Readers' Nook

THE DEWEY DIVAS PRESENT (IV)

2010-09-04T07:00:00Z

A group of Canadian Publishers' reps based in Ontario, the Dewey Divas and Dudes book talk their favourite reads of the upcoming season to libraries and school teachers. Last time they presented the Spring/Summer 2010 titles for Calgary Public Library staff and other guests. The Dewey Divas are coming again this month to talk about Fall 2010/Winter 2011 titles!

We will close this mini-series with some of the favourite Summer 2010 books of Rosalyn Steele from HarperCollins. Visit the Readers' Nook for more Divas' recommendations in September!

To find out more about Dewey Divas and Dudes and their recommendations (including non-fiction, Children's and YA literature, DVDs, and lots more), visit http://deweydivas.blogspot.com/.

Beneath the Sands of Egypt: Adventures of an Unconventional Archaeologist by Donald P. Rayan

Indiana Jones meets The Lost City of Z—an archaeologist recounts his adventures retrieving the remains of Egypt’s past, including the breakthrough rediscovery of Egypt’s famous female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, in the Valley of the Kings.

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel AllendeBorn a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue, Tete finds solace in the voodoo loas she discovers through her fellow slaves. When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, it's with powdered wigs in his baggage and dreams of financial success in his mind. Spanning four decades, Island Beneath the Sea is the moving story of the intertwined lives of Tete and Valmorain, and of one woman's determination to find love amid loss, to offer humanity though her own has been battered, and to forge her own identity in the cruellest of circumstances.

Juliet by Anne Fortier

When Julie Jacobs inherits a key to a safety deposit box in Italy, she is told it will lead her to a family treasure. Soon she is on a precarious journey into the history of her ancestor Giulietta, whose legendary love for a young man named Romeo turned medieval Siena upside down. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in the blood feud immortalized by Shakespeare, she begins to realize that the notorious curse—“A plague on both your houses!”—is still at work, and that she is the next target.

Moscow Sting by Alex Dryden

When Finn, a former British spy, is poisoned by a Russian assassin, his ex-boss Adrian, chief of MI6, wants vengeance. He also wants answers-information that only Finn's widow, ex-KGB colonel Anna, knows. Taken to America for protection and information, the former Russian agent faces her greatest test: to ensure her freedom and protect her child, she must uncover the full truth before anyone else.

The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker

When a Californian wine mogul arrives in St. Denis with plans to buy half the valley and create an industrial-scale wine-making operation the town is divided and tensions run high. When a body turns up in a vat of wine, it seems that someone is determined to stop the scheme at any cost. It is up to Bruno to use his skills, tact and local knowledge to find out the truth.

Skin by Mo Hayder

When the decomposed body of a young woman is found near some railway tracks just outside Bristol one hot May morning, all indications are that she committed suicide. But DI Jack Caffery is not so sure. He is on the trail of someone predatory, someone who hides in the shadows and can slip into houses unseen. And for the first time in a very long time, he feels scared

THE DEWEY DIVAS PRESENT (III)

2010-08-28T07:00:00Z

Booked all Summer, our reading adventure for adults, is over!

The Readers' Nook will continue with its usual activities - recommending books, discussing authors, announcing our programs...

Here is more from the Dewey Divas and their Summer 2010 recommendations. Stay tuned, for the Divas are coming to visit us in September, with Fall 2010/Winter 2011 titles!

A group of Canadian Publishers' reps based in Ontario, the Dewey Divas and Dudes book talk their favorite reads of the upcoming season to libraries and school teachers. Last time they presented the Spring/Summer 2010 titles for Calgary Public Library staff and other guests. The Dewey Divas' visit is something staff here look forward to every year because we get to learn about new books! We hope you enjoy these recommendations as well.

To find out more about Dewey Divas and Dudes and their recommendations (including non-fiction, Children and YA literature, DVDs, and lots more), visit http://deweydivas.blogspot.com/.

This time we are presenting favourite titles of Diva Lahring Tribe from Random House of Canada.

Alice I have been : a novel by Benjamin, Melanie

You’ve seen the trailers for the upcoming movie - now meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole. As Alice Liddell Hargreaves nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world, she is and will always be “Alice,” her life permanently dog-eared at the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories. For another blend of literary fact and fiction, look for Juliet Gael’s Romancing Miss Bronte.

"Benjamin draws on one of the most enduring relationships in children's literature in her excellent debut, spinning out the heartbreaking story of Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Her research into the lives of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) and the family of Alice Liddell is apparent as she takes circumstances shrouded in mystery and colors in the spaces to reveal a vibrant and passionate Alice. Born into a Victorian family of privilege, free-spirited Alice catches the attention of family friend Dodgson and serves as the muse for both his photography and writing. Their bond, however, is misunderstood by Alice's family, and though she is forced to sever their friendship, she is forever haunted by their connection as her life becomes something of a chain of heartbreaks. As an adult, Alice tries to escape her past, but it is only when she finally embraces it that she truly finds the happiness that eluded her. Focusing on three eras in Alice's life, Benjamin offers a finely wrought portrait of Alice that seamlessly blends fact with fiction." (Publishers Weekly)

The information officer : a novel by Mills, Mark

Summer 1942: Malta, a small windswept island in the Mediterranean, has become the most bombed patch of earth on the planet. Max Chadwick is the British officer charged with manipulating the news on Malta to bolster the population's fragile esprit de corps. When Max learns of the brutal murder of a young island woman — along with evidence that the crime was committed by a British officer — he knows that the Maltese loyalty to the war effort could be instantly shattered. Readers can also revisit World War II in Connie Willis’ Blackout.

"The prolonged and intense Axis bombing of Malta and the British efforts to deliver squadrons of new Spitfire fighters in aid of the strategic Mediterranean island's defense provide the dramatic backdrop for Mills's WWII spy thriller. Maj. Max Chadwick negotiates a narrow path feeding info via his weekly bulletin in the Maltese newspaper Il-Berqa, putting a positive spin on Malta's depressing situation, and seeking to separate rumor from fact. When Chadwick learns that a British submariner may be a serial killer targeting sherry queens (e.g., dance hostesses who worked the bars and bawdy music halls in the capital city's disreputable quarter), he has to consider carefully what to reveal. If the murders become public, they could tip the precarious balance of local support against the British. Mills (Amagansett) paints a vivid portrait of a tenacious people, embattled and besieged troops, and a principled man trying to resolve the conflict between duty and justice." (Publishers Weekly)

Where the god of love hangs out : fiction by Bloom, Amy, 1953-

Love, in its many forms and complexities, weaves through this collection of interconnected stories illuminating the mysteries of passion, family, and friendship. A young woman is haunted by her roommate's murder; a man and his daughter-in-law confess their sins in the unlikeliest of places; two middle-aged friends, married to others, find themselves surprisingly drawn to each other and risk all while never underestimating the cost. If you prefer your stories unlinked, try Robin Black’s brilliant If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This.

