Thursday 8 December 2011

Christmas Reads

Every holiday season there are certain books that I like to read that get me in the holly jolly Christmas spirit.  Here are a few of my favourites:

David Sedaris: "Holidays on Ice"
While all the short stories in this holiday inspired collection by the always entertaining Sedaris are delightful, I especially recommend 'Santaland Diaries'. Who doesn't want to read about Sedaris shortlived period of being one of Santa's elves at Macy's?!

J.K. Rowling: "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"
Almost every December I reread the entire Harry Potter series.  It makes me feel like a kid again every time I read about one of Harry, Ron, and Hermionie's adventures.

 Lauren Willig: "The Mischief of the Mistletoe"
This will be my first year rereading this one but I sense it will become an annual tradition.  I am such a fan of Willig's 'Pink Carnation' series and this holiday enstallment may be my favourite one yet!  Gotta love a hero named Turnip.

Clement C. Moore: "The Night Before Christmas"
I have a beautiful handmade edition of this Christmas classic that I read out loud to me and my husband before bed on Christmas eve.  Hopefully a tradition that we will continue for many years to come!

Wednesday 30 November 2011

What Would Nancy Do? (WWND)

If you are heavily involved or interested in the literary world you have probably at one time or another heard of Nancy Pearl.  American librarian, best-selling author, and literary critic; Nancy has done it all and made quite a name for herself in the book world.  One of my favourite Nancy facts is that she is the only librarian to have her only action figure.

I wanted to share this article from the Globe and Mail that I just read.  It is written by Nancy and describes her "Rule of 50", a rule for dropping a bad / disappointing/etc...book.  As someone who often has a hard time putting down a book that I'm not enjoying (I always feel that I should finish what I started!) I find this to be quite the helpful and informative read (Yay! Other people face this problem too!).

Nancy Pearl's Rule of 50 for Dropping a Bad Book

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Welcome to Fiction Island!

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series.  I have just started reading the most recent installment, One of Our Thursday's is Missing.  I'm only a few chapters in so I don't have a lot to write about yet, however, I did want to share this amazing map that is at the front of the novel.  This is Fiction Island and it is wonderful with so much to look at and discover. Enjoy!  Please note I have included a link to Fforde's website where you can see a larger version of the map.

Thursday 24 November 2011

"May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor"

One of my favourite teen novels, The Hunger Games, is being made into a movie and I am so excited to see it! I just finished rereading the entire series and it is just as amazing as when I first read it.  If you haven't read this series yet you still have time to do so before the movie comes out in March 2012!

Wednesday 16 November 2011

"Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on "

I just finished my first Massey Lecture and it was excellent.  Every year I see them in bookstores and I always pick them up, read the back, and think to myself 'sounds interesting'....but I never manage to get to the next step of actually reading the lecture.  This year, I was at work unpacking boxes and boxes of books when I got my first look at this years Massey Lecture, Winter: Five Windows on the Season by Adam Gopnik.  I had several reaction upon holding this book in my hands.  First of all, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Massey Lectures, this particular lecture has 5 different covers, all pertaining to the topic, and they are all lovely and very much embody the theme of winter.  Second, the name of the author, Adam Gopnik, rang a bell.  Gopnik has written several non-fiction works, a couple novels for children, and is a staff writer for The New York Times.  Third, the theme appealed to me in a way that none of the other Massey Lectures up to this point had.  I love winter.  I love when it gets cold outside and we are forced to bundle up in sweaters and scarves in order to trek around the city.  I love sitting in my home drinking a hot cup of tea and watching the snowy (or more likely here, rainy) weather pass by through the window.  I love the holiday season in December where we all take time out of our busy lives to make more time for family and friends.  This list can go on and on.

Gopnik's lecture is fasinating in that it combines history and science with personal narrative.  His writing style is very readable, informative, and humourous; reading this makes me want to read more by him in the future. 

Winter is divided into 5 chapters.  Chapter one is entitled 'Romantic Winter'.  This section looks at, in Gopniks words, "winter as a poetic act - winter in mind rather than winter in matter." (pg. 7)  He discusses paintings, music, poetry, and literature and how this idea of winter has influence these cultural areas throughout history. 

Chapter two, 'Radical Winter' talks about how "winter is a place as much as a tiem, a season tht comes heaving into sight while we sit....and so we go to find it, we go towards...the North! And, for that matter, the South.  The search for that spatial winter, the search for the poles...." (pg. 54)  In this section we learn about the many explorations to discover the poles and how that has affected us as culture.

