The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
Posted: April 28, 2012 Filed under: Review | Tags: fabulous, kidlit, recommendations, review 1 Comment »
Lewis Barnavelt, pudgy, orphaned and lonely, has moved into his uncle’s creepy old home in New Zebedee, Michigan and becomes fascinated by the mystery of the clock. Hidden in the walls of the house, the clock is counting down to the end of days. As if it wasn’t hard enough to be an insecure boy trying to make friends in a new school, Lewis finds himself adapting to the news that his uncle is a wizard, and his new neighbour Mrs. Zimmerman is a witch.
To solve the mystery, and in a desperate attempt to make a friend, Lewis teams up with one of the most popular boys in his class, and proceeds to tell a series of … untruths … make a series of very bad choices, and get himself into some scary situations. But I was pleased to see that for once, the protagonist is not portrayed as the hero. He’s 12 years old. He’s not the brightest or bravest boy around. He’s doesn’t discover hidden magical powers. He’s just a kid, which makes him awesome.
I absolutely loved this book and wish I could have read it years ago. I was that kid who loved to scare herself silly – and this would have done it. It’d not just a spooky mystery story – this is gothic horror for kids. Absolute terror mixed in with characters calling each other “hag face” and “weird beard.”
Read it. You won’t be disappointed. And you will be scared.
Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Puffin, January 1, 1993 (First published 1973)
ISBN-10: 014036336X
ISBN-13: 978-0140363364
Jennifer Government by Max Berry
Posted: April 14, 2012 Filed under: Review | Tags: dystopia, recommendations, review Leave a comment »
When Hack Nike signs his new employment contract without reading it, he unwittingly agrees to assassinate teenagers who buy the newest Nike shoe – in a ruthless stealth marketing campaign that catches the attention of law enforcement agent Jennifer Government. Hack & Jennifer live in a satirical near-future world where corporations have run wild, everyone takes the surname of their employer, the world is divided into US and non-US countries and the NRA is a hotly traded stock. God help us.
I originally picked up a copy of Jennifer Government after hearing it described as an interesting dystopian novel with a good environmental message. While I don’t think either of those is false, that isn’t how I would describe it. This is satire, through and through. In one page I frequently went from laughing at the irony of the invented situations to grimacing in horror at the choices made by the characters.
The action was fast and so over-the-top it was almost believable. The novels only downside was part of what I loved about it: dangerously close to cliché with one-dimensional prototype characters, Barry was one mis-step away from losing me through the entire storyline. But he did not mis-step, and had me hooked.
Described as “brilliant and hilarious” by Naomi Klein, and as “is the best novel in the world ever” on its own back cover, Jennifer Government delivers outrageous reading fun, and is sure to provoke some serious thinking.
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (Jan 6 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400030927
ISBN-13: 978-1400030927
Why Men Lie by Linden MacIntyre
Posted: March 29, 2012 Filed under: Review | Tags: Atlantic Canada, CanLit, linden macintyre, recommendations, review copy Leave a comment »
Effie Gillis has lived with three men, plus her father and brother, has been lied to and hurt by them all, and has finally reached a point in her life where she feels autonomous and strong enough that no man will surprise her again. When she runs in to JC Campbell, a friend from more than 20 years ago, she sees in him what she has been looking for her whole life: an independent, stable man she can trust.
Of course, if this were true, it wouldn’t make a very interesting novel, now would it? I don’t like to write spoilers into my reviews so all I will say is: it is mostly true. But like the rest of them, JC lies. But then again, so does Effie.
Why Men Lie is the third novel from Linden MacIntyre, the follow-up to his Giller Award winning The Bishop’s Man, and as the third in what’s become known as his Cape Breton trilogy, some of the characters are carried over. Effie is the sister of Father Duncan MacAskill, the ‘bishop’s man’ of the previous book. Having dealt with most of his demons, he plays a smaller role here, offering advice and stability to the many troubled characters.
I read this novel quickly – it was only released two days ago – and with its complexity, I am sure I won’t fully comprehend all it is saying it until I have had more time to think on it, discuss it with friends and reread it. My first impressions though are pretty much all favourable.
Effie’s struggle to differentiate between memories, nightmares and suggestions both touched and terrified me. I know that confusion, that fear – thankfully not in as an extreme situation as hers. The relationships and cross-connections between all the main characters were the right mixture of confusing, amusing and realistic (if you are from a small community). The ex-husbands who are first cousins is classic.
