laurie’s book company

Laurie’s Book Reviews -- CBC RadioActive

My Tuesday afternoon book reviews at CBC’s RadioActive have long been a highlight of my week... always fun and, I hope, informative. In addition, I have recently expanded my relationship with CBC to include regular one-on-one interviews with authors visiting Edmonton as part of their current book launches.

For example, in the past couple of months I have had the pleasure of talking at length with Wayne Johnston, Guy Vanderhaegue, Ami McKay, Patrick deWitt and Georges Laroques. Future interviews are schedule, with the likes of Linden MacIntyre, Thomas Wharton and Vincent Lam. So, stay tuned!

Meantime, here is a list of the books I review on CBC each week. For more of my “faves” be sure to check out my weekly Global reviews and Laurie’s Picks.

January 31 -- The Fathomless Fire, Thomas Wharton

One of my favourite authors is Edmonton's own Thomas Wharton, author of three terrific adult books -- Icefields, Salamander & Logogryph. This University of Alberta English professor's most recent works are wonderful young adult fantasy books, the first two of Wharton’s Perilous Realm Trilogy. The first was SHADOW OF MALABRON and the second -- just released after a three year wait -- is THE FATHOMLESS FIRE. Wharton is all about story and indeed, the Perilous Realm, where teenager Will Lightfoot finds himself, is where all stories begin. In the town of Fable the inhabitants are threatened by Malbron the Night King because he wants to turn all stories into his own, an evil tale of power. Thus the classic struggle begins with a cache of characters trying to help Will return home and fight off Malabron. I'm not a young adult or much of a reader of fantasy either, but with Wharton's wonderful use as story as a character, this imaginative tale had me laughing and flipping the pages to see what was going to happen.

January 24 -- The Tiger, John Vaillant

Today's book is THE TIGER: A TRUE STORY OF VENGEANCE AND SURVIVAL, by John Vaillant, a Vancouver writer who won the Governor General's Award for his first book THE GOLDEN SPRUCE. The central story of this book takes place over a few days in December 1997 in a remote part of Russia. The remains of hunter Vladimir Markov are found at his cabin and he has clearly been eaten by a tiger. The weird part is it looks as if the tiger stalked him and waited for him specifically. Vaillant manages to weave history, geography, zoology, anthropology and a bit of superstition into a fast-paced book that was hard to put down.

The Tiger is one of the five short-listed books on CBC’s 2012 Canada Reads.

January 17 -- The Cure for Everything, Timothy Caulfield

Today I'd like to talk about The Cure for Everything! Untangling the Twisted Messages About Health, Fitness & Happiness by Timothy Caulfield. He is a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta, as well as research director of the Health Law & Science Policy Group looking at such issues as stem cell research, genomes and ethics in medicine. In this book he sets out to debunk the bad science in fitness & diet fads and explore through experts and research what REALLY works. He trains with a Hollywood fitness guru, has his spit genetically tested, and employs his own dietary team to help figure out what he's eating right and wrong. The results are fascinating and his light-hearted writing makes this book really accessible.

January 10 -- When She Woke, Hillary Jordan

Today's book is WHEN SHE WOKE by Hillary Jordan. It's set in the near future in an America where there is no longer a separation between church and state and where religion RULES! The main character is a young woman named Hannah Payne who in the first chapter wakes up scarlet red - she has been "chromed" as a murderer for having an abortion. Raised super-religious, she has an affair with her family's married pastor but out of shame and trying to protect her family she refuses to name him or her abortionist and she gets a 16 year sentence of being red. Having survived the first month of nationally televised "Chrome-watching" she is set free to a society that will forever shun her. Having her faith tested to the limits, she finds herself involved with an underground based out of Quebec (Canada has distanced itself economically, politically and culturally from the US) that offers hope for a new life. There are so many themes in this disturbing novel - sexuality, religion, politics that it kind of leaves you reeling. Hannah is a great character however and the future Jordan offers up leaves much to think about.

January 3 -- CBC Canada Reads 2012

This year the annual CBC Canada Reads take a different turn and is featuring the following five books of non-fiction.

The Game, Ken Dryden
The Tiger, John Vaillant
Something Fierce, Carmen Aguirre
On a Cold Road, Dave Bidini
Prisoner of Tehran, Marina Nemat

We’ll look at all five books over the next few weeks, starting today with

Carmen Aguirre’s riveting work, SOMETHING FIERCE: MEMOIRS OF A REVOLUTIONARY DAUGHTER.

When Carmen Aguirre was six, she and her family were among the many Chileans who fled to Canada as refugees from the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, which overthrew Chile's democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in 1973. Five years later, her mother decided to join the Chilean resistance movement in South America, and she moved back to Bolivia, bringing her Carmen and her younger sister along with her. SOMETHING FIERCE is Aguirre's memoir of growing up living a double life, torn between her dedication to the cause and a teenage girl's normal preoccupations of boys and pop music. There's both drama and humour in the stories of her harrowing adolescence and young adulthood.

