already familiar with these fast paced reads. However, if you have no kids in the house or you're not a big fan of poetry, you just may have missed them. A verse novel is simply one which uses poetry rather than prose to relate the story. Whether you already know and love them or just want to give them a try, I'm hoping we can discover some new titles and great reads together!

Ready to sign up? Here are the details:

Help spread the word with a post or button (available here) then come back and add a comment or link. You're in!
No blog? No worries! You can post your reviews on Chapters, Amazon, BookCrossing etc. Don't forget to tell your friends though ... ;) !
5 is the magic number needed to complete this challenge which will run from April 1st 2010 through to December 1st 2010. A list of books isn't necessary. Crossovers with other challenges are fine (and fun). Each book you complete and review over and above 5 will count as an extra entry.
Yes, there will be a prize! On or shortly after December 1st 2010, a draw will be held for a brand new copy of one of my favourite free verse novels, The Crazy Man.

* Entering the term Free Verse Novels into a web or image search should get you started on possible titles. I'm sure most teachers and librarians would be only too happy to provide you with suggestions.*

From ages 9 to 99, there are free verse novels out there for everyone. Let's get out and read them then share our findings together!

A Season to Read is comment moderation enabled. Please allow a little time for your response to appear as I check for comments most mornings and evenings.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 1st, 2010

** Due to a lack of interest, the Free Verse Novel Challenge has been cancelled. My sincere apologies to Alee and Karen for any inconvenience this decision may have caused. **

Teaser Time!

2010-03-23T09:29:00.002-03:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Please avoid spoilers!

From page 7 of The Paperboy's Winter
~ Tim Bowling

The black, the river, the reverent silence, and that free-floating, uneasy expression just at the edge of the flickering light brought another summer back, so forcibly that I was soon lost in it, thrown under the retrieved life, as if I were a piece of driftwood prey to the purposes of the above-rushing tide.
"Jesus," a voice said, and my eyes that were open, opened again.

Did you post a teaser today? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link with our host Miz B over at Should Be Reading.

"She's got the look ..."

2010-03-20T10:13:00.000-03:00

Though I did love my winter background and will most likely return to it next December, it's time to freshen things up a bit and welcome spring with a new look. I've been hatching an idea for a new reading challenge, stay tuned for more details in the next few days. In the meantime, I hope everyone who continues to stop by will enjoy my little niche on the net!

The Country Nurse

2010-03-19T23:34:00.002-03:00

Essex County Vol.3: The Country Nurse

by Jeff Lemire

Top Shelf Productions, 2008

127 pages

"But, I never was very good at minding my own business, was I?"
4/5

The Country Nurse is the third volume in a trilogy of graphic novels set in a fictionalized version of Jeff Lemire’s hometown of Essex County, Ontario. I really enjoyed Tales From the Farm which was the first in the series and also the second installment Ghost Stories.

Connections. What personalities clash and mingle? What secrets lie in the history of a community? All is revealed as we travel with Anne Quenneville on her daily routine of checking on patients. Dispensing advice as much as medical care, Anne comes off as the grandmotherly type—meddlesome yes, but not without genuine concern. Like many of the folks in Essex County, she's more lonely in her own life.

The flow wasn't quite so seamless as in the previous two volumes. Even with the bridge and the crow to ease us along, jumping back and forth from present day to 1917 was a little like travelling a bumpy country road and arriving at your destination slightly dishevelled. The trip was well worth it though, especially in retrospect.

I'm not quite as shocked as I once was to have so enjoyed a book where words take a back seat to images; the symbolism within Jeff Lemire's work speaks for itself. What does strike me in reading this third volume, is how well images can also be used to foreshadow a story. That wow moment of true appreciation came when a familiar image from the 1st volume is cast upon the past; tying up loose knots and quilting together the connections within a community.

Admittedly, I'm a little sad to be, "... LEAVING ESSEX COUNTY". I'd recommend a visit to anyone!

* Essex County Vol.3: The Country Nurse is my 12th selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge and my 2nd selection for Graphic Novels 2010 . *

Leprechauns Never Lie

2010-03-17T22:27:00.001-03:00

Leprechauns Never Lie

Written and illustrated by Lorna Balian

First Published in 1980

Humbug Books

5/5

Ninny Nanny and her Gram are poor and living in a thatched hut in bad need of repair. The girl is lazy and Gram is old and none too well. When conditions go from bad to worse, Ninny Nanny hatches a plan to catch a Leprechaun and though finding one doesn't pose too much of a problem, getting him to reveal where he keeps his treasure is quite a task indeed!

A gentle and amusing way to teach children the value of hard work, Leprechauns Never Lie is a longstanding favourite that comes home from the library to spend some time with us each March. I'm sure my Irish ancestors are up there smiling (or quite possibly laughing) each time I read this book aloud as I've never been able to get past page 2 before my tongue takes to lilting with an Irish brogue! The charm of the story is well matched with delightful sepia illustrations (love the grumpy facial expressions!); a touch of green enhances the magic of the leprechaun.

A re-illustrated version of the book (courtesy of Lorna Balian's daughter Lecia) was published by Starbright Books in 2004. Much more colourful than the original, it would likely appeal to today's children who are more acquainted with brighter, computer enhanced graphics. I'll claim nostalgia when I say I like the old book better! :)

Hope everyone (Irish or just Irish wannabes) found a little luck in store for them today!

Zan-Gah

2010-03-12T10:35:00.000-04:00

Zan-Gah

Allan Richard Shickman

Earthshaker Books, 2007

148 pages

"How could Zan fight ... what he couldn't see?"
4.5/5

I don't usually accept books for review. First, I'm a little picky about my reading choices. Secondly, when I first started blogging in the fall of 2008 some book bloggers were in a pickle due to issues surrounding unfavorable reviews. That pretty much did it for me and I've since stuck to books I've borrowed, won and purchased myself in order to avoid any obligation of a positive review. If I can't be honest about the books I read why bother blogging about them, right?

