Back to School Special: Teachers as Sleuth in Mystery Series

For those readers who are headed back to school here are a few mystery series with teachers as sleuth to help you mentally prepare yourself for the new school year. We all know that “the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet” (Aristotle).

1st Grade Teacher - Miss Dimple Kilpatrick Series by Mignon F. Ballard

The first book “Miss Dimple Disappears” is set in 1942. The citizens of Elderberry, GA, are expecting the arrival of a train that will deliver soldiers to celebrate Halloween with them. Meanwhile, Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, the long-time first grade teacher at the local elementary school, has disappeared after the school custodian is found dead. Everyone thinks she skipped town, but Charlie Carr, a former student of Miss Dimple and now a teacher, decides to investigate with her best friend, Annie. - Library Journal

Math Teacher - Brodie Farrell Mystery Series by Jo Bannister

This series stars Brodie Farrell, a finder of things and people in Dimmock, England. In the first book “Echoes of Lies” she locates a man in a photograph but discovers later that her client had the man tortured, shot, and left for dead. Feeling horribly guilty about her role in causing his pain, Brodie bonds with the victim, uncovers a kidnapping involving a moneyed but ruthless family, and helps solve the case. - Library Journal

English Professor - Murder 101 Mystery Series by Maggie Barbieri

English professor Alison Bergeron gets a lesson in murder from handsome NYPD detective Bobby Crawford when one of her students is found dead in the trunk of her car in “Murder 101”. Debut novelist Barbieri is being likened to Harley Jane Kozak and Sarah Strohmeyer. - Library Journal

Reading Specialist - Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series by Erika Chase

When the first meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society results in murder, Lizzie Turner, reading specialist and mystery book lover, teams up with the police chief to catch the killer in the first book “A Killer Read”. - Novelist

Philosophy Professor - Notre Dame Mysteries by Ralph McInerny

The first mystery “On this Rockne” introduces the Knight Brothers--Philip, a P.I., and Roger, the philosophy professor--in their first case, which involves ten million dollars, a dead trustee, and the great coach Knute Rockne.-Novelist

Anthropology Professor - Gideon Oliver mysteries by Aaron J. Elkins

“Fellowship of Fear” is the first in a series of books featuring Professor Gideon Oliver, a physical anthropologist who gets involved in solving crimes by piecing together evidence from bone fragments... In this story, Oliver sets out to teach some anthropology courses at a series of military bases in Europe -- a nice break from his normal teaching routine, as well as an opportunity to travel around some interesting places. However, as soon as he arrives in Germany, his hotel room is searched and he is physically attacked. This is just the start of his troubles…”

Retired Teacher - Fresh-Baked Mystery Series by Livia J. Washburn

“Rich in the colourful and sometimes deadly details of small-town life, this series feature not only intriguing mystery plots and likable characters but also delicious recipes for a variety of baked goods. In the first book, “A Peach of a Murder”, retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom, who is on a personal mission to win the blue ribbon for the best peach pie at the Peach Festival, finds herself accused of murder when her spicy entry kills a judge.” - Novelist

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. - Nelson Mandela

Staff Pick—Pomeroy’s Quay by E. G. Forward

In this historical fiction novel, Pomeroy's Quay, based on the author’s family’s experiences, World War I is about to break out, and young Richard Pomeroy is growing into adulthood in the town of Brigus in rural Newfoundland. After his father’s untimely death, Richard has suddenly been thrust into the role of breadwinner for his family. He joins a rough crew bound for the cod fishery off of the wild, dangerous land of Labrador.

Part coming-of-age period piece, part spy thriller, what follows is an exploration of Newfoundland’s culture and history, including the importance of the cod fishery and seal hunt, the superficial prejudices between Catholics and Protestants, the amusing Christmas tradition of mummering, the history of the hardy Newfoundland pony, and the tactical importance of Newfoundland and Labrador in the days leading up to WWI.

In its search for historical realism, the novel doesn’t shy away from showing the often gruesome realities of fishing, where even the slightest mishap could lead to dismemberment or death. Nor does the author censor the vulgarities of the fishermen: they curse, they discuss women, and their jokes are often lewd or macabre. Perhaps the best part is the author’s rendering of the unique Newfoundland accents, enough to give the flavor and cadence of the often darkly humorous dialogue without distracting from the narrative.