December 13 -- Great Gift Books for Young Readers

Picture Books for youngest readers:

11 Experiments That Failed, Jenny Offill & Nancy Carpenter
Press Here, Herve Tullet
A Porcupine in a Pine Tree, Helaine Becker & Werner Zimmerman

Elementary School

Barnabas Bigfoot, Marty Chan
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, Jeff Kinney

Teenagers

Arabat: Absolute Midnight, Clive Barker
Inheritance, Christopher Paolini

December 6 -- The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick

Today I'm going to talk about THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick. Ostensibly a children's book, this completely original work of literature can be enjoyed by anyone. It’s a big book (kind of looks like a doorstop!) but the story is told half by Selznick's wonderful drawings - they really add to the story and he won the Caldecott Award for illustration, something usually garnered by a 32 page picture book. The story takes place in the train station in Paris in 1931. Hugo Cabret is living in the station keeping the clocks running for his uncle since his father died in a fire in the museum where he worked. He was a clockmaker who was working on an automaton he found - a robot sitting at a desk, pen poised in hand to write something. Hugo has been stealing toy parts from the little toy store in the station in an attempt to make the automaton work. When he is caught stealing by the store owner, the story takes an amazing twist involving identity and movie-making. This is the book which the new movie "HUGO" by Martin Scorcese is based on - really an amazing read. He also has a brand new book out called WONDERSTRUCK, once again told in half by lavish illustrations. Really, a one of a kind author.

November 29 -- I am Half-Sick of Shadows, Alan Bradley

Yeah, there's a new Alan Bradley novel out in the Flavia deLuce mystery series. This retired Canadian teacher won all sorts of awards for SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, which introduced us to Flavia, the 11 year-old chemistry buff whose specialty in the lab is poison -- mostly to get her older tormenting teenage sisters off her back! Set in rural England in the 1950's at the family manor called Buckshaw, Flavia has solved 3 murders (or more, in 3 previous books) already when Christmas rolls around. In I AM HALF-SICK OF SHAWDOWS, we find that Flavia’s father has been forced to rent out the estate to a movie crew over the holidays and when they find out the famous actress Phyllis Wyvern will be there, her older sisters are ecstatic. Not so much Flavia, it's disrupting her attempt to build a sticky concoction that will trap Saint Nick in the chimney and prove to her sisters once and for all that he does exist. When the entire town of Bishop's Lacy turns up for a performance by the famous actress, a blizzard sets in and everyone is trapped at Buckshaw. Of course, there's a murder and Flavia must do what she does best - outwit the adults and solve the crime. I LOVE these cozy and intelligent mysteries with one of my favourite sleuths.

November 22 -- The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes

Today, I want to talk about the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes. Nominated 3 times previously, Barnes is a really great author -- THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10 1/2 CHAPTERS may be one of my very favourite books.

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING is truly unforgettable little novel that in only 150 pages looks at growing old, memory, history (both true and false) and the way we look at ourselves as human beings through the fog of time.

The first part of the book begins in the 60's with a group of four pretentious young men interested in books, women and philosophy. Swearing friendship for life, they go their separate ways. The second part of the book sees Tony (our narrator) retired and "peaceable" as he calls himself. When he gets notice that his old school buddy left him his diary but his old girlfriend has it and won't return it, he decides to "right the past" and becomes almost infatuated with his school years. Solid writing, painfully honest probing about how we mould our past to fit our ideal of ourselves, this is a great novel. There's also a sense of foreboding for the reader that the "sense of an ending" is going to be quite unexpected, and it is!!!! Probably have to read it again now that I know how it ended.

November 15 -- The Reinvention of Love, Helen Humphreys

Today I would like to talk about one of my favourite writers, Canadian novelist Helen Humphreys, author of such wonderful books as The Lost Garden, The Frozen Thames and Coventry. Helen is an historical novelist who manages to write really great love stories. Her new novel is called THE REINVENTION OF LOVE and has a cast of characters that includes Victor Hugo, George Sand and our narrator Charles Saint-Beuve who becomes Adele Hugo's lover. Set in old Paris during the reign of Napoleon III, the landscape is rife with duelling and cholera and other such wonders of the age. But at its heart it is a love story, with some twists. Great stuff!

November 8 -- Georges Laraque, Georges Laraque

During his 12-year career in the National Hockey League, Georges Laraque was one of the most feared enforcers in the game. But off-ice, this talented tough guy has put his muscle behind a wide range of social causes, from relief efforts in Haiti to animal welfare.