' Recuperative Winter' is the subject of chapter 3.  Gopnick explores the "making of the modern Christmas - winter's holiday" (pg. 93).  He walks us through the history of the holiday and how it is that we arrived to the point that we are today.  Being a big fan of the holiday season, I found this section particularly interesting, especially the history behind it.

Chapter 4 deals with a subject that, as a Canadian, is very close to my heart: ice hockey.  'Recreational Winter' talks about winter sports in general but spends a great deal of time discussing hockey in particular.  He asks the question "Why do we love it?  Why is this game so good when it's not being degraded and diluted by greed, violence, and stupidity?" (pg. 162)  As someone who has read lots of different perspectives on the game, I found Gopnik's essay to be really interesting and definetly a reminder on why I love the game.

The final chapter is entitled 'Remembering Winter'.  One line in particular stands out to me in this section: "Winter stress makes summer sweetness - and the stress of warm times makes us long for the strange sweetness of cold ones" (pg. 179). A lovely retrospect on why it is that we love winter, focusing on the idea of winter and memory.

If you love winter as I do, or you are simply curious on learning more about this season, read this book.  If you love the Massey Lectures, or are simply a fan of Adam Gopnick, read this book. Whatever your reason is, this is a book to read.

Sunday 13 November 2011

"History is Very Serious"

I have discovered a new comic love and that my friends is the delightful Kate Beaton.  I picked up her newly published book, Hark! A Vagrant, which is a fabulous collection of her Webcomic.  Oh my goodness did I laugh!  And learn! Her comics cover a large range of topics but mainly focus on history and literature.  I picked this up at random because I liked the cover and boy am I glad I did!  Her website has officially been added to my growing list of sites I check on a daily / weekly basis.

For your enjoyment (and mine!) here are a few of my favourite comics of hers:
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=250

Friday 11 November 2011

“If my life wasn't funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.”

I love love love Carrie Fisher; and this is not just because I'm a huge 'Star Wars' fan.  I knew that she was not only an actress but also an author, however I didn't get the opportunity to read one of her books until 2008.  I was at a local bookstore and I came across her recently published memoir, Wishful Drinking.  Now you tell me, if you saw this cover, wouldn't you want to pick this up to read??

Wishful Drinking was a truly amazing book.  Not only is it one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read, it is also one of the few non-fiction books I have read several times.  When people ask me why I had such a strong and positive reaction to Wishful Drinking, the one thing that pops to mind is this: I simply love how open and honest she is about her inner crazy ( As Fisher puts it, “I feel I'm very sane about how crazy I am.”)  She is so candid about everything from her family, friends, relationships, career, and her own personal issues.  I simply loved it!

Fisher's second memoir, Shockaholic, is wonderful.  This time around, she focuses on topics such as her recent extreme weight loss, going on a double date with Senator Chris Dodd and Edward Kennedy,  and her relationships with the King of Pop, Micheal Jackson; her stepfather, Harry Karl; and her father, Eddie Fisher.  Her writing is funny, honest, and addicting.  This is definetly another memoir I will be rereading sometime soon!

Books by Carrie Fisher:
  1. Postcards From the Edge (1987)
  2. Surrender the Pink (1990)
  3. Delusions of Grandma (1994)
  4. The Best Awful (2003)
  5. Wishful Drinking (2008)
  6. Shockaholic (2011)

Monday 7 November 2011

"As nerds, we have an obligation to pass on our sacred nerd knowledge to the next generation"

The blog Topless Robot often posts fun information on fantasy and science fiction books.  Here is a post they did earlier this year:

"While every adult nerd knows to give youngsters books like The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, there are plenty of other great books out there that don't get the same kind of massive film-adaptation attention. Here are 14 fantasy novels, in no particular order, you might not already know but are definitely worth finding for the nerdlings in your life. "

Lots of great recommendations! Read the rest of the post at the link below:

14 Great But Lesser Known Fantasy Novels For Lil' Nerds

Tuesday 1 November 2011

A VERY Happy Halloween!


I just had to re-post this goody that was on Diana Gabaldon's website yesterday!  Enjoy!


Happy Halloween!

