Nicolas Dickner Author Reading

Award winning author Nicolas Dickner will be reading this evening at the Keshen Goodman branch of the Halifax Public Libraries.

Nicolas Dickner will read from his critically acclaimed novel Nikolski, winner of CBC's Canada Reads 2010 contest.

The reading starts at 7:00 pm and all are welcome.

Here is a small sample of the praise heaped on this great book:

“The story lingers in the mind long after the last page has been read, leaving the reader in its strange and wonderful orbit."
–The Gazette

“...its comic brilliance is undeniable - a hugely enjoyable read."
–Edmonton Journal

"Dickner excites the imagination of the reader to the point of ecstasy."
–Le Monde

“Nicolas Dickner has a limitless imagination, great erudition and an inventive pen. He is the incarnation of the future of Quebec writing — nothing less.”
–Pierre Cayouette, L’actualité

Conceit by Mary Novik

On its surface, the novel Conceit by Mary Novik is a fairly straightforward story. John Donne, a seventeenth century metaphysical poet, marries Ann More without her father’s permission. This love match sends him to jail for a time and upon his release the couple live in relative poverty for a number of years, as he has lost his position and has been relegated to the country and does not receive Ann’s dowry for a number of years.

Ann produces twelve children (living and dead) by the time she is 33 years of age, when she sadly dies in childbirth. Donne pledges eternal devotion to her and vows to be buried beside her. The motherless children are raised by their father, who's fortune changes with his position in King James court as an Anglican priest. Pegge, one of the younger children, contracts smallpox which disfigures her face and causes her to lose her hair. This, coupled with her late physical development, ties her to her father for longer than her siblings.

Pegge, a passionate girl, attempts a love affair with Izaak Walton but is rebuffed. She sees her father through his death and then marries William Bowes. She goes on to produce many children herself. The story ends with her dramatic rescue of her father’s effigy from St. Paul’s Cathedral in the midst of the Great Fire of London.

Conceit, is in fact, much more complex than this. The storyline transcends time and perspective. It opens and ends with adult Pegge rescuing her father’s effigy. In between, time and character blur as we move quickly from adult Pegge to youthful Pegge, from priestly John to poet John, from servant Bess to bewildered William. More than straight historical fiction, it is a sensory experience with all the tastes, smells and sensations you would imagine with seventeenth century London. Pegge attempts to reconcile the amorous youthful poet John Donne with the pious priest he has become. Hauntingly, Ann’s voice escapes the grave and ponders the same question. Conceit has a edgy quality with an uncomfortable blurring of sexual boundaries.

Conceit was listed as one of Globe and Mail’s Best Books of 2007 and won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize in 2008.

Consider also:

Possession by A.S. Byatt – “Possession, for which Byatt won England's prestigious Booker Prize, was praised by critics on both sides of the Atlantic when it was first published in 1990. "On academic rivalry and obsession, Byatt is delicious. On the nature of possession--the lover by the beloved, the biographer by his subject--she is profound," said The Sunday Times. The New Yorker dubbed it "more fun to read than The Name of the Rose . . . Its prankish verve [and] monstrous richness of detail [make for] a one-woman variety show of literary styles and types." The novel traces a pair of young academics--Roland Michell and Maud Bailey--as they uncover a clandestine love affair between two long-dead Victorian poets. Interwoven in a mesmerizing pastiche are love letters and fairytales, extracts from biographies and scholarly accounts, creating a sensuous and utterly delightful novel of ideas and passions.” – publisher

The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger – “Lady Duff Gordon is the toast of Victorian London society. But when her debilitating tuberculosis means exile, she and her devoted lady's maid, Sally, set sail for Egypt. It is Sally who describes, with a mixture of wonder and trepidation, the odd ménage (marshaled by the resourceful Omar) that travels down the Nile to a new life in. When Lady Duff Gordon undoes her stays and takes to native dress, throwing herself into weekly salons, language lessons and excursions to the tombs, Sally too adapts to a new world, which affords her heady and heartfelt freedoms never known before. But freedom is a luxury that a maid can ill-afford, and when Sally grasps more than her status entitles her to, she is brutally reminded that she is mistress of nothing.” – publisher

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue – “Miss Emily "Fido" Faithfull is a "woman of business" and a spinster pioneer of the British women's movement, independent of mind but naively trusting of heart. Distracted from her beloved cause by the sudden return of her once-dear friend, the unhappily wed Helen Codrington, Fido is swept up in the intimate details of Helen's failing marriage to the stodgy Admiral Harry Codrington. What begins as a loyal effort to help a friend explodes into a courtroom drama more sensational than any tabloid could invent - with stained clothing, accusations of adultery, counterclaims of rape and a mysterious letter that could destroy more than one life.” - publisher

Simple vs. Savvy Living

I'm still in the planning stages for my homesteading future, a topic which has now become part of my leisure reading.