I both love and hate that we are never told for sure what really happened all those years ago between Effie and her Dad, why Sandy really shot himself. In the end, the “why” men lie is not important. They do. So do women. Get on with it and live life. That said, Effie’s “stalker” [minor spoiler] was not convincing or very well wrapped up, and I was left confused as to what the point of the character or plat-line was to the overall story.
There is a familiarity in MacIntyre’s writing that makes his novels feel like they are about people I know, like I am some minor character who could easily appear in the next chapter. The fact that I am from a small community not far away from all the action on the Long Stretch is part of it, but I have read a lot of Cape Breton authors and only a few of them can recreate ‘home’ so well.
Well worth the read, wherever you may be from.
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Random House Canada (Mar 27 2012)
ISBN-10: 0307360865
ISBN-13: 978-0307360861
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this novel from Random House Canada. As per my review policy, this in no way obliges me to write a positive review. I sincerely enjoyed the book.
Big Town by Stephens Gerard Malone
Posted: November 29, 2011 Filed under: Review | Tags: Atlantic Canada, CanLit, postaweek2011, recommendations, review copy Leave a comment »
It has always surprised me that there aren’t more stories written about Africville, and I was thrilled when an invitation to the launch of Stephens Gerard Malone’s new novel, Big Town: A Novel of Africville appeared in my inbox. (Even more so as it was my first “official” invite to a book launch.)
Despite the title, I would describe Big Town as a story of friendship more than a story of Africville. The central friendship between the dim-witted Early Okander, sick and troubled Toby and tomboy Chub unfolds with the community and its destruction as a backdrop.
Narrated by Early, seventeen but with the mental age of seven or eight, Big Town is a story of three kids who just want to be kids, while the in the background, sex, drugs, politics and racism are threatening their world. It is worth noting that both Early and Chub live outside of Africville and are white, but spend much of their time in the community visiting Toby.
Telling the story through the eyes of children too young to fully comprehend what is happening to their community and why adds a unique perspective – though I am curious if it provides enough of the required information for someone who doesn’t know the history so well to follow along. It might, I haven’t asked anyone yet.
Big Town is a heart-warming story of friendship triumphing over adversity – one that might have benefited from a little less adversity (with a few exceptions, all the white people are bad, all the black people are good and the three kids suffer illness, abuse, rape, loneliness, self-mutilation and pretty much every imaginable heartbreak).
A great read, and an excellent gift idea for fans of local and/or historical fiction who will definitely want to add it to their collections.
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing (Sep 15 2011)
ISBN-10: 1551098547
ISBN-13: 978-1551098548
Note: I know, I know. I am way behind. I still have two more reviews of Giller nominated books to post. I’ve been travelling lots for work lately which I naively believed would give me more time to write. I’ll double up on review per week for the next while to get ‘em all in.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
Posted: November 10, 2011 Filed under: Review | Tags: CanLit, Giller Prize, postaweek2011, recommendations, review 3 Comments »
Charlie and Eli Sisters are brothers, assassins for hire and on the way to California to kill prospector Hermann Kermit Warm. Eli, our narrator, wants this to be his last job and dreams of settling down, opening a trading post, and if he can lose a little weight, maybe even falling in love.
The Sisters Brothers is a Western novel, and yet then again, it isn’t. It has all the classic ingredients of a Western, most notably the odyssey, the divey-taverns, the prostitutes and the old-timey language, but it has more. At times humourous, at times poetic, and brutal throughout. It is a novel of contradictions. The brothers are remarkably different and don’t seem to like each other much, yet have an intense and loyal bond to one another. Horses die in fires and have injured eyes gouged out with spoons – yet are loved and treated tenderly. It’s written as historical fiction, yet without feeling any need for historical (or scientific) accuracy.
Their journey from Oregon City to California as narrated by Eli is frequently out of chronological order, and interspersed with his philosophical musings and longings for a simpler life – but it works. The Sisters Brothers was a highly enjoyable read: shocking, amusing and thoughtful. Strongly recommended.
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Ecco; Reprint edition (April 26, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0062041266
ISBN-13: 978-0062041265
* Short listed for the 2011 Giller Prize.
Anna Karenina – Part Eight
Posted: November 2, 2011 Filed under: Reading, Review | Tags: Anna Karenina, read-along, recommendations, review Leave a comment »
With Part VII ding in such a fury of action at the train station, I was surprised to find a whole two months had passed in the turning of a page. Part VIII skips the weeks following Anna’s death, and we meet our characters as they attempt to move on from the tragedy.
