BOOK REVIEW: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot by Stephanie Rowe

Becca Gibbs is tired of being Satan’s most infamous Rivka and the fun of thwarting his demands has begun to lose appeal. Inspired by her friend Teresa’s zest for life, Becca attempts to tie her life force to a goldfish hoping it will allow her to break free from Satan and still live. Unfortunately for Becca, her plan goes horribly awry when he shows up in the middle of the ritual. Now Satan’s commanded that she train Paige, her replacement, a wanna-be Rivka who seems to be channeling a ditzy cheerleader.

As if training her own assassin isn’t bad enough, Becca has to deal with Nick Rawlings, the sexy Markku who is demanding she help him save his sister from her kidnappers. Their price? The death of Satan – so unless Becca can find a way to break free first, she’ll be one dead Rivka. Luckily Nick is the last of the Markku, the only group of beings who broke free from Satan, so if she can convince him to tell her all he knows about how his ancestors did it, perhaps they can help each other – that is if they can keep their hands off each other long enough to figure out a plan!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot, the third book in the Goblet of Eternal Youth series, begins shortly after the events in Must Love Dragons, although it can easily be read as a stand-alone volume. Stephanie Rowe writes zany paranormal romances full of delightfully kooky characters guaranteed to make readers laugh. Once again, Satan steals the show whenever he appears. He is the stereotypical, insecure macho man: “And please, come to dinner on Sunday night. We can converse about how powerful and virile I am, and you shall regale me with stories about all the people you met this week who idolize me.”

As events unfold however, readers will quickly discover that despite his bluster, Satan is very attached to Becca and this humanizing aspect makes him a more appealing character. The addition of Satan, Jr. and his conniving mother, provides additional fodder for Rowe’s comedic wit. He Loves Me begins slowly but the action quickly hits a breakneck pace.

Read the review at Armchair Interviews.
Read an excerpt here.


ISBN10: 0446619019
ISBN13: 9780446619011

Mass Market Paperback
368 Pages
Publisher: Warner Forever
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Author Website: stephanierowe.com


tags: books book reviews Stephanie Rowe paranormal romance Dragons Goblet of Eternal Youth Series

BOOK REVIEW: Homeland by Paul William Roberts

“At the end of WWII we were the only great power left unscathed by the carnage. We could have used this advantage for peace. Instead we started another war, which consumed the minds and the money that could have made America the earthly paradise.” – Homeland (pg. 49)

The year is 2050 and the United States has reinvented itself as a paranoid super-state, sealing itself off from the rest of the world. After the end of the Cold War, the efforts of the United States Military were focused inward and a policy of isolationism was implemented. For reasons of National Security, the President and Vice President are no longer publicly identified.

Most of America’s cities have faded and much of the country is a wasteland. Due to global warming, New York City is now underwater and operates as a theme park. Washington, DC is visited only by those on official business. David Leverett, a former policy advisor who played a major role in the development of the policies which have led to the current state of affairs. As last remaining player in these events, Leverett reflects on his role from the end of the Carter era to present and in the process exposes the backroom dealings and power plays which led to America’s destruction and rebirth as US-Global.

Homeland, Paul William Roberts’ new novel, is a cautionary tale against the Hobbesian belief in vogue with the current American administration, that “might makes right.” Drawing upon historical events and real people, Roberts weaves together a disturbing dystopian vision of our future; one which seems all too possible if the current policy for National Security continues. The belief that American must always be the most powerful military force is taken one step further in Homeland, as Leverett and his colleagues implement a foreign policy of preemptive wars/action; that is, deal with all potential threats before they become a problem.

Presented as the diary of Leverett, Homeland reads like a course on political philosophy and even includes policy briefing documents. The first third is very discursive on various schools of political theory, leading the reader through Leverett’s political education during his early years in Washington.

What is most compelling about this novel is the window it presents on the happenings between the last months of President Carter’s term and the presidency of George W. Bush. Homeland is one of the first anti-Iraq War novels, as Tony Christini states in his thoughtful essay its “focus is important.” He suggests that too little public-themed fiction is being published and that: “Fiction by way of its aesthetic charge, its conceptual flexibility, and its potent personal focus is one of the most powerful means available for cutting people and their ideas down to size, or conversely, for lifting them up – for halting and for propagating.” No matter that Homeland isn’t a conspiracy thriller as traditionally imagined by readers, there is enough here to give even the most jaded politico pause.

Perhaps the most disturbing theory expounded in Homeland is this: “you know, there’s a small number of men who know the detailed truth; the masses are told what they need to know and no more…Free inquiry outside the bounds of revelation is dangerous.” (pg. 82) Given the amount of controversy this novel is sure to engender, Roberts’ decision to propel readers outside the boundaries is a brave one. Whether he will find the audience and attention this book deserves is another matter entirely.


ISBN10: 1552638189
ISBN13: 9781552638187

Hardcover
303 Pages
Publisher: Key Porter Books
Publication Date: September 15, 2006


tags: books book reviews Paul William Roberts

2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction - Short List Announced

Another in the "better late than never camp"...

From the Press Release:
The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, announced the 2007 shortlist on April 17.

* Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
* Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk
* The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
* A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
* The Observations by Jane Harris
* Digging to America by Anne Tyler

This year’s shortlist honours both new and well-established writers and reflects the international reach of the prize with authors from Nigeria, China, India and America represented. Two of the authors have previously been shortlisted for the Orange Prize. They are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2004) and Anne Tyler (1996).


- via Reading Matters

2007 Man Booker International Prize - Judges List Announced

I'm late to the party on this announcement; however, better late than never!

From the press release:
15 authors have made it on to the Judges’ List of Contenders for the second Man Booker International Prize. The writers come from 10 countries and four are writers in translation.

The Judges’ List was announced by the chair of judges, Professor Elaine Showalter, at a press conference held at Massey College, Toronto today (Thursday 12 April).

The 15 authors on the list are:
Chinua Achebe
Margaret Atwood
John Banville
Peter Carey
Don DeLillo
Carlos Fuentes
Doris Lessing
Ian McEwan
Harry Mulisch
Alice Munro
Michael Ondaatje
Amos Oz
Philip Roth
Salman Rushdie
Michel Tournier

The judging panel for the 2007 Man Booker International Prize is: Professor Elaine Showalter, academic and author; Nadine Gordimer, writer and novelist; and writer and academic, Colm Tóibin.

The Man Booker International Prize was announced in June 2004 and recognises one writer for his or her achievement in fiction. Worth £60,000 to the winner, the prize is awarded once every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.

Ismail Kadaré was winner of the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005. He received the award at a ceremony held at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. His work went on to gain well-deserved recognition around the world.

The prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, which also sponsors The Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

The Man Booker International Prize differs from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlights one writer’s continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage. Both prizes strive to recognise and reward the finest fiction.


- also via Reading Matters

BOOK REVIEW: The Rent Collector by B. Glen Rotchin

Publisher's Synopsis:
"The fashion business meets Kabbalah in Montreal's garment district.

In a novel that does for Chabanel Street what Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz did for St. Urbain Street, a 36-year-old Orthodox Jew, Gershon Stein, collects rent in a large industrial building in the heart of Montreal's needletrade. Meanwhile, he struggles to reconcile his relationship with his ailing Holocaust-survivor father, find balance in his family life, and match wits with his arch-nemesis, Joey Putkin, an Israeli leather coat manufacturer leasing the basement of his building.

Gershon's days are occupied by an array of colourful tenants: Arnie Free, who makes footwear for Hasidic Jews and strippers; Sonny Lipsey, whose shtick is giving industry characters the perfect nicknames; and the delicate Michelle Labelle, whose face seems to emit a mysterious light. If there is one thing Gershon knows, it's that life is rented and everyone has a debt to pay: to their landlord, their family, their community, and, most of all, to their soul."

I fully intended to write a review about this exceptional debut novel (named as a finalist for the prestigious Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award); however, after pondering The Rent Collector for many weeks, and reading several amazing reviews, I realized that anything I say will be lifted from one of those reviews. Instead, I'm providing links to several of the reviews and will allow the reviewers to speak for themselves.

Do yourself a favour, run out and buy this book!

Between God and schmatte - review by Brett Hooton at Hour.ca

Review: The Rent Collector - review by Charles Demers at Seven Oaks Magazine
- Demers' interview with B. Glen Rochin

Review by Kristine Kowalchuk at Montreal Review of Books (mRb), a publication of the Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec


ISBN10: 1550651951
ISBN13: 9781550651959

Trade Paperback
228 Pages
Publisher: Esplanade Books
Publication Date: April 1, 2006


Véhicule Press - Celebrating Literature

About Véhicule Press:
For over thirty years Véhicule Press has been publishing prize-winning books: poetry, fiction, social history, Quebec Studies, Jewish studies, jazz history, and restaurant guides. Esplanade Books is the fiction imprint of Véhicule Press. Esplanade publishes novels and short story collections--books that fall between the cracks, works of unusual structure and form, short sharp monologues.


tags: books small press book reviews B. Glen Rotchin

BOOK REVIEW: Salmon Fishing in Yemen by Paul Torday

On the eve of his twentieth wedding anniversary, Dr. Alfred Jones decides it is time to begin reflecting on his marriage and his life, capturing in his diary “the increasing sense of intellectual and emotional restlessness which has grown in me as I approach middle age.” His life has been directed by his managing wife Mary and his greatest achievement at the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence (NCFE) is his study on the “Effects of increased water acidity on the caddis fly larva.” His life takes a sudden turn when he is approached the representative of a mysterious sheikh with a plan to introduce salmon into the rivers of Yemen, he dismisses the proposal out of hand as a scientific impossibility.

Unfortunately, the project has captured the imagination of some senior British politicians (or perhaps it is the millions of pounds that the sheikh is willing to pour into the project) and Fred is forced to either resign immediately or begin work on a project sure to destroy his career. Finding no support from his career-focused wife (who is on an extended assignment in Geneva), Fred buckles under to the pressure from the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications and embarks on transplanting 10,000 cold-water fish into the desert conditions of Yemen and the Wadi Aleyn. What he hadn’t expected was to find was himself in the process.