While the novel paints a vivid picture of what life was like for the townsfolk and fisherman, at times it presents too much of a general picture by skipping from one narrator to another; the book might have been better served to just stick with young Richard’s perspective. It also loses steam in the chapters told from the perspective of the German U-boat officers doing surveillance, but they certainly lend an air of menace and foreboding to the story, reminding readers of the upcoming war.

The author, E. G. Forward, serves as a commander in the Royal Canadian Navy and did an author reading from this novel at the Alderney Gate Public Library in April 2014.

For a different historical fiction novel about fishing in pre-war Newfoundland, check out The Mystery of the SS Southern Cross: a novel, by Tim B. Rogers. From the publisher: “The date is March 31, 1914. Flushed with the success of a great hunt, the SS Southern Cross is heading back to St. John's, loaded to the gunwales with seal pelts. Somewhere off Newfoundland's southeast coast, the ship founders, leaving no clue as to her fate or that of her 173 crew members. The ship simply vanishes, as if whisked off the face of the Earth, the worst disaster ever to befall the sealing industry. The Mystery of the SS Southern Cross is a novel that engages the human story behind this long-standing mystery. It interweaves the crankiness of an old ship, vicious weather, and the passions of men caught up in the frenzies of the time.”

Finally, for a recent non-fiction book on a similar topic, check out The Last of the Ice Hunters: an Oral History of the Newfoundland Seal Hunt, edited by Shannon Ryan. From the publisher: “The Last of the Ice Hunters is a history of the seal hunt, an industry now in decline, but one which provided the few opportunities for employment to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians during the 1930s. Written in the words of the sealers themselves, the book is a compilation of interviews conducted by students who trained under Professor Shannon Ryan of Memorial University of Newfoundland.”

The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell - Staff pick

The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell

It was an extremely dorky moment of excitement for me when, staying in Haworth, England I visited the parsonage where the Brontë family lived. It was an interesting little museum house, which contained a number of Brontë 'artefacts' including the sofa where Emily Brontë supposedly died. It was in the gift shop where I found a copy of a biography of Charlotte Brontë, which was in fact written by her friend Elizabeth Gaskell. I didn't know that this existed, but it immediately appealed to me -- a biography of one of my favourite authors, by another favourite author.

Fully expecting that this would be a somewhat dry account of her life, I was delighted to find that it is an incredibly readable biography, and is still considered to be one of the most authoritative works about Charlotte Brontë's life. I particularly enjoyed reading about the lives of the Brontës when they were young, because they were extremely interesting and creative children. All four of the Brontë children (Patrick Branwell, Charlotte, Emily & Anne) wrote collaboratively about a fantasy world called Gondal, for which they created histories, characters and legends.

Throughout their years living at home and as governesses, Charlotte and her sisters continued to write prolifically, usually editing each others' writing, and staying up late at night discussing their works and plans for the future. In spite of many setbacks, including the deaths of all of her siblings, Charlotte persevered in her writing, eventually becoming one of the best known writers of the English literary canon.

Written in her characteristically descriptive style, Gaskell manages to show her fondness for the Brontës (Charlotte in particular), as well as looking at them with a critical eye. It is by no means a short book, but for those who love the Brontës (and perhaps Elizabeth Gaskell as well), it is a fascinating insight into their lives and motivations for writing their well-loved classics including Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey, Wuthering Heights, Villette, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

The library owns some more recent biographies of the Brontës including:

The Brontë Family: Passionate Literary Geniuses by Karen Smith Kenyon

"A joint biography of Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Anne Brontë, exploring how the siblings sparked creativity in each other and how their lives were woven into their novels." - Discover


The Brontës by Juliet Barker
A Chainless Soul: A Life of Emily Brontë by Katherine Frank
The Brontë Sisters' Search for Love by Dilys Gater
The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë by Daphne du Maurier

2014 Hugo Award Winners

The Hugo Awards, presented annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award. The Hugo Awards are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”). Checkout their website for the full listing of winners in all categories.