When Allan R. Shickman offered both his books free of charge in return for reviews, my first thought was, thanks but no thanks! Ah but then curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the link Mr. Shickman provided in his e-mail. Intrigued, I decided to relax on my self imposed rules and take a chance. Here's why: Boys need more books that appeal to them, period. That's not to say that girls won't enjoy Zan-Gah—my own 9-y.o. daughter can't wait to read it!—but with it's action packed adventure set in pre-historic times, even those boys who protest, "but I don't like to read" should warm up to this one!

There is something about the simplicity of the language, an almost archaic tone that though it may play on my nerves in another novel, fits perfectly into the place and time of which this book is set. Fast paced; with main characters (and their enemies) that leap off the page, I envision many a wide-eyed expression enjoying the story of Zan-Gah. Reluctant readers should have no problem with vocabulary or length; indeed they'll likely look forward to the sequel.

Free Verse Novel Challenge ~ Buttons!

2010-03-03T14:23:00.001-04:00

To use any of these buttons, please first load the image to your own computer. Thanks!

Sign-up Link Code:
http://aseasontoread.blogspot.com/2010/03/free-verse-novel-challenge.html

Care to be teased?

2010-03-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

From page 92 of ZAN-GAH A Prehistoric Adventure
~ Allan Richard Shickman

The blazing, relentless sun smote sorely upon him, while the hot and ceaseless wind provided no relief at all. Heat-tortured, aching, and thirstier than he had ever been in his life, only one thing kept him going—the vision of the lake as he had seen it from the high rock, gleaming silver on the farthest horizon.

Did you post a teaser today? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link with our host Miz B over at Should Be Reading.

Mailbox Monday

2010-03-01T12:15:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been 17 days of staying up till 2 AM to watch the Olympics but it was worth it! Of course, this meant that there was no way that I could spend time on the computer when my eyes felt like they were going to fall out of my head but I did keep reading (I am now behind by four reviews)! I also received some wonderful books in the mail, life is good! :)

First, thanks to Teddy for the gift of the book, The Postmistress.

Next came this lovely win from Sandra.

Two more arrived directly from the author, Allan Richard Shickman, the first of which I'm currently reading.

What books did you find in your mailbox lately? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up at The Printed Page!

Drama Queers!

2010-02-28T15:34:00.000-04:00

Drama Queers!

Frank Anthony Polito

Kensington Publishing Corp., 2009

416 pages

"Let's Hear it for the Boy ..."
4/5

The lingo, the look, the lyrics ... Drama Queers had me laughing out loud and longing for the '80's! Bradley Dayton may be sure of who he is but figuring out who he wants isn't quite so easy, especially when the one who keeps batting his baby blue "Hungry Eyes" is also competing for the same roles. At odds with his best friend Jack, Bradley juggles Julliard and Drama auditions along with Band and three part-time jobs. Graduation year may not be the dreamed of glory days he hoped for but in the hickabilly high school years of '87-'88, gargantuan lessons in love, lust and life await Bradley Dayton et al!

Four hundred and sixteen pages and all a pure pleasure to read, I was never once bored with this book! My reason then for giving it a 4 instead of a 5? It was a little hard to keep the characters straight. ;) Just punning, I totally mean the multitude of characters not their sexual orientation. Hats off to teachers who can learn the names of all their students in one week! In the week I spent with Drama Queers! I was somewhat lost in the sea of names. I guess having a face to match up to must help in this regard?

Drama Queers! explores the issues and hang-ups of growing up gay and while the obvious lesson "To thine ownself be true" is preached, it is also tested. It is this measure of vulnerability that lends authenticity to both the story and its characters. With an inside look at the fun side of gay culture (thank you Miss Peter!), the darker side is presented as well. The balance is a winning combination, I only wish I had read Band Fags first!

the Origin of Species

2010-02-09T00:51:00.000-04:00

the Origin of Species

Nino Ricci

Doubleday Canada, 2008

472 pages

2.5/5

From the Publisher:

"The crater held a circle of stars above them as if they were closed up in a snow globe, a private cosmos. He thought of Darwin sleeping out on the pampas during his Beagle trip, a middle-class white kid traveling the world, the first of the backpackers. It was only afterwards, really, that he had made any sense of what he had seen. Alex wondered what, in the fullness of time, he himself would make sense of, what small, crucial detail might be lodging itself in his brain that would shake his life to its foundations." (p 286)

Montreal during the turbulent mid-1980's: Chernobyl has set geiger counters thrumming across the globe, HIV/AIDS is cutting a deadly swath through the gay population worldwide, and locally, tempers are flaring over the language laws of Bill 101. Hiding out in a seedy apartment near the Concordia campus is Alex Fratarcangeli ("Don't worry… I can't even pronounce it myself"), a somewhat oafish 30-something grad student. Though tender and generous at heart, Alex leads a life devoid of healthy relationships, ashamed in particular of the damage he has done to the women with whom he has been romantically entangled. Plagued by the sensation that his entire life is a fraud, Alex attends daily sessions with a lackluster psychoanalyst in an attempt to shake off the demon of depression (and the cigarette-tinged voice of Peter Gzowski in his ear). Scarred by a distant father and a dangerous relationship with his ex Liz, and consumed by a floundering dissertation linking Darwin's theory of evolution with the history of human narrative, Alex has come to view love and other human emotions as "evolutionary surplus, haphazard neural responses that nature had latched onto for its own insidious purposes."

Then a convergence of brave souls enter Alex's life, forcing him to recognize the possibility of meaningful connections. There is his neighbour Esther, whose multiple sclerosis is progressing rapidly, yet who gamely attacks every day she has left. There is the elegant Félix, an older gay man whose own health status is in question yet who remains resolutely generous,and María, returning to fight for human rights in her native El Salvador, knowing she will face certain peril. Along the way Alex meets others whose struggles with their own demons are not so successful, and sometimes tragic. When he receives a letter from Ingrid, the beautiful woman he knew years ago in Sweden, notifying him of the existence of his five year old son. Alex is gripped by a paralytic terror.