Paul Torday’s debut novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is the absurdist tale of a downtrodden Everyman finding his voice. Using Dr. Jones’ diaries as the framework, Torday has created a novel from memos, letters, emails, press releases, Parliamentary interview transcripts, newspaper articles, extracts from an unpublished novel and questions asked on the floor of the British House of Parliament. Altogether these pieces slowly coalesce into a picture of bureaucratic incompetence and political maneuvering, a farce worthy of Monty Python.

Through deft handling and shifting viewpoints, Torday’s characters are well-rounded and almost leap off the page. Through their words and actions, as well as some well-placed barbs, Torday is able to share his views of politics without appearing to preach. His attention to detail ensure that, with time, even characters who initially appear wooden exhibit unexpected depths and demand the reader’s empathy.

It is in Fred’s development that the underlying message of hope is found. Fred is in a passionless marriage, under the thumb of a domineering wife and pompously stuffy when it comes to science. Slowly through his work he comes to understand the meaning behind the sheikh’s words at their first meeting and why he so passionately believes that salmon fishing can bring peace to his country: “Without faith, there is no hope. Without faith, there is no love.”

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen quietly adds to understanding between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. Its message of the “importance of innocent belief: not the angry denial of other people’s belief”, wrapped as it is in farcical comedy, is sure to go down for many without them ever understanding the significance. Hopefully a seed will take root, and perhaps someday, flower.

Read the review at Curled Up with a Good Book.


ISBN10: 0151012763
ISBN13: 9780151012763

Hardcover
352 Pages
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
Publication Date: April 2, 2007


tags: books book reviews Paul Torday Yemen

Spring & Summer 2007 - New Titles

H.B. Fenn is the Canadian Distributor for a range of publishers. After perusing the pile of catalogues, here are my selections from their upcoming lists. They also distribute (in Canada) Little, Brown & Company and Henry Holt, whose books I've previewed in earlier entries.

Key Porter Books
* Holding My Breath: a Novel by Sidura Ludwig (Trade Paperback, January 15, 2007)
* Consequences: a Novel by Penelope Lively (Hardcover, May 2007)
* Global Warring: Environmental Change and the Looming Economic, Political, and Security Crisis by Cleo Paskal (Hardcover, August 2007)

Tor/Forge
* Dreamquest by Brent Hartinger (Hardcover, May 2007)
* A Nameless Witch by A. Lee Martinez (Hardcover, May 2007)
* Fashionably Late by Nadine Dajani (Forge, Trade Paperback, June 2007)
* Mainspring by Jay Lake (Hardcover, June 2007)
* Shelter by Susan Palwick (Trade Paperback, June 2007)
* The Wanderer's Tale by David Bilsborough (Hardcover, July 2007)
* Territory by Emma Bull (Hardcover, July 2007)
* They Came from Below by Blake Nelson (Hardcover, July 2007)
* Spaceman Blues: a Love Story by Brian Francis Slattery (Trade Paperback, August 2007)
* The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari (Trade Paperback, August 2007)

St. Martin's
* A Much Married Man by Nicholas Coleridge (Hardcover, June 2007)
* Sarah's Key: a Novel by Tatiana de Rosnay (Hardcover, June 2007)
* The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (Hardcover, August 2007)
* The Mapmaker's Opera by Bea Gonzalez (Hardcover, August 2007)
* Sovereign Ladies: the Six Reigning Queens of England by Maureen Waller (Hardcover, August 2007)

St. Martin's Minotaur
* The Cruel Stars of the Night: a Mystery by Kjell Eriksson (Hardcover, February 2007)
* The Cairo Diary by Maxim Chattam (Hardcover, June 2007)
* Raven Black: a Thriller by Ann Cleeves (Hardcover, June 2007)
* The Companion: a Mystery by Ann Granger (Hardcover, June 2007)
* Death in the Truffle Wood: a Mystery by Pierre Magnan (Hardcover, July 2007)
* Shadows & Lies: a Mystery by Marjorie Eccles (Hardcover, August 2007)


* The Professor's Daughter by Emmanuel Guibert & Joann Sfar (First Second, Trade Paperback, May 2007)
* Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey (Griffin, Trade Paperback, May 2007)
* When She was White: the true story of a family divided by race by Judith Stone (Miramax Books, Hardcover, April 2007)
* Dusk Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (Miramax Books, Trade Paperback, June 2007)
* In the Shadow of Lady Jane by Edward Charles (Pan MacMillan UK, Trade Paperback, May 2007)
* The Inner Life of Martin Frost by Paul Auster (Picador, Trade Paperback, June 2007)

Spring/Summer 2007 Titles from Penguin Group

With the Easter weekend and a visit from my Grandparents, I ended up taking an unintentioned, and unannounced, week off blogging. My apologies to regulars who came seeking new book reviews! To make it up to you, here are my picks from Penguin's Winter/Spring/Summer lines.