This year's winner for Best Novel is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

"On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose--to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch." Discover

Other nominees included:

Neptune's Brood by Charles Straus
Parasite by Mira Grant
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
(series)

Summer Thrills

Despite the appearance of lots of back to school “must haves” and fall clothes in the stores, summer is most definitely not over. If you’d like a few more thrills before the end of summer check out the Library’s 2014 Summer Thrillers List. Here are a few of my favourites:


That Night by Chevy Stevens

Toni Murphy was eighteen when she and her boyfriend, Ryan, were wrongly convicted of the murder of her younger sister. Now she is thirty-four and back in her hometown, working every day to forge and adjust to a new life on the outside. She's doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back to prison. But nothing is making that easy--not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who clearly doubts Toni's innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni's life miserable in high school and may have darker secrets than anyone realizes. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out the truth and clear her name.

Chevy Stevens is a Canadian author from British Columbia and I think her books just keep getting better and better! If you enjoy that night check out Still Missing, Never Knowing and Always Watching also by Stevens.

The Arsonist by Sue Miller

Frankie Rowley has come home to the small New Hampshire town of Pomeroy and the farmhouse where her family has always summered after working in East Africa for 15 years. On her first night back, a house up the road burns to the ground. Is it an accident, or arson? Over the weeks that follow, as Frankie comes to recognize her father's slow failing and her mother's desperation, another house burns, and then another, always the homes of summer people.




Eyes On You by Kate White

Someone is out to get Robin Trainer. After dealing with career problems and divorce, Robin is suddenly a success. As co-anchor of a new TV show, she displays winning chemistry with handsome colleague Carter Brooks, and her new nonfiction book is climbing the charts. Then the sabotage begins: a nasty note left in her purse, book jackets torn through the photo of her face, a dead roach in her coffee cup, a Barbie doll with eyes poked out, makeup that inflames her face, a drugged brownie. Although Robin suspects station superstar Vicky Cruz, an internal investigation revealing private information about Robin's childhood with an abusive stepmother and a recent ill-advised fling with Carter points back to Robin herself. Desperate to clear her name, she accepts help from an unlikely quarter while wondering who, among the handful of people closest to her, she can trust.

Kate White has also written a few other stand alone thrillers and is the author of the Bailey Weggins books, one my favourite mystery series.

If you are still looking for more thrills, check out the complete 2014 Summer Thrillers List at:

librarylist:"RA: 2014 Summer Thrillers"

Louise

Sometimes Short is Sweet: Short Books

No time for Infinite Jest or The Goldfinch but you still want to read a good novel? No fear: we have compiled a list of great short books that are all under 150 pages:

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (110 pages)

“This modern classic, about a Latina girl growing up in Chicago, has been translated and taught all over the world. At 110 pages, it packs a punch all out of proportion to its size. Not surprisingly, given the compression and power of her work, Cisneros is also a poet”.

The Possession by Annie Ernaux (62 pages)

“In 62 laser-sharp pages, Ernaux zaps an obsessive, jealousy-fueled romance gone haywire. Is it truth or fiction? Probably a bit of both, and essential reading for anyone who's ever messed up in love”.

In the Orchard, the Swallows by Peter Hobbs (139 pages)

“This recently released novel, about a Pakistani boy imprisoned for falling in love with the wrong girl, is both exquisitely written and surprisingly inspiring. At 139 pages, it weighs in as one of the giants of 2014”.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (144 pages)

“For those who like their fiction hard-boiled, nobody did it better than Raymond Chandler. The prolific master of the detective story turned to writing after he lost his job with an oil company during the Depression. The Big Sleep was his first novel to feature his famous P.I., Philip Marlowe”.

Passing by Nella Larsen (102 pages)

“This novella, set in 1920s Harlem, is about the reuniting of two mixed-race childhood friends. One of them, Clare, is able to pass as white, and has even lied to her husband about her racial origin. This beautifully written book depicts the horrors of racism and the lengths that some people went to to not be considered "lesser than."

Ravel by Jean Echenoz (126 pages)

“In 126 crystalline pages, Echenoz imagines the last ten years of Maurice Ravel's life. The novel opens in 1928 as the great eccentric composer embarks on a grand tour of the United States. Echenoz provides not only a rich portrait of a flawed genius, but also illuminates the times in which he lived”.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange (96 pages)

“Shange's 1975 masterpiece defies category: It is performed as theater but reads like a gorgeously urgent prose poem. This passionate, courageous book vividly brings to life the experience of being a woman of color”.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (64 pages)

“This book is about two opposing personalities (one good, one evil) battling inside one man (but it's really about man's dual nature--something that was particularly intriguing during the Victorian period)”.

