Book of the Month - The Angel's Game

I’ve been absolutely dying to get my hands on Carols Ruiz Zafón’s latest oeuvre since the second I put down his last one, Shadow of the Wind. Zafón is a master storyteller, loved the world over. With brilliantly woven plots, vivid characterization, and finely crafted language, his works are destined to become classics.

The Angel’s Game is a gothic tale set in 1920s Barcelona. The main character David Martin, a young novelist, gets lured away from his pulp fiction career by a mysterious publisher who makes him an offer he can’t refuse. The commission is simple: David is to invent a religion and create a book for which “people will live and die”. Working out of a decrepit and poorly lit house bought with the proceeds of his Faustian bargain, he slowly unravels, becoming harder to penetrate and increasingly obsessed. He is also afraid – afraid of the man with the cat-slit eyes and angel pin to whom he in essence gives his soul.

This book has atmosphere, dark teetering on disturbing but not quite crossing that line. It is compelling. It is rich. It has turns of phrase that cry out to be copied into a notebook and preserved. One sips and savors this book and does not simply read it.

Book of the Month - Book of Negroes

The Book of Negroes is an award winning novel written by Canadian Laurence Hill. It chronicles the life story of Aminata Diallo. Told in first person her story begins as she is in the last chapter of her life. She recounts the memories of her childhood in West Africa and tells us of her abduction, the march to the sea, her life as a slave in South Carolina, her trials and tribulations right up until her eventual freedom in London, England where she records her name in the historic British ledger “Book of Negroes”. It is a poignant story that does not soften the realities of what life might have been like for many people who were torn from their families and forced into labor.

This brilliant book won the 2008 Commonwealth Writer’s prize and the 2007 Rogers Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize. It was also chosen to be the Canada reads for 2009. The Eleanor London Cote Saint Luc Public Library is honored to have Mr. Hill speak at the Library June 18, 2009.

If you have not had the chance to read this book then come in and let us know.

Book of the Month - Eva's Threepenny Theatre

In 1928, Canadian author Andrew Steinmetz’s great-aunt Eva performed in the first workshop production of Bertolt Brecht’s masterpiece The Threepenny Opera.. He has written a fictional tribute of her life and what it could have been like.

We relive Eva’s life beginning with her childhood in Germany, her schooling as an actress and her introduction to the philosophies of Brecht. We learn that Eva and her brother fled Germany to escape Nazi rule with Eva eventually living in Canada.

This is a remarkable but fantastic read. It is a fictionalized memoir. Steinmetz’s writing brings us right into their lives with bits and pieces of the play intersected.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Last books I read? Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Something a little sad? I’d never read either of them before.

Lately I’ve been feeling pretty drawn to Classics that, until now, I’d overlooked. Purposely. Why do I do this to myself? It was the same when I was in school and refused to read Shakespeare; the same when I got to University and rebelled against the prospect of reading Timothy Findley and Robertson Davies. It seems to be a lesson that I have to learn again and again: these authors, these books that are not only studied, but read and passed down from generation to generation have been passed down for a reason: they’re good!

The truth of it is that, generally, something that gets elevated to Classic status is basically a sure thing: Huck Finn has not been being read and re-read for over a hundred years only because of the hype, and Treasure Island still stands as the template for every good pirate/shipwreck/adventure story ever made because Long John Silver rules.

All this to say: I enjoyed following Alice into her dreams so much that I’ve extended my reading list: there’s the fantabulous Mr. Roald Dahl (anything by him, really); P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins; Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz; Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie; Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking; and in the non-fiction section (j398.2, j398.21) in kids’ we have stories of King Arthur, Brer Rabbit, some of Hans Christian Anderson’s favorites, like Sleeping Beauty and The Princess and the Pea… and so much more that I plan on being buried under a mound of books for the foreseeable future.

Book of the Month - The Book of Unholy Mischief

I am forever on the lookout for books like The Historian, Shadow of the Wind, and People of the Book. I love the mix of European history, books, and unfurling revelations. Finding read-alikes is a wonderful, though not straightforward thing. How do you recapture, let alone articulate, how a book made you feel? When I picked up The Book of Unholy Mischief, I got what I was looking for. It had all the right ingredients.

A historical novel set in Venice in the late fifteenth-century, this tale is about loyalty, corruption, growing up, food, secrets, and of course, power. The narrator is Luciano, a former street orphan who was taken in by a chef in a grand house. His voice is that of an experienced man looking back, and we follow him as he recounts how he sought love, forged his identity, and tried to unravel the mystery surrounding his master and an ancient book, about which all of Venice is abuzz. Throughout the novel we both recognize and applaud his cleverness and determination, but feel the strain as he makes (not always the right) choices. The book is imbued with the quest for immortality on many levels as well, not just of people but of secrets and knowledge, and their transmission from teacher to pupil through the ages.

Book of the Month - Little Giant of Aberdeen County

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, by Tiffany Baker is the story of Truly Plaice, an unusually large child who enormous size killed her mother during childbirth. Her sister Serena Jane is her opposite, petite and pretty and perfect. When their father, who never quite recovers from the loss of his wife also dies the the two sisters are separated, sent to live with different families. Truly is made an outcast by her size and her inability (and, occasionally, her refusal) to fit in. In more ways than one, she just doesn’t fit the mold; that makes life in a small town difficult, to say the least. The book follows Truly into womanhood and when her sister, Serena Jane flees a loveless marriage to the town doctor, it is Truly who comes to her brother-in-law's rescue and becomes the woman of the house. Family secrets ensue and Truly finds some answers and love in unexpected places .This is a good read, filled with interesting characters as well as a touch of magic.

A graduate; though remembered for a grand disc

Thirteen lucky tracks fall under the creative control of Kanye West, rapper, producer and fashion man extraordinaire. Graduation is one of a select few albums that I can listen to time and time and time again, from start to finish.

Whether he is starting it off in sharp form with "Good Morning" or slightly more mellow with "Champion" - his beats make me move and groove and cause good food for thought with his rhymes. A whole host of guests are featured; from T-Pain to Lil Wayne, the intelligent Mos Def, Dwele and DJ Premiere and, of course, Chris Martin on the melodic and marvellous "Homecoming."

One does have to have a predilection for the distinct personal perspective Kayne West has and enjoy his sharp delivery. And then, when these two basics are satisfied, one can safely count this as a super solid disc to borrow from the expanding collection of Hip Hop at your favourite local library.