"After her best-selling historical novel Away (2007), Bloom returns to the form that made her famous, the short story. In her third collection, as in all of her books, love is the mysterious, gravitational force that rules her hapless, oddly noble characters. Of course, love is the theme of most fiction. What makes Bloom’s serrated stories so keen is her penetrating insights into the ambiguity, orneriness, confusion, and obsession that make expressions of love so ludicrous, treacherous, and profound. In the perfectly pitched title story, a woman comes clean about her past to her unfazed father-in-law, who harbors his own hidden desire. Bloom returns to a biracial family introduced in earlier works and brilliantly continues the highly charged saga of Julia and her stepson, Lionel. The best of this collection of bittersweet tales of psychic pain are about tender William and vinegary Clare, who, though on in years and married to fine spouses, can no longer ignore the fact that they are only completely at ease with each other. Bloom’s stories are emotionally precise, mordantly funny, and beautifully distilled." (Donna Seaman, Booklist.com)

Major Pettigrew's last stand : a novel by Simonson, Helen.

Brought together by a shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, retired Major Pettigrew strikes up an unlikely friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper, perceived by village society as a permanent foreigner, a view embraced by his avaricious son and sister-in-law, with whom he is duelling for a pair of heirloom pistols. A delightfully witty comedy of manners for anyone who enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society or The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. For another sardonic senior, pick up Leslie Larson’s Breaking Out of Bedlam.

"In her witty and wise debut novel, newcomer Helen Simonson introduces the unforgettable character of the widower Major Ernest Pettigrew. The Major epitomizes the Englishman with the "stiff upper lip," who clings to traditional values and has tried (in vain) to pass these along to his yuppie son, Roger. The story centers around Pettigrew's fight to keep his greedy relatives (including his son) from selling a valuable family heirloom - a pair of hunting rifles that symbolizes much of what he stands for, or at least what he thinks he does. The embattled hero discovers an unexpected ally and source of consolation in his neighbor, the Pakistani shopkeeper Jasmina Ali. On the surface, Pettigrew and Ali's backgrounds and life experiences couldn't be more different, but they discover that they have the most important things in common. This wry, yet optimistic comedy of manners with a romantic twist will appeal to grown-up readers of both sexes. Kudos to Helen Simonson, who distinguishes herself with Major Pettigrew's Last Stand as a writer with the narrative range, stylistic chops, and poise of a veteran." (Lauren Nemroff, Amazon.com)

The swimming pool : a novel by LeCraw, Holly

Seven summers ago, Marcella Atkinson fell in love with Cecil McClatchey, married father of two. An affair blossomed, but when Cecil's wife was murdered, their romance promptly ended. Cecil died soon after, and while his wife's murder has never been solved, he remains a suspect. Years later, Marcella encounters Cecil's grown son, Jed. As both of them struggle to cope with the grief and loss of the past, they fall into a torrid and complicated affair, leading to emotional crises and revelations about the unsolved murder of Jed's mother.

"Strong writing keeps the reader sucked in to LeCraw's painful family drama debut. The lovely Marcella is reeling from tragedy; her ex-husband, Anthony, has sent Toni, their only daughter, away to boarding school and on to college. The man with whom Marcella had an affair, Cecil McClatchey, dies in a car accident soon after his wife, Betsy, is murdered. Amid the wreckage is Cecil's daughter, Callie, fighting for her sanity with two young children, and his son, Jed, who, desperate to fill the void left by the death of his parents, seeks answers from Marcella only to begin a tortured love affair with her as she drowns in guilt, struggling to find some meaning to hold on to. As Marcella comes closer to the truth about Betsy's murder and Cecil's death, and mindful that she is now the lover of Cecil's son, she struggles and fails to gather strength enough to make any decision, right or wrong. It is a story of deep and searing love, between siblings and lovers, but most powerfully, between parents and their children." (From Publishers Weekly)

Next time: Rosalyn Steele's favourite picks

BOOKED ALL SUMMER - Reading Activity #5

2010-08-12T06:30:00Z

Choose from these three options, return your ballot to any Calgary Public Library branch and enter to win a weekly prize.

A) Inner Child: Pirates

What's really going on out on the water? Read up on the state of our oceans and how close we may be to a global water crisis. Or for something more exploratory, on the lighter side, check out a sea-going yarn.

Non-fiction titles from this category may be a bit heavy - no one wants to hear that a source of human life, covering 70 per cent of the planet, is under serious threat, or that hijacking ships is still a regular occurence, but that's what makes these books so important. To learn about modern piracy, read Dangerous Waters, written by the survivor of a pirate-attack, John Burnett. If you want to dive beneath the surface, try Dry Spring: the Coming Water Crisis of North America, by Chris Wood - it's a "terrifying plea for action". For a global perspective, read Sea Sick, by Alanna Mitchell. No titles on the Gulf Coast catastrophe, yet, but if your curious about all the comparisons being made to the Exxon Valdez spill, read Not One Drop, by Riki Ott.

On the lighter (or at least fictional) side, we have some easy DVD choices: Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, The Perfect Storm, Master and Commander, based on the book written by Patrick O'Brian, the first in O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series of 21 sea-faring novels. For a less traditional novel taking place on the sea check out China Mieville's The Scar, or Jacqueline Mitchard's Still Summer.

B) Armchair Travel: Home Sweet Home

Can a city and its diverse residents come together by reading the same book?

Join the 'One Book One Calgary' program by reading Mavericks: An Incorrigible History ofAlberta, by Aritha Van Herk.

"The idea is that the city that opens the same book closes it in greater harmony." - Mary McGregory, The Washington Post

“The book will stimulate discussion and debate about our city’s history, its’ current state, and its’ future possibilities. If you're an Albertan, you'll recognize yourself and your home in this book. If you're not an Albertan, this book will be an education for you. Mavericks will open your eyes to the real Alberta, as she was and is."

Read the full synopsis at Penguin Canada, and watch for all the exciting One Book One Calgary events coming this fall as the whole city celebrates this wonderful history. In high demand, there may be a bit of queue for print copies. Mavericks is also available in electronic format. To borrow the eBook, click here to access Overdrive, download Mavericks, and enjoy the convenience of our E-Library.

C) Read From Your Gut: Dessert

Put a cherry on top. Pick up a visually engaging graphic novel, indulge in eloquent poetry, shamelessly dive into the guilty pleasure of a romance or action novel, or be transported by your favorite movie from our massive selection of DVDs.

If your brain still has room after being Booked All Summer, might as well make it something you're sure to enjoy. The main idea of "Dessert reads" is INDULGENCE. Personal preference is the focus. In the mood for ice cream dripping in chocolate syrup topped off with sliced strawberries? Head straight for the romance paperbacks.

If your idea of dessert is a bag full of multicoloured candy, try a visually engaging graphic novel. Chris Ware is a master of the form... The ACME Novelty Library is beautiful. If you'd prefer a slice of pie, the more traditional choice, we suggest browsing our magazines. Nothing says 'guilty pleasure' quite like celebrity gossip.

