Eminem: Still the best!

Love him or hate him, Eminem aka Marshall Mathers, is arguably one of the most successful, and with that, most controversial rap artists in history. Not only is he one of the first white rappers to be accepted into the hip-hop community, his career is continually subjected to intense media scrutiny. Multi-million record sales and multiple Grammy wins aside, he has enjoyed widely-covered confrontations with pop stars, on-going lawsuit battles with his ex-wife and mother, and has been called everything from being gratuitously offensive and violent to being branded as a serial homophobe and a misogynist.

Needless to say, these are not the reasons why I love his music. I came to know Eminem’s music about eight years ago, when the soundtrack to the movie 8 mile first came out, and may I just say, that for someone like myself, whose rap knowledge was almost non-existent, I was completely struck by the level of intensity of the music, with its raw edginess, sung in an unapologetic, “in-your-face” defiance – never had I heard such a profound visceral quality in any popular form. And unlike some the other rap artists I’ve heard, nothing compares to Eminem’s enormously distinctive style: there is melody, form and structure. His rapping style is very unique: with his signature nasal quality, his rhyming patterns, speech rhythms and word alliterations - even when emphasizing syllables and word accents, are characteristically “Eminem” – stylistically distinctive and very musical.

Aside from the clever cover art -- his portrait constructed mosaic-like from all kinds of prescription pills – Relapse: Refill remains somewhat of an autobiographical saga: part truth, part fiction, peppered with personal revelations. As long-time friend and producer Dr. Dre states, “It’s hard core, it’s dark comedy, it’s what Eminem has always been…” On this 2-disc set, many tracks chronicle his near-destruction by prescription and non-prescription drugs. Some begin with spoken-dialogue vignettes or scenes that melodramatic, comedic, violent, or horror-filled in nature, which sets the stage for the song that follows. That said, some tracks are definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Finally, in the words of another great legend, whose duet with Eminem in “Stan” was by far, one of the most memorable opening numbers in the history of the Grammy Awards ceremonies, Elton John sums it up brilliantly:

“Eminem is a true poet of this time, someone we’ll be talking about for decades to come. He tells stories in such a powerful and distinctive way. As a lyricist, he’s one of the best ever. Eminem does for his audience what Dylan did for his: He writes how he feels. His anger, vulnerability and humor come out. That’s why we look forward to listening to Eminem’s lyrics and finding out where the hell he’s headed next.”

Downloadable Audiobooks -- New at the Library

Members of the library can now download audiobooks and listen to them with their computers or portable music players-without leaving home.

More than 150 popular and award-winning audiobook titles of the most popular genres are now available for download. More titles will be added later this year. The collection will be shared by members of the libraries of Côte Saint-Luc, Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Pointe Claire, and is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Côte Saint-Luc is the first of the cities to launch the service. Pointe Claire is expected to launch on April 23 and Dollard-des-Ormeaux will launch later this year.

Library members need the free Overdrive Media Console software for their Windows or Macintosh computer. Once that is installed, members can visit www.elcslpl.org to browse or search the downloadable audiobook collection, select one, and proceed to checkout-just as one would at an online store. Members then download a small file, which the Overdrive Media Console software uses to download the audiobook files. Members can play and organize the audiobooks from inside the software.

The audiobooks are in the MP3 or WMA file formats. All files can be played on a computer and most can be transferred to and played on portable audio players, such as the iPod or Zune. Some audiobooks can also be copied to a CD data disc. The MP3 and WMA files are protected with digital rights management (DRM), which allows users to listen to the file for a limited time. Once the files expire, they won't work if you try to listen to them.

Library members can check out up to three downloadable audiobooks at a time and choose a 1-week or 2-week loan period.

The library has approximately 4,500 audiobooks on CD cassette. Downloadable audiobooks are the next step in the evolution of audiobooks.

Côte Saint-Luc Reads -- The Disappeared

I am so excited about this! The Disappeared is this years CSL Reads pick! It was not an easy feat choosing a book to follow Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes, the CSL Reads book for 2009! Many a book was read, discussed and eliminated by staff members in the CSL Reads committee. Finally, we came across this book! It has all the elements that we were searching for in a CSL Reads book! Happy were we when the author Kim Echlin accepted our invitation to come speak to us about her book. She’ll be here at the library to Launch CSL Reads 2010 on the evening of Thursday April 29. Tickets are on sale at the Circulation desk. Get yours today before we run out!

When I was reading this book, I could not put it down. I actually read it in one sitting! Luckily it is not too big a book! It is so sad in places, I even cried. The story is set in the 1970s, first in Montreal, then in Cambodia, in the time of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. It is an amazing love story, written in the first person by Anne, a Montrealer, who falls desperately in love with Serey from Cambodia, who is studying in Montreal. Anne’s love for Serey shines through the pages, and you want them to be together, but you know that Serey’s urge to return to his devastated homeland makes it impossible. There’s a real sense of despair. At certain points, I wanted to reach into the book and tell Anne to wake up and move on as he was a lost cause!

I don't want to tell you anything more about the story - you have to read it for yourself. But I do have to say that Echlin's descriptions of the genocide and aftermath in Cambodia are heart-wrenching. I found myself feeling thankful for being born in Canada as I read this novel. I knew about the atrocities that took place in Cambodia on a superficial level, but The Disappeared made me familiar on a much deeper level. This novel will shake you up. It is well worth reading.

Book of the Month - Cutting for Stone

A book that has left such a deep and long-lasting impression on me is this month’s Book of the Month, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Unfortunately for me, powerhouse novels such as this, is a rarity, so when I do stumble across one, I am completely blown away by its masterful storytelling.