* Fangland: a Novel by John Marks (Hardcover, January 11, 2007)
* Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty: a Novel by Tim Sandlin (Hardcover, January 23, 2007)
* Thomas Hardy by Claire Tomalin (Hardcover, January 11, 2007)
* Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (Hardcover, February 1, 2007)
* Knots: a Novel by Nuruddin Farah (Hardcover, February 6, 2007)
* The Dead Fathers Club by Matthew Haig (Hardcover, February 2007)
* The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu (Hardcover, March 6, 2007)
* The Gentle Axe: a Novel by R.N. Morris (Hardcover, March 22, 2007)
* Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx (Hardcover, May 1, 2007)
* The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi (Trade Paperback, May 1, 2007)
* Unravelled by Robyn Harding (Trade Paperback, June 5, 2007)
* The Book of Other People edited by Zadie Smith (Trade Paperback, August 2007)
* Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche (Hardcover, August 2007)

BOOK REVIEW: Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

Cassandra Devine, a cynical Washington spin doctor, is frustrated by the American government’s refusal to deal with the looming crisis. She vents her spleen on her blog “Cassandra,” determined that her generation shouldn’t have to pay the bill for the unrestrained spending of the previous generation. After inspiring a few minor protests, Cassandra offers a radical solution to Social Security’s insolvency – that the government offer incentives to commit suicide by age seventy-five.

Ten years earlier, her father’s suggestion that she sign on for a term of military service to pay for her education, landed her in Bosnia where she worked for military public relations – the Spinning Eagles. It is there she meets Senator Randolph K. Jepperson IV who later, against all expectations, puts forward Cassandra’s idea of “transitioning” as a Senatorial bill when all she wanted was for debate to begin about the issue. And thus the foundation is laid for the screwball events and nefarious political dealings which Christopher Buckley brings vividly to life in Boomsday, his newest novel.

Boomsday is a term economists use to refer to the day the first of America’s 77 million baby boomers retire. Buckley’s wicked satire combines truly outrageous ideas within a very real situation. Financial trouble is looming for Social Security and it is plausible that this may cause economic problems for the US. The generational conflict provides substantial fodder for Buckley’s Swiftian tale, and a new section of Washington to lampoon. Cassandra’s “meta-issue” spirals out of control as special interest and lobby groups amend and compromise the bill into oblivion.

Boomsday is read by Jeanane Garofalo, who quickly establishes distinct voices for all the major characters. Her adept and consistent voicing ensures that listeners soon forget the book is being read by a celebrity reader. Of particular note is her rendition of the news report which opens the book. Anyone who gets their news from NPR will recognize her tone and pacing.

While Buckley has created another frothy tale of delight, Boomsday would have provided greater nourishment if he offered some solid solutions to offset his “modest proposal” for the coming Social Security crisis.

Read the review at Armchair Interviews.


ISBN10: 1594838887
ISBN13: 9781594838880

Audiobook, 5 CDs
Read by: Janeane Garofalo
Abridged by: Karen DiMattia
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publication Date: April 2, 2007


tags: books book reviews Christopher Buckley Spin Doctors boomsday

BOOK REVIEW: Black & White by Dani Shapiro

Clara Dunne was a celebrity before she truly understood what the words meant. The subject of her mother’s controversial photos, Clara’s childhood was consumed by art and her role as her mother’s muse. At eighteen she escaped and made a new life for herself, away from the glare of New York; now however, her mother’s illness is pulling her back into a world she’s spent a lifetime trying to forget.

In Black & White Dani Shapiro explores difficult territory - the issue of rights - for both artist and muse. She then makes the issue more complex by adding family dynamics to the mix, in this case the artist is also the mother of her subject. She raises a challenging question: “can a mother protect her child and still honour her muse when the subject of her best work is her child.”

The quick answer to this question appears to be no for when we first meet Clara she still bears the deep scars from being her mother’s muse. Clara’s raw, unfettered anguish roils off the page, causing the reader to gasp as the emotion hits like a ton of bricks. Her pain is so real that readers are cast adrift to share her gaping wounds.

Whose rights take precidence – the artist’s need to create or the child’s to own their life? Clara feels she is living a shadow life, that she never really owned her existence. “And so Clara wandered the campus at Yale University, surrounded by real people, as she thought of them, living real lives. She herself had forfeited that right – or perhaps she’d never had it at all…Was there a place in the world for someone like her?” Clara perceived herself as only existing when seen through her mother’s lens, perhaps an understandable reaction given that she dissociates from herself during photo shoots. The fact that Clara believes she's forfeited the right to a life is perhaps the most chilling statement made in this novel.

In Black & White there are no winners or losers. Shapiro does not take the easy way out, allowing readers to feel only sympathy for Clara. She insists that readers see all sides and manages her prose so deftly that within chapters readers are reluctantly driven to understand the urges that motivate Ruth. Within Ruth the artist continually wins out over the mother. She seems unable to refrain from capturing what her inner eye sees, even at the ultimate cost.

The ripple effects from Ruth’s decisions are far reaching. Clara and her sister Robin have carried their scars with them and the damage reaches their children as well. Robin was invisible to her mother and she has no emotional warmth for her own children. Clara has hidden her entire past from her daughter Sam, keeping her daughter away from Ruth and, by extension, an understanding of family history and Sam’s place in the world. The numbness in which she exists has kept her husband and child from feeling she is an active part of their family.