If a strong glass of scotch is your ideal dessert, it's time to sit back with some poetry. Try these hilarious new collections: All Our Grandfathers Are Ghosts, by Pasha Malla, Too Bad, by Robert Kroestch, or I-Robot Poetry, by Jason Christie.

No matter what satisfies your reading sweet tooth, the library has it.

Image of ocean courtesy of DeusXFlorida and flickr.com

Image of chocolate ice cream courtesy of MerelyMel13 and flickr.com

Image of apple pie courtesy of Benimoto and flickr.com

BOOKED ALL SUMMER - Reading Activity #4

2010-07-28T06:29:00Z

Choose from these three options, return your ballot to any

Calgary Public Library branch and enter to win a weekly prize.

A) Inner Child: Future

Check out science fiction novels or futuristic feature films. Re-visit epic stories that changed minds about the future. Green your reading by becoming a sustainability expert to help preserve our future on this planet.

2010 and still no flying cars? Still dependent on the same old non-renewables and haven't met aliens? Aye yay yay. If you're interested in ways of ensuring a harmonious human future on this planet, we have some great title suggestions:

Bring on the Apocalypse, by George Monbiot

Why Your World is About to Get A Whole Lot Smaller, by Jeff Rubin

The End of Energy Obesity, by Peter Tertzakian

Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver

For books that changed minds about the future and shaped civilization and intellect to what it is today, there is an awful lot to choose from. George Orwell authored both 1984 and Animal Farm - books published in the 1940s that are as relevant today as ever. The writings of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud have taken up residence in the human brain as common knowledge, but how many of us have actually read Origin of Species or Interpretation of Dreams? (We just received a brand new "definitive English edition" of Freud's work.) Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged has changed more lives than any books in Oprah's club combined. One of the most influential thinkers still working on changing minds is Stephen Hawking - read A Brief History of Time or The Theory of Everything, which is also available on DVD.

The future is also fertile ground for the imagination. Browse the Science Fiction section of your local library and you'll be sure to find a mind-expanding trip into fantasy worlds of the future. Philip K. Dick was a master of this genre - his story 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' was the basis for BladeRunner, a movie starring Harrison Ford. Some other films to consider are District 9, The Road (based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy), Sleeper (Woody Allen's hilarious vision of the future) and, of course, Back to the Future I, II, and III.

B) Armchair Travel: Africa

Read up on ancient civilizations, watch an amazing film set in Africa, read today's newspapers from African cities... everything you're into, on safari.

From a continent so large, so diverse as Africa, there is so much to choose from. Newspaper Direct Press Display has today's newspaper from Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Angola, Cambodia, Namibia, and South Africa. Once you're caught up on the news, take a look at sweeping landscapes, interesting faces, and amazing wildlife with a pictorial travel book such as The Africa Book. Or tag along on a pilgrimage to find Timbuktu, the Sahara's fabled city of Gold. Africa's literary output is in relatively early stages, but it seems to be making up for lost time. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is considered by many to be the quintessential African novel. Some notable contemporary authors are Chris Abani and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi.

This summer Africa is synonymous with one word: SOCCER. Get ready for World Cup 2014 with books on the history, technique, and social aspects of this beautiful game with these titles: The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup, The Global Game: Writers on Soccer, A History of the World Cup: 1930 - 2006, or Soccernomics.

Nothing compares to the beat of African music - try Youssou N'Dour, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, or Antibalas. Hollywood hasn't always been the best spokesperson for this region of the world, but there are some great films out there: Tsotsi, The Last King of Scotland, The Constant Gardener, or my all-time favourite The Gods Must Be Crazy.

C) Read From Your Gut: Fine Dining

Choose a book that's rich in language and highly recommended. With fine dining reads, it may not be clear why a well-established author receives so much praise, but you'll taste the quality. Check out an award-winning book, and visit the classical music section.

If you are in the mood for a 'Fine Dining' read, you're looking for a novel that is rich in language and comes highly recommended by the critics. Just as a professional waiter is needed at expensive restaurants, a dictionary may come in handy to navigate narratives of this class. When you look down at a plate worth 50-plus dollars, it isn't always clear why the cost is so high. Not until it melts in your mouth and coats your stomach with the care of its preparation. The same feeling transcends these exceptional novels, where the author skillfully forms language to make readers drool and applaud.

Jose Saramago is perhaps the best example of a 'Fine-Dining' author - try Death With Interruptions if Blindness doesn't digest easily. Isabel Allende's new novel, Island Beneath the Sea, is tantalizing. See if you can actually taste these titles from Haruki Murakami: 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle', or 'Kafka On the Shore'. Prefer a Canadian dish? Michael Crummey's Galore looks delicious. American writers at the top of this food chain include Michael Chabon (try The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), John Irving (try Last Night in Twisted River), or 2009 Pulitzer-winning Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Image of robot needlepoint courtesy of krupp and flickr.com

Image of FIFA World Cup ceremony courtesy of Dundas Football Club and flickr.com

Image of placesetting courtesy of avlxyz and flickr.com

BOOKED ALL SUMMER - Reading Activity #3

2010-07-15T06:05:00Z

Choose from these three options, return your ballot to

any Calgary Public Library and enter to win a weekly prize.

A) Inner Child: Medieval/Dark Ages

Knights in shining armor. Damsels in distress. Any romance or fantasy will do, or expand your horizons with a historical biography.

I love the way a good fantasy will transport you into a different world, and the way a well-written romance will sweep you off your feet. Outlander did both of those things for me. If you haven’t already read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, I enthusiastically suggest it. Gabaldon’s Lord John series is also a lovely read, but Outlander is a great book to start with. The Outlander series has a total of seven books now, so if you’re like me and have only read few of them, this summer might provide an opportunity to restart where you left off!

If “knights in shining armour” are more your thing, I suggest best-selling novelist Jack Whyte’s Templar Trilogy. The first book in the series Knights of the Black and White was published in 2006 and the series details the history of the order of the Knights Templar. All three books have now been released, so if you love the first book, you’ll be able to continue right away with the rest of the series.

Every branch of the library has a good selection of paperbacks, sorted by genre, and those racks are a great place to stop and peruse if you’re in your local branch. Take a look through the spinners and see if you can find a romance novel or fantasy that looks enjoyable!

We also have a number of books of shorter works packaged together as a collection or “best ofs.” Paula Guran has two good collections – Best New Romantic Fantasy 2 and Best New Paranormal Romance. The Nebula Awards also have a yearly book with some of the year’s best Science Fiction and Fantasy called the “Nebula Awards Showcase.”

A historical biography is also a great choice for summer time reading. Make it a project read about someone who has always piqued your interest. The Library has new biographies of Winston Churchill (Churchill’s Empire by Richard Toye,) Henry Hudson (by Edward Butts,) Leon Trotsky (Trotsky by Robert Service,) Galileo (Renaissance Genius by David Whitehouse,) and Chiang Kai-Shek (The Last Empress by Hannah Pakula.)

