Olympic Fiction - Counterpoint

SOME people might be tired of winter sports, but I had a blast. Next London in 2012 and Russia in 2014.

Now that it's just about over, I have to get back to reading. The pile is getting bigger and those books won't read themselves. Maybe some gold, silver and bronze winning books will be just the thing.

The RITA Awards are governed by the Romance Writer's of America, recognizing excellence in romance writing fiction. 2009 winners included:


Best First Book - Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs. "A modern girl's comedic odyssey in a school filled with the descendants of Greek gods. ... And now they're on her track team! Armed only with her Nikes and the will to win, Phoebe races to find her place among the gods." --From the publisher.

Best Contemporary Single Title Romance - Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson. "What does a gal have to do to get a good date in this town? Adele Harris can't even begin to answer that question. She's had so many lousy dates that she's sure she's cursed. ... Can a woman with her track record ever really believe that he's serious this time..or is he destined to be date?"--Back cover.

Best Novel With Strong Romantic Elements - Tribute by Nora Roberts. "Virginia's Shenandoah Valley is a long way from Hollywood. And that's exactly how Cilla McGowan wants it. Cilla, a former child star who has found more satisfying work as a restorer of old houses, has come to her grandmother's farmhouse, tools at her side, to rescue it from ruin. Sadly, no one was able to save her grandmother, the legendary Janet Hardy. An actress with a tumultuous life, Janet entertained glamorous guests and engaged in decadent affairs—but died of an overdose in this very house more than thirty years earlier. To this day, Janet haunts Cilla's dreams....."--Inside jacket.

Way back in the eighties the awards were known appropriately as "Golden Medallion Winners" and included The Endearment by LaVyrle Spencer and The Heart's Victory and Untamed by Nora Roberts.

In the world of western fiction there are the Spur Awards (I'd prefer the "Silver Spur Awards"). These awards are presented by the Western Writers of America for distinguished writing about the American West. Recent (2008) winners have included:


Best Western Short Novel - Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson. "When the body of a young Vietnamese woman is found alongside the interstate in Absaroka County, Wyoming, Sherriff Walt Longmire is determined to discover the identity of the victim and is forced to confront the horrible similarities of this murder to that of his first homicide investigation as a marine in Vietnam." --Publisher description.

Best Western Nonfiction Contemporary - Full-Court Quest: the girls from Fort Shaw Indian School - basketball champions of the world by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith. "Peavy and Smith have collaborated on 10 books on women's history and biography. In this volume they tell the story of the women's basketball team at an isolated Indian boarding school at Fort Shaw, Montana at the turn of the 20th century. The team eventually brought its champion skills in the fledgling game to the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. The authors profile the 10 team members who represented seven different tribes and supplement the surviving oral history of the team's success with photographs, records, and archives from the school and other institutions." - library catalogue

Best Western Juvenile Nonfiction - I Am Apache by Tanya Landman. "Taking readers on a sweeping and suspenseful journey through the 19th-century American Southwest, Landman tells a tale about a young woman who seeks to avenge her brother's death by becoming an Apache warrior." - library catalogue

The International Association of Crime Writers (North American Branch) has the Hammet awards in honour of Dashiell Hammet to acknowledge literary excellence in crime writing. Past winners have included:


2008 - The Turnaround by George Pelecanos. "On a hot summer afternoon in 1972, three teenagers drove into an unfamiliar neighborhood and six lives were altered forever. Thirty five years later, one survivor of that day reaches out to another, opening a door that could lead to salvation. But another survivor is now out of prison, looking for reparation in any form he can find it." --Publisher description.

2007 - The Outlander by Gil Adamson. "In 1903 a mysterious, desperate young woman flees alone across the west, one quick step ahead of the law. She has just become a widow by her own hand. Gil Adamson's extraordinary novel opens in heart-pounding mid-flight and propels the reader through a gripping road trip with a twist—the steely outlaw in this story is a grief-struck nineteen-year-old woman."--Publisher.

2006 - The Prisoner of Guantanamo by Dan Fesperman. "Revere Falk—FBI veteran, Arabic speaker—is an interrogator at “Gitmo,” assigned to a “hold-out,” a Yemeni prisoner who may have valuable information about al-Qaeda. But these duties are temporarily suspended when the body of an American soldier is found washed ashore in Cuban territory.... An intricately layered, blistering tale of subterfuge and deception at the highest, most hidden levels of the government, and in the most intimate, and vulnerable, moments of individual lives, ThePrisoner of Guantánamo is as timely and razor sharp in its depiction of life—and death—at Gitmo as it is unstoppably suspenseful."--Inside jacket.