And many thanks to Blue Moon Magnolia for this lovely tribute to Jamie’s backside. {g} [I call it "pumpkinbuns"--it's a reproduction of the famous Page 5 scene in THE EXILE.]

Diana Gabaldon's Website

“Governments and fashions come and go but Jane Eyre is for all time.”

Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair is one of my favourite books and one that I am constantly recommending to people.  For those of you who are not familar with Fforde's wonderfully quirky 'Thursday Next' series, here is a quick blurb about the first book in the series:

"Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality, (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature. When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter the novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide."
  
I have reread The Eyre Affair numerous times and with each reading I find new and wonderful details that I missed before, I laugh out loud, and I generally feel smarter.  The amount of detail he puts into all his descriptions of different literary characters, figures, stories, etc...are so fantastic.  Having read many of the works he references myself, I get such joy from his parodies and satires of novels and novelists such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Shakespeare.


Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series is smart, funny, creative, and oh so enjoyable to read.  Do yourself a favour and go pick one up!


Thursday Next Series:
  1. The Eyre Affair
  2. Lost in a Good Book
  3. The Well of Lost Plots
  4. Something Rotten
  5. First Among Sequels
  6. One of our Thursdays is Missing


Saturday 29 October 2011

Are Bookstores a Thing of the Past?

This is an interesting article that was written by Maria Rodale (CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc and book author) on some ideas she has on how to save bookstores.  I like what she's come up with!

How To Save Bookstores

Wednesday 26 October 2011

"I see you shiver with antici...pation."

I'm always checking websites like amazon.ca, goodreads, and individual author's websites to see when authors I enjoy have new books coming out.  I also always manage to find new authors and books that peak my interest!  Here are 9 books coming out in the near future (next 6 months or so) that I'm looking forward to!

Crossed by Ally Condie 
(November 1st 2011)
The second book in Condie's Matched Trilogy.   
"Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.  Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again."

The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
(November 29th 2011)
The latest novel in Gabaldon's 'Lord John' series, I am really excited about this one!
"Jamie Fraser, a Scottish Jacobite officer paroled as a prisoner of war on an estate in the Lake District, finds the numbness of his days disturbed. First, by dreams of his dead wife, then by the presence of the small son he cannot claim. Much more disturbing is the sudden reappearance in his life of Lord John Grey, with a summons that will take him - again - from everything he values.
A legacy from a dead friend has led Lord John and his brother Hal in pursuit of a corrupt army officer, along a trail of politics and murder. The matter becomes critical when the trail leads into Ireland, with a baffling message left in the tongue called "Erse" - the language spoken by Scottish Highlanders.
Jamie is forced to help the Greys, in order to guard his own secrets. But the Greys have secrets, too, which may deprive him of his life, as well as his liberty" 


Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D James
(December 6th 2011)
I just found out about this one while surfing around amazon.ca. James recreates the world of 'Pride and Prejudice' and puts in a murder mystery.
"The year is 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. There are now two handsome, healthy sons in the Pemberley nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live within seventeen miles, the ordered and secure life of Pemberley seems unassailable, and Elizabeth's happiness in her marriage is complete. But their peace is threatened and old sins and misunderstandings are rekindled on the eve of the annual autumn ball. The Darcys and their guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland, and as it pulls up, Lydia Wickham, an uninvited guest, tumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered."

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
(December 10th 2011)
The second novel in Clare's 'Infernal Devices' trilogy.  While I enjoy the series that made Clare a household name, 'The Mortal Instruments', I find that I'm liking this series even more.  I love the time period, the characters, and the gadgets.

"In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.  With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do"


Fables Vol. 16: Super Group by Bill Willingham
(December 20th 2011)
I love Willingham's graphic novel series 'Fables'.  It is so smart, fun to read, and wonderfully illustrated.  My husband and I eagerly await each new installment!

A Million Suns by Beth Revis
(January 10th 2012)

I was pleasantly surprised with Revis' debut novel 'Across the Universe' and I eagerly await the sequel to her intergalactic love story.
"It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart." 


Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb
(February 21st 2012)
This marks the 34th novel in Robb's 'In Death' series.  I am always so happy when a new Eve Dallas novel hits the shelves since I know I'm in for a good read!

