When Bury Your Dead isn't enough...

At the moment, I'm quite enjoying John Farrow's doorstop of a novel, River City. Citywide mayhem during the infamous Rocket Richard riots results in the murder of a slimy fellow named Roger Clement. The utterly compelling police officer investigating the case is Emile Cinq-Mars, also seen in the two previous books in the Farrow series.

He is soon on the trail of seemingly every shady character in Montreal, but more importantly up against all manner of corruption in a wonderfully drawn Montreal. As it turns out, the murder weapon is a knife that was at one point owned by Jacques Cartier, famed explorer of centuries past.

The story alternates between the earliest French settlers' arrival in the new world and a newly emerging Montreal of the mid fifties, in which a young Pierre Trudeau figures prominently! Some have noted that Farrow (nom de plume of the literary novelist Trevor Ferguson) may have tried to do too much with this novel, and at over 800 pages, there's a heck of a lot of Quebec history here, but it reads so well that I think Farrow still remembers that this is a thriller.

The more modern timeline is damn near perfect in tone and execution, however, and this is a natural next book for anyone currently enamored with Louise Penny's One Book, One Community pick, Bury Your Dead.

- David

Teen Picks for August

Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai

This is a great choice for a younger teen or as a read-aloud for the whole family. Fadi is a 12-year old boy who is fleeing Afghanistan during the height of the Taliban's regime. His father, Habib, was a professor in the United States that brought his family back to their homeland in the hopes that they could make a difference and help rebuild the country after the Soviets left.

As Fadi, his parents and his two sisters board an illegal caravan to Pakistan, the Taliban begins to pursue them. In the chaos Fadi lets go of Mariam, his 6-year old sisters hand. Only to discover moments later that she was left behind. The family has no choice but to continue onto San Francisco, as their asylum status for the United States will soon run out. The family leaves word with all of the NGO's in the area to look out for Mariam before they head on. Of course this is an agonizing decision that depresses Fadi and the rest of his family. Not to mention the guilt that each of them feel and the self blame.

Fadi must start to pick up the pieces and begin a new life in the US. He starts a new school and slowly begins making friends, however he can not stop thinking about Mariam. He finds out that the schools' photography club is part of a photo contest and the winner can take a trip to India. Fadi is certain that this will be his ticket to find his sister and reunite his family.

But can one photo really bring Mariam home?

This is an exciting page-turner and a good way to discuss issues in Afghanistan and the immigrant experience with teens and older children. I am looking forward to reading this out loud to my kids when we go to the cottage in a few weeks.

Signs of Martha by Sarah Raymond

This is a really funny book. Martha is 16 and stuck in small-town Ontario. She feels pigeon-holed: a round peg in a square hole of her family and town's expectations on her. Martha is spending the summer picking cucumbers on her friends farm, trying to decide if she truly likes her boyfriend John, and avoiding her father's hair-brained business schemes. That is until Velvet, the newly arrived local artist and sign painter arrives on the scene.

Velvet's ideas and "worldly" experience begin to inspire and motivate Martha to follow her dreams - however much pressure she is feeling from everyone else around her. Unfortunately Martha's chosen medium, may just upset the people she cares about the most. My favourite line in the novel is: "Dreams are like cucumber blossoms: highly delicate and embarrassingly loud in colour". I laughed along with Martha's predicaments and her determination. This is a good summer pick.

Kids Picks for August...

Baby Book:
I love Karen Katz's series of baby board books. They are perfect for development: bright vivid colours, and simple rhyming text. My new favourite is Ten Tiny Babies. One tiny baby starts to run. Along comes another... to have some fun! Follow along with the babies as they eat, jump, bang and shout. And more and more of them join in the merriment. Finally all ten babies fall asleep in their beds. A perfect pick for a brand-new baby basked or to share with your favourite toddler.

Picture Book:

I am so excited about this book by Frank Viva. Along a Long Road follows a bicycler through a riding adventure. Track his travels along a bold yellow road that lead him through the forest, around a town, by the sea and back again. Ride up and around, along and through, out and down. The simple graphic illustrations remind me vaguely of Charley Harper's sparse style, and of that time period. Even though the text is quite simple - I think you could have a lot of fun reading this story aloud as there are subtle objects and detail that you can discuss with your child.

