Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

Here's a total change of pace: David Sedaris' collection of short stories that will have you laughing out loud while reading on public transit, or while reading in bed at night. 

I have never read David Sedaris' work, and this was a quirky and creative start. I will seek out more of his writing as it was a fresh point of view that was playful and engaging.

Many of these stories reminded me of old nursery rhymes that are fundamentally brutal in nature with grim outcomes and cautionary conclusions. They were really fun to discover. 



Summary from Goodreads.com: 

"Featuring David Sedaris's unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life. 

In "The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck," three strangers commiserate about animal bureaucracy while waiting in a complaint line. In "Hello Kitty," a cynical feline struggles to sit through his prison-mandated AA meetings. In "The Squirrel and the Chipmunk," a pair of star-crossed lovers is separated by prejudiced family members.

With original illustrations by Ian Falconer, author of the bestselling Olivia series of children's books, these stories are David Sedaris at his most observant, poignant, and surprising."


Ian Falconer is very talented! Here are a few of my favourite illustrations:

After: The Snake who Decided that Mice are Dinner

Before: The Mouse who Insisted on
Keeping a Snake as a Pet

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

A CBC Radio One recommendation that didn't disappoint. 

Here's a summary thanks to Goodreads.com: 

I've gone. I've never seen the water, so I've gone there. I will try to remember to come back.
Etta's greatest unfulfilled wish, living in the rolling farmland of Saskatchewan, is to see the sea. And so, at the age of eighty-two she gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2,000 miles to water.  

Meanwhile her husband Otto waits patiently at home, left only with his memories. Their neighbour Russell remembers too, but differently - and he still loves Etta as much as he did more than fifty years ago, before she married Otto.

I gave this novel to my mom for Christmas 2015. It was recommended by CBC's Book Reviews as one of the top 100 novels of 2015. I would rate this one as one of the top 25 books in 2015, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My mother who is almost 80 also enjoyed it very much.

The enduring love that Russell held for Etta was delicious and sweet. It is a true, gentle love story. It's creative and original in nature. We never quite know who James is...and I still don't.

I recommend it as a very enjoyable read.  

Canada Reads Book #5: Minister Without Portfolio Done!

Down to the wire, but finished on time! In preparation for attending the Canada Reads debates, I was a little rushed to finish Michael Winter's novel. But despite the rush, I really enjoyed this one.

Fishing Village in Newfoundland. Fog Rolling In.

Minister Without Portfolio is an enjoyable read based in Renews Newfoundland and centres around a character who is dealing with PTSD. Here's a quick summary by Goodreads.com:

Henry Hayward is a drowning man. With a soured long-term romance finally at an end, no family, and no refuge to be had in work, he progressively spends his days in the solace of alcohol and his nights with a series of interchangeable partners. In a quest to simultaneously recover from unrequited love and to find meaning in what is becoming an increasingly emotionally arid life, Henry travels to Afghanistan as an army-affiliated contractor.

When Henry becomes embedded in a regiment, he doesn't have time to think about his fixation on Nora or the fragments of his old life, a life he wasn't really living anyway. But everything changes during a tragic roadside incursion when a routine patrol suddenly turns fatal. And Henry, who survives, knows in his heart that he is responsible.

Upon returning home, now tormented by guilt in addition to ennui, he begins to feel even more rootless and restless until the question of his deceased friend’s summer home arises. Soon Henry is trying to bring meaning back to his life and to make posthumous amends by planning to buy and repair his friend’s dilapidated family house. But he hasn't factored family history into the picture—and his deceased friend’s girlfriend has a revelation of her own that may change everything.

My Sweetheart Overlooking Trinity Bay

 Having fallen in love with Newfoundland 2 years ago, I really loved the reminders that I found. This novel is so truly rooted in that Canadian landscape.  The traditional salt box house that dot the coast line, the ever present granite rock that proves hardier than any forest growth. The greying boat stages, and the phenomenon of moving homes over water to other plots of land. Exploring the ocean and being visited by whale.

We didn't make it to Renews, but we fell in love with Trinity Bay.

I loved this story and Canada should read it.

A Typical Sight in Newfoundland

Woody Point on Western Shore of Newfoundland
Saltbox house like the one Tender owned.

The Lighthouse at Woody Point

Canada Reads 2016: Book #4: The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

My 4th book review for Canada Reads 2016...A sad disappointment. I hope all of Canada doesn't have to suffer through it.