Within Black & White there are many competing claims of selfishness. Even though decisions are made to protect the individual, each character could make a valid claim that those decisions were made purely in another’s self interest. There are no black or white answers to the questions Shapiro raises, here there is only grey.

Shapiro only lightly touches on the most disturbing aspect of Ruth’s creativity, that the images of her naked child may be used by pedophiles. Given how far she already pushed her readers, she can be forgiven for not taking the last step and pushing them over the cliff.


ISBN10: 0375415483
ISBN13: 9780375415487

Hardcover
272 Pages
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: April 3, 2007
Author Website: www.danishapiro.com


tags: books book reviews Dani Shapiro family relationships mother daughter relationships

BOOK REVIEW: The Best Place to Be by Lesley Dormen

Lesley Dormen’s novel in eight stories, The Best Place to Be, provides snapshots of the life of Grace Hanford. In the first story “The Old Economy Husband,” we meet Grace at “fifty and holding.” Each of the other seven stories explores pivotal moments in her life and how they lead her to change her views and marry Richard.

The strongest stories are those which delve into Grace’s relationship with her brother Alex. The dysfunction of their childhood carries on into adulthood. In “Gladiators,” Grace describes their dynamic: “The thing about a brother? You live your whole life knowing there’s a surprise witness waiting right outside the courtroom ready to testify. You just don’t know which way.”

Grace and Alex are tragedy hounds, bound together by the scars of their mother’s failed marriages. It is only in difficult situations that they reach for each other, finding space within the tragedy to interact. Despite the conflicts they may experience, Alex is still the person Grace looks to for approval – and with whom she competes.

Dormen’s writing tends toward the “stream of consciousness” style, perhaps most clearly exhibited in “The Old Economy Husband.” Despite the long sentences (which some may view as a bit run-on), her prose evokes images in a unique manner. “Being 50 give or take was like being an original Supreme” is a sentence most writers would never think of creating but provides immediate recognition for the reader.

It is in the “quieter” stories where readers will sense Grace most clearly. These narratives have less of the rambling language, allowing readers to find their own Grace within the space.


ISBN10: 1416532617
ISBN13: 9781416532613

Hardcover
192 Pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: April 3, 2007


tags: books book reviews Lesley Dormen short stories

BOOK REVIEW: Angelica by Arthur Phillips

In 1880s London the Barton household is in chaos. Four-year-old Angelica has been moved out of her parent’s bedroom by her father, causing a great deal of anxiety for her mother. Angelica was born after multiple miscarriages and Constance has been warned by doctors that any further pregnancies will be fatal.

Fearing that Angelica’s banishment will lead to a return of marital relations, Constance is torn between anxiety for Angelica and herself. When the inevitable happens and Joseph exerts his rights, Angelica begins screaming for her mother. An apparition appeared in her room and Constance worries that her daughter is being plagued by spirits. In desperation she seeks out Anne Montague, a spiritualist found by her housemaid.

Is Angelica being haunted or is there a more rational explanation for what is happening in the Barton household?

Arthur Phillips' new novel Angelica is psychologically complex. Told from four separate and unique viewpoints, each new section adds confusion, misdirection and surprises in the tradition of the best Victorian novelists. Phillips explores class, sexuality, spiritualism, gender and the developing understanding of psychology and science. At its best, Phillip’s writing brings alive the Victorian era.

Unfortunately Constance’s section is weak compared to those of Anne, Joseph and Angelica and it occupies almost half the novel. Only once the narrative moves to Anne’s perspective does the novel gain depth and momentum. Readers should not give in to the temptation to give up on Angelica, the second half of the novel more than makes up for the slow initial pace.


ISBN10: 1400062519
ISBN13: 9781400062515

Hardcover
352 Pages
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: April 3, 2007
Author Website: www.arthurphillips.info


tags: books book reviews Arthur Phillips ghost story mystery

BOOK REVIEW: Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn

Exhausted from the media frenzy that has surrounded her since she turned into a wolf on national television, Kitty has retreated to a cabin in an isolated section of San Isabel National Forest in Colorado. Her plan is to have some peace and write her memoirs. Kitty doesn’t expect a warm welcome from the local residents but at least they are tolerant of her presence. So when animal sacrifices begin arriving on her front porch as part of curse rituals and the police won’t do anything about it, she’s surprised and hurt.

Kitty figures life can’t get anymore complicated but fate has other plans. Sexy werewolf hunter Cormac Bennett shows up with her lawyer Ben O’Farrell who’s been infected by a werewolf. Ben wants Cormac to shoot him; however, Kitty hopes she can convince him that he can still have a great life. As if curses and the situation with Ben isn’t enough, a creature of pure evil is lurking in the woods and appears to be hunting Kitty.

Kitty Takes a Holiday is the third in the Kitty Norville series (at one point it was tentatively called Kitty and the Wolf Moon’s Curse). A lovably flawed heroine, Kitty is prey to all the common worries of the modern twenty-something. A new radio host has taken to the nighttime airwaves stealing Kitty’s format of a talk show about the supernatural. “Ariel, Priestess of the Night” gets under Kitty’s skin with each show, driving her to making taunting phone calls to her competition. Even though she is facing the serious fallout of her “outing” on national television, she still spends more time worrying about Ariel. Vaughn perfectly captures the small details to which every reader can relate.

