Nancy Pearl - Award Winning Readers' Advisor

Readers' Advisory guru Nancy Pearl has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.

Nancy Pearl has long been a leading light in the world of readers' advisory and an ardent promoter of leisure reading. Nancy is probably the only librarian to have inspired her own action figure!

One of Nancy's many contributions to the world of leisure readers are her Book Lust books. These fun books provide reading suggestions in the form of loosely connected lists on a wide range of of topics and appeal. Some of the lists lean toward the more traditional - I Love Mysteries, Armchair Travel, Sea Stories... Other lists are more creative - Great Dogs in Fiction, Balkan Specters, Bomb Makers, Bird Brains, Epistolary Novels : take a letter...

The wide variety of lists contained in each book make it very likely that any given reader will find something to pique their literary curiosity. It can be a great resource for when you want to find something completely outside of your usual reading habits.

Thank you Nancy Pearl and congratulations !

Remembering Michael Van Rooy

Fans of Canadian crime fiction were shocked this week at the death of up-and-coming Winnipeg author Michael Van Rooy. Van Rooy died of an apparent heart attack on Thursday: he was 42. He was traveling on a book tour in support of his latest novel at the time of his death.


Van Rooy was the author of the Monty Haaviko thriller series. The series focuses on a ex-con who has gotten out of the game and wants nothing more than to settle down and live a quiet life: but his past, and circumstance seem to conspire against him. Set in the author's home town of Winnipeg the series contained three titles, starting with An Ordinary Decent Criminal and was praised in reviews in Canada and the US (including the Globe and Mail, Booklist magazine and Kirkus magazine). The books are described as fast paced, noir fiction with a touch of humour, with the main character Monty Haaviko at the centre of the stories.

The other two books in the series are Your Friendly Neighbourhood Criminal and A Criminal to Remember.

Do You Dig Dinosaurs?- Ground-Breaking Books on Palaeontology

"Do You Dig Dinosaurs?"

I ask this, because there is an amazing Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, named Sue, awaiting your visit to the Museum of Natural History.

If she’s inspired a mammoth-sized curiosity, then here are a few books I’ve excavated on fascinating dinosaurs.

Directly tied to the Sue’s legacy is the title Rex Appeal: the amazing story of Sue, the dinosaur that changed science, the law, and my life , by Peter Larson and Kristin Donnan. The find of the world’s most complete T-Rex led to a variety of pitfalls and problems. Paleontologist Larson faced the typical difficulties of a dig site, mixed with a couple hundred unexpected bones and way-out-of-date research. The media, the government, the courts, communities, corporations, and opportunists all swept in to muddled things up.

Who knew digging up the grave of the world’s largest predator would cause so many issues? Rex Appeal reflects on Larson's love for Sue; for a less-biased look try Tyrannosaurus Sue, by Steve Fiffer, non-paleontologist.

Speaking of issues, check out Unearthing the Dragon : the great feathered dinosaur discovery by Mark Norell, curator for the Division of Palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History. This is his story of traveling to China in the late 1990’s, to assist with fossils that eventually changed our understanding of dinosaurs in general. Their fossils had wings and feathers. But this is more than a story of science. Norell speaks on the impact science and culture have on one another, and the curious differences between the East and the West . This book is full of colour photos, not just of bones and dirt, but of an exotic country full of characters.

If you enjoy such stories, take a look through Darren Naish’s The Great Dinosaur Discoveries. Not only is Sue given her due (pg 176), but dozens of other discoveries are lavishly presented. This is the story and history of a science, from the 19th century to present day, with each chronicle representing a dramatic change in our understanding. Photos, illustrations, time lines and profiles visually round out these narratives. This is more than a description of what a dinosaur is, but also who they are to us.

Do you want an encyclopaedia organized not by unpronounceable eras but by dinosaur features? Do you want a record of life forms pre- and post- thunder lizard? A biography of breeds and species? Are you looking for a complete guide to dinosaurs? Then how about Dinosaurus: the complete guide to dinosaurs, by Steve Parker. Included is a prehistory to the world, which sets the stage for millions of years of evolution. Colourful illustrations bring these creatures to life, but sadly, the photos are only of bones.