Book summary from Goodreads.com:

All Keita has ever wanted to do is to run. Running means respect and wealth at home. His native Zantoroland, a fictionalized country whose tyrants are eerily familiar, turns out the fastest marathoners on earth. But after his journalist father is killed for his outspoken political views, Keita must flee to the wealthy nation of Freedom State—a country engaged in a crackdown on all undocumented people.

There, Keita becomes a part of the new underground. He learns what it means to live as an illegal: surfacing to earn cash prizes by running local races and assessing whether the people he meets will be kind or turn him in. As the authorities seek to arrest Keita, he strives to elude capture and ransom his sister, who has been kidnapped.

Set in an imagined country bearing a striking resemblance to our own, this tension-filled novel casts its eye on race, human potential, and what it means to belong.

Is it fair to expect a certain quality of writing from a writer who has delivered excellence in earlier work? I say yes. If you know what an author is capable of, then you come to expect a certain level of work. The Illegal is a great example of an author, who is clearly able to write a rich, multi faceted novel, but who opts for a quick, superficial page turner. It's contrived and simplistic. It tells the story rather than shows the reader.

Here's what I posted to Goodreads.com:

Such a disappointment from such a great author. I was expecting so much more, as I know Mr Hill can deliver on all levels when he wants to.
Is seems totally contrived, lazily written with little attempt to really develop characters and rich story lines. This is highlighted by the author inventing the country of origin for the protagonist, and inventing the land that represents freedom and safety. For me, this really undermined the entire novel, and signalled trouble right from the start.
One of the most contrived episodes happens in a popular brothel. While video taping the actions of prostitutes at work, the camera man, who is a young boy, captures footage of the country's Prime Minister engaging in lascivious actions. Rather than exploring this astounding turn of events, the author glosses over it, and leaves the reader hanging.
Mr Hill can do so much better. I expect more from him, because he is more talented that this novel would suggest. 

Inconceivable events take place without a moment's consideration. An example of this is when the
young John Falconer, is hiding with video camera in hand,  inside an armoire in brothel and the Prime Minister of the country walks in as a paying customer to be services by a prostitute. He captures the entire scene on tape and the story continues without appropriate reaction. How ridiculous.

I find it totally distracting that the author has opted to invent the country of origin of the protagonist and also invented the country that represents freedom to him--conveniently names Freedom State.

I wanted this book to end as quickly as Keita could run. I hope it doesn't win Canada Reads 2016. It's not worthy.

Canada Reads 2016 #3: Birdie

 To date, my favorite novel in 2016's Canada Reads competition.

Here's a summary provided by Goodreads.com:

Birdie is a darkly comic and moving first novel about the universal experience of recovering from wounds of the past, informed by the lore and knowledge of Cree traditions. Bernice Meetoos, a Cree woman, leaves her home in Northern Alberta following tragedy and travels to Gibsons, BC. She is on something of a vision quest, seeking to understand the messages from The Frugal Gourmet (one of the only television shows available on CBC North) that come to her in her dreams. She is also driven by the leftover teenaged desire to meet Pat Johns, who played Jesse on The Beachcombers, because he is, as she says, a working, healthy Indian man. Bernice heads for Molly’s Reach to find answers but they are not the ones she expected.

With the arrival in Gibsons of her Auntie Val and her cousin Skinny Freda, Bernice finds the strength to face the past and draw the lessons from her dreams that she was never fully taught in life. Part road trip, dream quest and travelogue, the novel touches on the universality of women's experience, regardless of culture or race. 

Slow to start, and a challenge to understand. The story is somewhat segmented at first, and it takes some time to figure out the narrative. That being said, the level of creativity in this novel is commendable. It's unlike anything I've ever read, and I found it really engaging.

Layered with Cree language and beautiful imagery.  I loved the author's playful creation of compound words.

I hope that Canada and the world get the opportunity to discover this story, and this author. It is a special book.

Canada Reads 2016: Book #2: The Hero's Walk

This year's Canada Reads theme is Starting Over.

Anita Rau Badami's novel is not only about starting over; it is a story of hope, renewal, forging on, and looking to the future. 

Here's a brief summary from Goodreads.com:

As The Hero's Walk opens, Sripathi's life is already in a state of thorough disrepair. His mother, a domineering, half-senile octogenarian, sits like a tyrant at the top of his household, frightening off his sister's suitors, chastising him for not having become a doctor, and brandishing her hypochondria and paranoia with sinister abandon. It is Sripathi's children, however, who pose the biggest problems: Arun, his son, is becoming dangerously involved in political activism, and Maya, his daughter, broke off her arranged engagement to a local man in order to wed a white Canadian. Sripathi's troubles come to a head when Maya and her husband are killed in an automobile accident, leaving their 7- year-old daughter, Nandana, without Canadian kin. Sripathi travels to Canada and brings his granddaughter home, while his family is shaken by a series of calamities that may, eventually, bring peace to their lives.  