Whenever Alex's thoughts grow darkest, he is compelled to recall Desmond, the British professor with dubious credentials whom he met years ago in the Galapagos. Treacherous and despicable, wearing his ignominy like his rumpled jacket, Desmond nonetheless caught Alex in his thrall and led him to some life-altering truths during their weeks exploring Darwin's islands together. It is only now that Alex can begin to comprehend these unlikely life lessons, and see a glimmer of hope shining through what he had thought was meaninglessness.

Funny, poignant and visceral, Nino Ricci's most recent masterpiece The Origin of Species will remind you of the wonder of life, the beauty of existence and the great gift that is our connection to the universe and all that is.

Now, doesn't that sound like something one should enjoy reading? I was hoping to like this one as much as his earlier novel, Lives of the Saints. Instead, Nino Ricci's the Origin of Species bogged me down in a serious case of book blahs for the entire month of January and left me wondering why it was worthy of a GG Award! One may wonder why I didn't just give up on it but the truth is, I kind of have a stubborn streak when it comes to books. Honestly, I can think of only two novels that I actually refused to finish and not knowing the outcome still bugs me. Besides, if I could get through The Turnaround which I disliked so much more, I was bound and determined to read the Origin of Species in it's entirety.

In a nutshell, I didn't like the main character; not a good thing when the book is mostly character driven. Alex is too self centered and nearly emotionally devoid when it comes to his personal relationships unless they serve to stroke his bruised ego. He cares way too much about what certain people think while ignoring the feelings of those who should matter the most. Sitting in on his therapy sessions and listening to the conversations he has in his head with Peter Gzowski though entertaining, still didn't make me care about Alex as a person.

A good portion of the book takes place in both Sweden and the Galapagos. Here, I did enjoy romping around these parts through the experiences of Alex. In the Galapagos especially, learning a bit about the local flora and fauna as well as touching on the history of the visit that set the stage for Charles Darwin's fame was quite interesting. However, in wanting to get back to the part of the book that involved Esther, I became bored with Ingrid and her children and soon tired with Desmond too for that matter.

Esther, now here was a character to care about! Funny, sweet and determined despite her physical challenges with MS, her character is open where Alex is closed. Esther kept me reading, I could never have closed the book on this girl. Indeed, I would have liked to have known her better.

* the Origin of Species is my 11th selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge and counts toward the 2010 Books Won Reading Challenge. *

Cover Attraction ~ The Weight of Water?

2010-02-03T10:22:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday I discovered that I could link images of my favourite books to my Windows Live Profile. When I entered The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve, my eye immediately went to a beautiful cover of a book that shares the title but not the author.

(2009)

Here's what Fantastic fiction has to say about the Penelope Evans book:

After a traumatic experience in London, Sara Ravenscroft's husband Tom decides it's time for them to move to the country, away from the stress of the city. They find their dream house and all seems well, but it is here that the haunting dream which has plagued Sara since childhood starts to creep into the everyday. The small child in a little white dress and red shoes starts to appear along the river bank at the edge of their idyllic home - is this just a vision or is there something else to connect them? For Sara, the village is cold and unwelcoming and she receives a frosty reception from a community weary of outsiders. Along with the imposing Victorian asylum, the old church with its crowded graveyard only emphasises the insecurity she feels. When a movement draws her towards a headstone covered in moss, Sara is compelled to look further. The warmth of the stone is not the only shocking revelation - Events start to unfold, drawing Sara into a tumbling downward spiral. Does the past hold the key to her dream or is it the present she needs to be wary of? The unnerving movement always caught too late - is this a trick of the mind or an important piece in the puzzle that is Sara's life?

Has anyone read the Penelope Evans book yet? Any Anita Shreve fans do a double take when they caught the title!? The cover to the left is the book I know and loved, though I still haven't seen the movie. Who has read the book and caught the movie, how did they compare?

Cover Attraction is a bookish meme hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page. Did you post a Cover Attraction this week? Let me know what books have been catching your eye lately in the comments.

What My Mother Doesn't Know

2010-02-01T21:54:00.002-04:00

what my mother doesn't know

Sonya Sones

Simon Pulse, 2003

259 pages

"Sometimes I just know things."
5/5

Back when my eldest daughter was in grade eight, I bought this book for her for Christmas; it ended up being my favourite read over that holiday season! Quick paced in free verse form, Sonya Sones' poems illustrate the physical and emotional ups and downs in the life of a young teenage girl. Relationships with family, friends, and first (second and third) loves are related through almost fifteen year old Sophie with an authentic voice.

Needing a pick-me-up after being bogged down in my current read, I plucked this one from my daughters bookcase for a third time. Sophie helps me recall what it was like being a teenager and feeling so confused all the time. I'm glad to have long ago grown out of that stage but it's fun to look back and remember. Besides, I get to craving something sweet now and then and what my mother doesn't know satisfies without the added calories.

Pick this one up for your daughters and nieces but give it a read before wraping it up! ;)

Teaser Time!

2010-01-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

Rather than force feed a couple lines to you from the book I'm currently reading at a snails pace, today's teaser comes from the short story Stranger Things Have Happened by Carmelita McGrath, page 5 of the book with same title.

We had all learned a slow, shuffling walk for funeral processions. It was Miss Katherine's particular pride. Give me your ragged, your snot-noused, your undernourished, your mewling and sprawling children, and I will turn them into marchers ready to honour the dead.

Fudging the rules a bit today with 3 lines instead of two but hey, I'm not the first. ;)

Did you post a teaser today? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up with our host of Teaser Tuesdays over at Should Be Reading.

Teaser Time!

2010-01-12T12:03:00.001-04:00

In his own mind nothing counted, really, until he showed up in the flesh. He ought to be home right now calling or writing again, offering to board the first plane, instead of sitting here with a woman who was so extraneous to the main thrust of his life that to be with her was little more than a way of not being with himself.

Hmm, I'm not really sure what to make of this book yet. I'm about a dozen pages past the point of the teaser and so far, it's just an OK read. Did you post a teaser this week? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up at Should Be Reading!