Vronsky is off to war with the Turks, and Levin’s brother Sergei Ivanovich praises his courage and speaks much of “the people’s” desire to help their “Slavic brothers.” Meanwhile Levin is one of the few doubters that (a) this is really what the people of Russia want, and (b) even is if is what they want – is it the right thing to do. Even Vronsky admits he is not particularly interested in the war itself, but has nothing more to live for, so might as well throw his life away on the battlefield.
The discussion of the war and the reasons to be involved is among the most interesting pieces of social commentary in the novel. Tolstoy uses these chapters to air his own pacifist views (and when first submitted for publication, when the Russo-Turkish war was still waging, the manuscript was rejected and had to be softened and resubmitted twice.)
Levin, having become so anxious about his lack of faith and the possible consequences for his son, is questioning spirituality with such fervor he becomes almost suicidal – until a chance conversation convinces him that he is and has always lived for the greater good, which is what Christianity is all about.
And with that (Part VIII was by far the shortest part of the book) I have finished reading Anna Karenina. Was it as fabulous as I hoped? Unfortunately, no. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. It is not fast-moving or adventurous, but Tolstoy has a gift for creating characters and getting to the heart of human emotion and passion. If you have the patience to get through its 800+ pages, Anna Karenina is unlike any book you have ever read.
I feel like I ought to be able to say more. This is Anna Karenina. This is classic literature. All I can come up with is “unlike any book you have ever read.” Maybe in time I will write a summary post, but having already written seven other “reviews” on the novel, I am not sure what else I can add.
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
Posted: October 25, 2011 Filed under: Review | Tags: Atlantic Canada, books, CanLit, fabulous, postaweek2011, recommendations, review 2 Comments »
You know what’s really fun about reviewing books – getting to read them before anyone else. Ami McKay’s The Virgin Cure is officially released today, but I was lucky enough to score a copy a few weeks ago, and read it in advance. I am not generally one to gush, but I really, really liked this book.
Set in the slums of New York City at the turn of the 19th century, The Virgin Cure tells the story of twelve year old Moth, who dreams of riches, mansions and exotic pets, desperate to leave behind her dreary life, only to be sold into servitude by her mother. She escapes the home of her new brutal mistress, and is ‘rescued’ by Miss Emmett and her girls into a life of prostitution. When inspected for cleanliness and virginity at her new brother home, Moth first meets Dr. Sadie, the physician who records and narrates her tale.
Dr. Sadie is based on the life of McKay’s great great grandmother (I think I have the correct number of ‘great’s here), one of the first female physicians in New York City, who dedicated her life to serving the destitute women and children of the slums in and around Chrystie Street.
“I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart.”
Moth and Dr. Sadie are remarkably different but equally intriguing characters. McKay skillfully recreates New York life in the late 1800s, thrilling the reader with unique tidbits of information from the doctor, but yet making the world so alive that you hardly realize you are reading historical fiction. Filled with thieves, gypsies, circus performers, prostitutes and representatives from the highest and lowest edges of society, the Virgin Cure has a little something for everyone. I enjoyed this novel even more than McKay’s first novel, best-selling The Birth House.
McKay will be at Chapters in Bayers Lake tonight at 7pm for a reading and book signing. Get yourself out there if you can. You won’t regret it.
Also, check out her new Tumblr page, Pear Tree Planchette, filled with images which help bring Moth’s world to life.
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Knopf Canada (Oct 25 2011)
ISBN-10: 0676979564
ISBN-13: 978-0676979565
Note: This review copy was not supplied but the publisher, but purchased in a silent auction at a fundraiser.
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Posted: September 26, 2011 Filed under: Review | Tags: Atlantic Canada, CanLit, fabulous, Giller Prize, postaweek2011, recommendations, review copy Leave a comment »
“You boiled an entire life, an entire human being . . . down into his most basic, boneheaded elements.”
Gordon Rankin Jr., “Rank” to his friends, is a hulking goon, a hockey enforcer, a bouncer, held in awe by all due to his impressive size and presumed criminal tendencies. When Rank discovers one of his oldest and most trusted friends has published a novel turning his most tragic moments into an embarrassing cliché, Rank writes his own story, through a series of rebuttal emails, revealing the man behind the violent reputation.