I want to be conscious of my ecological footprint and do my best to reduce it. I also want to develop certain skills that will support my friends and family, no matter what circumstances affect us.

On the one hand, I could try high-tech materials, devices and techniques. On the other hand, I could focus on tried-and-true traditional skills, relying more on myself than science.

Simple versus savvy.

Two books that are helping me conceive this future are The Self-Sufficiency Handbook by Alan and Gill Bridgewater, and Back to Basics by Abigail Gehring. They take different approaches towards green living but both are staggering in the quality of information provided.

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook dazzles me with its structure, breaking down broad concepts into manageable chunks. Solid advice is given for purchasing land and tailoring one's home to that environment. Rather than push one lifestyle over another, Bridgewater discusses everything from living off the grid to living with high technology.

A third of the book is dedicated to food production with over 20 pages just on plant-specific schedules - planting, pruning, and harvesting. As well, the next 20 pages on animal husbandry makes me believe even I can raise goats and bees!

Back to Basics is literally that, a book about traditional crafts. From building log cabins and waterwheels to shearing sheep and maple sugaring, this book is extensive. The many topics are organized by function: land, energy, planting, harvesting, crafts and recreation. Each chapter is rich with illustrations, instructions, and theory simplified for the layman.

What appeals to me about this duo of books is that the first title provides inspiration and structure, while the second title fills in the blanks. Not only can I design my lifestyle, but I can be prepared for whatever eventuality comes my way.

No matter what circumstances befall me and mine.

Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson

Sherlock Holmes has become so real to us that folks will write to him care of Baker Street to ask his advice. Richard Green has the task of responding to the letters which continue to arrive at 221B Baker Street (now the Abbey National Building Society). He collected and published a selection of these letters in Letters to Sherlock Holmes back in 1986.

Michael Robertson adopts this engaging premise in Baker Street Letters. Set in present time, two lawyer brothers occupy premises on Baker Street. As part of their lease agreement, they are obliged to answer letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes. Brother Nigel has this responsibility, which he normally executes with formulaic letters. However, one letter, written twenty years previously, in crayon, by a child asking for help locating her missing father, captures his attention. More recent letters arrive asking for the return of documents sent in connection with this case. Nigel is intrigued and travels to Los Angeles to investigate.

Brother Reggie, the more successful of the two, is alarmed to find his office manager's body in Nigel's office. As the bodies pile up and Nigel is being investigated by police on two continents, Reggie must find his brother first.

A fast-paced, entertaining chase based on this most interesting premise. Robertson will follow up this first offering in the series in 2011 with The Brothers of Baker Street.

The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes by Barry Grant - "The original super-sleuth, Sherlock, is back on the case - When James Wilson retires from journalism, he decides to settle down in Herefordshire with a room-mate, a Mr Cedric Coombes, and at first thinks little of his new friend’s eccentric behaviour. But he can’t shake the feeling that he knows him from somewhere else. As Coombes displays his magnificent deductive prowess, and becomes embroiled in the police investigation of the apparent murder of a man in bathtub, Wilson, or should we say Watson, begins to wonder just who this Coombes really is . . ."--Inside jacket.

The Language of Bees: a Mary Russell novel by Laurie R. King - "For Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, returning to the Sussex coast after seven months abroad was especially sweet. There was even a mystery to solve—the unexplained disappearance of an entire colony of bees from one of Holmes’s beloved hives. But the anticipated sweetness of their homecoming is quickly tempered by a galling memory from the past. Mary had met Damian Adler only once before, when the surrealist painter had been charged with—and exonerated from—murder. Now the troubled young man is enlisting the Holmeses’ help again, this time in a desperate search for his missing wife and child." - publisher

Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock - "Sherlock Holmes, just thirteen, is a misfit. His highborn mother is the daughter of an aristocratic family, his father a poor Jew. Their marriage flouts tradition and makes them social pariahs in the London of the 1860s; and their son, Sherlock, bears the burden of their rebellion. Friendless, bullied at school, he belongs nowhere and has only his wits to help him make his way. But what wits they are! His keen powers of observation are already apparent, though he is still a boy. He loves to amuse himself by constructing histories from the smallest detail for everyone he meets. Partly for fun, he focuses his attention on a sensational murder to see if he can solve it. But his game turns deadly serious when he finds himself the accused — and in London, they hang boys of thirteen." - publisher

Word on the Street

The 2010 Word on the Street: the National Book and Magazine Festival is happening today. And this year we are back on the street! Out in the fresh air, amidst the birds and bees, and among lots and lots of book lovers like yourselves.

Please come join in on the celebration. There will be author readings, "Pitch the Publisher", children's activities and much more. The festival is also happening in Toronto, Kitchener, Saskatoon and Vancouver.

Remember to come by the Library's booth where you can check out our new catalogue and OverDrive digital media downloads. You can also meet some of our staff, ask some questions and maybe win some great prizes.

The festival runs from 11 - 5 pm at Victoria Park, at the corner of Spring Garden Rd. and South Park St.

Study Abroad Fiction

A recent story in the local news highlighted the increasing number of international students who are coming to Halifax. Working at the library, I get to meet loads of students who are working on school projects, and among them, are many foreign students who have moved to Halifax from abroad to go to school and explore Canadian culture.

Having been a foreign student myself as well, I think I can relate a little bit to their experiences trying to navigate a world that is sometimes very different from the one they left. It’s a challenging but really rewarding educational experience.

Not surprisingly, fictional accounts of being a foreign or international student aren't hard to come by, the fish-out-of-water feeling that many students feel, combined with the stress and challenges of their academic experiences combine to make compelling stories, whether they are told for laughs or with a serious voice. Whether you’re reminiscing about your own study abroad experiences, or want to take a peek into the world that an increasing number of students in Halifax face, here’s a few titles that will make for great reads:

English as a Second Language by Megan Crane

A boring job and an awful ex-boyfriend lead to overseas escapades in this fun and funny novel about a woman who leaves behind her American life and goes to Britain to pursue her Masters Degree. This quote from Publisher’s Weekly made me chuckle “Heads up, world: British university students drink a lot. That's the main conclusion reached by first-timer Crane in this novel about a 20-something American student forging new friendships, swilling lager, kissing boys and generally behaving as if a master's degree is the furthest thing from her mind.”

The Reverend's Apprentice by David N. Odhiambo

An African student - the son of a minister - arrives in America to attend Grad school, boarding in the home of another minister. The book jacket description – “a powerful, tragicomic novel about power, culture, money and identity politics in contemporary America” – makes the story sound dry. But this review description, from Publisher’s Weekly, makes it sound a lot more interesting: “ the picaresque adventures of an African grad student in Pennsylvania imperiling his inheritance—and sanity—with lustful exploits. Jonah Ayot, a minister’s son from the African country of Liwani, attends Dingham University and lives with the kindly, upstanding Reverend Tusker, who holds the power of attorney in Jonah’s inheritance. Although Reverend Tusker hopes Jonah will marry Clementine Pinkston, a saintly young woman from the church choir, Jonah takes up with an exotic dancer/prostitute, Babycakes, and hopes to help straighten out her life. Jonah’s internal struggle to do what’s right is undermined by the other characters’ mercenary manipulation of the young man.”

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo

A young woman leaves rural China and travels to London to study English. The culture shock of changes from rural to urban and East to West as well as the main character’s attempts to learn the language are wonderfully rendered in this first novel in English by a Chinese author, which is also a romance and coming-of-age story.

Beyond the Limbo Silence by Elizabeth Nunez

An historical novel of the US Civil Rights era which sees a young woman from Trinidad arrive in a Midwest Catholic College that is home to many other international students. Publisher’s Weekly said: “Cultures collide, and reality and mysticism exist side by side in this highly charged, lyrical account of a young woman's political awakening.”

Upstairs Downstairs

Well, mostly downstairs.

In this day and age, most of us will never understand the role that domestic staff had in our lives. Over time they represented status, provided basic comforts of life, offered companionship and freed up others for a creative or leisured life. Largely ignored, the servants of past had a unique and privileged perspective of their employers lives.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

In the words of Stockett's Abileen "The help always know." Abileen has lost her own precious son and makes her living raising other people's children. Minny has a mouth on her and, though an incredible cook, has a hard time keeping a job. Set in the South in the 1960s, it is a novel about friendship and race relations during a time when a black woman could raise a white child but not use the family's bathroom.


Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk

Set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, Hazie Coogan is Katherine Kenton's maid and confidante. Think Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as you imagine Katherine Kenton's marriages, rise to fame and fall from grace. All the while, she is watched over by Hazie Coogan who is not about to let her be betrayed by the latest gentleman caller who has wormed her way into her life.


The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

A woman accepts a position with a retired mathematics professor. He was in an accident many years before and only retains memories for eighty minutes. The professor, the housekeeper and her son develop a touching relationship while they learn to live in the present. (for more see an earlier post.)


Mrs. Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light

Now into the world of nonfiction. This is a look at domestic service in England in the first half of the twentieth century, illustrated by Virginia Woolf's relationship with her servants. During and between the wars, employment options opened up for women and it became increasing difficult to maintain a staff. Woolf was dependent on her servants to free up her time to allow her to write, yet resented their intrusion into her life.


The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Stevens, an elderly butler in post-war England, rigidly adheres to his self-delusions regarding service and his employer. As her approaches the end of his career, he reflects back on his unquestioning loyalty to his not-so-nice employer and lost opportunities.

See also the award winning film starring Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins.


1892: a novel by Paul Butler

A love story set in 19th century St. John's. Kathleen, an Irish servant, and Tommy a stable hand engage in a romance in this mystery that explores the origins of the Great Fire of 1892.

"1892 combines both lyrical writing and telling detail. It is a novel written by a sure and confident writer in his prime."
The Chronicle-Herald


The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Vermeer employs sixteen year old Griet as a servant. She is a keen observer of the 17th century household. Griet's daily chores are described with such intensity to make you feel grateful for your home with your mod-cons. Once she begins to pose for Vermeer, her lowly and tenuous position becomes clear.

See also the award winning film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.


Lady's Maid by Margaret Forster

Elizabeth Wilson is lady's maid to Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In her letters home to her mother, she describes her daily activities and her place in this unique household. She gives up her life to support and sustain Barrett Browning and comes to understand the true divisions amongst social classes.


Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

Leonka, a kitchen servant, tells the story of the Romanov's final days in captivity. Because of his lowly status, Leonka was ignored and privy to the family's intimate moments. He keeps his secrets until his final days, satisfying our seemingly endless need for all things Romanov.

Musical memories

I am not sure about the (cough, cough ) younger generation, but my favorite and sometime saddest memories involve music. It is rare that a “golden oldie” doesn’t get stuck in my head or evoke some memory or another. I have often wondered how much grey matter is taken up with that radio station in my brain.

My life has always had music even though we weren’t a musical family. I heard tunes over the radio, listened to my parents play their Johnny Mathis or Nat King Cole albums, or my older siblings listening to the Beatles or Dave Clark Five. This was all on a record player that you had to have a coin on the needle arms to help it play!

My very first 45 record was “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town” by Kenny Rogers. I had wanted to buy “2525" by Zager and Evans but they had sold out. See, even 40 odd years later I still remember that. This was the beginning of developing my own varied musical taste and thus my own collection of albums, tapes and now CDs and ipod tunes.

This fall seems to have a bumper crop of musician’s biographies. As a co-worker stated “they can’t afford to tour so they write their biographies to make some money. Here are some I am looking forward to reading.

Music from far and wide : celebrating 40 years of the Juno awards


Between a Heart and a Rock Place: a memoir - Pat Benatar

Put on your Crown : life changing moments on the path to Queendom - Queen Latifah

Patti Lupone: a memoir - Patti Lupone

All of Me - Anne Murray

Now these are the most recent biographies being published. I have read many others in the past and I am curious if you “Dear Reader” can suggest any for all those music lover out there in “blog” world.

Pearl of China by Anchee Min

Both Pearl S. Buck and Anchee Min have written about the strength of Chinese Women.

In her novel Letter from Peking, Buck wrote, "It is the strength that centuries have given them, the strength of the unwanted." Her words open Pearl of China by Anchee Min.