Books Won Reading Challenge

2010-01-11T21:52:00.001-04:00

Teddy Rose of So Many Precious Books, So Little Time is hosting this new challenge in 2010. As I have had the good fortune to win a few books from other book bloggers, I think this challenge will be a great motivator to get those books read!

Here are the levels:

Honorable Mention: Read 1-3 books won.
Bronze: Read 4-6 books you won.
Silver: Read 7-9 books won.
Gold: Read 10 or more books you won.

Though of course I'll be cheering for Canada in it's quest for Gold in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics (nice tie in Teddy!), I'll be happy with a Bronze for the purpose of this challenge!

My List:

the Origin of Species ~ Nino Ricci (won from Random House at The Book Mine Set)
Drama Queers ~ Frank Anthony Polito (won from J.T. Oldfield at Bibliofreak)
The Flying Troutmans ~ Miriam Toews (won from Random House at The Book Mine Set)
Testimony ~ Anita Shreve (won from Sandra at Fresh Ink Books)

I have a few more titles waiting in the wings so you never know, I may come on strong near the end and go for Gold. If you'd like to join me and other book lovers in training, go here for more info and to sign up. Remember though, we're already winners! ;)

Graphic Novels Challenge 2010

2010-01-08T12:18:00.003-04:00

If anyone had told me this time last year that I would become a fan of Graphic Novels, I likely would have laughed at them. Just one book, that's all it took to grab my attention, turn me around and tune me in to a great genre that I had been previously ignoring. Looking forward to reading at least 6 or so in 2010!

To join in on the fun or learn more about this reading challenge just click the pic above!

Essex County Vol.2 Ghost Stories

2010-01-07T12:26:00.003-04:00

Essex County Vol.2
Ghost Stories

Jeff Lemire

Top Shelf Productions, 2007

224 pages

"All I wanted was to go home ..."
4.5/5

Ghost Stories is the second volume in a trilogy of graphic novels set in a fictionalized version of Jeff Lemire’s hometown of Essex County, Ontario. I really enjoyed Tales From the Farm which was the first in the series and I am equally impressed with this one!

From the back cover:

Ghost Stories follows the lives and relationship of brothers Lou and Vince Lebeuf over the course of nearly seven decades. In this volume, eldest brother Lou, now a deaf and lonely man, lives out his final days on his farm full of guilt and regret for the decisions he made that tore his family apart. From their childhood on the farm, to Toronto in the 1950’s (where they both played professional hockey), Lou revisits his life, a silent observer haunting his own memories.

Instead of picking up where the first book leaves off, Ghost Stories opens a window to the past while detailing a story of two brothers. In walking down memory lane with Lou as he appears to be losing touch with the present, we pick up a little background info on Jimmy, who was a major character in Tales From the Farm. Like Lou, I was a little confused myself until the connection to names and faces is made clear.

I've read through this one twice now and am still amazed at how well Jeff Lemire evokes emotion through his drawings! Confusion, regret, loneliness and longing are all distinctly called forth from the pages. In just under half an hour, I can gain as much pleasure from reading this book as any that have taken me weeks to finish; definitely a bonus with how busy life can get around here at times.

* Essex County Vol.2 Ghost Stories is my 10th selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge and my 1st selection for Graphic Novels 2010 . *

Looking Back ...

2009-12-31T23:49:00.002-04:00

While the family rings in the new year watching The Mummy (the first time for my 9 y.o., the umpteenth time for the rest of us), I thought to take a peek through the archives to find my favourite reads of the past year. I've read and reviewed 35 books but instead of listing all of these (after all, there are are at least two I'd rather forget about), I've picked 5 favourites to highlight.

My Top 5 books of 2009 are:

5. Essex County Volume. 1 Tales From the Farm ~ Jeff Lemire
This one made me a new fan of the graphic novel! I've already read the next two in the series, reviews coming soon!

4. Coventry ~ Helen Humphreys
My favourite of the books I read for the WWII Reading Challenge.

3. The Wildfire Season ~ Andrew Pyper
It was a toss between this one and a very recent read but in the end I went with the bear.

2. Shelf Monkey ~ Corey Redekop
I liked this book so much that after returning it to the library, I went out and bought two more! One I kept, one I gave away. :)

And my absolute favourite read of 2009 was ...

Tomato Girl ~ Jane Pupek

This book took my breath away for so many reasons! A beautiful, sad and important book I've recommended countless times since reading.

I also love to read poetry! As a matter of fact, if a noticeable gap appears between book reviews, chances are I've been reading poetry. However, unless it's in the form of a prose novel like The Crazy Man I find poetry collections awfully hard to review. I have at least three reviews in draft that I've spent hours on but because I'm not satisfied that I can fully relate the emotions they've stirred or how three perfect words in a single line can stop time for the briefest second, they remain in draft form. I do keep track of most of the poetry titles I read on Chapters, this year I've read 11 and my favourite among them was I Thought Elvis Was Italian by Domenico Capilongo. To read about this book from someone who doesn't get all hung up over poetry reviews, go here.

If anyone has read any of these titles and I've missed your review, please give me a shout in the comments. I'd love to visit and read your thoughts on one of my favourites of 2009!

WW II Challenge Wrap-Up

2009-12-30T23:54:00.003-04:00

My personal goal was to read and review eight books for this challenge. Though I did stray from my original list somewhat, I did manage to fit in eight titles. In the order I read them, those books were:

Down the Coaltown Road ~ Sheldon Currie
Coventry ~ Helen Humphreys
Turvey ~ Earl Birney
A World Away ~ Stewart O'Nan
I Had Seen Castles ~ Cynthia Rylant
Stones in Water ~ Donna Jo Napoli
I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin ~ Stephens Gerard Malone
Fire in the Hills ~ Donna Jo Napoli

I'd like to thank Anna and Serena for all their enthusiasm and hard work hosting this challenge! There are at least another eight titles I'd like to read at some point, that I learned about through participant reviews.