Georges announced his retirement from the NHL in June 2010. Over the course of his career, he played with the Edmonton Oilers, the Phoenix Coyotes, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens. His robust style of play endeared him to hometown fans and earned him respect from hockey observers, including Sports Illustrated magazine, which hailed him as the number one enforcer in the league in 2008.

A committed social activist, Georges has supported Haiti relief efforts, and has acted as spokesperson for such charities and causes as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). He is also an outspoken vegan and a passionate environmentalist, focusing on issues of sustainability. Last year, he added politics to his resumé, as the Green Party's deputy leader.

November 1 -- Half-Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan

Short-listed for every major literary award for fiction

(and ultimate winner of the 2011 Giller Prize), Half-Blood Blues is a definite must read!

Berlin, 1939. A young, brilliant trumpet-player, Hieronymus, is arrested in a Paris cafe. The star musician was never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black.

Fifty years later, Sidney Griffiths, the only witness that day, still refuses to speak of what he saw. When Chip Jones, his friend and fellow band member, comes to visit, recounting the discovery of a strange letter, Sid begins a slow journey towards redemption. From the smoky bars of pre-war Berlin to the salons of Paris, Sid leads the reader through a fascinating, little-known world, and into the heart of his own guilty conscience. Half-Blood Blues is an electric, heart-breaking story about music, race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves, and demand of others, in the name of art.

October 25 -- Off air, helping my sibs move Greenwoods back to Whyte!!

October 18 -- A Good Man, Guy Vanderhaeghe

Well, again this week I was given the opportunity to ask, instead of answer, questions about a new book and it was an absolute delight to sit down with another of my favourite authors, Guy Vanderhaeghe, and talk about

A GOOD MAN, the simply wonderful final chapter in his loose trilogy comprising The Englishman’s Boy and The Last Crossing (2002). Set in the late-19th century in the areas now known as North Dakota and Saskatchewan, A GOOD MAN is a rollicking story as large as the prairie is wide. The complex and evolving relations between the Americans, Canadians, and various First Nations are delineated with candour and honesty. It has been said that Vanderhaeghe has been demystifying “the Western” for some time now. A GOOD MAN is another well-wrought chapter in this multi-layered story.

PLEASE NOTE: If you missed Vanderhaeghe’s wonderful reading at Greenwoods’ Bookshoppe last evening, there may still be a few signed copies available!

October 11 -- A World Elsewhere, Wayne Johnston

Something a little bit different this week. Instead of Peter or Marc interviewing me, I

was the one asking the questions. And how great it was to sit and chat with one of my favourite authors, Wayne Johnston. His newest book, A WORLD ELSEWHERE, focusses on the curious and complex relationship between young men who meet as students at Princeton. Landish is the son of a famed sealing captain; Van, the son of the richest man in America who leaves him “only” $6 million. They become great friends, and then they become estranged. And as the book twists and turns through their lives, separately and then together, secrets are revealed, feelings are hurt, and, ultimately, their friendship is tested to the limit. A strange and irresistible tale from one of Canada’s great writers.

October 4 -- The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

THE NIGHT CIRCUS, a debut novel by Erin Morgenstern, has shot up on the bestseller lists and for good reason. This enthralling tale of two magicians who have been playing games with each other for years vis a vis younger magicians who enter into this duel unknowingly is fantastic! The Night Circus only opens when the sun goes down and is filled with contortionists, illusionists and other amazing characters. As a person who rarely reads fantasy, this had me captured from page one!

“The circus arrives without warning...”

September 27 -- Earlier Works by Colin McCann and Patrick deWitt

I’m switching gears a bit this week, as I want to talk about earlier books written by two of my current favourite authors.

Colum McCann wrote an amazing book called "Let the Great World Spin" which won the National Book Award this year. It's a marvellous story that takes place on one day in NYC in the mid-1970's. His earlier book -- "Everything in This Country Must" is a novella and two short stories -- is, quite simply, mesmerizing.
"The Sisters Brothers" by Patrick deWitt is nominated for the Booker Prize and now short-listed for the Giller, so I went back and read his first novel "Ablutions", a novel about a bartender in Hollywood who uses his clients as material for a novel he's working on but instead finds his life unraveling. Comic and somewhat dark.

September 20, -- Freddy’s War, Judy Shultz

Today I am going to talk about a novel by well-known Edmonton writer Judy Schultz. Best known for her food columns for years, Judy has published 10 books on travel, history and food. Now her first novel, FREEDY’S WAR has been published and I must say, it is a page-turner. Beginning in Edmonton in 1924 we follow young Freddy McKee from being an ignored child to being "adopted" by a kind next door neighbor and her friend Yip Lee, owner of the local Chinese restaurant. At 17 Freddy signs up for war and within 6 weeks of landing in Hong Kong he is taken prisoner and remains so for the next four years. His return home is marked by his finding his war buddy's widow and daughter and a mysterious Chinese woman named Su Li, all of whom have to deal with Freddy's trauma from the war. Brutal and violent in parts, honestly human and loving in others, this is a great novel about first-hand experience of war. Well done Judy!