Pearl Buck, though born in the United States, grew up in China in the early part of the twentieth century. In this novel her story is told through Willow Yee, an imagined Chinese girl who is playmate, confidante and companion. Buck, born Pearl Sydenstricker, was the daughter of American missionaries. She grew up amongst Chinese children speaking their language and living their culture. She went on to win the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1932 for The Good Earth and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. In her writing, Buck wished to be a voice for Chinese peasants whose stories had never before been heard in the western world.

Min's Pearl was a lively, intelligent, inquisitive child who was precociously skeptical about her missionary father's work. She dressed like a Chinese girl, covering her blond curls in a knitted black cap. Pearl and Willow developed a friendship which was to last throughout their lives. It was a troubled time to be a foreign missionary in China. The Boxer Uprising and later the Communist Revolution imperiled their lives and ultimately led to Pearl leaving China forever. Pearl made a unfortunate marriage. It was ideal in that it enabled her to return to China. Lossing was a man, much like her father, who had a singleness of purpose which did not leave much room for family life. The marriage could not sustain the stress their disabled daughter brought to their lives. Pearl found relief and solace through her writing.

I was particularly interested in Willow's story. Willow's life was every bit as dramatic as Pearl's, yet it is teasingly told. It is ironic that given Buck's desire to tell ordinary Chinese stories, this one was somewhat neglected. Willow, as a small child, became a thief out of hunger and desperation. Her association with the Pearl and her family turned her life around. When Pearl left to be educated in America, Willow's life took a desperate turn as she was married against her will to an opium addict. Pearl returns and Willow was able to put this part of her life behind her and married someone deeply involved in the communist movement.

Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling tells the actual story of Buck's Chinese childhood. "This is a thrilling portrait of the extraordinary childhood of Pearl Buck, the now-forgotten bestselling Nobel Prize winning novelist. Pearl Buck was raised in China by her American parents, Presbyterian missionaries from Virginia. Blonde and blue-eyed she looked startlingly foreign, but felt as at home as her Chinese companions. She ran free on the grave-littered grasslands behind her house, often stumbling across the tiny bones of baby girls who had been suffocated at birth. Buck's father was a terrifying figure, with a maniacal zeal for religious conversion - a passion rarely shared by the local communities he targeted. He drained the family's budget for his Chinese translation of the New Testament, while his aggrieved, long-suffering wife did her utmost to create a homely environment for her children, several of whom died tragically young. Pearl Buck would eventually rise to eminence in America as a bestselling author, but in this startlingly original biography, Spurling recounts with elegance and great insight her unspeakable upbringing in a China that was virtually unknown to the West." - publisher.

For another look at female friendship in China try Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. "In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart." - publisher.

Thirteen Reading Suggestions - The 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist

The 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist has been announced.

The judges will certainly have a tough time whittling down this list of stellar titles to a shortlist by October 5th.

Here are the 2010 nominees:

• David Bergen - The Matter with Morris

• Douglas Coupland - Player One

• Michael Helm - Cities of Refuge

• Alexander MacLeod - Light Lifting

• Avner Mandelman - The Debba

• Tom Rachman - The Imperfectionists

• Sarah Selecky - This Cake Is For The Party

• Johanna Skibsrud - The Sentimentalists

• Cordelia Strube - Lemon

• Joan Thomas - Curiosity : a love story

• Jane Urquhart - Sanctuary Line

• Dianne Warren - Cool Water

• Kathleen Winter - Annabel

Toronto Book Awards Shortlist

The finalists for the 2010 Toronto Book Awards have been announced.

Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, The Toronto Book Awards honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto.


The Prince of Neither Here Nor There, by Sean Cullen

"This first book in a new series is a fantastical, funny, action-packed adventure through a hidden magical world set in Toronto. Cullen's quirky humour, memorable characters, and unconventional storytelling (including extensive footnotes) makes for a highly enjoyable read. It is a classic formula with a local twist and lots of laughs that is sure to appeal to preteen readers, or anyone else suffering from Harry Potter withdrawal."- Judge's comments.

Valentine's Fall, by Cary Fagan

"After 25 years of living as a bluegrass musician in Prague, Huddie Rosen returns to Toronto and is forced to revisit the geography of his youth. There are complicated relationships, disappointments, even some mystery, as he wanders the familiar streets in a part of Toronto rarely depicted. Beautifully written, this book combines humour with pathos: nostalgia for the past is married to the realities of the present and hope for the future." - Judge's comments.