Staff Picks: Lush Life by Richard Price

I’m heading out on a trip in the coming weeks to New York City, and during these dragging days of spring, I’d been looking for some fiction to read that is set there, in order to hold me over until my actual trip.

Picking a book based on the setting is always a bit of a challenge - because honestly, I’m very interested in NYC, but I’m pretty realistic that I’m not going to be interested in just any book that is set there. The reviews of Lush Life - and more broadly of author Richard Price’s writing - were just too gushing for me to not give him a try. Author Russell Banks is quoted on the book jacket as saying, “With Lush Life Richard Price has become our postmodern American Balzac ... he’s a writer I hope my great-grandchildren will read, so they’ll know what it was like to be truly alive in the early twenty-first century.”

The story takes place in Manhattan’s Lower East Side and revolves around the late night random shooting of a young bartender. The world of Lush Life is vivid and detailed, its characters three dimensional and lifelike. Price presents several Lower East Sides: that of working-poor immigrants, packed together in small apartments; of young, privileged artists and up-and-comers; of police officers who work the district every day but come from all over New York; and of residents of the projects on the edge of gentrifying neighbourhood. Price’s story is not an action packed race to an all-is-revealed ending, rather it is a character piece that takes us through the competing interests of contemporary Manhattan, using the murder as a means to tell another story: a story of life in modern America.

So, as a piece to get me ready for a trip, a novel about random street crime was a poor choice. But as a piece of literature, this was a find. I’m not much of a reader of genre fiction, but this struck me as somewhat different from your standard crime novel. There is no mystery, there are no chases or similar dramatic action, but there are people and stories and a place - all drawn remarkably well and a climax, as described by Publishers Weekly magazine that is “both expected and shocking”.

If you are a fan of the gripping drama of the television show The Wire (which Price was also a writer for), you’ll find this book worth a visit.

vintage post 4/16/09

Read Your Way Around the World - Switzerland

Read Your Way Around the World invites you to thrilling Switzerland.

In fact and in fiction, Switzerland found itself a to be a base for espionage for both the Allies and the Axis powers during World War II. Switzerland, with its great personal wealth, its history of bank secrecy and its longstanding neutrality is the perfect setting for the selection of espionage novels below.

Scorpion Deception by Andrew Kaplan. The American embassy in Bern is attacked and a list of undercover CIA operatives in Europe is stolen, compromising a potential war between USA and Iran.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming. Following Thunderball, James Bond locates Ernest Stavro Blofeld in the Swiss Alps where is in brainwashing young Brits to carry biological weapons into England. Bond attacks Blofeld's Swiss base and Blofeld escapes via bobsled to wreak more havoc.

Twice a Spy by Keith Thomson. A follow-up to Once a Spy in which Charlie Drummond learns that his father, now an Alzheimer's patient, was a CIA operative. Charlie and his girlfriend run to Switzerland to get away from her employer, the NSA, and embark upon a twisted and witty adventure.

The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer. It is World War II and Gabi Mueller is working for the American Office of Strategic Services (CIA) in Switzerland and she is discovered to have sensitive enough hearing to make her an excellent safe cracker. Mueller gets caught up in events that occur following the failed plot to assassinate Hitler.

Rules of Deception by Christoper Reich. Jonathan Ransom, a surgeon for Doctors Without Borders, was hiking in the Swiss Alps where is wife is killed during a storm. After her death he learns that she had lived a secret life involving spies, weapons and terrorism and he is unwittingly drawn into this world.

The English Assassin by Daniel Silva. Art restorer and hit man Gabriel Allon goes to Zurich and finds his employer murdered in from of his Raphael. Allon is accused of the murder and, when exonerated, goes about finding out who framed him, entering into the shadowy world of Swiss Bankers who had helped Nazi art collectors.