September 13 -- Giller Long List

Well, the ScotiaBank Giller Prize long list has been announced, and a terrific list it is, especially having two Edmontonians on the list! THE ANTAGONIST by Lynn Coady and THE LITTLE SHADOWS by Marina Endicott are both on the list, and I can’t recommend them highly enough! As different from each other as possible, both are wonderful reads. For the entire Giller long list, go to the following link.

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/2011-longlist/

September 6 -- The Antagonist, Lynn Coady

Against his will and his nature, the hulking Gordon Rankin ("Rank") is cast as an enforcer, a goon -- by his classmates, his hockey coaches, and especially his own "tiny, angry" father, Gordon Senior. Rank gamely lives up to his role -- until tragedy strikes, using Rank as its blunt instrument. Escaping the only way he can, Rank disappears. But almost twenty years later he discovers that an old, trusted friend -- the only person to whom he has ever confessed his sins -- has published a novel mirroring Rank's life. The betrayal cuts to the deepest heart of him, and Rank will finally have to confront the tragic true story from which he's spent his whole life running away. With the deep compassion, deft touch, and irreverent humour that have made her one of Canada's best-loved novelists, Lynn Coady delves deeply into the ways we sanction and stoke male violence, giving us a large-hearted, often hilarious portrait of a man tearing himself apart in order to put himself back together.

August 23 -- Rules of Civility, Amor Towles

This debut novel is garnering all kinds of great reviews and is being compared to the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald (no pressure there!). RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles takes place in New York in 1931; it is hugely atmospheric and a wonderful social commentary about America between the Wars. The main character is Katey Kontent, daughter of Russian Immigrants who works in a legal steno pool, who is thrown into the upper echelons of society when she and her girlfriend Eve meet Tinker Grey at a jazz bar on New Year's Eve. A handsome banker, Tinker takes the girls out on the town but when a car accident derails their relationship, Katey finds herself immersed in the publishing industry at Conde Nast and rubbing elbows with the wealthy. Beautifully written, atmospheric and with a main character not soon forgotten, it was a great book.

August 2 -- The O’Briens, Peter Behrens

THE O'BRIENS is the latest offering from author Peter Behrens who wrote one of my favourite novels THE LAW OF DREAMS (won the GG for fiction). In that story, which he loosely based on one of his ancestors, we learn all about the Irish Potato Famine and how the oprhaned lived and died, and one in particular who immigrates to Canada. In his new book we go forward two generations and the story begins in Quebec in the early 1900's, Spanning over 60 years, two world wars and the building of the Canadian railroad, this is an epic story of family, survival and the birth of a nation. Great read!

July 26 -- Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart

Today's book is SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY by Gary Shteyngart (he also wrote ABSURDISTAN and THE RUSSIAN DEBUTANTE’S HANDBOOK). It is in the near future, America is crippled financially and China is holding up the States. The love story involves Lenny Abramov who works for the Indefinite Life Extension Company, and Eunice Parks, a young Korean American who specializes in “Images & Assertiveness”. Everyone has an apparatus which transmits instantly your credit rating and your attractiveness quotient. To not be on social media is to not be at all! Filled with politics, satire and humour, this was a really great book.

July 19 -- The Map of Time, Felix Palma

Today I am going to talk about THE MAP OF TIME by Spanish author Felix Palma, published into several languages world-wide. This is a novel that defies genres --

it's a Victorian mystery, a love story, science fiction focusing on time travel and just a great summer read! Told in three parts by a somewhat annoying and omnipotent narrator, the first focuses on a young wealthy man who wants to travel back in time to save his prostitute/lover from being murdered by Jack the Ripper. The second involves a young woman who wants to escape the stifling Victorian life and travels to the future where she falls in love. The novel includes characters both real and imagines -- HG Wells, Bram Stoker and the Elephant Man all appear but it is HG Wells at the centre of the book who must face what time travel would really do to us and whether or not it's good or bad. In the third part Wells finds himself in a time warp where the authors of the great science fiction of the time are in danger of being murdered and this is the most mysterious part of the book. Great stuff for a getaway!

July 12 -- The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson

Today's book is by Jon Ronson, author of MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS -- an inquiry into the US military's use of the supernatural to create "Warrior Monks". His new book, THE PSYCHOPATH TEST, is subtitled "A Journey Through the Madness Industry" and is a highly enjoyable and quite funny look at psychopaths. Sure, we're aware of the ones locked away, but using Canadian Dr.Robert Hare's "Psychopath Test", Ronson wonders if some of the top people in power also have these traits -- and oh yes, they do! So he goes out and interviews the CEO of Sunbeam; a young man who faked being insane to avoid a jail sentence; and a CEO in jail for mortgage fraud, and indeed, the same traits are very prevalent. Also, he finds the same traits in many of the psychiatrists he interviews -- so what's going on here? An interesting look at "madness".