A strand of Jasmine flower

This novel was a pleasure to read. It is beautifully written with rich, complicated characters. They are well developed and help create interest. There is a gentle plot that is enriched with a few other captivating sub-plots. Badami develops great setting: I could almost smell the strands of jasmine blossom and feel the breeze out on Sripathi's veranda. And while the initial conflict of the death of Sripathi's daughter is a tragedy, the novel does not wallow in doom and gloom.

It's a great read, and entertaining. 

One of the most beautiful scenes is that of the turtles laying eggs on the beach.

When I was a child, my best friends mother told us stories of her as a young girl in Pakistan and how her family would go to the beach to watch the turtles lay their eggs. 

Canada Reads 2016 First Read: Bone and Bread

I love the CBC!!!

I have begun my Canada Reads 2016 homework, and my first novel is Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz

Here is an excerpt from Heather Leighton's Globe and Mail review: 

In Bone & Bread, Beena and her younger sister, Sadhana, live in a tiny apartment above a bagel store in Montreal’s Mile End. Their father, Vishram Singh, the bagel-shop owner, dies suddenly, leaving the business to his younger and more traditional Sikh brother, Harinder. The Singh family in India had disowned their eldest son because of his marriage to a white American woman, Beena and Sadhana’s mother, in spite of her conversion to Sikhism.

After the father’s death, their apartment is set ablaze by neo-Nazis, and Sadhana soon shows signs of obsessive compulsive disorder. Tragedy strikes again when the mother dies, leaving the two young teens in the care of Harinder, the girls’ only living relative in Canada. Within a year, Sadhana is admitted to hospital for anorexia, while Beena finds herself pregnant. The child’s father, Ravi, a bagel-shop employee, is nowhere to be found.

Beena tells their story from the present as an adult living in Ottawa with her now 18-year-old son, Quinn. Sadhana, the actress, dancer and political activist, has died, and Beena must return to Montreal and empty her apartment. In the process, she uncovers evidence that raises suspicions about the circumstances surrounding her sister’s death. She also discovers that Sadhana had secretly contacted Ravi, now a rising right-wing political star.

I had difficulty with this novel. Bone and Break is suffused with strife and misery, cruelty, grief and despair--not a light read. Nawaz’s narrator, Beena, is plagued with tragedy: her ungrateful, anoretic sister Sadhana is emotionally manipulative, her father and mother pass away leaving them orphaned, and their only relative--their uncle-- is repressive and unable to love them.

The writing is a challenge too. The story skips in and out of the first person singular into plural. Stylistically, I believe that this is a problem. Although there were moments of beautiful prose, there were moments that I found myself confused by Nawaz's writing.  

Farah Mohamed will be defending Bone and Bread. She is a very interesting women in her own right. Here's a link for more info on her unique perspective on life: http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/01/farah-mohamed.html

Farah Mohamed will be defending
this novel

I don't believe that this novel truly hits the theme of "Starting Over" for CBC's competition. Without question, this novel has many losses, and forces it's characters to adapt to change and challenge, but it's not inspirational or overly memorable.

I suspect that this isn't this year's winner. We will see if others across Canada agree. 

Here's another blog that I enjoyed reading about this novel:

http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/2016/01/review-of-bone-and-bread-by-saleema.html

Canada Reads: 5 Books, One Contest. Let's get at it!

This year, I resolved to participate in the Canada Reads challenge. With the 5 finalists selected, I am away to the races with the required reading. This year's theme is "Starting Over", or transformative events that create a new beginning.

In addition to the fun reading, I secured tickets for two of the four debate days; I will be attending on Tuesday March 22, and Wednesday March 23 at the CBC Broadcasting Centre in Toronto. What fun! Sadly, Wab Kinew will not be hosting this event, as his political aspirations have forced him to step down from this project. I wish him well with the political race. (Not sure who the host will be in his stead.)

Now let me get back to my reading!