Away From Everywhere

2009-12-29T23:44:00.006-04:00

Away From Everywhere

Chad Pelley

Breakwater Books

Released: Oct. 2009

298 pages

One of those books "that wound and stab us."
5/5

Twin brothers Alex and Owen Collins share a tragic past and a heart-wrenching present in Away From Everywhere, a riveting first novel from Newfoundland writer, Chad Pelley. Exploring the lasting effects of how tragedy and loss alter the decisions and personalities of brothers, this book is a hard and honest view of relationships; of love and what we lose to it.

Opening with the car crash that claims the life of Alex's wife Hannah, her voice carries on, expertly woven throughout the novel in haunting and reflective journal entries. As a character in a book, I loved Hannah for all the buttons I'm sure she'll push in many a reader's mind! As a person, I wasn't sure whether to pity Hannah or secretly cheer for her. There were many elements to her situation that I could easily relate to but couldn't condone. One thing's certain, I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not hurting for Hannah, or Owen, or Alex for that matter.

Alex becomes a doctor, always striving to do better than best, a perfectly "normal" life built to replace the one that he was robbed of while still in the prime of his youth. Owen, like his journalist father before him, becomes a writer and enjoys some success before turning to the bottle to keep the words flowing and the violent memories at bay. Though one brother appears more successful and well adjusted than the other, neither man is truly happy. When Owen hits rock bottom, Alex opens his home to his brother inviting him to live with his family and get to know the two nieces he's only ever seen in pictures.

Away From Everywhere first called to me through it's promotional book trailer; I found it mesmerizing! The combination of music and images had the hair standing up at the back of my neck and I just knew this was one that would hold me in it's grip. I always look forward to fiction set in Atlantic Canada, particularly that set in Newfoundland but with the mention of Sheet Harbour and Dartmouth General, I was eerily plunked in my own back yard for a good portion of the book. Far from putting me in a trance though, this one delivered big time on my "readers intuition". For those who know about the constant tending of emotional bruises, be forewarned — forget the tissues, you'll need band-aids after reading this one!

* Chad Pelley is an award-winning writer from St.John's Newfoundland. To learn more about the author and this book go to chadpelley.wordpress.com *

** Away From Everywhere is my 8th selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge. **

Make Merry with Mummers!

2009-12-25T21:21:00.000-04:00

When John Mutford mentioned this book in the 5th Round-up of the 3rd Canadian book challenge, I thought it would be a cute Christmas read the kids and I could share. When it came in at the library I was delighted to learn that the book is an illustrated version of the song I've know for years!

Mummering is a tradition I first learned of while listening to old stories my grandfather would relay about his youth in Newfoundland. The closest we had to mummering in Nova Scotia, as far as I can tell, happened long before my time when my father was a boy and would go around on Boxing day with a little hammer rapping on neighbours doors and receiving small treats like clear toys, salt water taffy and popcorn balls.

Mummers on the other hand, kicked up much more of a fuss and were rewarded with more potent prizes for their efforts. Though to novices Mummers may seem a wee bit off kilter and just a tad scary (such as those that appear in Wayne Johnston's memoir, Baltimore's Mansion ) Ian Wallace's colour pencil illustrations capture the good times, down home spirit of this mostly rural Newfoundland tradition that would begin on Boxing Day and end on Old Christmas. My 16 y-o. son is big on Maritime folk music and so was tickled to find the book among last weeks library loot. My daughters (9 and 19) were only slightly less enthusiastic; still did the back and forth head sways as I read the book. Well, sang actually, I mean, who can read a book with lyrics anyway? Not me!

Enjoy!

Good night and good Christmas, mummers me dears.
Please God, we will see you next year.

Fire in the Hills

2009-12-21T08:34:00.003-04:00

Fire in the Hills
Sequel to: Stones in Water

Donna Jo Napoli

New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 2006

215 pages

"People he loved were waiting for him."
3.5/5

After reading and reviewing Stones in Water, I was anxious to get to this book and learn whether Roberto makes it back to Venice. The fact that Fire in the Hills doesn't exactly pick up where the first book left off was slightly annoying. I wanted to know why Roberto wasn't travelling with Maurizio anymore long before page 75, where Maurizio's fate is finally revealed through a series of flashcard like memories that Roberto experiences while ploughing in the rain.

Roberto has gone through quite a series of captures and escapes, including that from a German soldier who used him as a translator before winding up on the farm of Rina. Roberto spends half a year at the farm helping Rina and her sons, harvesting the grapes; working the fields. This was a beautiful section in the book where the wine making process is covered in some detail. With death and the chaos of war a constant worry and threat, this small community comes together and shares in the labour and rewards of preparing wine.

When a young woman shows up at the farm with a letter from the oldest son, she convinces Roberto to join her in the resistance movement. With Volpe Rossa's guidance and encouragement Roberto does his part delivering messages and munitions, all the while slowly making his way back to Venice. The risks they take and the brutality they face if caught is almost unimaginable. Knowing that Fire in the Hills is based on the true wartime experiences of some of the author's Italian friends, makes reading about the efforts and sacrifices of the partigiani that much more compelling.

* Also reviewed by Anna at Diary of an Eccentric *

** Fire in the Hills is my 8th selection for the WWII Reading Challenge. **

Squeezing in some Teaser Time!

2009-12-15T09:35:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm still around and yes, I'm still reading. Just haven't had a whole lot of time to spend on the computer lately. However, I started this book yesterday that I had trouble putting down last night and just had to share a teaser from it!

From the last page I read last night before my eyes grew too heavy to continue:

She laughed a nervous laugh, but her mind, behind those flickering eyes, was clearly racing for an explanation. "When your father comes home, don't say anything, don't act any different than you usually do, okay?

From page 48 of Away From Everywhere ~ Chad Pelly

If you missed it, you can click here to view the book trailer that I posted in Oct.

Alternately, clicking on the title will bring you to info from Chapters.

Did you post a Teaser this week? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link up at Should Be Reading!

" Time for a cool change ... "

2009-12-01T12:32:00.002-04:00

OK, I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit here but with the grey bare limbs of trees showing and the snow falling outside my window, I simply couldn't wait 'til the 21st of December to change my background. Hope those of you who stop by on a regular basis like the new look as much as I do! To see the image that inspired this design (both created by Elegia) go here where you can then click on the image for larger views.