How does he do this? He joins Facebook – but then freaks out and deletes his account. He joins again, but under a pseudonym, and with no friends. He returns home for the summer to care for his father who is injured in a roofing accident. He takes the daily visits from the parish priest, a reunion with a teenaged social worker, and constant reminders of his long-dead mother and channels them into a long series of unanswered emails to his author friend, all in an attempt to set the record straight – to tell his story.
“It’s like seeing pictures of yourself that you didn’t even know anyone was taking—candid camera—a whole album of worst-moment closed-circuit stills. There you are taking a dump. There you are saying precisely the wrong thing at the wrong time. There you are stepping on someone’s puppy while scratching your crotch.”
Rank’s process is heartbreaking. We have all been misunderstood, though for most of us the results are not so tragic. We all know (or knew) someone like Rank – but how many incorrect assumptions have gone into our image of this person, and how do we correct it? In The Antagonist, Coady brilliantly explores how the expectations of others influence who we are and who we become. A fantastic read, highly recommended.
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: House of Anansi Press (Aug 3 2011)
ISBN-10: 0887842968
ISBN-13: 978-0887842962
* Long-listed for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Posted: August 10, 2011 Filed under: Review | Tags: fabulous, postaweek2011, pulitzer, recommendations, review Leave a comment »
Olive Kitteridge is the old woman none of us want to be, and are ashamed to admit we already are (even those of us who aren’t old yet). There is something beautiful about a character who you hate while loving her, empathize with despite believing she got exactly what she deserved, and miss when the story is over.
Olive’s story is told not through a continuous chronological narrative, but through a series of short stories, connected by location (most of the time) and by the one character everyone knew – Mrs. Kitteridge, the local junior high math teacher whom everyone is afraid of. Occasionally Olive narrates a story herself, but more often she is a character, often minor and sometimes only mentioned in passing.
A teacher and the wife of the pharmacist in a small town in Maine, Olive knows everyone, and has had some influence, large or small, good or bad, in the lives of everyone. The stories are about her, but not. Above all, they are about relationships, the connectedness of people, and what makes us feel important and connected. It is a heartbreaking yet hopeful story, beautifully told, and at the risk of sounding sentimental and cliché, it will change the way you think about the people in your life. Faults are just faults, we all have them, and they don’t appear out of nowhere.
There is a bit of Olive in all of us I believe (and more in some if us than others, for sure). We need to keep it in check, but also embrace it.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Random House
ISBN-10: 0812971833
ISBN-13: 978-0812971835
*Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod
Posted: August 2, 2011 Filed under: Reading, Review | Tags: Atlantic Canada, book club, CanLit, fabulous, Giller Prize, postaweek2011, recommendations, review Leave a comment »
I don’t even know how to begin reviewing this book. So excuse me if I ramble.
I don’t read short stories. I think the only other short story collection I read start to finish was by Alistair MacLeod. Short stories have never really spoken to me the way a novel does. I read for escape more than anything, and I need to be wrapped up in a story, consumed by it, to really enjoy it. So I struggled at first to read this.
Admittedly, the first story, Miracle Mile, didn’t really speak to me. Adolescent boys. Athletes. Risk takers. I bunch of things I never was. Then the next story, Wonder About Parents, spoke to me a little too well. I was in tears. And I am not a parent. So I put the book aside for a while, not picking it up again for almost two months. At which point I read the title story, Light Lifting, and was absolutely blown away. Funny how that can happen. It just got better from there. Adult Beginner I made me extremely happy merely for not ending the way I cynically thought it would. The Loop was absolutely brilliant, and Good Kids, also fabulous, reminded me of my days in a large family, one of the “good kids” (but not always living up to it) and the expectations that came with that. Even The Number Three, whose conclusion I wasn’t happy with, was so well set up I can’t say I didn’t like it.
What I remember about this collection is not so much the stories, but the characters. The people stand out – their fears, their choices and their regrets.
MacLeod has a gift for creating characters. Within a few pages, you know them. They are as familiar as your uncle, your neighbour, your coworker. Your heart breaks for them – because I must say, these are not happy stories. Happy stories are nice for family story time, but past the age of ten, does anyone really enjoy or believe them? Not really. (I’m not that much of a cynic, really. But life is difficult. Part of being happy is realizing and accepting that, no?)
I won’t bore you with descriptions of plots. I will just tell you to buy the book. Keep it on a side table in your most comfortable room. Pick it up once or twice a week until you’ve read it through. You won’t be sorry.
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Biblioasis; Reprint edition (April 5, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1897231946
ISBN-13: 978-1897231944
* Short listed for the 2010 Giller Prize.