AND WE HAVE ONE SIGNED COPY OF ALONG A LONG ROAD TO GIVE AWAY!!!

EMAIL BRONWYN TO ENTER.

BE SURE TO PUT "ALONG A LONG ROAD CONTEST" INTO THE SUBJECT HEADING. CONTEST CLOSES ON AUGUST 11TH AT 3PM.

Mennonite Girls SURE can Cook!

There has been so much buzz around the bookstore since this cookbook came out. I have hardly had a chance to peek at the book, it's been selling so quickly!

However, I finally have taken a copy for myself and I am really impressed. My maternal grandfather was a Russian Mennonite and looking through the beautiful pictures and lovely reflections on Mennonite spirituality, I keep thinking about him.

And the recipes! Oh boy, these recipes, I can practically smell German apple pancakes, borscht, spaetzle, cinamon buns and so much more. I am excited to try out several of these recipes and bring in my favourites on August 13th when Lovella Schellenberg and Anneliese Friesen are in the store. Lovella is the creator of both the blog and the cookbook. Anneliese is one of the contributors. Come and get your copy signed, taste some of the delicious recipes and learn more about this wonderful project. - Bronwyn

First Words = Bury Your Dead

by Louise Penny is this year's One Book One Community Pick.

I have read the first paragraph of more books than I have read books in their entirety! There is something that makes or breaks a first impression with a potential new read that is cushioned within the first line, paragraph or even page. The way a book begins sets up everything that comes after. Often, when I have finished a book, I will go back and read the first page again, with hindsight, and it is a great experience!

Up the stairs they raced, taking them two at a time, trying to be as quiet as possible. Gamache struggled to keep his breathing steady, as though he was sitting at home, as though he had not a care in the world.
'Sir?' came the young voice over Gamache's headphones.
'You must believe me, son. Nothing bad will happen to you."
He hoped the young agent couldn't hear the strain in his voice, the flattening as the Chief Inspector fought to keep his voice authoritative, certain.
'I believe you.'
They reache the landing. Inspector Beauvoir stopped, staring at his Chief. Gamache looked at his watch.
47 seconds.
Still time.
In his headphones the agent was telling him about the sunshine and how good it felt on his face.
The rest of the team made the landing, tactical vests in place, automatic weapons drawn, eyes sharp. Trained on the chief.

As Quebec city shivers in the grip of winter, its ancient stone walls cracking in the cold, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache plunges inot the strangest case of his celebrated career. A man has been brutally murdered in one of the city's oldest buildings - a library wher the English citizens of Quebec safeguard their history. And the death opens a door into the past, exposing a mystery that has lain dormant for centuries... a mystery that Gamache must solve if he's to catch a present day killer.

Tomorrow Night!

Ian Hamilton - in store, 7pm tomorrow!
We are as excited about the new book as Margaret Cannon at the Globe & Mail is!

The Disciple Of Las Vegas

By Ian Hamilton, Anansi, 357 pages

I loved The Water Rat of Wanchai, the first novel featuring Ava Lee. Now, Ava and Uncle make a return that’s even better. Tommy Ordonez is the richest man in the Philippines. He’s lost $50-million in a land swindle and he wants Ava to get it back. There’s not just money at stake, but face and reputation as well.

Ava follows the cash from Canada to Costa Rica and, incidentally, gives us a very fine insider look at the hot world of online gambling. Off to Las Vegas, where David (The Disciple) Douglas, the world’s best poker player, is hosting a game for top spenders. But the bets turn out to be for more than money and Ava and Uncle confront an old adversary. This one is simply irresistible.

The Toronto Star loves him too!

Ian got rave reviews in the Toronto Star when the first Ava Lee book, The Water Rat of Wanchai, came out. Come here about The Disciple of Las Vegas on July 19th. More info HERE

Less than a week away...

Ian Hamilton Q&A with House of Anansi
Instore - 7pm - July 19

Tell me about Ian Hamilton, the author. What’s your story?