A small kink with the header in that I can't get it to post behind my blog title. Works fine on my test blog so I'm not sure what the problem is but until I can figure it out I've added a small welcoming bouquet to the top right column.

I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin

2009-11-30T23:03:00.002-04:00

I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin

Stephens Gerard Malone

Random House Canada: 2008

319 pages

" ~ 1932 ~ SEEMED THE PERFECT YEAR TO MOVE TO BERLIN "
4/5

This book stirs so many emotions! First, I laughed in appreciation of the Maritime humour that the book opens with. Michael is sitting on a log in Point Pleasant Park watching the lights from ships as they wonder into Halifax Harbour. In the dark, you can't see the black eye his father gave him over a job he sorely fumbled. His sister Gene plunks "her arse" down beside him and tries to ease his mind about moving to Berlin.

Too soon Michael leaves Halifax and all the places I know well, travelling across the ocean to where the bulk of the book takes place, Berlin. Here it didn't take long to became annoyed with the main character. At 25, Michael is not exactly a boy and I felt his innocence about the nightlife he is introduced to (at least his constant denial of his true feelings) a little hard to swallow at times. Then again, a lot has changed since 1932 and I like to think we are living in a more open minded and accepting society. Again there seems to be this feigned innocence when after failing at medical school, Michael first takes the job of auctioning the furniture and belongings of the mostly Jewish citizens who are being forced out of the Reich's new Germany. Later, he works cataloguing and managing a punch-card census of the Jews; still another tracking a certain poison.

Between 1932 and 1945 Michael has a change of conscience; enough redeeming qualities that I could feel sorry for him and his ultimate fate when he ends up arrested and in a work camp. Though the underground cabaret life that Michael had fallen step with was fascinating and even bizarre, it was far less shocking than reading once again, about Germans who suffered at the hands of Germans.

Following the journey of Michael and what happens to his family, friends and acquaintances in war time Germany was a a riveting read. Sometimes exasperating, sometimes horrific and definitely heart-wrenching in places, it was always interesting to say the least!

Though I've had Stephens Gerard Malone's Miss Elva on my tbr for some time now, I first learned of I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin through it's book trailer which I posted earlier here along with a teaser from the book.

* Born in Ontario, educated in Montréal, Stephens Gerard Malone currently lives and writes on Canada’s east coast. To learn more about the author and his work click here. *

** I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin is my 7th selection for both the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge and the War Through the Generations WWII reading challenge. **

Magnetic Poetry on a Moonless November Night:

2009-11-29T23:37:00.050-04:00

What do you do when you can't sleep?

Do you stare at a blank works document on the computer?
Do you read or ...

do you go to The Fridge?

(you'll have to scroll to read in full)

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/code&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Cover Attraction!

2009-11-25T13:42:00.004-04:00

With Christmas just one month away I thought to feature two covers of my absolute favourite holiday book, The House of Wooden Santas by Kevin Major. If you didn't catch it last year, you can read my review here.

The cover to the right is the US cover; the one on the left is the cover I know here in Canada. I actually like the US cover better; it's less cluttered and I like the way the S appears as an extension of the hanging ribbon. Which one do you like more?

Cover Attraction is a bookish meme hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page. Did you post a Cover Attraction this week? Let me know what books have been catching your eye lately in the comments.

Essex County Volume.1 Tales From the Farm

2009-11-24T11:50:00.002-04:00

Essex County Vol. 1
Tales From the Farm

Jeff Lemire

Atlanta: Top Shelf Productions Inc.

2007

Great Graphic Novel!
5/5

I can count on one hand the number of graphic novels I've read; a finger will tell you how many I've truly enjoyed. That number changed last week and you can bet the farm it's about to increase. Jeff Lemire's Tales From the Farm totally won me over! The first thing I did upon completing this novel was to put the next two volumes on hold.

Set in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, Tales From the Farm is the story of Lester, a 10-year-old who lives with and is now being raised by his Uncle Ken. Their forced and hollow relationship wears on the spirits of both. Finding a friend in the local gas station owner, Lester and Jimmy Lebeuf (a damaged former hockey star) build a fort by the creak. Here a world of super-heroes and alien invaders can exist; hockey wash-ups and wannabes are champions at heart.

The emotion of the story and the vulnerability of it's characters is so well done through the art and talent of Jeff Lemire. I love how distance and close-ups are used to convey feelings and a lighter shading is used to conjure memories. There is a quiet strength to this book; brilliantly evoked through sparse wording, bold drawings and skillfully accentuated details. If you have twenty minutes to spare, spend it with this book — you won't be disappointed!

I'd like to thank John and Debbie Mutford for reviewing this book. I doubt I would have picked it up otherwise and I loved it, as did my teenage son! Matter of fact, they've even helped me out with my Christmas shopping! I found all three volumes of this trilogy published as The Complete Essex County available at Chapters. Perfect for my nephew, YES! That's one more I can tick off the list ...

* Essex County Vol.1 Tales From the Farm is my 6th selection for The 3rd Canadian Book Challenge. *

Stones in Water

2009-11-16T12:49:00.001-04:00

Stones in Water

Donna Jo Napoli

New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1997

209 pages

"...to have you for a friend."
3.5/5

Summary: After being taken from a local movie theater—along with other Italian boys, including his Jewish friend—by German soldiers, Roberto is forced to work for the German war effort until he escapes into the Ukrainian winter, desperately trying to make his way back to Venice.

Going into this book, I knew that Italy was part of the Axis power of WWII. What I did not know was that children in Italy, Hungary, Romania and other Axis countries, boys under 18 too young to fight, were rounded up by German soldiers and placed in work camps. Stones In Water tells the story of two such boys, both Venetian, one Italian, one Jewish.

Roberto and Samuele are not only forced to work under appalling conditions with little nourishment and inadequate shelter but they must also work to keep secret the fact that Samuele is Jewish. One day after months of labour building the tarmac for planes to land, the boys are instructed to build an enclosure. Thinking that it is meant to keep in horses or other animals, Roberto is shocked to learn from Samuele that the people who were herded into the pen were Polish Jews. Fully and finally understanding the severity of their situation, Roberto—with Samuele's help—finds a way to help a girl and her smaller sister for a little while, giving each boy a renewed sense of purpose and strength of character.