The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig
(February 21st 2012)
The latest novel in one of my favourite series, this is the 8th novel in 'The Pink Carnation' series.
"As Napoleon pursues his plans for the invasion of England, English operative Augustus Whittlesby gets wind of a top secret device, to be demonstrated over the course of a house party at Malmaison. The catch? The only way in is to join forces with that annoying American socialite, Emma Morris Delagardie, who has been commissioned to write a masque for the weekend’s entertainment. Even so, it should leave plenty of alone time with Augustus’ colleague (and goddess), Jane Wooliston, who has been tapped to play the heroine. Or so Augustus tells himself. In this complicated masque within a masque, nothing seems to go quite as scripted… especially Emma"



Insurgent by Veronica Roth
(May 28th 2012)
I loved Roth's debut novel 'Divergent'.  I have read so many YA novels dealing with some sort of post-Apocalyptic world and this one stood out from the bunch.  I'm really looking forward to the second in this planned trilogy.
"Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so."

Comfort Fiction

Lately I have been craving what I like to call 'comfort fiction'.  Stories that involve often dysfunctional families who grow apart and come back together and are full of love, family, and friendship. 'Comfort fiction' doesn't take long to read and you just feel a sense of calm and happiness during the story and after you have finished it.  You often feel the urge to relocate to where the story takes place (more often then naught, a small town where everyone knows everyone) and to meet and befriend these people.  I have officially found a new 'comfort fiction' author in Sherryl Woods and her Chesapeake Shores series.

This series takes place in the small community of Chesapeake Shores and centers around the O'Brien family.  Each novel centers on a different family member (though all the rest of the family appears in each novel).  Besides the central story, revolving around whichever O'Brien Woods has chosen to write about, there is always this idyllic town present.  I love reading about the small businesses, the relationships between townspeople, and the beautiful bay that the town sits upon.

This series is 'comfort fiction' at its best.  The reader is able to escape into this lovely town and into the lives of this family for a peaceful afternoon.

Sherryl Woods' Chesapeake Shores Series 
  1. The Inn at Eagle Point
  2. Flowers on Main
  3. Harbor Lights
  4. A Chesapeake Shores Christmas
  5. Driftwood Cottage
  6. Moonlight Cove
  7. Beach Lane
  8. An O'Brien Family Christmas

Tuesday 25 October 2011

“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.”

Title: "The Night Circus"
Author: Erin Morgenstern

I bought this book for my Kobo after reading some extremely positive reviews about this debut novel.  I really loved this book.  I was drawn to it initially by what little information I knew about it: it involved a circus (I enjoyed "Water For Elephants", especially the parts revolving around circus life, and was interested in reading more on this theme), magic (I have read a number of books involving some sort of magical element and usually enjoy them), and some sort of love story (I have been reading a number of 'romance' novels lately so this fit right into what my brain was craving).

I was really impressed with the way that Morgenstern was able to present so many different perspectives, be it from one of the many central characters that were given a voice, or from the perspective of you, the reader.  This voice in particular was really fun to read since the reader is literally taken on walk through the circus; we experience the tastes, smells, and sights that we would be seeing if we were actually there.

The language is beautiful, especially the descriptions of specific tents at the circus and the physical (and emotional) magic that is created by Celia and Marco.  Here is one scene in particular that I found so lovely:

“He goes directly to the ballroom, making his way to the center of the dance floor. He takes Celia’s arm, spinning her away from Herr Thiessen.
Marco pulls her to him in an emerald embrace, so close that no one distinction remains between where his suite ends and her gown begins. To Celia there is suddenly no one else in the room as he holds her in his arms. But before she can vocalize her surprise, his lips close over hers and she is lost in wordless bliss.
Marco kissed her as though they are the only two people in the world. The air swirls in a tempest around them, blowing open the glass doors to the garden with a tangle of billowing curtains. Every eye in the ballroom turns in their direction. And then he released her and walks away. By the time Marco leaves the room, almost everyone has forgotten the incident entirely. It is replaced by a momentary confusion that is blamed on the head or the excessive amounts of champagne. Herr Thiessen cannot recall why Celia has suddenly stopped dancing, or when her gown has shifted to its current deep green. “Is something wrong?” he asks, when he realizes that she is trembling.”

Such a beautiful book and a wonderful debut for Morgenstern.  I eagerly look forward to reading more by her in the future.

“Most of the time, there is no truth, only various levels of interpretation. Fact is a construct we provide to the public.”

The Ashford Affair  by Lauren Willig I really enjoyed Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series and thought I would give one of her stan...