Carrie Vaughn continues to exhibit strong writing in the Kitty Norville series. She has created a solid alternate reality to modern-day America with each novel adding depth to her world. Old religions and traditional beliefs are handled with dignity and while the beliefs may conflict with Kitty’s or be viewed as “backward” by officials, Vaughn doesn’t belittle them. This compassionate treatment of those with outsider status is only one thing which places Vaughn’s work firmly “above the bar.”

Although Kitty doesn’t do one of “The Midnight Hour” shows in Kitty Takes a Holiday, Vaughn continues the tradition of including a playlist. Once again she has plundered the vinyl archives to pull together an outstanding collection of lesser-known gems such as “Animal Farm” by Madness and “Surfin’ Cow” by The Dead Milkmen.

Read the review at Curled Up with a Good Book.


ISBN10: 0446618748
ISBN13: 9780446618748

Mass Market Paperback
336 Pages
Publisher: Warner Books
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Author Website: www.carrievaughn.com


tags: Carrie Vaughn werewolves books book review Kitty Norville

Upcoming Small Press Titles - Spring/Summer 2007

In honour of Small Press Month, here are a few titles I'm eagerly awaiting. Perhaps I should say, some of my Top Picks.

* The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Beynon Rees (Soho Crime Press, February 1, 2007)
* Greed: a Novel by Elfriede Jelinek (Seven Stories Press, April 1, 2007)
* Havana Blue by Leonardo Padura (Bitter Lemon Press, UK April 2, 2007/US June 2007)
* Eternity Is Temporary by Bill Broady (Portobello Books, April 12, 2007)
* The Fugitive by Massimo Carlotto, trans. by Antony Shugaar (Europa Editions, April 15, 2007)
* The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Persephone Books, April 19, 2007)
* Out of Cleveland: short stories by Lolette Kuby (Esplanade Books, Canada May 7, 2007/US September 2007)
* Memories from a Sinking Ship: A Novel by Barry Gifford (Seven Stories Press, May 10, 2007)
* The Incomplete Husband by Ben Faccini (Portobello Books, June 2007)

Spring/Summer 2007 from Houghton Mifflin

The biggest title in Houghton Mifflin's Spring/Summer 2007 line is the much anticipated The Children of Húrin, the final Tolkien book due for release on April 17, 2007. Here are my picks:

* The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited by Christopher Tolkien (April 17, 2007)
* The Visible World: a Novel by Mark Slouka (April 19, 2007)
* Incendiary Circumstances: A Chronicle of the Turmoil of Our Times by Amitav Ghosh (April 23, 2007)
* The Last Chinese Chef: a Novel by Nicole Mones (May 4, 2007)
* A Day at the Beach: a Novel by Helen Schulman (June 1, 2007)
* Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (Trade Paperback release, June 5, 2007)
* The Inhabited World: a Novel by David Long (Trade Paperback release, July 2, 2007)
* On Kingdom Mountain: a Novel by Howard Frank Mosher (July 11, 2007)


I've been a huge fan of the Miss Read novels (pseudonym of Mrs. Dora Saint) since I first visited Fairacre and Thrush Green in the early 90s. Houghton Mifflin is releasing four novels in the Fairacre series in new editions in August and I would highly recommend them, along with the first volume Village School for anyone who loves quiet British character novels.

"The English village of Fairacre, comfortably nestled in the heart of the Cotswolds, is a picturesque place of tile-roof cottages, a historic church, a post office, and a small primary school. Through the school’s beloved headmistress, Miss Read, we meet the inhabitants of Fairacre and share in their trials and tribulations, their milestone celebrations, and their daily joys."

* Village Diary
* Storm in the Village
* Over the Gate
* The Fairacre Festival
* The Caxley Cronicles: containing Market Square and The Howards of Caxley

BOOK REVIEW: Knitty Gritty Knits by Vickie Howell

As Vickie Howell says on her website, "Craft This!" She is on a personal quest to eliminate the negative social stigma attached to knitting and crafting by bringing more recognition to the hip, creative, and edgy sides of these forms of expression. Her popular show on DIY Network, Knitty Gritty, features projects and techniques, taught by some of the today’s best-known knitting personalities and designers. Viewers are invited to join Vickie and her Knitster Girls as they showcase projects suitable for all levels of knitters.

In Knitty Gritty Knits: 25 Fun & Fabulous Projects, Vickie has collected projects featured on the show, including one from Lily Chin. What makes this book particularly suitable for beginners is the first section on knitting basics. Everything from basic stitches to gauge swatches to knitting tools is covered. Projects feature close-up photos at crucial stages, to enhance the written instructions. Unfortunately, there are no extra or bonus projects provided in the volume, only projects included on the show.

The patterns in Knitty Gritty Knits will appeal to the hip and trendy, as well as novice knitters. Fans of The Breeders and Kelley Deal will be eager to knit Deal’s Rock Star Bag. Amy Finlay has designed a thigh garter with pockets to handle essentials such as lipstick and ID, for those wishing to travel light on their next night out. Tina Whitmore’s felted backgammon board can either be rolled up for easy transport or side panels and handles can be added to use the game board as a tote.