I can't think of what this award "should" be called ... The Bronze_______ any suggestions?

Staff Picks: Louise Penny's Armande Gamache series

Working at a busy branch of the library, I talk to a lot of people about books - especially about the books they love. One author whose name has been coming up more and more lately is Louise Penny.

Penny is a Canadian mystery author who has five books out in a continuing series. The series features the detective work of Chief Inspector Armande Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Set in a small Eastern townships community called Three Pines, the books have developed a loyal following amongst readers who enjoy a good mystery peopled with well developed characters. Kirkus Reviews said of the series "Gamache is a prodigiously complicated and engaging hero, destined to become one of the classic detectives." Penny is popular amongst readers who enjoy traditional British mysteries - think Agatha Christie and P.D. James, but her books have a distinctly Canadian feel.

Here's a quick rundown of the titles in the series from the library catalogue's summaries:

1. Still Life - The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines - a place so free from crime it doesn't even have its own police force.

2. Dead Cold- The falling snow brings a hush to Three Pines -- until a scream pierces the air. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match has been fatally electrocuted. Heading the investigation, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache unravels the dead woman's past and discovers a history of secrets and enemies. But Gamache has enemies of his own.

3. The Cruelest Month - A seance held on Easter Sunday has tragically gone wrong and someone has been literally scared to death. As Gamache starts to unearth the secrets of those close to the deceased, he faces his own demons.

4. The Murder Stone - A brilliant, big, old-fashioned drawing-room mystery with a denouement worthy of Agatha Christie. Wealthy, cultured and respectable, the Finney family is the epitome of gentility. When Irene Finney and her four grown-up children arrive at the Manoir Bellechasse in the heat of summer, the hotel's staff spring into action. For the children have come to this idyllic lakeside retreat for a special occasion a memorial has been organised to pay tribute to their late father. But as the heat wave gathers strength, it is not just the statue of an old man that is unveiled. Old secrets and bitter rivalries begin to surface, and the morning after the ceremony, a body is found.

5. The Brutal Telling - "Chaos is coming, old son." With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness.

It's not just library users that are talking about Penny, she has already gotten lots of praise and numerous award nominations for the Gamache books, and news this week is that she has been nominated for prestigious Agatha Award for the 5th and latest book in the series.

Canadian Fiction - A Dozen Spring Releases to look for. Part 1.

Spring fiction title announcements are already upon us - and for Canadian fiction fans, there is much to be excited about. Here are a few forthcoming titles from authors we know and love -- and a few we are sure to soon. Here's part one of a two part post on a dozen such books to look out for.

The Glass Harmonica: a novel by Russell Wangersky: Another highly anticipated first novel from a Newfoundland author. Wangersky previously had critical and popular success with his memoir Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself, a memoir that looked at his time as a volunteer fire-fighter. The publisher sets the scene of this suspense title in this way: "When retiree Keith O’Reilly witnesses the murder of his neighbour—an architect and “come-from-away” named Dennis Conners—by a pizza delivery man one night during a snowstorm, a unique series of stories begins to unfold."(Thomas Allen Publishers - April)

Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani: the author of two previous novels, both set in Bombay, Irani returns to his native land for this third novel. "Zairos is a dissolute young landowner's son living in the town of Dahanu, just outside Bombay, when his life of careless luxury is brought up short by a mysterious death: the sudden suicide of Ganpat, a tribal worker on his family's estate. Soon Zairos has fallen in love with Ganpat's daughter Kusum, and finds himself defying taboos with their relationship. At the same time his grandfather, Shapur, reveals to him the story of their family and of the land that Zairos stands to inherit. Violence and hatred echo through history, and Zairos learns the terrible truth his grandfather has spent a lifetime hiding." (Doubleday - March)

One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau: Comeau is a young author of several titles, who lives in Toronto but once lived in Halifax. His latest(part horror story, part family tale) offers a strange and varied cast of characters, in a seemingly stranger and more varied series of situations. "One Bloody Thing After Another is a different sort of horror novel from the ones you’re used to. It’s as sad and funny as it is frightening, and it is as much about the way families rely on each other as it is about blood being drooled on the carpet. Though, to be honest, there is a lot of blood being drooled on the carpet."(ECW Press - May)