Do you recall a television program called Walking with the Dinosaurs? Using CGI and modern lizards as models, they attempted to recreate the experience of life way back when. Fans will enjoy the matching book The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life by Tim Haines and Paul Chambers. These ancient beasts are divided among three periods of history. Each receives a page or two of description and illustration. I like a particular feature; pictured next to the name is a human (white) before the creature itself (orange). From the tiny to the massive, this book puts dinosaurs in perspective.

For additional readings, try any of these:

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards : a tale of Edwin Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the gilded age of paleontology ,
by Jim Ottaviani .

Part fiction and part fact, this is the story of two bones hunters in the 1800’s...in a graphic novel!

Grave Secrets of Dinosaurs: soft tissues and hard science,
by Phillip Manning.

In 1999, Manning found a rarity: a mummified dinosaur!

The Legacy of the Mastodon: the golden age of fossils in America,
by Keith Thomson.

This is the story of the first dinosaur hunters, to the start of the 20th century.

Gorgon: palaeontology, obsession, and the greatest catastrophe in Earth’s history,
by Peter D. Ward.

This book studies the creatures that came before dinosaurs, their fate, and how it might impact us! (Not a meteor pun, no.)

Costa Book of the Year - Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott

UK Poet Jo Shapcott's latest book of poetry Of Mutability is this year "surprise" winner of the Costa Book of the Year award.

Ms Shapcott revealed that she was quite shocked to be chosen as the winner, which comes with a 30,000 pound prize. Apparently she mused about now being able to afford getting her gutters fixed.

This marks the second year in a row that a poetry title has emerged as the Costa Book of the Year. Last year's prize was awarded to Christopher Reid for his poetry book, A Scattering.

Here is what the judges had to say about Of Mutability:

"In Of Mutability, Shapcott is found writing at her most memorable and bold. In a series of fresh, unflinching poems, she movingly explores mortality and the nature of change: in the body and the natural world, and in shifting relationships between people. By turns grave and playful, arresting and witty, the poems in Of Mutability celebrate each waking moment as though it might be the last and, in so doing, restore wonder to the smallest of encounters."

"These strong poems are rooted in the poet's experience of breast cancer but are all about life, hope and play. Fizzing with variety, they are a paean to creativity and make the reader feel that what matters to us all is imagination, humanity and a smile."

Five Great Mystery Reading Suggestions

Year end lists can be a great place to find reading suggestions. Library Journal has recently published it's list of Best Books of 2010.

Listed below are five mystery titles that esteemed LJ reviewer Jo Ann Vicarel has selected as being among the best published in 2010:

The Killing Storm, by Kathryn Casey

"On a quiet afternoon in the park, four-year-old Joey plays in the sandbox, when a stranger approaches looking for his puppy. While Joey's mom, Crystal, talks on her cell phone, the stranger convinces the child to help search. By the time Crystal turns around, her son has disappeared. Yet her reaction is odd, not what one would expect from a distraught mother. Is Crystal somehow involved in her son's abduction?

Meanwhile, on a ranch outside Houston, Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong assesses a symbol left on the hide of a slaughtered longhorn, a figure that dates back to a forgotten era of sugarcane plantations and slavery. Soon other prizewinning bulls are butchered on the outskirts of the city, each bearing a similar drawing. The investigations converge at the same time a catastrophic hurricane looms in the Gulf. Finally, as dangerous winds and torrential rains pummel the city, Sarah is forced to risk her life to save Joey."- publisher

Danse Macabre, by Gerald Elias

"Daniel Jacobus, reclusive blind concert master and amateur sleuth, returns to solve a most despicable crime and to clear an innocent man. Just after his Carnegie Hall swansong and before his imminent departure for retirement in France, beloved violinist and humanitarian Rene Allard is brutally murdered with a mysterious weapon. His young African American rival, crossover artist BTower, is spotted at the scene of the crime hovering over the contorted body of Allard with blood on his hands.