Read the review at Armchair Interviews.


ISBN10: 1579909167
ISBN13: 9781579909161

Trade Paperback
128 Pages
Publisher: Lark Books
Publication Date: January 28, 2007
Author Website: www.vickiehowell.com


tags: books book reviews knitting Vickie Howell Knitty Gritty

BOOK REVIEW: Pretty in Punk by Alyce Benevides & Jacqueline Milles

Pretty in Punk: 25 Punk, Rock, and Goth Knitting Projects is THE knitting book for anyone who came of age in the 80s, idolized everything British and is more Vivienne Westwood than Laura Ashley in their fashion sense. Alyce Benevides and Jacqueline Milles, owners of the counter-culture knitwear company knit-head, have gathered together 25 of their signature designs and invite knitters to “unleash their inner rockstar.”

Beginning with their signature Mohawk hat (currently being sported by Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore on tour) in the chapter “For the Head”, the designs in Pretty in Punk are divided into six sections depending on where on the body the garment is to be worn. While the patterns themselves are simple (suitable for beginners although there are no learn to knit instructions), these designs have serious attitudes. Benevides and Milles’ sense of style carries throughout production of this book. Everything here reflects punk, rock and goth sensibilities; from the high-fashion style photographs to pattern names – although in this case, punk gets a nudge of luxury for these ladies aren’t above using cashmere.

Even if your style no longer runs to mod micro-minis or sporting the union jack, Pretty in Punk is the perfect inspiration for your inner rebel. Instead of plain gauntlets, why not indulge your quirky side by using the “Love Bites” arm warmer pattern? My inner goth is mentally digging through the stash to find the perfect mohair for the “Goth Girl” jumper and “Vamp” scarf. Benevides and Milles suggest that anti-authority knitting means injecting yourself into what you make, whether your style is goth, mod, punk, ska or rockabilly, it’s all about individuality. “All you need is two sticks and a ball of yarn.”


Read the review at Armchair Interviews.

ISBN10: 0811857441
ISBN13: 9780811857444

Trade Paperback
120 Pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: May 3, 2007
Author Website: www.knit-head.com
Photos courtesy of Pretty in Punk MySpace


tags: books book reviews knitting Alyce Benevides Jacqueline Milles

BOOK REVIEW: KnitKnacks: Much Ado About Knitting

KnitKnacks: A small ornamental article used in the act of knitting; a trinket no knitter should be without (from the back cover of KnitKnacks)

With the resurgence of interest in knitting has come a commensurate interest in vintage knitting patterns. When not actively knitting, we enjoy reading about the world of knitting and the obsession we have with sticks and strings. With KnitKnacks: Much Ado About Knitting, Voyageur Press has combined these two elements presenting images from vintage pattern books, old photos and artwork along with essays from several well-known knitters.

The three essays are humourous and cover a range of topics. Laura Billings asks the question “Could knitting be so addictive that it’s like a drug” and helps knitters determine when they’ve crossed the line from recreational knitter into an honest to goodness addict. Clara Parkes considers the journey from yarnilepsy to yarnirvana and hopes that her personal story will help others realize that, no matter how long the journey, it is possible to reach yarnirvana and its infinite rewards. Sigrid Arnott ponders on knitting for the man in your life as a means of staving off guilt and has found creative ways to ensure your gifts are truly useful and tailored to his interests. Grab the needles and some nylon rope and knit your man an Electric Cord Snood or use twine and wooden beads and knit up a Car Seat Shrug. And don’t forget to read Arnott’s small section at the end and you too can use guy talk; never again will your partner’s eyes glaze over as you discuss your latest project. “Have you seen my on-demand textile fabrication toolkit?”

Knitters are encouraged to see themselves in the images of knitting in unusual places and the vintage images used to illustrate the various signs of yarn addiction. Muffled laughter is a sure sign that you recognize the “signs that yarn (and acquiring more of it) dominate your existence.” This little book is the perfect size to slide into a knitting bag and skim when you need validation that you are not alone in your relationship with yarn.

Read the review at Armchair Interviews.


ISBN10: 0760328471
ISBN13: 9780760328477

Hardcover
96 Pages
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Publication Date: April 15, 2007

tags: books book reviews knitting Clara Parkes Kari Cornell

BOOK REVIEW: The Virgin of Flames by Chris Abani

Black, a bi-racial mural artist in East L.A., lives above “The Ugly Store” café run by his friend Iggy. Depressed and haunted by the ghosts of a tortured childhood, Black’s life is focused on his art, his obsession for the transsexual stripper Sweet Girl and the space ship he has built on the roof. Black’s mind has fused together the Virgin Mary and Sweet Girl into the inspiration for his newest work, an homage to Fatima as the Virgin of Flames.

Black’s identity and sexual confusion has been influenced by several critical factors. His Nigerian-born father believed in an Igbo family curse in which a malevolent spirit kills the male children and to prevent this, he dressed his son as a girl until age seven. Around the same time, he was sent to Vietnam on a NASA-related mission, during which he disappeared and was presumed dead. The death of her husband sent Black’s Salvadorian mother into religious fanaticism in which she forces her son to spend hours in prayer while kneeling on rice and other acts of mortification of the flesh. When she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in Black’s early teens, he nursed her until her death, after which Black traveled around the US for several years.