Here are the final 5 books that I will be reading:

Farah Mohamed defends Bone and Bread

Vinay Virmani defends The Hero's Walk 

Bruce Poo Tip defends Birdie

Adam Copeland defends Minister Without Portfolio

Clara Hughes defends The Illegal

Here are the authors and the celebrity personalities that will be defending their novels:

No pressure, but the Celebs better bring their A game!!!

This One Might Bug You: Cockroach...

Book Club Book #2 for 2016...Wonder how many members will make it through this one?!?

One of Canada Reads 2014 finalist, Rawi Hage's Cockroach is the story of an impoverished Iranian immigrant who is struggling with many issues in Montreal. The theme of 2014 for Canada Reads was: "One Novel to Change Canada". Having read this novel, I'm not sure that Cockroach is far reaching enough to carry that title.


Here's Goodreads' summary:

The novel takes place during one month of a bitterly cold winter in Montreal's restless immigrant community, where a self-described thief has just tried but failed to commit suicide. Rescued against his will, the narrator is obliged to attend sessions with a well-intentioned but naive therapist. This sets the story in motion, leading us back to the narrator's violent childhood in a war-torn country, forward into his current life in the smoky emigre cafes where everyone has a tale, and out into the frozen night-time streets of Montreal, where the thief survives on the edge, imagining himself to be a cockroach invading the lives of the privileged, but wilfully blind, citizens who surround him.

The main character who remains nameless struggles with:

mental health--he is delusional, and has episodes of believing he is half human, half cockroach.
financial--living in poverty, struggling with hunger, holding down a job, securing clean housing.
historical conflict--his past haunts him, he has memories that revisit him.
social problems--his friends who owe him money, and are owed money, have questionable loyalties.
cultural conflicts--these are really hi lighted by the interactions between him and his psychiatrist, Genevieve.

So how many women in the group read it? ALL OF THEM READ THE BOOK THIS MONTH!!!!! That has to be a first!!!

What a Book: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Seldom am I engaged with a book so much that it troubles me after I've put it down. Such is the case with Celest Ng's novel, Everything I Never Told You.

Thanks to my book club friend Mary Anne, I was lent this novel after our last book club meeting. With my ongoing resolution to not purchase books, a lent book is such a wonderful gift! This novel was no exception...In fact it was a treat because it was such an engaging story.

Here's a quick synopsis from iTunes Preview:

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party.

When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened.

This story is so much more than a "Who Dunn It?" mystery. As iTunes says, it is a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another. I would also add that it explores relationships among siblings, and how each one's experiences interpreted so differently for the others in the family.

I found this novel very unsettling; incredibly well written and Ng manages to painted such a foreboding atmosphere within this family. Here's a little chat with the author:

I think this novel could make a great movie also. Enjoy and Thank You Mary Anne!

All the Light We Cannot See

2015 Winner of the Pulitzer

What a way to start our 2016 Book Club reading.

We were really fortunate to have chosen All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

Here's a quick summary:

"From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. 

When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge." 


http://www.anthonydoerr.com/books/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/

The book club's discussion today was very fruitful too. Of all attendees, only one hadn't read the novel...Most of the other ladies enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Author...Hope He's Busy Writing
More Fiction for ME!!!

Perfect Place for This Perfect Book

We agreed that is was a rich story that was cleverly woven together. The shifts in time were interesting, and the wide range of characters with different experiences and perspectives was fascinating.

The only lady that didn't enjoy it, indicated that she had heard many stories about traumas of WW2, and as such, didn't enjoy the story. She also mentioned that her reading of the story was often interrupted. In my opinion, it's hard to enjoy any novel that requires some attentive reading if you are constantly having to put it down and attend to other things.

Personally, I devoured this novel over the Christmas break and savoured the last 40-50 pages on the trip down to Playa Del Carmen in Mexico.

The Rosie Effect: Beach Read in Mexico

The sequel to The Rosie Project

Read The Rosie Effect on the beach in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico on Dec 26-27.  I enjoyed Graeme Simsion's sequel to The Rosie Project. It was entertaining with several laugh out loud moments. Excellent beach reading.

Author Graeme Simsion

Mixes Well With Mexican Margaritas

The Girl on the Train

Read it in November.

Enjoyed it...

Will write more about it soon...

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Just what the doctor ordered: Easy and soothing. Garth Stein has created a fictional novel that is written from the perspective of the family dog, Enzo.

Recommended and lent to me by my friend Anna D.B., she said it was an enjoyable easy read. After the struggle presented by Infidel, I welcomed the break.