July 5 -- The Hypnotist, Lars Kepler

Well, I sat up late the other night to finish the newest "Swedish thriller" -- since Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy" everyone wants to be the next Scandinavian best-selling author. THE HYPNOTIST by Lars Kepler (a pseudonym for a wife-husband team) was a huge hit in 2009 and has just been released here. WOW - blood and gore, revenge, abuse and psychotics - who could ask for more? Written in short chapters that refuse to let you put the book down, it begins with the gruesome slaughter of a family with the exception of their son Josef who is in a coma. Detective Joona Linn fears for the life of the missing eldest sister and agrees to have the boy hypnotized. Enter Dr. Erik Maria Bark, a tortured man who gave up his craft 10 years ago and reluctantly he hypnotizes Josef, only to have what he says shock them all. Then horrible things start happening to him and his family and the twists and turns can make a reader dizzy. I really enjoyed this book and anyone who loves a good mystery will as well.

June 21 -- A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan

Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the American National Book Award, Jennifer Egan's A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD is a remarkable and inventive novel. It follows a group of characters across time and geography - 1970's to the 2020's, and from the New York music scene to Naples, England and Palm Springs. Each character gets a chapter or two and it is not chronological. Yet Egan manages to intertwine all these folk's hopes and dreams and fears of the passage of time - or the "goon" - into one flowing and unforgettable read.

June 14 -- State of Wonder, Anne Patchett

I'm very excited that Ann Patchett has a new novel out, STATE OF WONDER. To begin I'd like to remind people of her previous bestseller -- and one of my personal favourites -- BEL CANTO. Patchett has an amazing way of putting fairly normal people into extraordinary circumstances . In this new book pharmacology researcher Marina Singh finds herself in the Amazon looking for her reportedly dead co-worker Anders Eckhart. He was there looking for the elusive and eccentric Dr Annick Swenson who has been researching the Lakashi Indians and how their females are able to have children well into their 70's. Amid snakes, insects and cannibals, Marina has both a mystery to solve while pondering the ethics of medical research and aboriginal peoples as well as her own philosophy of life. A great read!

June 7 -- The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt

A young novelist from the West coast named Patrick DeWitt

written one of the best westerns I have ever read - THE SISTERS BROTHERS. Narrated by Eli Sisters we are taken to the Wild West of the 1850-s and follow the boys from Oregon to San Francisco through small towns, brothels, bars etc. They are notorious hired killers and are on their way to off a new target of the Commodore, their ruthless employer. Thing is, this is startlingly violent, hilariously funny, action-packed and really really good! Think of True Grit, the Coen brothers and maybe Woody Allen all rolled into one genre-defying novel. There are two "intermissions" and Eli's philosophical musings and use of the language are wonderful.

May 24 -- Caleb’s Crossing, Geraldine Brooks

Today I will be discussing Geraldine Brooks's new novel CALEB'S CROSSING. Brooks wrote an amazing book about Islamic women in 1994 (she covered the Middle East for the Wall Street Journal for 6 years), won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel "March" about the American Civil War, and authored one of my favourite books "People of the Book" about a rare book - the Sarajevo Haggadah and the Muslims, Jews & Christians who protected it for over 500 years. Keen on historical detail, Brooks is now writing about Caleb, the first native American to graduate from Harvard College - in 1665! Narrated by a young woman whose Calvinist father sees Caleb as a first step to "taming the heathens" and written in "period language" Brooks once again captures an historical event and shows how it still has meaning today.

May 17 -- Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul, David Adams Richards

Today's book is by one of my favourite Canadian authors David Adams Richards, a writer who has won and/or been nominated for almost everything.

His new novel, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF MARKUS PAUL, is set in New Brunswick beginning in 1985. It starts off with the death of a young Miqmac named Hector Penniac in the hold of a Dutch ship and the white man accused of his death. Richards then plummets us into a story about truth and lies, justice and punishment as he takes us inside the world of a First Nations band. Their chief is the aged and wise Amos Paul who instantly recognizes a need for revenge is not necessarily based on facts and it is at his side his grandson Markus observes how one incident can become explosive for an entire community. Brilliantly written with an omnipotent narrator, this is one of his best.

May 10 -- Blood, Bones & Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton

A new book for "foodies" has been garnering much attention and for good reason. Gabrielle Hamilton's BLOOD, BONES & BUTTER is sub-titled "The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef" and it is really one of the best memoirs in this genre. From her idyllic childhood in rural Pennsylvania where her French mother held court at her six-burner stove while her father held massive "themed" parties (he was a set decorator) to her aimless wanderings in Europe, Hamilton is a really good writer. Her food knowledge is all based on experience and she shares many with a very honest and brutal eye. Now owner of Prune, one of the hottest restaurants in New York, her story almost defies traditional chef memoirs by being self-taught and extremely motivated.