Stones in Water is a compelling story of suffering and survival, heartache and hunger. It is also a book about how the bonds of friendship can help carry us through our most trying times.

Recommended reading for grades 5 and up!

Also reviewed by:
Anna of Diary of an Eccentric

* 'Stones in Water' is my 6th selection for the War Through the Generations WWII Challenge. *

Cover Attraction!

2009-11-11T12:41:00.003-04:00

I found this book a few weeks ago when I did an image search for poppies for my daughter. I love the contrast of colours and the way the lines create a sense of movement, a simply gorgeous cover that I thought to share today as a way to put a poppy of remembrance on my lit blog.

Here is what I found about the book when I looked it up on Chapters.
From the publisher:

At the heart of this epic saga, set just before the Opium Wars, is an old slave ship The Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean; its crew a motley array of sailors, stowaways, and convicts. In a time of colonial upheaval, the ship boasts a diverse cast of Indians, coolies, and Westerners, from a bankrupt raja to a widowed village woman, from a mulatto American to an evangelical opium trader. As their family ties wash away, they come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais, or ship-brothers, and an unlikely dynasty is born. The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the back streets of China. But it is the panorama of sharply drawn characters that brings Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive. The first in a trilogy, this is a masterpiece by a world-class novelist.

Cover Attraction is a weekly meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Marcia is on vacation at the moment but if you've posted a Cover Attraction this week and want to share, let me know in the comments so I can see what book has caught your eye lately.

Of Teasers and Trailers

2009-11-10T11:56:00.004-04:00

I just finished Stones in Water earlier this morning and can't wait to begin my next read! I first discovered I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin as a book trailer on YouTube and thought it definitely warranted a closer look.

After reading the blurb at Chapters, I promptly put it on hold. Not only did it sound like a fantastic read but it also works for both the reading challenges I'm currently participating in. Opening the book to a random page (# 22) to find this teaser:

Wearing a simple black skirt, sweater the shade of heather and a single strand of pearls, there was no imperial frou-frou about Nan Carmel. Not quite the near-dead eighty-year-old Michael expected.

Do you have a teaser this week? Let me know -- and don't forget to post it at Should Be Reading!

Late Nights on Air

2009-11-09T21:59:00.003-04:00

Late Nights On Air

Elizabeth Hay

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2007

364 pages

"beautifully recessive and fleeting..."
4/5

Working at a small radio station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in the summer of '75 are a cast of characters who are a pure pleasure to become acquainted with (even the ones you'd like to strangle). Harry Boyd, a failure of his own making, has returned to where his career began. Dido Paris is the beautiful woman who owns the voice that Harry finds himself enamoured with. Eleanor Dew is the secretary with a poets heart. Mrs. Dargabble is the local hairdresser, she was happy here once. Gwen Symon shows up as the fresh faced "kid" wanting to learn the ropes behind the scene but lands a job on air. Ralph Cody is the stations freelance book reviewer and amateur photographer. Silent Eddy works the controls in more ways than one! Teresa Lafferty signs on as a translator for the pipeline inquiry and has an uncanny ability for knowing the true north of the heart. Jealous newsmen, an honest (and non-fictional) judge, and a litany of locals who lend their thoughts and opinions to the threat of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline in displacing Native people from their land, round out the residents of Late Nights on Air!

Sitting down with this book was like talking with a neighbour who likes to bend your ear with local gossip. It leaps pretty quickly into a pattern of "who likes who", where competitive rivalries of the heart and on the job line, pull and tug on everyone's conscience. Falling for a voice, a mysterious gift of a fur coat, seemingly innocent flirtations, a missing person; all the tidbits of info that comprise the bigger picture surrounding these delightfully flawed characters.

In showing us how they came to be at CFYK, Elizabeth Hay gives glimpses into how some of the main characters are shaped by their past. Even better is the pull of the reader into the future of the characters with a sense of ill fate. Four will set out on a canoe trip that follows "the route taken by the legendary John Hornby, who, along with his small party, starved to death in the Barrens in 1927. The six week long journey will mark a change in all of these four companions, laying bear the best and worst in each of them.

It was the sum of the whole that made Late Nights on Air a good read for me: interesting characters, cool setting and time period (love reading books that take place in the '70's! If it's in Canada, even better!), consistent pace and I really enjoyed learning about sound effects and their use in radio. It was the writing itself though, that truly captured this readers attention. There were so many exquisite turns of phrase all throughout this book and the descriptions of the environment always seemed pared down; never overly lengthy. Here are just a few of my favourite quotes from the book,

"A Burka for the shy, the nighttime announce booth. A dark tent that covered her up as she crossed the wide desert of late-night radio."

"...constant light was like endless caffeine..."

“At stake was something immense, all the forms of life that lay in the path of a natural gas pipeline corridor that would rip open the Arctic, according to critics, like a razor slashing the face of Mona Lisa."

"Such a lot to unpack from that slender gift of a sentence"

In a book where sound plays such a huge role, I can't help but wonder, if a movie were to be made of Late Nights on Air, would The Carpenters version of "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" be playing somewhere in the background of a scene at the radio station? Oh, and how about These Eyes by The Guess Who — I can soooo see Harry moping around to that one! On second thought, probably not. After all, this is CBC Radio were talking about.

Also reviewed by:
John of The Book Mine Set
Teddy Rose @ So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

* Elizabeth Hay has worked for CBC Radio in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Toronto. She lives in Ottawa. *

** Late Nights on Air is my fifth selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge. **

Cover Attraction

2009-10-28T09:45:00.004-03:00

I've always held fast to the maxim, "You can't judge a book by it's cover". Yet, there exists those books whose cover art is so enticing, it calls to me in a silent voice of visual appeal, "Come, have a closer look..."