Briefly, this monumental tale begins with Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a beautiful South Asian nun, who gives birth to conjoined twins in a mission hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Their mother dies and the father, a British surgeon named Thomas Stone disappears. Thus sets the stage for this epic saga, chronicling the lives of twin brothers, Marion and Shiva Stone.

Separated at birth, the twins grow up in Ethiopia, during the tumultuous reign of Emperor Haile Selasisse, and it is here that Verghese introduces the reader to the ancient and exotic world of Ethiopia with all its flavors, colors, scents and sounds. These vivid descriptions of Ethiopian history and culture are wonderfully balanced with the rich and intriguing descriptions of the main characters in the novel: Indian expatriate doctors raising their adopted twin sons, born to an Indian nun and American surgeon, with the help of an Eritrean caretaker and her own daughter – a girl, whose impact on the boys’ lives is very profound and irreversible.

Major themes like the nature of love and loss, separation and displacement; Christianity and the ministry of healing are masterfully handled, and never overshadow the fact that this is, at its core, the absolutely unforgettable story of two brothers, Shiva and Marion.

Monday Murder Mystery

Here are a couple of who done its to tickle your fancy....

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Crawlspace: / by Sarah Graves.
Six years after the alleged death of murderer Randy Dodd, true-crime writer Jake Tiptree and her assistant journey to the city of Eastport to investigate suspicions that Dodd faked his death, an effort that is challenged by sinister threats and the abduction of Jake's son.

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The Man from Beijing / by Henning Mankell
From the internationally acclaimed author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries comes an extraordinary stand-alone novel - both a mystery and a sweeping drama - that traces the legacy of the nineteenth-century slave trade between China and America.

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City of Dragons / by Kelli Stanley.
Discovering a murdered body during San Francisco's 1940 Chinese New Year celebration, private investigator Miranda Corbie ignores a precinct edict to cover up the case and pursues leads in Chinatown tenements, a Little Osaka tailor shop and a high-class bordello.

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The Fourth Assassin / by Matt Beynon Rees.
Arriving to visit his son in a heavily Palestinian area of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Omar Yussef discovers the beheaded body of one of the boy's roommates and when his son is arrested as a suspect, Omar must prove his innocence.

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Cemetery Road / Gar Anthony
When Errol 'Handy' White returns to his native Los Angeles to attend the funeral of his old friend R. J. Burrow, who has been brutally murdered, a terrible secret threatens to reveal itself.


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Murder in the Palais Royal /by Cara Black.
Accused of shooting her partner, Aimée Leduc must also contend with the fact that someone is impersonating her, a taxman is investigating her firm, and two murders may have a connection to the youth Aimée sent to prison.

Nathalie Cooke dishes about Great Canadian Food

Great Canadian food may sound like a paradox to some. I must confess mea culpa. The dish that first came to my mind was poutine - not necessarily haute cuisine but a pretty good guilty pleasure once every blue moon.

If there is anyone who might know about great Canadian food, it would surely be Professor Nathalie Cooke from McGill University. Cooke (whose last name is so perfect for someone who researched and discusses the culture and history of cuisine) will be at our library this Thursday February 11th at 6:30 p.m. to unravel the rich culture, history and practices of Canadian cuisine in her lecture Great Canadian Food and Food Stories.

Cooke recently penned the book What’s to Eat? Entrées in Canadian Food History which takes an introspective approach to Canada’s food history and culture explaining how present day practices such as the slow food movement and buying locally are invariably linked to the past. As Cooke explains, the book primarily centres itself with: “what Canadians eat, did eat and what our meals tell us about ourselves”. She is also the Editor in Chief of Cuizine: The (e) journal of Canadian Food Cultures.

In her lecture, Cooke will share her zest for iconically Canadian cuisine and explain its origins taking her audience on a gastronomic, cultural and historical journey throughout the country.

Tickets are three dollars for this event and can be purchased either at the Main Circulation Desk or at the door the night of the lecture.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Book of the month - Mistress of Nothing

Imagine immersing yourself in nineteenth century England, where you are the lady’s maid of an aristocratic figure in society. Life in England is only difficult because the Lady you are serving is someone who is struggling with a debilitating illness---tuberculosis. The only relief your Lady gets from the sickness is when she is in a relatively hot climate, for living in damp and chilly England is not a solution. This is where we are introduced to Sally and her Lady, Lucie Duff Gordon.

Gordon plans to spend a year or two in Egypt, to see if this will bring some kind of temporary cure for her condition. The story of their travel down to the country of pyramids and tombs is told through Sally’s voice and is seen through her eyes. Even though Sally is Gordon’s maid, we get a sense of an old friendship between the two women as they share the sights and sounds of Alexandria, Luxor and the Nile.

They hire Omar as a personal guide for their Egyptian tour, while they learn the Arabic language, undo their suffocating Victorian stays and clothe themselves in the free flowing fabrics of the exotic Middle East.

The novel takes us to a wonderful foreign place of sand storms and Arabian culture, political unrest and conflicts within Sally herself. As a single woman in her late twenties/early thirties, Sally is not only considered a lady’s maid, but an “Old Maid”. She has devoted herself to serve Lady Duff Gordon till the end, which indicates that she has accepted her fate of living in celibacy. Her frame of mind slowly starts to change once they set foot in Egypt. When Sally finds she has feelings for Omar, she betrays Lady Duff Gordon in ways that are unthinkable to the dying woman and she must face the harsh consequences of her actions.

I loved the vocabulary in the book and trying to figure out if Sally’s ties to Omar and her Lady will ever be reconciled. I did not want to put the book down because I always wanted to know where they would go next and how the story would unfold, especially when there is a severe break in communication between the two women. The novel begs you to ask if keeping secrets from those close to you will only damage the relationship or save it. If you love Victorian Literature then this is the book for you. I thought this novel was enjoyable and a fast read!