April 26 -- The Radleys, Matt Haig

Today's book is a delightful and hilarious vampire novel called THE RADLEYS by Matt Haig. In the quiet town of Bishopshire lives a normal family. Peter Radley is the town doctor, his wife Helen is involved in local clubs, and the two teenage children Clara and Rowan seem kind of normal although bullied at school over their weird pale skin and rashes. When a horrific act of violence takes place, the Radleys have to come clean with their children - they are indeed vampires, albeit "abstainers" they are still vampires.

Written in short choppy chapters from all points of view, this is a fine addition to a slug of very bad vampire books.

April 19 -- The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Today's book is THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett. A national bestseller, it has just been released in paperback and I must say, it was quite the page-turner.

The place is Jackson, Mississippi in 1962 and we have three main characters. Aibileen is raising her 17th white child and finding it harder to take with each one. They all love her unconditionally while she raises them and Mother is at the cotillion, yet she knows they'll eventually take their parent's views - blacks are meant to be segregated. Minny is younger and has 5 kids of her own and a big mouth that always seems to get her fired but now she's working for a new white lady who has more secrets than Minny can figure out - and should she? Into the fray comes 23 year-old white socialite "Skeeter" who has just returned from college only to find her beloved maid Constantine has disappeared. Not like her married friends with children and maids, Skeeter convinces the maids to tell her their stories -- what it's like to work for white people and how they are treated -- for a book she wants to write. Heart breaking and funny at times, Stockett returns us to the days of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and it really works.

April 12 -- Irma Voth, Miriam Toews

Miriam

Toews has a new novel out called IRMA VOTH. You may recall Toews from her lovely novel called "A Complicated Kindness" about a 15 year-old Mennonite girl named Nomi. In her latest book, Toews goes back to her roots with the Mennonites. Irma Voth is a 19 year-old girl living on a Mennonite community in Mexico who has already married a Mexcian and been deserted by him as quickly as their "courtship". Still scorned by her father she hooks up with a film crew that causes all kinds of consequences. Toews is both funny and tragic in this great new book.

April 5 -- Fall from Grace, Wayne Arthurson

Today I am going to talk about local author Wayne Arthurson's new novel FALL FROM GRACE. Wayne scored a two book deal with biggie American publisher Forge and he's being called one to watch in the world of mysteries. Set in the "exotic locale" of Edmonton, FALL FROM GRACE introduces us to Leo Desroche, a conflicted character who is a recovering gambler who finds that robbing banks replaces that urge. Having once lost everything and been living on the streets, he's been given a second chance with the Edmonton Journal as a reporter. He is allowed into a crime scene by a homicide detective where he discovers that the victim is an aboriginal prostitute. As he starts researching both her life and the number of bodies found in fields outside of Edmonton, he becomes worried that the Edmonton Police Service may be involved and that he may be the next victim. Great stuff!

March 29 -- Quinoa 365, Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming

QUINOA 365 by Canadian sisters Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming has been a huge bestseller the last few months and I'm converted. Quinoa is known as the "everyday superfood" as it has all 8 essential amino acids, is gluten-free, kosher, and although it looks and tastes like a grain it is a seed from the same plant family as spinach. Long heralded in South America (the Incas considered it sacred) it has come into prominence as it is wonderful for special diets, particularly vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free. This is the ONLY cookbook I know of that is all quinoa and covers everything from breakfast to chocolate cake. I made some ginger spice cookies - they're great!

March 22 -- The Brain that Changes Itself, Norman Doidge

Today I am going to talk about THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELF by Dr. Norman Doidge of Columbia & the University of Toronto. Usually I run screaming from the self-help section but this book was wonderful. Sub-titled "Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Science" it is almost a history of psychology/psychoanalysis and what we think we know about the brain. Always thought to work like a machine with very localized skills, research now shows that the brain has "plasticity" and can "rewire" itself if it loses a function. Featuring stories from all around the world with leading scientists and their patients, this book could give a hole new spin to the power of positive thinking. Highly readable and mind-boggling.

March 15 -- Don’t Be Afraid, Steven Hayward

Today's book, DON'T BE AFRAID by Steven Hayward, is narrated by 17 year-old James Morrison (so named because he was born the day after the Doors' Jim Morrison's death). Always overshadowed by his 18 year-old brother Mike, his family's life is completely altered one night when the town library blows up and Mike and the librarian are killed. Jim's mother Filomena (an ex-nun) goes catatonic, his engineer father starts his own investigation into the blast and Jim quits school to take care of his 5 year-old brother Petey. Very funny in parts, very sad in others, this is a very interesting look at how a family survives a tragedy and deals with grief.