Here's a quick summary from Wikipedia:

The novel follows the story of Denny Swift, a race car driver and customer representative in a high-end Seattle auto dealership, and his dog Enzo, who believes in the Mongolian legend that a dog who is prepared will be reincarnated in his next life as a human.^[2] Enzo sets out to prepare, with The Seattle Times calling his journey "a struggle to hone his humanness, to make sense of the good, the bad and the unthinkable."^[3]

Enzo spends most of his days watching and learning from television, gleaning what he can about his owner's greatest passion, race car driving — and relating it to life. Enzo eventually plays a key role in Denny's child-custody battle with his in-laws, and distills his observations of the human condition in the mantra "that which you manifest is before you." Enzo helps Denny throughout his life, through his ups and downs.

Garth Stein in his racing garb.

 This is a great picture of the author who was a champion race car driver until he crashed his car racing in the rain.

I really enjoyed this novel. It's well written and makes for smooth reading. It pulls at the heart strings without being too sentimental.

After reading this book, I found myself paying closer attention to my own dog, and wondering if he's trying to tell me things. Enzo the narrator of this novel spends a lot of time listening, understanding and trying to help his owner navigate the challenges of his life.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency: African Sleuthing

The first novel in a series of  15

Just finished this light novel that's been on my bookshelf for some time. Here's a short description courtesy of Wikipedia:

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a series of novels by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. The agency is located in Gaborone, capital of Botswana. Its founder is a Motswana woman, Mma Precious Ramotswe, who features as the stories' protagonist and main detective. The episodic novels are as much about the adventures and foibles of different characters as they are about solving mysteries. The series belongs to the subgenre of anthropological detective fiction, in which the culture of its characters plays a major role in the story. Mma Ramotswe always has multiple small cases to pursue, with only a few involving crime and even fewer involving violence. This deemphasizes sensationalism and focuses on detective fiction being morality tales.

A few of the light weight crimes included finding missing (and suspected wayward) husbands, following a teen daughter who is suspected by her father of dating boys, figuring out why a local doctor is not working up to par (turns out he has an identical twin brother who fills in for him on the odd day).

The novels have been made into a TV series

The novel is series of little mysteries that she pursues and gently solves. There is no violence, or huge conflict. Mma Ramotswe takes her time and easily sorts out the truth from deception. It is an easy read and provides a little insight into the culture of Botswana.

I would suggest that this is a good book to have sitting on your cottage bookshelf. Can be read by anyone and put down without trouble when it's time for a swim or the fish are biting! I'm not going to read the other 14 in the series, but I'm sure others enjoy them for their gentle charm. 

Milosz by Cordelia Strube

Having taken a creative writing course this fall at Ryerson University, I wanted to read a few of the instructor's novels. This is the second of Stube's novels that I read...I may read Lemon in the new year.

Here's a brief summary thanks to Goodreads.com:

Milo doesn’t quite have it all together. His acting career has stalled. His Latvian girlfriend dumped him. His miserable father has vanished. And Pablo and Wallace – and then Wallace’s mother too – seem to have moved in to his house. Really, the only person Milo likes is Robertson, the autistic eleven-year-old who lives next door. So when Robertson gets bullied and his dad moves out, Milo is finally spurred to action. Milo being Milo, though, even his best intentions go awry, and soon Robertson’s dad is in the hospital, Milo’s lost in the woods during an acting experiment and Gustaw, his dad, may have returned from the dead. 

As a endnote, I have to say that I enjoyed the creative writing course very much. Strube was a friendly and approachable instructor, who encouraged each student with their work. She listened patiently and encouraged all class participation. I found out that writing well is very difficult, and involves much effort. In the meantime, I will continue to hack along with my blog...It's no great demonstration of good writing!

Cheers!

The Book Thief Stole My Heart

The last novel for the year for my monthly book club, and I believe we may have saved the best for last with The Book Thief.

Summary thanks to Goodreads:

"It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down."

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.  The group discussed this novel over lunch at our annual Christmas Book Exchange party. The vast majority of the ladies loved it, finding little fault with the writing or the gripping story.

I thought that it read like poetry at times; Zusak's prose is so beautiful. With Death as the narrator, The Book Thief is a creative and unique wartime story was written from the perspective of a young German girl.

Here is the author with his thoughts:

This novel should be mandatory reading in high school. It is not to be missed. 

Vaughan Public Library....Vaughan Reads: Flee, Fly, Flown by Janet Hepburn

I love my local library.  The Vaughan Public Library is a wonderful community resource, that runs a wide variety of programs. I've participated in many; some when my children were infants and I wanted a mom and baby morning out, some when I wanted to chat about a book that was read by others.  My public library is a treasure, and I am grateful that I have access to it.