You might also want to try:

The Secret Wife of Louis XIV: Francois D’Aubigné, madame de Maintenon by Veronica Buckley

Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes by Alan Hirshfeld

An Exchange of Gifts by Anne McCaffrey

The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey

The Jaguar Knights: a chronicle of the King’s Blades by Dave Duncan

B) Armchair Travel: Australia

The land of the kangaroo and koala has produced some great authors, actors and musicians too. Watch award-winning films, listen to chart-topping hits, or tap into Oz’s infamous beginnings.

Australia delights the senses! My favourite way into a new country is of course by travel, but if you can’t travel, you can still experience a country through its food and drink. Mary Moody is one of Australia’s best known gardeners, and while her gardening books might not be all too useful for our prairies, we do have a use for her recent family cookbook and memoir The Long Table: my love affair with food. Another fantastic food adventure is Curtis Stone and Ben O’Donoghue’s new book Surfing the Menu: two chefs, one journey, a fresh-food adventure. Surfing the Menu features eighty mouth-watering recipes, which are the result of an adventure the two chefs went on in the search for fresh, delicious Australian-sourced foods. Their journey will excite you and inspire you in the kitchen.

If a good fiction book is more what you are interested in, try Gwen C. Watkin’s Nectar of the Gods, a mystery set in the world of wine making, or Kate Grenville’s The Secret River, a historical fiction about an Englishman in 19^th century Australia.

If the weather is nice, take your tunes outside with you and listen to some new music out of Australia on the balcony. Xavier Rudd is an Australian musician who has dual citizenship with Canada thanks to his Canadian wife (which proves he has great taste.) His most recent disc is 2009’s Koonyum Sun. AC/DC is also still in the music-making game, believe it or not, and the band recently wrote the soundtrack to the spring blockbuster Iron Man 2. While the movie isn’t Aussie, the soundtrack definitely is!

You can also take a break from reading and borrow an Aussie film! One of my favourite movies is Muriel’s Wedding, in which a young Australian woman, played by Toni Collette, is obsessed with ABBA and collides spectacularly with her future when she moves to the big city and attempts to re-invent her life.

You might also want to try:

Unpolished Gem: my mother, my grandmother and me by Alice Pung

Five Mile Creek: Australia’s goldrush of the 1860s (DVD Series)

Vines Down Under: wine regions of Australia and New Zealand (DVD)

Black Ice (CD) by AC/DC

Down Under (Electronic Downloadable audio book) by Bill Bryson

C) Read from Your Gut: Home Cookin’

What is it about a home-cooked meal that tastes so great? Familiarity with ingredients? Intimacy of home? The pride of its creation? Read a Canadian author to get a great taste of Canada.

Summer is the perfect time to catch up with the great Canadian novels you might have missed. Linwood Barclay is a bestselling Canadian and internationally respected author, whose thriller Too Close to Home won the 2009 Arthur Ellis Award and was among the bestselling titles in the United Kingdom last year. If you like Linwood Barclay, check our catalogue; there is much more of his work in our collection.

Josephs Boyden’s Through Black Spruce is “an arresting novel with unexpected twists and turns. It's also an important contribution to the Native literary voice... Boyden achieves a beautiful balance between his characters and nature, between the hardships of contemporary life and their strong connection to the past."

Bishop’s Man by Linden Macintyre, the Winner of the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize, "is an unforgettable and complex character study of a deeply conflicted man at the precipice of his life", and "a brave novel, conceived and written with impressive delicacy and understanding".

However, if you choose to consider option C): Home Cookin' literally, there is nothing better to borrow from the library then a new cookbook. I love ones with bright, big photographs or illustrations, easy instructions and stories behind the recipes. The Library has a fantastic collection of cookbooks with recipes from every corner of the globe, but we will talk here about recipes and cookbooks from our home country, Canada.

A recent trend in cooking is, of course, local food. To me, two cookbooks stand out here – the first is Fresh and Local by Craig Flinn. Flinn is the owner of a bistro in Halifax, and this book features recipes “straight from Canadian farms to your table.” The first recipe that appealed to me is a vegetable Hodge Podge, which takes me back to noon-time “dinners” on my family farm in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The recipes in this book are divided by season, so if you look up the summer recipes, all you’d have to do is take yourself to the nearest farmers’ market and you’ll be able to find all of the ingredients easily. The second book in this section that I love is Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann's Earth to Table: seasonal recipes from an organic farm. Crump and Schormann are Canadians involved with the Slow Food Movement, which shows in their beautiful cookbook. My favourite recipes from their book are their pesto (simple and delicious), the heirloom tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad, and the dandelion salad with poached eggs – even if you don’t have a vegetable garden, I bet you have a few dandelions in your yard!

Another new cookbook I’d like to mention is Grady Spears' Cooking the Cowboy Way. Most of the kitchens featured in this book are American, but one is local – Homeplace Ranch, which is located right here in Alberta. If the Stampede has inspired you to make some cowboy cuisine, be sure to look at this book - Homeplace Ranch’s recipe for Buffalo Sliders with Canadian Cheeses makes my mouth water!

You might also want to try:

The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci (Canadian Authors Association Awards)

The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger (Governor General's Award)

The Golden Mean by Annabell Lyon (The Writers' Trust of Canada)

The Brutal Heart by Gail Bowen

Madonna List by Max Foran

CREDITS:

Standing stones in Callanish on the Island of Lewis courtesy of Paul Albertella and flickr.com

Whitehaven Beach in Australia courtesy of kevgobbo and flickr.com

BOOKED ALL SUMMER - Reading Activity #2

2010-07-12T06:05:00Z

Explore the Wild West, travel to Asia or check out the “Special of the Week” from the Library’s New & Notable collection (recent fiction and nonfiction bestsellers as well as popular movies and music).

It isn’t too late to join Booked All Summer if you haven’t already – you can sign up by visiting any Calgary Public Library location.

READING ACTIVITY #2

Choose from these three options, return your ballot to any Library branch and enter to win a weekly prize.

A) Inner Child: Wild West

Find a good ol’ fashioned western paperback, western film on DVD, or check out our extensive country music collection. You can also explore Calgary’s Stampede history. Yee-Haw!

There’s something spectacular about the blue sky and rolling hills of southern Alberta. The early cowboys must have been awestruck by the beauty and soon along came the Hollywood filmmakers and actors to shoot such movies as Legends of the Fall and Unforgiven. Now our stunning landscape can be enjoyed by anyone watching these movies. Borrow these DVDs and see if you can spot some familiar sights.

Maybe you’re hosting a Stampede BBQ and you’re looking for some country music to liven up your party. Mosey on down to your local library for a great selection of country music from classic to contemporary. We can really get your feet a-stompin’. And if you don’t know how to dance, why not check out an instructional DVD like Theresa Mason’s Do You Want to Dance? You’ll be a hit at your next Stampede party.