March 8 -- One Day, David Nicholls

Today I'm going to talk about the #1 Bestseller in England right now - ONE DAY by David Nicholls. It's a love story and an unforgettable one. Emma Morley & Dexter Mayhew meet on July 15th, 1988

and we follow their relationship over the next 20 years - on exactly that date - July 15th. We follow them through career moves, family losses, loves, marriages and friendships. It is very funny and very sad at the same time - just like some relationships. It has a lot to say about how relationships have changed in two decades, but mostly it's about two people who love each other but vow to be friends instead - what they lose and what they gain. I thought of so many of my friends while reading this book and when it ends it's like losing a couple of friends. A really great read.

February 22 -- 2 local biographies, as different as is possible!

ROCKETTES, ROCKSTARS & ROCKBOTTOM is Keltie Colleen's story of growing up in Sherw

ood Park, moving to New York to become a dancer, a rock star "groupie" and then hitting rock bottom. Honest, funny and inspirational, this book had me hooked.

GUT INSTINCT by Hans J Dys is a ten year long effort to tell the story of Dr. Charles Allard, one of Edmonton's most brilliant entrepreneurs, founder of ITV and Allarco Developments. Dys worked for Allard and the book came from a one hour show he produced back in 1992. With the help of the Allard family, this book is also enlightening on the history of Edmonton.

February 15 -- A Red Herring Without Mustard, Alan Bradley

Yippee!! The third installment in the 'Flavia deLuce" mysteries came out last week, A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD. These cozy mysteries by a retired Canadian teacher Alan Bradley are a huge international success that feature the unlikeliest detective ever - 11 year-old Flavia. Set in a small English village right after WW2, Flavia's encounter with a fortuneteller sees her tent set on fire so Flavia invites her to bring her gypsy caravan to her estate. When she finds her badly beaten other strange events begin to occur that point to an unsolved mystery from a decade earlier. Bradley’s books are not only well written mysteries, but this novel gives us a closer look at Flavia, the girl who misses her mother (and her philatelist father who pays her no attention), hates being abused by her older sisters and is driven to do the right thing. Great stuff! And if you’ve somehow missed the earlier Flavia books, the first in the series is THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE; Bradley followed that up with THE WEED THAT STRING’S THE HANGMAN’S BAG.

February 8 -- Annabel, Kathleen Winter

Today's book is ANNABEL, the first novel by Kathleen Winter (author Michael's big

sister) from Newfoundland. Nominated but shut out for all 3 major Canadian literary awards, this is a very moving and well written book. In a small town in Labrador in 1968 a baby is born with both sexes. Only his parents and the mid-wife Thomasina know this and an early decision is made to raise him as a boy. As “Wayne” grows under the watchful masculine eye of his trapper father, his mother Jacinta and Thomasina secretly nurture the female (Annabel) they know is hidden inside. A rare yet honest look at differences and people trying to fit themselves and others into spaces that don't work.

February 1 -- Still Alice, Lisa Genova

Today I am going to talk about STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova.

This is a remarkable novel about Alzheimer's Disease and its effect on everyone involved. Alice Howland is an accomplished psychology professor at Harvard with a loving husband and three grown children all pursuing their own lives. At age 50 she is diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's and the book is her description of her spiraling life. Both heartbreaking and funny, it tackles a subject most of us probably don't want to read about with great characters and wonderful writing.

January 25 -- Mark Twain and Cleopatra

This week’s focus is two bestsellers -- both biographies of long-dead people.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN (Volume 1) is 760 pages long, published by the University of California Press and the demand for it is huge! Twain wrote half a million words in a ten-foot high manuscript that he requested not be published until 100 years after his death - 2010! Classic and unafraid and unabridged thoughts from the master.

CLEOPATRA: A LIFE by Edmonton’s own Stacy Schiff sold out one month after publication. This Pulitzer Prize winning biographer (Vera: Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) turns her keen eye to the Egyptian Queen who has been thought of as a ruthless seductress for 2,000 years and paints a new portrait of a very powerful and politically astute woman. So she killed her brother and sister - everyone was doing it back then. And her two loves - Caesar and Marc Antony were the only men she had children with and lost them both (murder and suicide). Quite the life, quite the book!