Recent Family Sagas

Sometimes children will ask for books that go on and on. These same children grow into adults who become engrossed and invested in fictional characters and the desire remains the same. For these readers we have family sagas. A family saga can be best described as a book, or better yet, a series of books that relate the lives of sets of interconnected families over time. A family saga that I have been particularly enjoying these last few years is Ken Follett's  Century Trilogy which chronicles the lives of five interconnected families in a sweeping saga that encompasses the twentieth century. Family sagas appeal to readers who are drawn to rich character development and who enjoy grand and sweeping tales of historical fiction.

Some other recent family sagas:

All My Tomorrows by Ellie Dean (Beach View Boarding House novels)

"Friendship, family, love and loss, and keeping calm and making do in the south-coast town of Cliffehaven during the Second World War. Join the Reilly family at their Beach View boarding house and meet the new arrivals Peggy Reilly soon takes under her wing. Jim Reilly and his brother are away fighting the war, Martin Black has been shot down and taken prisoner of war, and his wife Anne returns to Beach View with her baby to seek solace. And twin sisters from the east end of London descend on the boarding house causing chaos from the minute they arrive." Discover

Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer (Clifton Chronicles)


"Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer's Be Careful What You Wish For opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno? When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham. Back in London, Harry and Emma’s adopted daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student, Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Be Careful What You Wish For showcases the master storyteller’s talent as never before – when the Clifton and Barrington families march forward into the sixties, in this epic tale of love, revenge, ambition and betrayal." publisher

Hall of Secrets by Cate Campbell (Benedict Hall novels)

" In Cate Campbell's sumptuously detailed, page-turning series set in 1920s Seattle, the once-secure lifestyle of the wealthy Benedict family--and their household staff--must contend with the radical, roaring Jazz Age. . . For generations, the Benedicts have been one of Seattle's most distinguished families, residing in the splendid Queen Anne mansion known as Benedict Hall amid a host of loyal servants. But the dawn of the 1920s and the aftermath of the Great War have brought dramatic social conflict. Never has this been more apparent than when daughter Margot's thoroughly modern young cousin, Allison, comes to stay. But Margot is also shocking many of Seattle's genteel citizens, and her engineer beau, by advocating birth control in her medical practice. For amid a tangle of blackmail, manipulation, and old enmities, the Benedicts stand to lose more than money--they may forfeit the very position and reputation that is their only tether to a rapidly changing world." publisher

The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner

"From the internationally acclaimed author of Touch, praised as "an arresting debut" (National Post) and "a haunting, beguiling and beautifully imagined story" (Winnipeg Free Press), comes a powerful family saga steeped in the legends of the ocean. The Kings family has lived on Loosewood Island for three hundred years, blessed with the bounty of the sea. But for the Kings, this blessing comes with a curse: the loss of every first-born son. Now, Woody Kings, the leader of the island's lobster fishing community and the family patriarch, teeters on the throne, and Cordelia, the oldest of Woody's three daughters, stands to inherit the crown. To do so, however, she must defend her island against meth dealers from the mainland, while navigating sibling rivalry and the vulnerable nature of her own heart when she falls in love with her sternman. Inspired by Shakespeare's King Lear, The Lobster Kings is the story of Cordelia's struggle to maintain her island's way of life in the face of danger from offshore, and the rich, looming, mythical legacy of her family's namesake." publisher

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Cavendon Hall)

"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes an epic saga of intrigue and mystique set in Edwardian England. Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. Charles Ingham, the sixth Earl of Mowbray, lives there with his wife Felicity and their six children. Walter Swann, the premier male of the Swann family, is valet to the earl. His wife Alice, a clever seamstress who is in charge of the countess's wardrobe, also makes clothes for the four daughters. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing Yorkshire manor.  Cavendon Hall is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her very best, and its sweeping story of secrets, love, honor, and betrayal will have readers riveted up to the very last page." publisher

London Dawn by Murray Pura (Danforths of Lancashire)


"Readers everywhere are clamoring for books like Downton Abbey, the hit PBS Masterpiece Theater series that's taken America by storm. Those readers have become enthusiastic about The Danforths of Lancashire by award-winning author Murray Pura.
In this stunning conclusion to the saga, we find Lord Preston and his family are gathered in London in the late 1930s for what turns out to be a homecoming. The family is finally all together again, gathering in a way they haven't been able to do for years. But looming ahead is the summer and fall of 1940 when both the Battle of Britain and the Blitz will occur. Though the family is blissfully unaware of this soon-to-be reality, Lord Preston, privy to top secret info in his position in the government, has grave concerns; the gravest he's ever had, that England will be invaded. The Danforth family patriarch does his best to hide his fears with a cheerful exterior, but is he successful?" publisher

Diary fiction

Novels written in diary format give the reader an intimate relationship with the narrator, as they reflect on their experiences of an event, a day or a lifetime. By nature one sided and possibly unreliable, diary novels would appeal to readers who are drawn to a book by rich character development. Classic examples would be Dracula and Flowers for Algernon.