Where We Have to Go, by Lauren Krishner
"Growing pains, family dysfunction, and bargain-hunting at the Sally Ann merge in this bittersweet coming-of-age story set in Jewish Toronto of the 1990s. Told with extraordinary freshness and wit, Kirshner's first person narrative brilliantly captures the trials and tribulations of her teen girl protagonist — pimples and all. The result: a wry and astonishing debut from one of Canada's rising literary talents."- Judge's comments.

The Carnivore, by Mark Sinnett

"Sinnett takes what would be a cliché in lesser hands — Hurricane Hazel's devastation of Toronto in 1954 yoked to an affair that silently undermines a young marriage — to produce a novel of adventure and sorrow. Sinnett's taut prose, sense of the era and the city, and ear for the words and silences of a marriage brings the storm, the city, and the characters fully to life."- Judge's comments.

Diary of Interrupted Days, by Dragan Todorovic

"A literary work of compassion and distinction. Todorovic's painfully sharp representation of the lives of three friends, torn apart by war in the Balkans, leads to their separation, isolation and loneliness. Two of them eventually move to Toronto, hoping to put the past behind them, even as they wonder what has happened to their friend. Todorovic's prose is strikingly elegant and compelling throughout the work."- Judges comments.

~~

btw, the winner in 2009 was More, by Austin Clarke

Good Reads for Everyone

Recently Canadian news outlets reported a story predicting that adults with low literacy levels could increase by 25% in the next 2 decades. For avid readers, it is sometimes hard to put yourself in the shoes of a fellow Canadian who can't, or doesn't like to, read.

However, the two factors - low reading skills and low interest in reading - sometimes go hand in hand. If you're an adult who has lower level literacy skills, a novel, no matter how compelling the story, may simply be too frustrating to enjoy. And traditionally, books written at lower literacy levels have either been geared to children, too text-booky, or just not that compelling: not the sort of thing that would draw in someone even if they were looking to make reading a part of their lives.

Recognizing this gap, a number of publishers have begun putting out titles to try and reach these readers. Starting in the UK a few years ago, a series of books under the banner of Quick Reads were released. The books are original novels by well known authors, written at the grade 3 to 5 level. Authors who have participated include Ian Rankin, Maeve Binchy, Val McDermid and Andy McNab. In Ireland, a similar project was started up as part of the Open Door Series, and includes books by Roddy Doyle, Cecelia Ahern and others.

Following the success of both of those programs - in reaching, I might add both the intended audience and also established fans of the authors who were eager to read anything new by their favourite writers - Canadian publishers followed suit. So far, two series have been started up (under the names Good Reads and Rapid Reads) with the titles included being penned by up-and-coming and well established Canadian authors including Louise Penny, Zoe Whittall, Rabindranath Maharaj and Nova Scotian author William Kowalski.

If you know a reluctant reader who you think might be interested in one of these titles - or if you're looking for a quick, compelling read for the weekend - check out any of these series from the library.

ReLit Award 2010 Shortlist

Regarding literature, reinventing literature, relighting literature.

It's time again for the ReLit Awards. This award (established in 2000 by Newfoundland's Kenneth Harvey) celebrates the best in Canadian independent publishing. This one is not about the money, but does come with a cool ring.

The Beautiful Children by Michael Kenyon

"Michael Kenyon’s The Beautiful Children is a novel of style and power. At the novel’s core is a story of reclamation. A man wakes up in a hospital with one word in his head “Sapporo” He remembers this as the place he was raised and it becomes his only identity. As he struggles to recollect his life, and wife, and to create a connection with his young son, he falters and flees. Left without a guardian, the boy claims drug–addicted neighbours as his caregivers. It is here that both father and son begin their separate journeys. Other stories emerge from Kenyon’s often–surreal vision. Victims and monsters range across landscapes from Vancouver to Japan, from Africa to the Gulf Islands. But at its heart, The Beautiful Children remains an investigation of human relationships that fail expectation. Societies, like tectonic plates, reshape and redefine definitions of family. And, in the vicious cycles of abandonment and violence, hope is established within the fragmented psyches of these characters, and their stories, more than the lives they have lived, ferry the past toward the future. The only certainty is that memory isn’t carried in the blood, and love can be brutal." - publisher