There were a couple of significant events that spurred me to write. First, I had a health crisis about 18 months ago. I had an aneurism that put me in hospital and it was a bit of a jolt. Second, I was weary of the stress of the business world.

So, I was at home recovering from a health scare and at a professional crossroads. I had some time to reflect. For my whole life, I’d wanted to write for a living. As a young man, I was a journalist, and also wrote a nonfiction book in 1968. Then I moved into government, and then into business.

I was in the business [world] from the 1980s until recently, but I never lost the itch to write. I travelled around the world on business, and spent countless hours in planes and hotels, with characters and plots bouncing around in my head.

Two days out of hospital, I started to write. Ava Lee began to take form, and Uncle and her mother and the rest of her friends began to emerge. So I kept writing. About halfway through the book, an idea for a second book came to me, and I built it into the plot of the first.

When the first book was finished, I started the very next day on the second. Again, about halfway through that, I had an idea for the third. Halfway through the third, I had an idea for the fourth. I wrote four books in eight months.

How did you write the books so quickly?

I honestly don’t know. I started writing and the books just came out. I felt connected to the characters and to the story and the writing was a natural process.

How did you conceive of writing about a Chinese-Canadian female gay forensic accountant?

I’m a novelist and I simply go where my imagination dictates, and I’m not artificially pigeon-holed by my gender, culture, and age.

I travelled and worked in China and other parts of Asia for more than 20 years. During those years, I read about and talked to scores of people about the cultures I was visiting.

One of the dynamics I saw that interested me was the emergence of a cadre of young, well-educated, talented women who pursued professional careers without sacrificing the traditions of their culture, including such things as respect for their elders, and the overwhelming importance of the family structure. These are all elements Ava Lee possesses.

What can readers look forward to in Book Two?

The next book is called The Disciple of Las Vegas and involves an Internet gambling scam that Ava is asked to solve. Her pursuit of the money takes her to Vancouver, Manila, and San Francisco.

First Words - The Story of Beautiful Girl

I have read the first paragraph of more books than I have read books in their entirety! There is something that makes or breaks a first impression with a potential new read that is cushioned within the first line, paragraph or even page. The way a book begins sets up everything that comes after. Often, when I have finished a book, I will go back and read the first page again, with hindsight, and it is a great experience!
At the end of the night that would change everything, the widow stood on her porch and watched as the young woman was marched down her front drive and shoved into the sedan. The girl did not fight back, bound and tied as she was, nor did she cry out into the chill autumn rain, so surely the doctor and his attendants thought they had won. They did not know, as the car doors slammed shut, the engine came on, and the driver steered them down the muddy hill toward the road, that the window and the girl in the backseat had just defied them right under their noses. The widow waited until the taillights reached the bottom of the drive, then turned and entered her house. And as she stood at the foot of the staircase, hoping they'd show mercy to the young woman and worrying about the wherabouts of the runaway man, the widow heard the sound the doctor hadn't been seeking. It was the sound that would always connect her to the girl and forever make her remember the man. It was the sweet, deep breaths of a hidden person. A sleeping stranger. A baby.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
It is 1968. Lynnie and Homan are locked away, forgotten, in an mental institution. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired teacher and widow. But the couple is not alone - Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them, Homan escapes, and Lynnie is caught. Before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia - lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.

I can't wait to take this one up to the cottage in a few weeks! - Bronwyn

Countdown to

Ian Hamilton's instore event on July 19th - 7pm - Seriously DON'T MISS IT!

Kitten's Summer

I love Eugenie Fernandes books. Her illustrations are always wonderful wtih vibrant colours and unique materials that create a 3D effects. Kitten's Summer continue's the simple stories of a kitten in different seasons.

"Rain falls, Kitten dashes. Rabbit races, Turtle splashes."

The simple text follows Kitten finding the way back home. The other animals in the forest squirry about to find shelter in the summer storm. I love the squirrel nest, made of crumpled paper, and the baby loon riding on its Mother's back. Children will delight in finding kitten hiding on every page. This sweet simple story is sure to delight youngsters all summer long.