Most recently, I am participating in the Vaughan Reads program which runs every year, and offers a city-wide book reading opportunity. This year's title is Flee, Fly, Flown by Janet Hepburn, and I can't wait to attend the author's reading and discussion group this November 19 at Pierre Burton Library.

Here's Amazon's summary of Flee, Fly, Flown:

Lillian and Audrey hatch a plot to escape from Tranquil Meadows Nursing Home, "borrow" a car, and spend their hastily planned vacation time driving to destinations west. They set out on their journey having forgotten that their memory problems might make driving and following directions difficult. Then they meet up with the unsuspecting Rayne, a young man also heading west in hope of reconciling with his family. Without minimizing the realities of old age, dementia, and frailty, Lillian and Audrey's story is rich with laughter, adventure, and hope.

 I found this novel to be a heart warming story of friendship, adventure and the struggle to maintain dignity while enduring the ravages of dementia. Hepburn successfully builds authentic characters with rich histories.

I really enjoyed the quest theme of making a trek through northern Ontario. This novel reminded my of Margaret Lawrence's Stone Angel. I recommend it.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

The gift of a good book is my favourite thing. A book, carefully selected by an avid reader who has already enjoyed it, is the ultimate indulgence. Such was the cased when my friend Bev recently gave me The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Eat, Pray, Love was basically an exercise in frustration for me. I hated this novel because I found it formulaic, predictable and very simplistic. Coupled with the fact that everyone around me was raving about it, and despite trying many times, I just couldn't finish it. I gave up, and basically wrote the author off as a potboiler hack. (ok, so I have been known as a bit judgemental at times!)

The Signature of All Things is a fictional novel of a female botanist in the early 1800's.

Seeing each other regularly at our monthly book club, Bev and I have been friends for a few years now. We have enjoyed many books together, and I remember a particularly engaging discussion that flowed from our reading of I Shall Not Hate.


Signature was an epic novel, spanning the lives of both father and daughter botanists. It

Dickensian in nature, the reader is taken on a epic journey around the world over several decades.We are treated to an unhurried journey

There were a few parts that made me angry. Wanted to launch the book out the window during Alma's time in the cave in Tahiti...As though her activities there were really "all she ever wanted in her entire life..."  Please!!! Without giving it away, I will say that it's a pathetic weakness in Gilbert's writing to have positioned that scene as the pinnacle of Alma's life ambitions.  (For God's Sake, give me a break!!!)

The novel is unhurried. She takes her time to develop each character and build rich portraits.

That being said, I think this novel would have been improved with a critical editor, and an author who doesn't get bogged down in minutia.

It's a good read...but it's not epic.

Excrement Disguised as Fiction: The Thin Woman

OK, so I'm not sure how this book made it's way to me, but I guess it has something to do with my book club's reading list for the year. Every year, we put a reading list together that draws predominantly on the Vaughan Public Library's Book Club collection. This title was chosen as an easy read that is suitable for the summer vacation season. Surprisingly, this book turned out to be a tough read, but not for good reasons!

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell, is a mystery set in north England and it the story of a fat woman who stands to inherit her cousin's fortune if she looses 40 lbs in 6 months.  She is called every possible demeaning "fat girl" slander, but because it's written from her perspective, I suspect that the reader is expected to accept this offensive narrative. It is poorly written, slow moving and the plot is painfully simplistic.

When I look at other reviews by readers on Goodreads.com, I lose faith in the abilities of my fellow readers to actually distinguish between well and poorly written material.  It's shocking to find that there are people who rate this as one of their favourite novels...How is that possible? What else have they been reading? Have they spent their lives reading Harlequin Romances, and branched out to this bottom feeding pot boiler? The most disturbing review that I found was written by an adult who's high school teacher recommended this novel to her as a teenage, and that she loved it. What kind of teacher recommends crap to a young student? Don't teachers realize and appreciate the influence that they wield with their students? How could anyone recommend this novel....I suspect, only someone who has never actually read anything that's well written.

We are all free to form our own opinions, and thus I respect other reader's opinions. However, I am really concerned about how this poorly written, and ill conceived novel could ever make it onto the Book Club reading list at VPL. Of all the award winning, well written and entertaining mysteries out there, I have no idea how this could be an offering for reading groups in Vaughan.

On to better reading!!! Please.