January 18 -- CBC Canada Reads Finalists

CBC’s Canada Reads celebrates its 10th Anniversary and the debates on this very eclectic selection of books are set to air on CBC Radio One in early February. Follow the links (below) to each of the finalists:

The Best Laid Plan, by Terry Fallis, will be defended by Ali Velshi

The Birth House, by Ami McKay, will be defended by Debbie Travis

The Bone Cage, by Angie Abdou, will be defended by George Laraque

Essex County, by Jeff Lemire, will be defended by Sara Quin

Unless, by Carol Shields, will be defended by Lorne Cardinal

January 11 -- The Lake of Dreams, Kim Edwards

Today's book is the long-awaited and just released novel by Kim Edwards, THE LAKE OF DREAMS. Edwards hit it big in 2006 with a novel called THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER about a doctor who in 1964 gives up a Down's Syndrome

daughter and lies to his family about it, saying she died. It was a great read and this follow-up novel is no disappointment!

Lucy Jarrett is at a crossroads in her life, unemployed and living in Japan with her partner Yoshi. When her mother has a car accident she decides to return to the family's sprawling lakeside home where her father drowned 10 years earlier. Upon finding a stash of old letters and catalogues she becomes interested in her family history, only to lead her places she'd never expect. Great, poetic writing with wonderfully believable characters, Edwards’ new book is very good.

January 4 -- Atlantic, Simon Winchester

I'll be in today talking about Simon Winchester's latest offering ATLANTIC: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. One of my favorite non-fiction authors turns his roaming eye to a biography of the Atlantic Ocean, from its geological origins 370 millions years ago to the people who populated and explored her, World War II battles and modern ecological issues, Winchester is never afraid to tackle any topic.

December 16 -- Gift Book Recommendations, Kids & Young Adults

Beautiful Oops, Barry Saltzberg
Interrupting Chicken, David Ezra Stein
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Eric Litwin
The Ship of Lost Souls, Rachelle Delaney
Leviathan, Scott Westerfield
The Year Without A Santa Claus, Phyllis McGinley
It's A Book, Lane Smith

December 14 -- Gift Book Recommendations, Adults

History, biography, politics

The Wild Ride: A History of the Northwest Mounted Police, Charles Wilkins
The Madman & the Butcher, Tim Cook

Travel, romantic fiction, strong element of Canadian geography & place

Coppermine, Keith Ross Leckie
The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Best new Canadian fiction

Room, Emma Donoghue (and all other Award winners)
Beatrice & Virgil, Yann Martel
Illustrado, Miguel Syuco
Alberta Encore, from Legacy Magazine

Graphic novels, vampires & zombies & music

Second Book of General Ignorance
Homework for Grown-Ups, E.Foley & B. Coates
Every Zombie Eats Some Body Sometime, Michael Spradin

December 7 -- 2010 Canadian Award Winners for Fiction

First announced was The Roger's Writer's Trust Award, which went to Room, by Emma Donoghue. A mother and her 5 year old child have been held captive for years and finally escape to the "real world".
Next was the Scotiabank Giller Prize, won for the illusive The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud. A daughter spends time with her aging father who is finally ready to recount his experiences of the Vietnam War.
And finally, the Governor General's Award for Fiction went to Diane Warren for Cool Water, a novel that looks at life in small-town Saskatchewan and proves that all aspects of life exist in a village.

November 23 -- Coppermine, Keith Ross Leckie

Just read a fabulous historical/adventure novel based on events in Canada’s high, high north at the Bloody Falls of the Coppermine

where two priests were murdered by two Inuit in 1913. Much of Coppermine focusses on the trip north to find the two accused, their subsequent capture and trial in Edmonton. Jack Creed is the RNWMP officer who is accompanied by a young Inuit interpreter and who sees the clash of cultures first hand. Swiftly moving with twists and turns and LOTS of Arctic history and nature, this was a great book. Having been on the Coppermine made it even more exciting for me!

November 16 -- At Home, Bill Bryson

One of Bill Bryson’s great skills is to make daily life

simultaneously strange and familiar, and in so doing, help us to recognise ourselves. At Home is a work of constant delight and discovery. Bryson’s wit is both dry (academics, he notes, define Mesoamerica as 'Central America plus as much or as little of North and South America as are needed to support a hypothesis’) and charmingly goofy ('When wood-shavings and sawdust make it into a top-10 list of bedding materials, you know you are looking at a rugged age’). At Home is a treasure: don’t leave home without it.

November 9 -- Great House, Nicole Krauss

GREAT HOUSE by Nicole Krauss is an amazing novel up for the National Book Award this Fall and with good reason. Her first novel HISTORY OF LOVE (2005) is still one of my

favorites and recounts the story of octogenarian Leo Gursky and it's a story about a book within a book. Now, five years later this 36 year old author brings us her new novel that centers around a desk that passes through a number of character's hands over the course of 60 years. The characters don't seem related at all but there are 4 separate narratives all told convincingly and then she wraps it up (most of it) in one last short chapter. Darker than her last novel, Krauss is exploring the idea of the burden of inheritance - what we pass on both knowingly & unknowingly. Her writing is superb and her structure is both unique and enthralling.

laurie’s book company

weekly book reviews -- CBC RadioActive