Have you ever wondered what life was like in Alberta’s wild, early days? Explore Alberta’s early history and read about one of Canada’s most famous cowboys. John Ware was freed from slavery after the Civil War and eventually made his way up to the Bar U Ranch near High River. Along the way he captured the hearts of the pioneers and was regarded by many as a true gentleman. Read about his amazing life in Grant MacEwan’s classic, John Ware’s Cow Country. Or read about the history of the Calgary Stampede.

ARE YOU READY FOR ECLIPSE?

2010-06-26T15:00:00Z

Eclipse, a movie based on Stephenie Meyer's novel, is coming to theatres on June 30.

Check our catalogue for other Twilight Saga novels and movies!

Twilight novel and Twilight DVD

New Moon novel and New Moon DVD

Eclipse

Breaking Dawn

And that's not all. In our collection you can find the latest Stephenie Meyer's novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner; Twilight, the graphic novel; Twilight in Forks: saga of the real town (DVD); Stephenie Meyer: the unauthorized biography of the creator of the Twilight saga; New Moon: the score; Touched by a vampire: discovering the hidden messages in the Twilight saga; The twilight saga, New moon: the official illustrated movie companion; The Twilight companion: the unauthorized guide to the series; Twilight and philosophy: vampires, vegetarians, and the pursuit of immortality...

Image of Eclipse movie poster courtesy of Flickr.com

BOOKED ALL SUMMER - Reading Activity#1

2010-06-17T07:00:00Z

Discover your new reading interests!

Enter to win weekly prizes!

Join "Booked All Summer" at any Calgary Public Library branch by picking up the Reading Activity Sheet #1 and read with the spirit of your inner child, read your way around the world, or read from your gut!

Most of all, enjoy reading all summer long!

READING ACTIVITY #1

Choose from these three options, return your ballot to any Calgary Public Library branch and enter to win a weekly prize.

A) Inner Child: Digging Deep

Explore the mysteries of archaeology, real or fictional. Or read the past back to life with any variety of historical fiction.

The world of past - both real and fictional - has an aura of adventure and mystery. Dig deep into the riches of our collection and re-discover secret tombs, pharaoh’s curses, breathtaking queens... and poisoned books, labyrinths, gloomy abbeys...

Once upon a time, there was a queen, the most beautiful women of her time. She was married to an ugly king, with a short torso, elongated head, pot belly and heavy thighs. He was the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, better known as the husband of Queen Nefertiti, whose limestone sculpture, excavated in 1912, redefined standards of feminine beauty forever. Read about this unlikely couple in Akhenaten: Egypt's false prophet by Nicholas Reeves, or enjoy a fictional insight into the life of Egypt's Sun Queen in Nefertiti, a novel by Michelle Moran.

Or imagine this: a Benedictine abbey in Northern Italy, 1327 AD....Brother William of Baskerville arrives on a secret mission, but gets caught in a storm of bizarre deaths patterned on the book of Revelations. A gripping story - complete with secret symbols, coded manuscripts and labyrinths - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, an Italian author and professor of semiotics, is "a brilliant exploration of medieval history, theology and religion, and an unparalleled portrait of a world on the brink of transformation".

You might also want to try:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Rome (DVD)

The Lady in the Tower: the fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir

Year of Wonders: a novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks

Duchess of Aquitaine: a novel of Eleanor by Margaret Ball

B) Armchair Travel: Europe

Newspapers, European authors, beautiful books of photography, regional cookbooks… everything you’re into, Euro-style.

If the weather happens to lock you inside for a while this summer, consider alternative travel arrangements. You will need: a comfy armchair, soft light, a glass of chilled Reisling (optional), a book, and a dash of imagination. The first stop - Hungary, known for its excellent cuisine, Tokaji, one of the greatest dessert wines (not to be confused with imitations with such names as Tokay or Tokai), beautiful cities, rich history. And yes, literature... Lose yourself in Sandor Marai's Embers, a 200-page masterpiece, originally published in Budapest in 1942, but unknown to modern readers until recently. In the course of one night, two men fight a duel of words and silence about a third person, missing from the dining hall. This is an extraordinary story about a love triangle and friendship, fidelity and betrayal, nobility and pride.

Central Europe is famous not only for its architecture, composers, painters, philosophers, but also for the art of patisserie: Dobos Torte (five thin layers - no more, no less - of sponge cake, slathered with chocolate buttercream icing and topped with a caramel glaze); Sachertorte; apple strudel; Rigo Jancsi, Hungary's national chocolate dessert. There is a story behind Rigo Jancsi. It was the end of the 19th century when Jancsi, a Gypsy violinist, played at a Parisian hotel, for a wealthy Belgian baron and his American wife. She was so mesmerized with the violinist that she left her husband and joined Jancsi on his travels. During the height of the scandal, a Budapest pastry chef named his new dessert after Jancsi. For more stories and great recipes, check out Kaffeehaus: exquisite desserts from the cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague, by Rick Rodgers.

And if the summer turns out to be hot, refresh yourself with some cool Scandinavian crime fiction. Try Henning Mankell (Inspector Kurt Wallander series), Arnaldur Indridason (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries) or Ake Edwardson (Inspector Erik Winter novels).

While on the European tour, don't forget to go to our E-Library and check European periodicals online on Newspaper Direct Press Display!

Here is more:

German, Austrian, Czech & Hungarian : 70 traditional dishes from the heart of European cuisine by Catherine Atkinson

Eastern Europe (DVD) by Rick Steves

Silk by Alessandro Baricco

Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez Reverte

The Complaints by Ian Rankin

Snow by Orhan Pamuk

C) Read from Your Gut: Appetizer

Get the literary juices flowing with an easy-to-read starter. Choose a book of humour if you crave nachos, spiritual discovery if you crave a bowl of soup, or a must-read classic if you usually order the salad.

Every single investigator - either professional or amateur - has his own approach to a crime. Being a feng shui master, C. F. Wong specializes in applying the principles of this discipline to a crime scene. Nothing pleases him more than sniffing out the clues based on how they feel, smell or look. The only distraction from his detective work is a book that he is writing, Some Gleanings of Oriental Wisdom. Borrowing greatly from this 'capital work', this reluctant sleuth effectively helps the clients, even when they are, according to any known occult science, totally doomed. If you decide to read The Feng-Shui Detective by Nury Vittachi, we can guarantee you plenty of laughs and giggling.

Thousands of miles away, on a different continent, there is a detective that also relies more on her inner sense of wisdom and deep understanding of human nature than on a classic investigative approach. Precious Ramotswe, the first (and only) female detective in Botswana, deals with human problems, rather than crimes. Her main offical source of training is The Principles of Private Detection by Clovis Andersen, and "she is not one to obey any conventional notion of what an unmarried woman should do." Enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and ten sequels!

For your classic cravings, curl up on the couch with your kids (or, alternatively, your inner child) and go on an adventure with some perennial favourites in different formats, such as Treasure Island (graphic novel), The Jungle Book (book on CD), or The Hobbit (electronic book).