Chris Abani’s latest novel, The Virgin of Flames, is a seething mass of conflicted emotion and despair. Black floats through life in a self-focused bubble, unaware of the damage he causes his friends, acquaintances and the devote Catholics of Los Angeles. His practice of donning the wedding dress he stole from Iggy and climbing on his space ship has been reported as sightings of the Virgin of Guadalupe. “The Ugly Café” has become a site of pilgrimage for devout Catholics, a fact which doesn’t trouble Black – although the increasingly frequent visitations from the angel Gabriel (sometimes as a pigeon) do.

Black carries with him rituals which help order the chaos of his life, many of which are tied to his art. He views the painting of Fatima as his salvation, “the mystery was the only thing that could save him now.” In the same way that the devout are seeking a miracle at the “Ugly Store,” Black is seeking a miracle at the feet of his 50-foot Fatima.

What that miracle may be is unclear and Adani’s suggests that Black is conflicted. Part of him seeks a transformation while, at the same time, he desperately fights to maintain his masculine identity. The violence of his surroundings reflects the violence swirling within his soul. His friends inhabit a world of violence and exhibit the same tendency to self-flagellation; Ray-Ray with his drugs, Iggy in her piercings and tattoos, and Bomboy who translated his childhood experience killing in Rwanda into a profitable career as a butcher.

The Virgin of Flames disturbs as it illuminates, causing a visceral reaction for most readers who will find themselves recoiling from the truths revealed in Abani’s dazzling prose. This is a novel which will linger long after the final page is read.

Read the review at Curled Up with a Good Book.


ISBN10: 014303877X
ISBN13: 9780143038771

Trade Paperback
290 Pages
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
Author Website: www.chrisabani.com


tags: books book reviews Chris Abani

BOOK REVIEW: My Name is Bosnia by Madeleine Gagnon

“Who would have imagined that in wartime you could want so much to love?”

Sabaheta, despite her young age, has experienced great loss and violence. Her brother is taken by thugs, causing her mother to retreat into madness. Sabaheta turns herself into a boy to join her father and the guerillas fighting in the forests until the day her father is killed. After burying him in a makeshift grave, Sabaheta changes her name to Bosnia and returns to her life in Sarajevo as a female in hopes of finding friends and a way to escape.

Back in Sarajevo, Bosnia finds her friend Adila still resides in their student apartment with her partner Marina. The reunion with friends provides Bosnia with comfort and a brief respite, although the daily search for food and water is still fraught with peril. The girls benefit from supplies their friend Adem gets through his position with the Bosnian resistance army. After several months with supplies and fuel running low, the girls dream of finding a way to leave their birthplace and find a country where they can live in peace; however, the price for that peace may be more than they are willing to pay.

My Name is Bosnia developed from Madeleine Gagnon’s research for her non-fiction work Women in a World at War: Seven Dispatches from the Front. Her research took her to the former Yugoslav republics of Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina; Israel and Palestine; Lebanon; Pakistan; and Sri Lanka where she collected stories from women whose lives have been torn apart by war. As Rachel Hanel states in her review of Women in a World at War: “They’ve endured horrors most of us raised in the Western world could only dream of – living in a rape “camp,” having a baby girl killed because she is not a boy, or seeing most male family members – fathers, brothers, sons -- brutally killed in war.”

The greatest gift humankind has is hope. Despite war and conflict, people still fall in love, have children and dream of a new life. My Name is Bosnia is Gagnon’s meditation on maintaining hope during the worst examples of human violence. Having lost everything except Adem, Bosnia pushes forward into the future. “But she did not want to dwell on memories; she had submitted herself to the duty of forgetting in order to survive. So she appealed to the future and threw herself into endless scenarios of which she was the heroine – when you’ve come out of hell, it is hard to imagine a happy fate other than your own.”

Keeping hope alive not only provides a future for survivors, it is also their responsibility. It some cases, they are the sole remnants of their culture, language or religion. Their survival ensures that the world will never be able to forget. Even though Bosnia does not always see a destination when she looks into the future, she continues forward. This is the message that Gagnon wishes to share with readers, no matter what how large or small the conflict face, people must move take the first step forward. Hope must be maintained.

Read the review at Curled Up with a Good Book.


ISBN10: 0889225427
ISBN13: 9780889225428

Trade Paperback
256 Pages
Publisher: Talonbooks Ltd.
Publication Date: August 25, 2006


Talonbooks Ltd. - Publishing from the Margins

About Talonbooks Ltd.:
Talonbooks Ltd., founded in Vancouver in 1967, publishes authors of international stature, writing in the literary genres of poetry, fiction and drama, as well as non-fiction books in the fields of ethnography and environmental and social issues. Its authors' books continue to make a difference to the world we live in. They have contributed to the establishment of protected wilderness areas and the redress of social injustices; they have given a public voice to First Nations peoples; and they have been recipients of many prestigious national and international awards for arts and letters. (Information courtesy of Literary Press Group of Canada)


tags: books small press book reviews Madeleine Gagnon