Away From Everywhere by Chad Pelley

"Brothers Owen and Alex Collins are brought together when mental illness claims their father and sets off a chain reaction of unrelated, heart-breaking events. Both tender and bold in its delivery, Away from Everywhere cuts no corners in telling the story of their crushing childhood, the reasons the brothers become different men, and the unthinkable act of love that tears them apart. Nearing thirty-five, Owen is plagued by childhood demons, the ghosts of failed relationships, and a persistent feeling that his life lacks meaning. When Alex arranges for Owen to stay with his wife and family, what feels like a new beginning becomes one last wrong turn. Part warped love story, part family tragedy, Away from Everywhere is a heart-stomping pageturner." - publisher

Wrong Bar By Nathaniel G. Moore

"When self-obsessed Maudlin City writer Charles Haas wakes one early morning in a shallow grave complete with window pane roof, he realizes two things: one, it’s a scene reenacted from one of his abandoned manuscript of fiction, and two, he’s got to stop showing his writing to strangers. While still fresh in the dirt, Charles becomes obsessed by the city’s ‘enfants terrible’ who jump through his sprinklers without asking with steak knives in their mouths, searching for mayhem and the next high and plot a demonic dance party hoax lead by evil eighteen-year-old Shawn Michaels. Charles soon realizes Maudlin City’s paranoid literary community wars are nothing compared to the throngs of knife totting teens that are obsessed with plotting and hacking each other post-avatar, and spends every waking second thinking about the end of the world boys and girls who “run through sprinklers glistening with kitchen knives and sloppy kisses.”- publisher

Overqualified by Joey Comeau - "Cover letters are all the same. They're useless. You write the same lies over and over again, listing the store-bought parts of yourself that you respect the least. God knows how they tell anyone apart, but this is how it's done. And then one day a car comes out of nowhere, and suddenly everything changes and you don't know if he'll ever wake up. You get out of bed in the morning, and when you sit down to write another paint-by-numbers cover letter, something entirely different comes out.

You start threatening instead of begging. You tell impolite jokes. You talk about your childhood and your sexual fantasies. You sign your real name and you put yourself honestly into letter after letter and there is no way you are ever going to get this job. Not with a letter like this. And you send it anyway." - publisher

Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whittall

"In this robust, scruffy, elegantly plotted, and ultimately life-affirming novel, rising star Zoe Whittall presents a dazzling portrait of a generation we’ve rarely seen in literature — the 25-year-olds who grew up on anti-anxiety meds, text-messaging each other truncated emotional reactions, unsure of what’s public and what’s private. With this extraordinary novel — which offers a thrillingly detailed inside look at the work of paramedics, devastating insight into anxiety disorders, and entertaining celebrity gossip — Zoe Whittall fulfills the promise of her acclaimed first novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts, and proves herself as one of our most talented younger writers." - publisher

The Plight House by Jason Hrivnak

"The unnamed narrator of The Plight House receives a letter: his childhood friend Fiona has committed suicide at the age of thirty-three. As children, he and Fiona had constructed a dark and violent fantasy world, an imaginary network of laboratories where they performed experiments upon their neighbours, families and friends. Now, aware that Fiona had used a document from their shared world as her suicide note, the narrator becomes obsessed with the possibility that he unknowingly held the key to preventing her death.Invoking the half-forgotten methods of his childhood, he begins to compose a test. Intimate and unrestrained, the test is designed to drive from Fiona all trace of the self-destructive impulse. But by devoting himself to a project that can never bring about its desired effect, the narrator has opened the door to a new frontier of grief. And as he pushes the test yet further into realms of decadence and fever, he precipitates a crisis in his own deeply troubled life. Part love letter, part elegy, The Plight House chronicles one man's obsessive attempt to resurrect the image of a lost friend." - publisher

After the Red Night by Christiane Frenette

"In 1950, a devastating fire breaks out in Rimouski. Thomas survives the blaze, but loses his memory and is institutionalized. A shell of his former self, he pieces together a makeshift existence by becoming a gardener. Upon his release five years later, two childhood friends, Marie and Romain, hire Thomas to do their landscaping. Little do they know that they are also inviting him into their marriage, a union characterized by male dominance and female subservience. As time passes, Marie begins to see Thomas as her escape from the unendurable. In 2002, Romain and Marie_s youngest daughter, Lou, returns home for the first time since running away to Chicago thirty years before. She brings along her husband Joe, who has recently suffered a brain aneurysm that has imprisoned him in his own body. Their presence reminds Marie of her own past, of the connections she never asked for and the ties she can never break." - publisher