In short order the aloof and arrogant BTower is convicted and sentenced to death, in part the result of the testimony of blind and curmudgeonly violin pedagogue Daniel Jacobus, like millions of others, an ardent admirer of Allard. Justice has been served or has it? Jacobus is dragged back into the case kicking and screaming, and reluctantly follows a trail of broken violins and broken lives as it leads inexorably to the truth, and to his own mortal peril." - publisher

Hazard,
by Gardiner Harris

"When a block of coal the size of a stove shoots out of the wall, miner Amos Blevins barely has time to react before the entire area is flooded with water. He frantically tries to rescue his crewmates, but in an underground space that is pitch black and too cramped to even stand up, he can barely crawl to safety himself. Inspector Will Murphy is sent to investigate, ordered by his superiors to clear things up quickly so the mine can reopen. After all, if the mine closes, then miners lose their jobs, and so do mine inspectors.

It seems to be a straight forward accident, but Will senses something suspicious about this case or maybe he's just lashing out at his older brother, who has usurped his place as heir to the largest mining company in Eastern Kentucky and owner of the flooded mine but Will has decided he won't let this one go, whatever it might cost him."- publisher

Liar, Liar: a Cat Deluca mystery,
by K.J. Larsen

"Burned by her run-around ex-husband Johnnie Ricco, Caterina DeLuca took the skills she mastered during marriage and opened her own private eye agency. Now she's a second-story woman, armed with a camera, ready to print 8x10 glossies for use in divorce court. The men in her big, whacko family, all Chicago cops--one a crook--aren't sure what to make of Cat's career choice. But hey, it's serve and protect! Then one day Rita Polansky retains Cat. Rita's liar-liar husband is the mysterious, but seriously hot, Chance Savino. Cat is hot on his heels when an exploding building hurls her out of her stilettos and into the hospital..."- publisher

The Masuda Affair: a Sugawara Akitada novel,
by I.J. Parker

"A Sugawara Akitada Mystery of Ancient Japan - Eleventh-century Japan. Government official Sugawara Akitada finds a small mute boy on a deserted road. Akitada, still grieving for his own small son, determines to find the boy's parents. Meanwhile, Akitadarsquo's faithful servant Tora has troubles of his own: he has lost his new bride to a powerful man who pursues beautiful women and will stop at nothing to possess them. The trails of these two seemingly unrelated cases lead Akitada and Tora to the entertainers and prostitutes of the amusement quarter, and murder follows in their footsteps . . ." - publisher

Author Readings Tonight

Tonight you have your choice of two exciting library events featuring local authors. A tough choice for sure.

Why not get out of the house on a wintry evening and come enjoy some our own homegrown literary talent.
All are welcome.

Taylor Keating (a.k.a. Catherine Verge & Paula M. Fox)

Game Over: a paranormal romance
Meet Catherine Verge and Paula M. Fox, who write together under the pseudonym Taylor Keating. They have recently completed their debut novel Game Over, a thrilling story of suspense, fantasy and paranormal romance.

Keshen Goodman Public Library
Tuesday, January 25/7:00 pm

Two Houses: Jeff Bursey & Beth Janzen

Jeff Bursey will be reading from his book Verbatim: A Novel. The book is told in lists, letters and political debates. He reviews for the American Book Review, Rain Taxi, The Review of Contemporary Fiction and other publications.

Beth Janzen is passionate about writing, teaching and living a vibrant, creative life. She will be reading poetry from The Enchanted House, nominated for the PEI Book Award in 2008. She will also read from her short story manuscript, How it Is.

Spring Garden Rd. Memorial Public Library
Tuesday, January 25/7:00 pm

Cookbooks for People Without...the Budget.

The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, by Alanna Kaufman and Alex Small, has 200 recipes ready for a cash-conscious cook. Unlike most cookbooks, the nutritional information has been ditched for the price of the ingredients, and the price per serving. Spicy Baba Ghanouj, 8 servings, a buck each! Cinnamon-Cranberry-Orange Oat Scones, 18 in total, 85 cents each!