Here are some examples of recently published novels written in a diary format:

The Black Stiletto: secrets and lies: the 4th diary -- 1961: a novel by Raymond Benson

"It is 1961 in the fourth book of the Black Stiletto series. Judy, the Stiletto, meets Leo, a charismatic man who convinces her to move to Los Angeles when she is run out of New York by increasingly hazardous police heat. But soon Judy suspects that Leo is not the white knight she first thought. Leo, who has connections with the West Coast mobs, has plenty of skeletons in his closet. His mysterious sister, Christina, who once served time for armed robbery, could also be a threat to the Stiletto's new life in California. Meanwhile, in the present, Alzheimer's-stricken Judy takes a turn for the worse as Martin comes to grips with the imminent end of his mother's life. In a novel bristling with mysteries, secrets, and lies, the Black Stiletto saga takes a dark left turn into even more treacherous territory." publisher

Bridget Jones: mad about the boy by Helen Fielding

"When Helen Fielding first wrote Bridget Jones' Diary, charting the life of a 30-something singleton in London in the 1990s, she introduced readers to one of the most beloved characters in modern literature. With her hotly anticipated third installment, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Fielding introduces us to a whole new enticing phase of Bridget's life set in contemporary London, including the challenges of maintaining sex appeal as the years roll by and the nightmare of drunken texting, the skinny jean, the disastrous e-mail cc, total lack of twitter followers, and TVs that need 90 buttons and three remotes to simply turn on. " publisher

Maya's Notebook: a novel by Isabel Allende

"To escape a life of drugs, crime and prostitution, nineteen-yearold Maya Vidal flees California to a remote island off the coast of Chile. There, in the company of a torture survivor, a lame dog and other unforgettable characters, Maya writes her story, which includes pursuit by a gang of assassins, the police, the FBI and Interpol. In the process, she unveils a terrible family secret, comes to understand the meaning of love and loyalty and initiates the greatest adventure of her life: the journey into her own soul." publisher

Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French

"Silvia Shute has always done exactly what she wants. But after a fall from a balcony, her life has suddenly, shockingly stopped. Now she's unconscious in a hospital bed, at the mercy of the mad friends and crazy relatives who have come to visit. Her beleaguered ex-husband, her newly independent daughter, her West Indian nurse, her bohemian sister, her best friend, her enthusiastic housekeeper, and others all share a piece of their collective mind with the complex woman—the bad mother, the cherished sister, the selfish wife, the matchless lover, the egotist, the martyr—they think they know. And Silvia can't talk back. As she lies there, captive to the beloveds, the babblers, and the stark-raving bonkers who alternate at her bedside, the dark and terrible secret she has been hiding for years begins to emerge. " publisher


Against the Wind by Madeleine Gagnon

"From the moment he takes drastic action to defend his adoptive mother from violent sexual assault, Joseph finds himself retreating into an increasingly abstract world where he must confront what he calls his "visions." In reaction to his indistinct trauma, Joseph sets out to reconcile the contradictory themes in his life, including abandonment, madness, love, and death, as the reader experiences, through letters and journal entries, the creation and development of anartist "in his own words." publisher

Cabbagetown diary: a documentary by Juan Butler

"The novel’s rowdy concoction of grit and violence and rooming-house sleaze had a strongly polarizing effect on its readers. Many admired the frankness of Butler’s depiction of a sordid environment, and others deplored the obscenity of the language and the dangerous and careless ways in which his characters behave, bent as they are on downward self-transcendence. But Cabbagetown Diary was undeniably a promising debut by a young writer whose brash tone and pungent subject matter were unique in Canadian writing at that time. The novel takes the form of a diary written by a disaffected young Toronto bartender, Michael, over the course of his four-month liaison with Terry, a naive teenager who is new to the city. "publisher