Salt Water and Cinnamon Skin by Monica Rosas - "an inspiring first novel about a woman’s second coming of age. When thirty-year-old Clara returns to her native Brazil to put her life back together following a failed relationship, she witnesses a shattering scene and is suddenly forced to make a choice that will continue to haunt her in her quest for self-discovery." The author describes herself as a first-generation Colombian-Peruvian Canadian author. She is based in Toronto. This title is the first book from a new imprint of Tightrope books, called Zurita, that will focus on Latino-Canadian writing. (Zurita - May)

Annabel by Kathleen Winter: The first novel from the Winterset Award winning author of boYs: a series of linked short stories that examine the male psyche. The setup for Winter's much anticipated novel is as follows: "In 1968, into the beautiful, spare environment of remote coastal Labrador, a mysterious child is born: a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once." The publisher describes the book as "Haunting, sweeping in scope, and stylistically reminiscent of Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, Annabel is a compelling debut novel about one person's struggle to discover the truth in a culture that shuns contradiction." (House of Anansi - June)

The Truth About Delilah Blue by Tish Cohen - a new book from an up and coming writer who made a splash in 2007 with her novel Town House. Her followup novel Inside Out Girl was released in 2008. In her next "Delilah Blue has always been an outsider, ever since she moved from Toronto to Los Angeles at eight years old, when, as her father informed her, her mother abandoned the family. Twenty now, and desperate to become an artist but unable to pay for classes, Delilah takes a job as an art model, removing her clothes for a room full of students so she can learn from the professors. Her only real companion is her still-single father, recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. The condition worsens just as Delilah’s mother resurfaces and reveals an old secret that will change their lives. Delilah must decide if her mother is the selfish woman she assumed had left her behind, or whether somewhere deep inside her father’s memory lies a more complicated truth." (Harper Collins - May)
all quotes are from publisher's press materials unless otherwise indicated

Life and Love in the Eighteenth Century - The Lady in Red by Hallie Rubenhold

Jane Austen has become the epitome of eighteenth century domestic fiction. Jane came into her own in the twentieth century first with interest in academic circles and then later the rest of us. She lived her short life, except for a time in boarding school, cloistered within the world of her family and neighbors. Neither she nor her sister married, and although her family was supportive of her writing, her father's death left Austen, her mother, and her sister dependent on her brothers. This economic dependency and the absolute necessity of living within society's rules were frequent themes in her novels.

The eighteenth century lives on in our continued interest in Jane Austen. Janeites, or lovers of all things Jane, not only study her works but hold balls and tea parties a la Jane. They have been compared to Trekkies in their devotion. If we can call Jane Austen a genre, we have also blended the Jane genre with current interests, vampires, zombies, whatever. Jane transcends time.

What else was going on? Austen novels were focused on the upper middle class and their concern with advantageous marriages. Around them was the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic War and the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution sent displaced rural workers to the city swelling the ranks of the urban poor. Victorian morality was yet to come and aristocratic excess was the norm in the time of George III and the Regency. Regardless of class the rules for women remained the same. Marriage was an economic necessity and there was no redemption for a fallen woman.

The Lady in Red: an Eighteenth-Century tale of sex, scandal, and divorce by Hallie Rubenhold tells the story of Lady Seymour Worsley and her husband Sir Richard Worsley. They became embroiled in a nasty divorce proceeding. Seymour Dorothy Flemming found herself heiress to a vast fortune (in the 10's of millions by our standards) and was thus an appealing choice for Worsley. The marriage rapidly came to a bad end with Lady Seymour absconding with her lover. The aggrieved Worsley (now in possession of her fortune) took her lover to court. Lady Seymour unexpectedly produced a string of lovers who testified that Worsley not only condoned her affairs, but encouraged them. His case was thrown out of court and Lady Seymour was caste out of respectable society.

On the other end of the economic scale is England's Mistress: the infamous life of Emma Hamilton by Kate Williams. Emma Hamilton began her life in poverty eventually becoming a prostitute. Intelligent and ambitious she eventually does the seemingly impossible and marries Sir William Hamilton, the aging ambassador to Naples. She and Hamilton make her into a star, if not into an acceptable society lady. She went on to entrance Horatio Nelson and had his baby. During her lifetime, she became one of the most famous (infamous?) women in Britain. Her life may have been glamorous, but it was also precarious, with Emma and her daughter Horatia in debtors prison.