To see the cover art that's catching the eye of other book lovers, visit Marcia at The Printed Page and join in the weekly meme that is: Cover Attraction !

I love this cover! The weak winter sun expiring through the bare limbs of trees, the pale pink glow that intensifies the milky blue of snow; day giving way to evening — expertly framed by the window. I imagine the absence of wind, a perfect stillness where voices carry.

I have this book waiting in line to be read. Here is the book blurb from Killick Press that had me ordering a copy:

"My father has married me to a mad old man." These words, written on a slip of paper inside a fading brocade collar, are a clue to the unlikely marriage of a Jewish remittance man and a 14-year-old orphan in a remote Newfoundland fishing station. More curious still are the connections that entangle a retired school teacher and an Israeli scholar almost two centuries later. When the bereaved Rosehannah Quint and her mysterious "mister" retreat into winter quarters at the back of Ireland's Eye, the two begin to develop an understanding based on curiosity as well as upon need - an understanding that works its way down the years. The Winterhouse is a compelling novel about finding oneself and creating one's own community.

New Book Trailer Meme! (maybe)

2009-10-27T14:06:00.001-03:00

Yesterday, while visiting Irish at Ticket to Anywhere, I came across her fourth installment of Book Trailer Monday and thought, "Wow, what a cool new book meme!" ... but it isn't a book meme, yet. Irish loves book trailers stating, "I think that they are fun and informative and a creative way to show what a book is about."

Seeing how I recently added this book trailer to my YouTube favourites, I'd have to say I agree!

No small wonder that Away From Everywhere by Newfoundland's Chad Pelley was among the top requests at Chapters in St. Johns last week! Hmm ... I wonder if it's too early to put in requests to Santa? ;)

What about you, come across any especially creative and captivating book trailers lately? Let me know, I'd love to visit! Hey and while you're at it, if (like me) you think this would make a great new meme, why not stop by Ticket to Anywhere and tell Irish how much you like the idea!

I Had Seen Castles

2009-10-26T23:16:00.000-03:00

I Had Seen Castles

Cynthia Rylant

Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993

97 pages

"Innocent and hopeful, they willingly go."
5/5!

Just 97 pages but I Had Seen Castles is one of the most poignant books from the viewpoint of a young WW II soldier I have ever read! Retired now, and living alone in Toronto, Canada, John Dante can't shake the memories and images of the pivotal summer of '42. Waiting to turn 18, waiting to join his buddies and to avenge the attack on Pearl Harbour, John falls in love with Ginny Burton. Ginny however, is against war and though she loves John, she doesn't support his decision to enlist.

Much more than a love story, this novel deftly shows what it is to bear the burden of killing another human being. The reality of war is described in achingly beautiful prose, imagery that details the horror without being overtly garish and crude,

The pictures in Life may have shown suffering and death to the people back home, but they never showed dismemberment. The shoes with feet and legs up to the knees still standing, and nothing more. The rest of the boy is gone.

Cynthia Rylant managed to do in 97 pages what Stuart O'Nan in 338 could not, she made me feel emotionally tied to the story, sympathizing with and aching for the plight of her characters. Highly recommended reading, not only for the young adults it is perfectly suited for but anyone with an interest in WW II fiction.

* I Had Seen Castles is my 5th selection for the War Through the Generations WW II Reading Challenge. *

Consumption Giveaway Winner!

2009-10-21T09:16:00.003-03:00

Good morning! Today I have the pleasure of announcing the winner of my giveaway for Consumption by Kevin Patterson. I hope all who have shown interest in the book will eventually get a chance to read it, thank you for entering!

Congratulations Nicola!

I will be sending you an e-mail shortly for additional contact info...

To determine who would get my copy, I first went to Random.org and randomized the list of entries with the results looking like this:

1. MoziEsme
2. Mary Ann DeBorde
3. Nicola
4. MoziEsme
5. Wanda Bergman
6. J.T. Oldfield
7. J.T. Oldfield
8. Mary Ann DeBorde
9. A Bookshelf Monstrosity
10. A Bookshelf Monstrosity
11. A Bookshelf Monstrosity
12. Pam
13. Pam
14. Kate
15. Kate
16. Nicola
17. Nicola
18. Wanda Bergman
19. Kate

The True Random Number Generator result: Lucky # 16!

Teaser Time!

2009-10-20T13:53:00.005-03:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

PLEASE AVOID SPOILERS!

OK, well it's taken two years but Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay has FINALLY been taken off the rapid read list at my local library, yea! I picked it up earlier today. Here is a teaser from page 108 ...

But something about Gwen would get on her nerves in the coming days. Dido had seen similar types in the classroom when she was substitute teaching, fresh-faced girls trying too hard to succeed, feigning surprise at their good marks, being disingenuous.

A World Away

2009-10-19T23:22:00.002-03:00

A World Away

Stuart O'Nan

New York: Henery Holt and Company, Inc., 1998

338 pages

"how long the war would last ..."
2.5/5

How long it took me to read this one! Of all my picks for the WW II Reading challenge, I was most looking forward to this one, what a disappointment. Stewart O'Nan's Snow Angels is one of my all time favourites, one of those rare books that I've read more than once. I therefore found it hard to believe that A World Away was written by the same author. My biggest problem was with the characters, they were so boring/annoying it was hard for me to muster concern for their outcome.

Most of this book takes place during a summer in the Hamptons, where James and Anne Langer have moved with their youngest son Jay, to care for James's ailing father. Their eldest son Rennie (previously registered as a Conscientious Objector) is off fighting somewhere in the Pacific. Rennie's pregnant wife Dorthy is in San Diego, sent away by her family. All are waiting for word from Rennie.

Though A World Away does touch base with the soldier experience, it better captures the wondering and worrying of those left waiting on the home front. The symbols that have come to represent WW II America are all present, the stars in the window, the female factory workers, the dreaded arrival of telegrams. If only the characters had been more engaging, perhaps then I wouldn't have resented the fact that Stuart O'Nan managed to keep me just interested enough that I felt I had to finish.

* A World Away is my 4th book read for the War Through the Generations WW II Reading Challenge. *