We also suggest:

The Englishman Who Went up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain (DVD)

Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe; or, closer to the truth than we've ever been by Stuart McLean

Corner Gas (season 1-6)

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (MP3)

You Suck: a love story by Christopher Moore

Image of Rigo Jancsi cake courtesy of Flickr.com

BOOKED ALL SUMMER

2010-06-14T15:00:00Z

Welcome to Booked all Summer, Calgary Public Library's summer reading program! Booked all Summer is a program for adult readers, designed to showcase the richness and variety of Calgary Public Library collections (by encouraging you to explore!) It's also a great opportunity for all you parents out there to be a good example to your children and join a summer reading program along with them!

Every two weeks, starting June 17, a new activity sheet will be released, with three different reading options for each sheet. To enter the weekly draw, each participant needs to complete ONE of the three options - Inner Child, Armchair Travel or Read from Your Gut - by choosing the materials from our collection: fiction or non-fiction, online magazines, DVDs, music CDs, and more. To help you choose, we will suggest a few titles for each option, but we encourage you to follow your own preferences and taste, and dig deep into the riches of our collection to find more.

Reading Activity Sheets will be released on the following dates:

READING ACTIVITY #1 - JUNE 17

READING ACTIVITY #2 - JULY 2

READING ACTIVITY #3 - JULY 15

READING ACTIVITY #4 - JULY 29

READING ACTIVITY #5 - AUGUST 12

Each activity sheet has a ballot to fill out and enter into the weekly prize draw. At the end of the summer there will be a GRAND PRIZE draw from all the Reading Activity #5 ballots that are returned. PS. The GRAND PRIZE is a Sony E-reader (Touch Edition)!

Join "Booked All Summer" at any Calgary Public Library branch by picking up a Reading Activity Sheet and read with the spirit of your inner child, read your way around the world and read from your gut!

OFF THE SHELF (III)

2010-06-07T18:38:00Z

Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel

Judith Umbach

If the Booker prize-winning novel, Wolf Hall, were a video, its style would be that of a police TV drama. Scenes are short, visual and close-up. Background information is delivered in flash-backs. Tension and terror make the heart beat faster. The plot unwinds from the justified paranoia of the characters.

Wolf Hall is set in what we thought was the familiar time of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Author Hilary Mantel overturns our complaisant vision gained from the many “costume dramas” we have seen. Hers is a gritty, mean, manipulative world where loyalty is paramount and nobody can be trusted.

Our principal guide is Thomas Cromwell. His patron is Cardinal Wolsey, who is on the wrong side of Anne Boleyn’s ambition when Henry VIII postulates that he was never married to Katherine, his wife of over twenty years. A lawyer, Thomas is wealthy by dint of his own street smarts, gained literally in the gutter. But what is wealth when the kingdom hangs by the thread of ecclesiastical law?

Our “video” of Thomas Cromwell is “shot” entirely in close-ups, almost depriving us of full body views, although Anne Boleyn’s irritated voice tells us that Cromwell always dresses in black. During Anne’s lavish coronation, he muses silently (as usual), that he could never retire from business. “Because what is there, but affairs?” A little later, he tells his protégé, “Memory… A huge filing system, in which are recorded … the details of people who have cut across me.” Cromwell becomes the supreme organizer and fixer in the realm.

While set in the early sixteenth century, Wolf Hall is as contemporary as the current woes of Britain’s political parties, or Canada’s minority parliament for that matter. Courtiers blunder and are banished, only to be reinstated after sufficient groveling. Smart politicians weave their way through truth, daring and deniability. All favours that flow from the king irrigate the economy through endless tributaries of power and influence.

THE DEWEY DIVAS PRESENT (II)

2010-05-31T15:00:00Z

A group of Canadian Publishers' reps based in Ontario, the Dewey Divas and Dudes book talk their favorite reads of the upcoming season to libraries and school teachers. Last month they presented the Spring/Summer 2010 titles for Calgary Public Library staff and other guests. The Dewey Divas' visit is something staff here look forward to every year because we get to learn about new books! We hope you enjoy these recommendations as well.

To find out more about Dewey Divas and Dudes and their recommendations (including non-fiction, Children and YA literature, DVDs, and lots more), visit http://deweydivas.blogspot.com/.

In several upcoming sequels, the Readers' Nook will present some of the Divas' highlights. This time we are presenting favourite titles of Diva Susan Wallace from Oxford University Press.

CLEOPATRA: A BIOGRAPHY

Duane W. Roller

This definitive portrait restores the Egyptian Queen to her rightful place as a potent force in the ancient world - one whose policies and influence long survived her and played a determining role in the future course of the Roman Empire.

"Since Cleopatra remains one of the most fascinating females in the annals of history, one more full-length biography couldn’t hurt. Roller begins with the premise that Cleopatra has been generally misunderstood by centuries of biographers and historians. This misinterpretation has led to the emergence of Cleopatra as a popular-culture icon rather than a politically savvy and calculating leader. Basing this chronicle exclusively on primary sources culled from classical antiquity, the author painstakingly separates myth from reality, discounting her undeserved reputation as a seductress and concentrating on her impressive—but often overlooked or minimized—political, military, and administrative achievements. This revisionist portrait of one of the most powerful women in the ancient world adds substance and heft to her exotic legacy." Margaret Flanagan, Amazon.com

THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL

Donald E. Pease

This marvelous biography shows that the seemingly haphazard trajectory to Geisel's life bears a close resemblance to the zigzag plot lines of his children's books.

Dr. Seuss's infectious rhymes, fanciful creatures, and roundabout plots not only changed the way children read but imagined the world. And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, Green Eggs and Ham,The Cat and the Hat, these and other classics have sold hundreds of millions of copies and entertained children and adults for decades.
After graduating from Dartmouth, Theodor Geisel used his talents as an ad-man, political provocateur, and social satirist, gradually but irrevocably turning to children's books. Theodor SEUSS Geisel tells the unlikely story of this remarkable transformation. In this compact and engrossing biography, Donald Pease reveals the evolution of Dr. Seuss's creative persona while offering an honest appraisal of his life. The book also features many of Dr. Seuss's lesser-known illustrations, including college drawings, insecticide ads, and wartime political cartoons-all of which offer a glimpse of his early artistic style and the visual origins of the more famous creatures that later populated his children's books. As Pease traces the full arc of Dr. Seuss's prolific career, he combines close textual readings of many of Dr. Suess's works with a unique look at their genesis to shed new light on the enduring legacy of America's favorite children's book author." Product Description, Amazon.

SECRET LANGUAGE: CODES,TRICKS,SPIES, THIEVES AND SYMBOLS

Barry J. Blake

Anyone who enjoys word games and riddles, who loves finding out the hidden meanings of slang, or who delights in spy novels and real-life tales of espionage, will find this volume an endless source of fascination.