Fortunate to be born to money and to position, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire ( Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman) was a society hostess who held the fashionable world in the palm of her hand. She led the way in fashion and she was sought out for her opinions and influence. She was incredibly influential in the literary and political worlds. Of course, there was a darker side as well. Georgina indulged in alcohol, love affairs and gambling. At the time of her death, she was reported to be deeply in debt. The Duchess' life was excessive, but she was protected by wealth, family and she played within the rules of her class. Interestingly she is an ancestor of both Princess Diana and Sarah, Duchess of York.

With no protection and ultimately no hope was Clarissa (Clarissa, or, The History of Of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson, written in 1748). The fictional Clarissa was the ultimate victim. Also known as one of the longest novels in the English language, Clarissa is the story of a young woman who desperately tries to maintain her virtue. She is just a pawn in her family's quest for position. Clarissa is repelled by the marriage that is being forced upon her, she mistakenly puts her trust in Richard Lovelace who takes her virtue. There can be no redemption for the fallen woman, and Clarissa sickens and dies. It is not until after her death that those who treated her so badly were called to task.

Very Good, Sir: Wodehouse, Jeeves & Comic Tradition - library program

Fans of Jeeves and Wooster and Edwardian social life will not want to miss this exciting library program.

Very Good, Sir: Wodehouse, Jeeves & Comic Tradition

Working within the traditions of farce and the comedy of manners, P.G.Wodehouse gave readers of English literature a humorous glimpse into the manners of the British Edwardian upper class. Saint Mary’s University English professor Stephen Cloutier delivers this lecture in recognition of a donation of P.G. Wodehouse books to Halifax Public Libraries from The Wodehouse Society.

Thursday Feb. 25th,12:00 p.m. at the Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library

Freedom to Read Week

February 21st - 27th is Freedom to Read Week.

This is an event that is near and dear to most readers' advisor's hearts. We don't mind suggestions of what to read, but please don't dare to tell us what not to read.

Why not get in the spirit of the week and read something that has been challenged, which unfortunately makes up a big list.

Please also consider attending our Freedom to Read event at our Spring Garden Road branch, on Wednesday February 24th, at 12:00 p.m.
Join retired Saint Mary’s University English professor Gillian Thomas who will discuss how libel laws affect writers and how freedom to write leads to freedom to read. All are Welcome.

Here are a few titles in our collection to whet your rebellious reading appetite. These titles have all been recently challenged somewhere in Canada



Wild Fire, by Nelson Demille. An adult thriller challenged in Edmonton as "promoting hatred".

Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson - A PEN Faulkner Fiction Award winner challenged in an Ontario Catholic high school on the grounds of sexual content .

Baby Be-Bop, by Francesco Lia Block. A young adult novel challenged in Calgary on the basis of its homosexual themes.

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Most recently challenged in Manitoba as being blasphemous to Christians.

The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders. This adult thriller was challenged at the Toronto Public Library as being a how to manual on becoming a male prostitute and that young readers could be negatively effected.

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Challenged in Ontario as being inappropriate for grade twelve students due to foul language, sexual violence and anti-Christian overtones.

Confession is Good for the Soul, Or Is It?

We all have our secrets, and let's face it, we like other people's secrets as well. Feel free to harmlessly indulge in the fictional secrets involving sexual exploits, ambition, jealousy, addiction and Jane Austen.

The Confessions of Edward Day: a novel by Valerie Martin

"In this fictional memoir, Valerie Martin brilliantly re-creates the seamy theater world of 1970s New York, when rents were cheap, love was free, and nudity on stage was the latest craze. Edward Day, a talented and ambitious young actor finds his life forever altered during a weekend party on the Jersey Shore, where he seduces the delicious Madeleine Delavergne and is saved from drowning by the mysterious Guy Margate, a man who bears an eerie physical resemblance to Edward. Forever after, Edward is torn between his desire for Madeleine and his indebtedness to Guy, his rival in love and in art, on stage and off."--Publisher.