If you like the idea of inexpensive edibles, check out a series that boasts meals under $7. The core book, The $7 a Meal Cookbook by Linda Larsen, starts with cost-cutting tips, then jumps directly into 301 simple recipes, categorized from Breakfast to Vegetarian. Each meal is matched with nutritional information and total meal cost. Also try their titles, Quick and Easy, Healthy (both by Chef Susan Irby), and Slow Cooker Meals.

The Everything Meals on a Budget Cookbook, also by Linda Larsen, opens with a large chapter for techniques that will save cash now and in the long run...from cooking tips that extend the quantity of ingredient, to tips on when not to be cheap. A great feature is the price-based equivalence chart on page 272. It compares the costs of store-bought items to home-made items, most of which is surprising.

How about some Canadian star power with The $10 Gourmet by Ken Kostick. Each meal pops with a matching photo, and a handy shopping list / price guide. These recipes are just as simple as those in the previous titles, but the flavours are impressive. Curry Vegetable Stew with Coconut Milk and Fresh Coriander: $5.07! Steak with Sweet Onion Relish: $7.01! However, it is essential to these price schemes to have a stocked pantry and fridge; Kostick provides two charts showing how to stock up for under $50 each. A worthwhile investment for foodies.

Finally, 400 Best-Ever Budget Recipes edited by Lucy Doncaster, offers recipes from the simple to extraordinary, complete with a price indicator (1 star for cheap food, 3 for economical) and the nutritional value. Photos balance with the streamlined instructions. But it is the 35 page spread on 'clever cooking' that sets this one above the others. Clever shopping, meal planning, foraging, extensive freezing techniques. Over a dozen pages on ingredients, sample menus, and seasonal food charts to maximize fresh produce purchases.

For a completely different take, try Ross Dobson's 3-Ways With... The premise here is not to save money by shopping smartly, but to maximize your use of the food. For each of the 99 items listed inside (almonds to yoghurt), he provides three different recipes for using up the leftovers. Organized by location (pantry, fridge, freezer) and again alphabetically, this book is a fun browse, full of colour photos and simple-to-make meals.

Reading Around the Clock- part two

The Twilight series was the brilliant marketing tool that inspired this blog post. For each of the Twilight titles to have something to do with the times or cycles of the sun make them even more memorable. With this in mind, I started to explore what other times of day were covered by book titles.

(Please note that this is part two of Rosemary's post, click here for part one)

Just After Sunset: stories is the fifth collection of short stories by the "Wizard of Words" Stephen King. It is followed by the treat Full Dark, No Stars. I will never figure out how King does it. Unlike other prolific writers (such as James Patterson) who either use a formula or the help of co-writers, King does it all himself. And who better to know what lurks in the shadows until just after sunset.


Sunset and Sawdust is another gem by Joe R. Lansdale, a wonderfully quirky Texan writer with a broad minded slant on life and characters. He will have you laughing out loud at his characters doings and sayings. In Depression era Texas, Sunset Jones has had enough of her husband abusing and raping her. During a tornado she grabs his gun and shoots him. The problem is he was the sheriff of the town. When Sunset takes his place in this job she is met with resistance, not really for being a murderer, but for being a woman! Imagine that! Well, Lansdale does with great results.


Wait Until Twilight: a novel by Sang Pak. This debut bildungsromans (don’t you love that word) introduces the reader to the world of southern 10th grader, Samuel. Samuel becomes fascinated with his neighbours deformed triplets. What really attracted me to this novel was the statement on the cover: "What I need to do needs to be done before it gets too dark". It makes you wonder exactly what Samuel is going to do.


Twilight Girls by Paula Christian is (as stated on the cover) "two unforgettable classics from the golden age of pulp". The novels: Edge of Twilight and the Other side of Love are combined to tell the tale of sexual awakening of stewardess, Val MacGregor. The first tale concentrates on Val’s meeting a type of love; a woman! In the second book, Val moves to California with Toni, conflicted on having to tell her friends and family about her new lifestyle.


Brian Hart’s debut novel Then Came Evening presents the tragic Dorner family. Bandy Dorner returns home after 18 years in prison for the murder. He discovers that his son trying to reverse the family fortune by renovatating the family house. What happens next follows the ups and downs of the family as they try to reunite and improve their future.

Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan won the Hopwood Novel Award. This novel presents the differences of two young women of different caste lines, the rich and the poor. It is heartbreaking in its details of the Indian Immigrant family in Mayalasia, whose fortunes turn when their grandmother dies.

Fire at Midnight by Lisa Marie Wilkinson is an award winner that is a page turner in the true sense, right from the first line "I am sane". The plot just zips along and you want to read, and read, so much so you are finished the book before you even realize it. Rachael Penrose is confined to Bedlam Insane Asylum in 1703. How and what happens after she escapes leads the reader on a fabulous journey.


I must admit I was attracted to Midnight Fires by Nancy Means Wright because I am a fan of Frankenstein, which was written by Mary Wollstonecraft’s daughter, Mary Shelley. Wollstonecraft was a 18th century philosopher and women’s rights advocate, most famous for her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Midnight Fires is the first of a mystery trilogy that Wright is writing about Wollstonecraft. This novel focuses on a servant being accused of the murder of an aristocrat and Mary is struggling with whether to help him escape or not.


Horror author, Dean Koontz has written one of his best novels in years, What the Night Knows. Twenty years ago a serial killer stalked and terrified various neighbourhoods. John Calvino was a teenager when he caught this madman in the act and killed him. The killer vows to come back and get his revenge. So John is left with this guilt and fear to content with. How he succeeds (or not) in doing this .....well, read the novel and find out.

So here you have it. A book to suit whatever time of day you desire. I hope that at least one of them strikes your interest and who knows you may end up reading. Anything is possible!

Reading Around the Clock- part one

The Twilight series was the brilliant marketing tool that inspired this blog post. For each of the Twilight titles to have something to do with the times or cycles of the sun make them even more memorable. With this in mind, I started to explore what other times of day were covered by book titles.

Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith is the prequel to the best-selling Quirk Classics Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. In it we discover how and why Elizabeth Bennet evolves from an innocent young lady to a zombie-killing martial arts warrior. As one reviewer stated " Finally a book the Jane Austen fans and Night of the Living Dead fans can agree on".

In Karen Kingsbury’s Sunrise the Baxter Family is back, following the Redemption and Firstborn series. This first novel in this series addresses alcohol abuse and the price that is paid by the abuser, family and friends.

What happens when you finally are pretty satisfied with your life? Well, usually someone (or something) will throw a wrench into your plans. In Marlo M Schalesky’s Shades of Morning, Marnie Whittier is left guardian of her nephew, a 15 year old down syndrome boy. How she makes life less "bumpy’ will inspire you.

I know that a lot of people have started their day with TV weatherman, Al Roker. Together with Dick Lochte, Rocker has taken his insider’s knowledge of televison and written the novel, Morning Show Murders. This cozy mystery satirizes both celebrity chefs and television personalities.

What do you get when you throw together the setting of Nunavet, where the darkness can come at noon, the RCMP and the FBI , a murder or two plus an international conspiracy? You get a story that blends together history, mystery and current events to a satisfying conclusion in Darkness at the Stroke of Noon by Arthur Ellis Award Winner, Dennis Richard Murphy

Short-listed for the Man’s Booker Award, I’ll Go to Bed at Noon, is by Gerard Woodward. Second in a trilogy, the novels follow the self-destructive Jones Family, a London based family, through their struggles with addiction. The characters are not necessarily likable but their tragedy makes compelling reading.

I must admit what got me interested in Tears on a Sunday Afternoon by Michael Presley was a description in another review. " I was born beautiful, a product of three white prison guard’s rape of my mother....my beauty got me everything, especially women". Donald’s tale is one of sex, lust, greed and betrayal will lure the reader in and not let go until the last page!

One Oprah’s favorite author’s, Kaye Gibbons, has written another tale of dysfunctional families. In On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon. Emma Garnet Tate suffers from emotional abuse from her father, Southern plantation owner, Samuel P. Tate. He, in turn, fights his own internal battles to overcome his poor beginnings. When his daughter marries a Yankee doctor the battle within family becomes worse as the Civil War rages on.