"From the chat codes "PAW" or "Code 9" that teens use to let their friends know that parents are eavesdropping, to the high-powered, computer-driven encryptions used by governments to prevent foreign powers from stealing classified information, covert language is ubiquitous in our society. Now, in Secret Language, Barry Blake takes the reader on a fascinating excursion down this mysterious trail of words, ranging across time and culture. With revelations on every page, and sample codes and puzzles for the reader to crack, it will entertain everyone with an urge to know more about the most arcane and curious uses of language." Product Description, Amazon.com

A CABINET OF ROMAN CURIOSITIES

J. C. McKeown

Here is a whimsical and captivating collection of odd facts, strange beliefs, outlandish opinions and other highly amusing trivia of Ancient Rome.

"Here is a whimsical and captivating collection of odd facts, strange beliefs, outlandish opinions, and other highly amusing trivia of the ancient Romans. We tend to think of the Romans as a pragmatic people with a ruthlessly efficient army, an exemplary legal system, and a precise and elegant language. A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities shows that the Romans were equally capable of bizarre superstitions, logic-defying customs, and often hilariously derisive views of their fellow Romans and non-Romans. Classicist J. C. McKeown has organized the entries in this entertaining volume around major themes - The Army, Women, Religion and Superstition, Family Life, Medicine, Slaves, Spectacles - allowing for quick browsing or more deliberate consumption." Product Description, Amazon.com

DEATHLY DECEPTION: THE REAL STORY OF OPERATION MINCEMEAT

Denis Smith

In April 1943 the body of a Royal Marine Major washed ashore on the coast of Spain. This was part of an incredible plot to mislead the German High Command.

"Codenamed 'Mincemeat' and immortalized in the film The Man Who Never Was, this audacious, high-stakes scheme is renowned as the most spectacular episode in the annals of deception. In this accurate and in-depth retelling of the story behind the operation, Denis Smyth draws on a vast collection of previously unavailable documentary sources to expertly bring all phases of "Mincemeat" to life. He reveals how the architects of the plan navigated a maze of medical, technical, and logistical issues to deceive the enemy at the highest strategic levels. Before planting the corpse in the Spanish coastal waters via a stealthy submarine operation, the planners not only gave their dead messenger a new military identity, but also a private one--as the fiancé of an attractive young woman named "Pam." The discovery of her photo and love letters in the pockets of the deceased's uniform, along with a government briefcase containing the deceptive documents, was enough for the Nazi intelligence apparatus to "swallow Mincemeat whole." The Germans deployed their forces to meet the fictional Allied threat in Greece, falling for a ruse which ultimately saved thousands of American lives.
Filled with eye-opening revelations, Operation Mincemeat will delight aficionados of military history, wartime intrigue, and covert operations." Product Description, Amazon.com

Next time: Lahring Tribe's favourite picks

OFF THE SHELF (II)

2010-05-24T15:00:00Z

THE CLEARING

Tim Gautreaux

Judith Umbach

Good Southern novels are Blues music for the imagination. The liquid heat is the thrumming underlying bass. Trepidation is the horn luring us through the meanness of the streets and woods. A story often told and never trite is the throaty, liquored voice of the lead vocalist.

The Clearing by Tim Gautreaux fulfills all the best requirements of a good Southern novel, yet lets us into the secrets of why - oh why do we never learn to head for cooler climes.

At the behest of his father, Randolph Aldridge leaves his mundane office in Pittsburgh to manage a potentially lucrative lumber mill owned by the family company. Albeit a talented manager, Randolph’s personal attention mainly is directed at finding his brother, Byron, and bringing him back to the family’s Pittsburgh life. Easily found, and executing his job as a law-man, Byron prefers to wallow in his post-WW1 angst, accompanied by sentimental songs played on a Victrola which warps in the humidity. In our times, he would be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the 1920s in Louisiana, a man was expected to just get on.

When Randolph arrives, Byron’s life largely consists of violent confrontations with a mafia-type organization selling illegal whiskey and coerced prostitutes. His midnight interventions are much appreciated by the more normal sector of this sweat-soaked mill town, even though both the distant sheriff and Randolph have serious reservations about Byron’s reliance on his fists and his guns.

The Clearing reminds me of The Virginian, written in 1902 by Owen Wister. They share the theme of battling outlaws and bringing civil society to an enclave that becomes a town. They also share an environmental message, which is much stronger in The Clearing. To reveal the crux of the environmental message would be to ruin the novel. Suffice to say, Tim Gautreaux keeps us changing our minds about which “clearing” is the focus of the title.

THE DEWEY DIVAS PRESENT (I)

2010-05-19T15:00:00Z

A group of Canadian Publishers' reps based in Ontario, the Dewey Divas and Dudes book talk their favorite reads of the upcoming season to libraries and school teachers. Last month they presented the Spring/Summer 2010 titles for Calgary Public Library staff and other guests. The Dewey Divas visit is something staff here look forward to every year, because we get to learn about new books! We hope you enjoy these recommendations as well.

To find out more about Dewey Divas and Dudes and their recommendations (including non-fiction, Children and YA literature, DVDs, and lots more), visit http://deweydivas.blogspot.com/.

In several upcoming sequels, the Readers' Nook will present some of the Divas' highlights, starting with Marylin Scott from Random House of Canada and the books she enjoyed.

AMERICAN GIRL

Monika Fagerholm, translated by Katarine E. Tucker

The body of a young American girl is found wearing a red raincoat. Her boyfriend hangs himself. Another girl puts a gun to her head and pulls the trigger. These deaths haunt this spellbinding novel about two lonely teenage girls who play games, make up stories and try to discover the truth about the strange happenings in their community. But they are increasingly hampered because the adults are also playing games. Great storytelling for fans of complex murder mysteries, Donna Tartt, or Patricia Highsmith. Gothic and spooky and a sequel to come.

ONE DAY

David Nichols

The romantic and heartbreaking story of two people, Emma and Dexter, who have a brief fling at the graduation but stay in touch over the next two decades. We follow their story, mostly chronologically, by getting a glimpse of both their lives in the same day, year after year. Only towards the end it will be revealed why that date is so significant. A touching and very realistic story full of great music and film references.

THOUSANDS OF AUTUMNS OF JACOB ZOET

David Mitchell

A big, bustling, brilliant historical novel set in a tiny trading outpost on the edge of Japan in 1799. Jacob de Zoet is a Dutch clerk hoping to make his fortune by serving a five year contract with Dutch East Indies Company. His world is shaken up when he falls in love with a Japanese midwife who has a plenty of troubles on her own.

ORDINARY THUNDERSTORMS

William Boyd

An exciting literary thriller about a young academic who is in London for a job interview but ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is subsequently hunted down as the prime suspect in a grisly murder. He has to completely disregard his identity and live anonymously on the streets of London while trying to clear his name. The moral ambiguities and questions that surface in this novel are constantly intriguing. For fans of John Le Carré, Sebastian Faulks and Ian McEwan.