Confessions of a Beauty Addict by Nadine Haobsh

"Bella Hunter may be down but she's not out yet—and she's ready to take on the world of beauty...one bad makeover at a time. Pity the poor twenty-eight-year-old beauty expert and columnist for ultra-chic Enchanté magazine, knocked right out of her Jimmy Choos—and out of a job—when her off-the-cuff comment to a reporter is blown way out of proportion. Once the authority on style, Bella's reduced to taking a position at Womanly World, a publishing dinosaur of no interest whatsoever to any woman under fifty. Suddenly she's got to take orders from a dreary and dowdy beauty director—and is soon at war with her male publisher, who might actually be appealing if he wasn't so totally frosty. Bella's supermodel boyfriend, a hometown wedding, and a Paris junket are fine distractions, to be sure. But how can she face her friends and ex-coworkers now that she's stuck in an office where khaki—not Cavalli—is the way of life? And if beauty's not what it's all about...then what is?"--back cover.

The Confessions of Noa Weber: a novel by Gail Harven

"Acclaimed author Noa Weber has a successful “feminist” life: a strong career, a wonderful daughter she raised alone, and she is a recognized and respected cultural figure. Yet her interior life is bound by her obsessive love for one man—Alek, a Russian emigre; and the father of her child, who has drifted in and out of her life. Trying to understand—as well as free herself from—this lifelong obsession, Noa turns her pen on herself, and with relentless honesty dissects her life. Against the evocative setting of turbulent, modern day Israel, this examination becomes a quest to transform irrational desire into a greater, transcendent understanding of love. The Confessions of Noa Weber introduces a startlingly talented writer in a rich tale that illuminates the desires, yearnings, and complexities of life in Israel."--Publisher.


Confessions of a Contractor by Richard Murphy

"A successful screenwriter and former contractor himself, Murphy pens this sexy, page-turning novel about the combustible mix that results when desire, jealousy, and home renovation collide." - catalogue


Demons Are Forever: confessions of a demon-hunting soccer mom by Julie Kenner

"It isn't easy when your daughter's figured out that her mom's a demon hunter-and wants to grow up to be just like her. Or when you suspect your dead husband used the forces of darkness to filch the body of another human. And your living husband isn't the man you married anymore either. Moreover, Kate's acquired a precious but deadly item that every demon within commuting distance wants. With husband woes playing havoc with her emotions, an ambitious teenage protégé at her heels, and hell to pay, this stay-at-home mom's putting in a lot of overtime."--back cover.

Confessions of a Gambler by Rayda Jacobs

"In this timely novel, Abeeda, a South African woman in her late forties, is struggling to hold on to both halves of a double life. To others, she is a pious Muslim mother of four, coping with the death of one of her sons to AIDS. But Abeeda has also developed a gambling addiction, winning and losing huge amounts of money. In a series of flashbacks her life is traced as a woman in her twenties, through a torrid affair with her younger sister's fiance, Imran, and her history of taking wild risks. In all, this is a gripping story of family, addiction, religion, and redemption." - catalogue

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

"In this Jane Austen–inspired comedy, love story, and exploration of identity and destiny, a modern LA girl wakes up as an Englishwoman in Austen’s time. After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy? Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her love of Jane Austen has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condomless seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who fills Courtney’s borrowed brain with confusing memories that are clearly not her own. Try as she might to control her mind and find a way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman—and being this other woman is not without its advantages: Especially in a looking-glass Austen world. Especially with a suitor who may not turn out to be a familiar species of philanderer after all."--inside jacket.

Bitter Is the New Black: confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centred, smart ass or, why you should never carry a Prada bag to the Unemployment Ofice, a memoir by Jen Lancaster

"Jen Lancaster was living the sweet life-until real life kicked her to the curb. She had the perfect man, the perfect job-hell, she had the perfect life-and there was no reason to think it wouldn't last. Or maybe there was, but Jen Lancaster was too busy being manicured, pedicured, highlighted, and generally adored to notice. This is the smart-mouthed, soul-searching story of a woman trying to figure out what happens next when she's gone from six figures to unemployment checks and she stops to reconsider some of the less-than-rosy attitudes and values she thought she'd never have to answer for when times were good. Filled with caustic wit and unusual insight, it's a rollicking read as speedy and unpredictable as the trajectory of a burst balloon." - catalogue

Change Your Life One Doughnut At a Time - confections of a closet master baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado

Sometimes, as they say, a change is as good as a rest. Our best laid, most carefully thought out plans are not necessarily the best for us. Sometimes when life throws us a curve we show our mettle when we embrace the opportunities. Here are some stories of people who saw an opportunity and grabbed it, or whose life changed around them and found happiness in unexpected places.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado - Lawyer, Hollywood executive and sister to that other Bullock found her happiness in flour, butter and sugar. Bullock-Prado wearied of her life in shallow Hollywood and followed her passion and opened a baker in Montpelier, Vermont. She is blunt in her analysis of the celebrity machine and has no problem speaking her mind. Her love of baking soothed her when her career was unsatisfying. Lots of insider information about the world of professional baking, stories of her childhood, and, of course, recipes. Check out her blog for pictures of the most fantastic looking doughnuts.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: an entrepreneur's odyssey to educate the world's children by John Wood - John Wood was a marketing director at Microsoft. A sense of a lack of fulfillment in his life led him to Nepal. Expecting only to trek his way to peace, he discovered a need which he proved himself more than capable of filling. Wood found that children in Nepal had very little to read in their schools. Spurred by this mission, he returned with a yak loaded with books. He went from there to building thousands of schools and libraries, and funding scholarships. He credited his former employer with giving him the tools he needed to accomplish this amazing task. This is not only a primer on how to successfully run a nonprofit, but also an entertaining and inspirational story of a man who in the course of changing his own life impacted the lives of many.

Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale - What's the deal with marketing directors? Another MD, Susan McCorkindale, loved most things about her life. She loved all the perks that went along with her job with Family Circle - the big salary, the expense account, the designer clothes, a great staff. It was the JOB that was the problem. A high stress job that kept her away far too much from her husband and children. This time, change was thrust upon her. Her husband proposed the move to a farm in Virginia and McCorkindale went from Jersey Girl to country girl. Although she throws herself into this new life, she makes her way back to the city on occasion for Starbucks and a little shopping. Lighthearted and entertaining.

Heat: an amateurs adventures as kitchen slave, line cook, pasta maker, and apprentice to a Dante-quoting butcher in Tuscany, by Bill Buford - If reality television has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that life in a professional kitchen is not for the faint of heart. Buford, a writer by trade, bound himself in service to renowned Italian chef Mario Batali. An outsider, he was accepted into the restaurant world moving from kitchen slave to a reasonable cook. In the process he successfully answered the life long question - do I have what it takes.

Unlikely Lavender Queen: a memoir of unexpected blossoming by Jeannie Ralston - Once again a city girl follows her husband to the county. Ralston, a New York journalist, abandons city life for rural Texas to grow lavender. This city girl renovates a barn into a livable home, raises children and becomes a farmer. While her National Geographic photographer husband is frequently away, she sometimes wonders if she has done the right thing. Not to be too punny, but Ralston "blossoms" in her new career and finds great satisfaction and success in her unexpected life.

Commonwealth Writer's Prizes - Regional shortlists announced

I used to think that book award season was in the fall, but I'm getting more and more evidence that it's actually a year round event. Case in point, the announcement this week of the regionally shortlisted titles for this year's Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

The Commonwealth Prize is an interesting one. Open to books in English from Commonwealth Countries, it recognizes both regional winners and an overall winner. Of the books that have been shortlisted for the regional awards, one for each region is declared a winner. These four regional winners are then the books that make up the shortlist for the overall prize.

The four regions of the Commonwealth Writers Prize are: Africa; Caribbean and Canada; South Asia and Europe and South East Asia and Pacific.

This year Canadian writers have fared exceptionally well in the regional shortlists:

The shortlisted writers or the Caribbean and Canada Best Book are:

The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels (Canada)

February by Lisa Moore (Canada)

Euphoria by Connie Gault (Canada)

Goya's Dog by Damian Tarnopolsky (Canada)

Galore by Michael Crummey (Canada)

The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (Canada)

The shortlisted writers for the Caribbean and Canada Best First Book are:

Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell (Canada)

Daniel O'Thunder by Ian Weir (Canada)

The Island Quintet: Five Stories by Raymond Ramchartiar (Trinidad)

Diary of Interrupted Days by Dragan Todorovic (Canada)

The Briss by Michael Tregebov (Canada)

Amphibian: a novel by Carla Gunn (Canada)

Last year, Canadians Marina Endicott and Joan Thomas won the Caribbean and Canada nods: Endicott received Best Book for her novel Good to a Fault, while Thomas took home Best First Book for Reading By Lightning. The overall best book prize went to Christos Tsiolkas of Australia for the book The Slap, and the other overall prize went to Mohammed Hanif of Pakistan for his first book A Case of Exploding Mangoes.

This year's regional and overall winners will be announced in April.