October Special - Zombies!

Here's a contribution to our Halloween celebrations from guest blogger Eric.

Whether they come from magic, mad science, or flukes of nature, the zombie has nestled in our hearts and eaten our brains. Just as vampires saturated the horror, romance, and fantasy genres in the 80's and 90's, these shambling monsters have begun to show up everywhere...films, comics, novels, even handbooks! So lock your doors, carry a baseball bat at all times, and read up on the culture of the zombie!

Hamilton, Laurell K. Anita Blake Series. The Laughing Corpse is the second title in the series, but focuses on our heroine's first career...Animator of the dead.

Brooks, Max. The Zombie Survival Guide: complete protection from the living dead. World War Z: an oral history of the zombie war. (audio download) Essential books for surviving zombie attacks.

Moore, Christopher. The Stupidest Angel: a heartwarming tale of Christmas terror. Zombies aren't just for Hallowe'en. They also make Christmas hilarious.

Kirkman, Robert. The Walking Dead. A graphic novel series that tells the gritty story of humanity mere weeks after civilization crumbles.

Martinez, A. Lee. Gil's All Fright Diner. Zombies attack a greasy spoon in the deep South. Only a redneck werewolf and a bald vampire geek can hold them back.

Wellington, David. three titles - Monster Island. Monster Nation. Monster Planet. Manhattan island is ground zero of the zombie invasion of the world.

Hicks, Faith Erin. Zombies Calling. When someone says there are zombies outside, believe them. Err on the side of caution.

Preiss, Byron. The Ultimate Zombie. A short story anthology dedicated to the hungry dead.

Grahame-Smith, Seth / Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: the classic Regency romance, now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem. Elizabeth Bennet versus the Zombies. Need we say more?

Governor General's Shortlist 2009

The 2009 shortlist for the Governor General's Literary Awards have been released.

The GG's (as they are affectionately known) are given to the best English and French language books in seven categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Drama, Children's Literature (text), Children's Literature (illustration) and Translation (from French to English and English to French). Local writers, Stephen Kimber and Alice Walsh are on juries this year.

Fiction (English)

Galore by Michael Crummey

The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger

Vanishing and Other Stories by Deborah Willis

Nonfiction (English)

Fire and Fury: the Allied bombing of Germany 1942-45 by Randall Hansen

Grass, Sky, Song: promise and peril in the world of grassland birds by Trevor Herriot

American Raj: liberation or domination by Eric S. Margolis

The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the search for a Baroque masterpiece by Eric Siblin

A Place Within: rediscovering India by M. G. Vassanji

Books for Foodies

Are you a Foodie?

If so, the Canadian Culinary Books Awards are probably a great way for you to find new reading suggestions.

Here are the 2009 award nominees:

Cookbook Category:

The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book: the essentials of home baking, by Elizabeth Baird

Fat: an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, with recipes, by Jennifer McLagan

Small Plates for Sharing, edited by Laurie Stempfle

Special Interest Category:

Beyond the Great Wall: recipes and travels in the other China, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Bottomfeeder: how to eat ethically in a world of vanishing seafood, Taras Grescoe

Canadian Food Culture Category:

Anita Stewart's Canada, by Anita Stewart

Apples to Oysters: a food lover's tour of Canadian farms, by Margaret Webb

A Tour of Canada: a culinary journey, by Rose Murray

Get in the mood for Halloween

With the days getting shorter and the leaves changing colour, we are once again entering the wonderful autumn season.

I usually try to read novels that will help me get into the spirit of the season and thought you might like to hear of some great books with just the right amount of 'eerie' to get you in the mood for Halloween.

The most recent title I've chosen is "The Birthing House" by Christopher Ransom. This novel is about a couple from Los Angeles who move to an old house in Wisconsin. Then when the previous owner of the House pops by with a crate of things that belong “to the House”. The husband makes the mistake of looking at the photo album and discovers a strange picture of a group of women, one of whom looks very much like his wife. Deftly plotted and chillingly disturbing, this debut novel is a fine example of the horror genre.

Another ghostly tale is "Hold my hand" by Serena Mackesy. In this novel single mother Bridget Sweeny and her daughter start over, with new names and hope for the future. Bridget has agreed to act as caretaker for a manor house in Cornwall. The house has a reputation in the village and Bridget and her daughter find that their idyll is not what they hoped for. Their story intertwines with that of a girl who was evacuated from London during the Great War and sent to the house to be under the care of a dysfunctional and evil family.

I saved the best for last! My all-time favourite chilling tale is the novel "Harvest Home" by Thomas Tryon. This one will give you nightmares! A New York couple and their daughter move to a quaint country village in New England hoping to settle into a tranquil existence. They found that the locals were obsessed with ancient pagan rituals and that the village was seemingly controlled by the Widow Fortune, an old woman with a knack for healing. The town had a secret, and its insular townspeople were all in on it. Determined to discover what that secret was leads the protagonist to find that some secrets are best left undiscovered.
This novel was made into an excellent TV mini-series entitled "The dark secret of Harvest Home" starring Bette Davis as the Widow Fortune.

Remember, don't read when you are alone in the house and leave a light on....

Diana Gabaldon author reading at Halifax Chapters

Attention Diana Gabaldon fans!

I just found out that Diana Gabaldon will reading from her newest work, An Echo in the Bone, at the Halifax Chapter's Store on October 13th, Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Diana in Berlin (c. Barbara Schnell)

Nobel Prize in Literature - Herta Mueller

The literary awards season is in full swing. Am I the only one who is finding it increasing difficult to keep track of who is winning which awards?

The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded this week in Sweden.

The 2009 winner is Romanian born German writer Herta Mueller

Herta Müller signing her new book Atemschaukel in a German book store.

Photo: Public domain, Wikipedia Commons

October Special - Shapeshifters!

Here's a contribution to our Halloween celebrations from guest blogger Eric.

Werewolves are the best known shapeshifters in film and fiction, from Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf graphic novel to Canada's own Gingersnaps film trilogy.

But world mythology is full of other creatures who sometimes pose as human.

These are just a selection of the creatures one could find posing as human.

Lai, Larissa. Salt Fish Girl. Sci-Fi and fantasy meet in an immortal, were-woman / snake / fish, whose story spans from 19th century China to future West coast Canada.

Hendrix, Howard V. Empty Cities of the Full Moon. Humanity has changed... shapeshifted even. So much so that civilization fell apart and beast-people inherited the empty world.

Pierce, David M. Elf Child. A gay changeling finds more than love and excitement in San Diego. He finds himself...and trouble.

Briggs Patricia. Moon Called. First in a series of urban fantasy about a were-coyote and herrelationships. With vampires, werewolves, and even worse.

Hamilton, Laurell K. Lunatic Cafe. Shapeshifters feature in many of her novels, but this particular book describes the culture of were-rats, -cats, and even -swans!

Marcia, Collette. Unstable Environment. Family struggles, an abandoned baby, a clan war, and were-cheetahs round out this unique novel.

Whitfield, Kit. The Benighted. Prejudice is the theme of this book, about a world where shapeshifting is normal, and those who can't are second class citizens.

Johnson, Kij. The Fox Woman. A story of a Kitsune, a female fox spirit, who falls tragically in love with an all too human lord, set in romantic feudal Japan.

Dalkey, Kara. Little Sister.

A teen novel about a middle sister in ancient Japan who befriends a troublemaking Tengu, or were-raven.

Jackson, Melanie. The Selkie. Another paranormal romance between an innocent woman and a handsome, mysterious stranger. In this case, he's prince of the Selkies, or were-seals.