THE PATIENCE STONE by Atiq Rahimi

An Afghan woman is trying to keep her husband, who is lying in a coma, alive while the war rages outside the house. His silence urges her to confess, first tentatively and then with more and more anger, all the frustrations of her marriage, the hardships of living through a war, and most of all the intolerable position of women living in Afghan society. Can the husband hear what she is saying? Or see what she is doing? One of the most powerful and explosive books of the year - a must-read for fans of The Kite Runner, Swallows of Kabul or Reading Lolita in Tehran. A terrific choice for book clubs. The book won the 2008 Prix Goncourt, one of France’s top literary prizes.

WISH HER SAFE AT HOME by Stephen Benatar

A wonderfully comic novel about a feisty, passionate woman who inherits a house from her great-aunt, only to become romantically obsessed with its former tenant (who has been dead for centuries). This is Miss Haversham meets Elaine Dundy’s Sally from Dud Avocado meets Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill”. For everyone who has longed to say out loud what she really thinks!

Next time: Susan Wallace's favotite Spring/Summer 2010 reads

SCANDINAVIAN NOIR: CONCLUSION

2010-05-12T15:00:00Z

BLOOD DROPS ON SNOW AND ICE

by J.Tosic

Swedish Lapland Pano, courtesy of Flickr.com

Why are Scandinavian mysteries so popular? For the North American readers, says one of the fans, "it's delightful to read a crime novel in which the police are genuinely shocked by crime. So much of our crime and police fiction absolutely takes violence for granted..." Part of the appeal lies in the main protagonists: these policemen, detectives, and inspectors are not glamorous macho-men; they don't - with few exceptions, such as Inspector Erik Winter, although that suits him fine - wear fancy clothes and drive expensive cars. They don't chase super-terrorists and spies, and they don't try - what a relief! - to save the world. They look like people we know and trust; we can easily imagine them working for our local police force. They are so ordinary, yet we can't get enough of them.

Through their novels, the Scandinavian crime writers do not hesitate to confront some serious social problems: racism, extremism, family abuse, xenophobia, poverty...and the inefficiency of the state institutions to effectively deal with them. These books are not written for leisure reading only: they ask questions and question the answers; they make you get involved while reading, and leave you thinking long after you finish the last page. That's why I like them: they let me participate.

Here are a few other notable Nordic authors:

PETER HOEG is best known for his novel Smilla's Sense of Snow (1992). He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and before becoming a writer, he was a sailor, ballet dancer and actor. Hard to place in terms of literary style, his literature has been characterized as post-modern, gothic, and hyper-realistic. The main theme of his novels, though - the consequences of the progress of civilization - remains constant.

Smilla's Sense of Snow was a sort of a publishing hit; one of those books that recieve a warmer reception from the critics then from the audience. Smilla Jaspersen, a 37-year-old expert on snow and ice, obsessively tries to find out the truth behind a small boy's death. A believable, no-nonsense character, Smilla is also a bundle of contradictions. Half Danish, half Greenlander, she drifts between the two cultures, not at home in either of them. To a certain point, she resembles Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander: both are misfits with a traumatic past, but with their own sense of justice and morality. Independent, smart and aggressive, yet sensitive and fragile, Smilla is in constant discord with the world around her.

Check our catalogue for Smilla's Sense of Snow, and other novels by Peter Hoeg. The movie with the same title, and Julia Ormond in the main role, is currently on order, and you can place a hold on it.

KARIN FOSSUM is a Norwegian author of mystery fiction. She is the creator of the internationally successful Inspector Konrad Sejer series, translated into more than a dozen languages. Her novel Don't Look Back won the Glass Key Award and Riverton Prize. Calling out for You was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger, and, under the title "The Indian Bride", won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her newest book, Bad Intentions, is currently on order; check our catalogue to place a hold.

HAKAN NESSER is another Swedish crime writer with an international reputation. He won the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award three times, and the Glass Key Award in 2000. The recurring main character in his novels is Van Veeteran, a detective in the early novels and the owner of an antique book store in later books. The novels are set in the fictional city of Maardam, somewhere in Northern Europe. In his 2006 novel Human Without Dog, Nesser introduced a new main character, Inspector Gunar Barbarotti. This time the series is firmly set in Sweden.

JO NESBO is a musician, economist and one of the most acclaimed Norwegian crime writers. His Detective Harry Hole novels have been translated into more than forty languages. The Bat Man is the first installment in the Harry Hole series, set in Oslo. In our collection you can find Devil's Star (2005), Nemesis (2007), The Redeemer (2009), The Snowman (2010) and Redbreast (2006), which is currently on order.

OFF THE SHELF

2010-05-07T15:00:00Z

"To me libraries mean sharing ideas from around the world and within the community. I love knowing other people have read the books I am borrowing and others will read them into the future." – Judith Umbach

The Readers’ Nook has the pleasure of welcoming our new columnist, Judith Umbach, a former member and Board Chair of the Calgary Public Library Board. For ten years Judith was a regular columnist for the Canadian Library Association publication, Feliciter. Her educational background includes a BA in French Literature from McGill University, an MA in Commonwealth Literature from Leeds University, and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Calgary. She worked with The City of Calgary for 29 years in management positions relating to innovation and information technology. Now retired, Judith continues her community contributions by volunteering with the Calgary Heritage Authority, and writes a blog called ManageAdvice, where she shares ideas distilled from her many years of management experience. Judith is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Calgary Region, and has a passion for photography that she shares with others through our Community Heritage and Family History Digital Library at http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/chpage.aspx.

Starting with Night Train to Lisbon, Judith will write for the Readers’ Nook a series of book reviews under the common title “Off the Shelf”. Enjoy!

NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON

Pascal Mercier

Night Train to Lisbon is a complex, intriguing novel that is deceptively easy to read. Thanks for the literary excellence must be given both to Pascal Mercier, the author, and to Barbara Harshav, the translator for the English edition.

Identifying the novel’s subject may depend on the reader, because we each bring our own life-experiences to the philosophy that forms the foundation of the book. Ostensibly, the novel is about Raimund Gregorius who, one morning on the way to work, has a strange encounter with a Portuguese woman. Nothing is ever the same again. Breaking free from his life-sustaining routine, he travels on a night train from Bern into Lisbon and its history.

A friend of mine thinks the novel is about trusting one’s instincts, finding a new way of experiencing life. And it is.

I think it is about identity – how malleable identity is and how it is not within our control. At the opening of the story, Gregorius’s identity has been carefully crafted by him over many years. To his students and colleagues he is a brilliant scholar in classical languages, a skill that credibly enables him to learn Portuguese over the course of the novel. His mission in Lisbon is to find Amadeu de Prado. Or, rather, to find out who he was and how he developed his philosophy, much of which addresses “what is identity”. Gregorius tracks down the relatives, friends and acquaintances of Amadeu, even as he reads the man’s philosophy that denies the possibility of deeply knowing any individual. As Gregorius searches, he changes, moving further and further from what he was to what he might become. Which he will do at home.

Perhaps you will think Night Train to Lisbon is about something different – family, friendships, fleeting time. Read the book and find out.