BOOK: Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis, 312 pages

4th Canadian Book Challenge; Canada Reads 2011

I have found the perfect book for my brother-in-law to read. He used to work for a Liberal MP, so this book, about a reluctant politician of the Liberal persuasion as narrated by his back-room Liberal manager, should entertain him to no end. Plus, the book is very funny, with lots of word-play as befitting the winner of the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour (2008).

I liked this book and found it funny. I also, at times, found it slow and predictable. I can see why people would love this book - satire of Canadian politics, great word-play, the underdog/idealist takes on the establishment, I can also see why people may not like the book - wide-eyed innocent makes all the right decisions, plays on words and continual jokes, chess games over and over, caricatures of stock characters. Part of my problem was it took me all week to read the book (starting the new semester is tiring) so I had lots of time to be thinking about the book. But then, I still blame the book itself if it took me a long time to read because something in the book made me slow down while reading, or made me a tad reluctant to pick it up again. I'm not a fan of books that slow me down - I don't want to savor and think over things. Keep me moving book! Then again, this is not the book's fault - my brain and the book just aren't completely connected.

I'm completely on the fence with this one - there is an aspect of the book I really enjoyed, and I also found it predictable and repetitive.

also reviewed: buried in print,  lavender lines,

Final ranking for Canada Reads for me:
1. tie: Unless and Essex County - each so very different, and each so very good
2. Best Laid Plans - has the humor and satire, it really is a good book
3. The Birth House - I remember liking this one a few years ago, but didn't leave a big enough impression
4. The Bone Cage - still a good book, but not one I've vote for.

BOOK: Essex County Vol 1 &Vol 2 by Jeff Lemire

Canada Reads 2011 novels and defenders have been announced. I've previously read one (The Birth House by Ami MacKay, summer 2008), and had already picked up Essex County by Jeff Lemire from the library before it was announced. I have Unless by Carol Shields from the library now and am 7th in line for Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis. The last nominee, The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou is not at the library yet, but I expect them to get all the books in soon, as the Canada Reads are quite popular.

Essex County Vol 1; Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire,

Graphic Novel Challenge; 4th CBC Challenge; Canada Reads 2011 Nominee

Lester is living on the farm with his uncle. He wants to be a superhero. He's dealing with life. Very cute and touching. I actually read this volume after I read volume 2, but I liked knowing who Jimmy LeBeuf was, and all his back story that is explained in Volume 2 as Jimmy befriends young Lester. Lemire included a comic book written by Lester, but was in fact credited at the beginning with a nine year old Lemire. It looked like an actual  child's drawing, so I wondered.

Essex County Vol 2; Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire, 125 pages

Graphic Novel Challenge; 4th CBC Challenge; Canada Reads 2011 Nominee

Such a great Canadian book! The country kids moving to the big city, the isolation of living in a city among so many people and yet being alone; plus the hockey. Does nearly every Canadian community have someone who played their one game in the NHL? Or someone who could have made the NHL, except. The second volume is much more involved than the first book, with the strained relationships between the brothers who played hockey. It covers a much longer time period and more involved plot.

I never know how to describe the drawings. I am always impressed with how the authors of graphic novels are able to show so much of the characters and the story with their drawings, along with the written word. Lemire is no exception.

I am looking forward to Volume 3, The County Nurse.

BOOK: Fear the Worst and The Murder Stone

Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay, 399 pages

RIP V; 4th Canadian Book Challenge

Barclay delivers with another great thriller.(See previous books read: No Time for Goodbye and Too Close to Home) In this one, a father worries when his seventeen year old daughter goes missing. As he begins to look for her, the 'job' she travelled to everyday has never heard of her. Dun, dun Dun! 

Solid, realistic, with characters who feel believable, if a little impulsive and not willing to explain  what they are doing, Barclay is a reliable RIP novelist.

also reviewed: kerrie at mysteries in paradise;  joy at thoughts of joy;

The Murder Stone by Louise Penny, 414 pages; 4th of 6 in the series
*published as A Rule Against Murder in US

RIP V; 4th Canadian Book Challenge

Series books are tough to review, since you can't tell too much, and so much of a good series is the development of the main characters.

What I like about the series? Inspector Gamache is a wonderful detective and person, almost a little too perfect, but I'd want him on my case. The setting of Quebec, the recurring characters, Gamache's investigative team all combine with Penny's prose to provide an enjoyable read.

This book? I actually like this one a little bit better, although it wasn't set in Three Pines, so few of the recurring characters were around, although there is a connection to Three Pines. There was also little of the arching story line involving Gamache and his boss. Gamache is on vacation with his wife at an exclusive type lodge in the forests of Quebec. A large family arrives for its annual reunion, but they aren't very nice people, even to each other. Lots of motive for when one of them is killed in a closed door mystery - somebody at the lodge has to be the killer.

BOOK: Room by Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue, 321 pages

4th CBC Challenge (Donaoghue lives in Canada now ); Man Booker Shortlisted 2010; New Author Challenge; RIP V Challenge

Believe the hype - this was a great read. Jack, the five year old narrator, shows us his world, mostly in a 9' X 9' Room with his mother. Such a memorable character and unique voice. I devoured this book in the past 24 hours, was taken on an emotional roller coaster, and shall recommend it to others.

also reviewed by :
Wendy at caribousmom
lizzy at lizzy's literary life
joy at thoughts of joy
kailana at the written world
s. krishna at s.krishna's books
jackie at farmlane books

BOOK: The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery

The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery, 264 pages

Colourful Challenge; 4th CBC Challenge

Such a sweet story with a 1980s retro cover that would inspire no one to read it, unless you've been hanging around the internets. I've been reading some recent reviews of and references to The Blue Castle and it inspired me to reread it. (Plus, it finished off the Colourful Challenge for me.) Even though I knew the main twists in the story, my enjoyment could not have been higher. It was fun to read it again, looking for all the clues that were dropped.

The story: Valencey Stirling is a 29 year old, old maid. This was written in 1926 so that was the phrase of the day, and also, it means she has not fulfilled her role in life. Poor Doss, as her family calls her, is put upon and made fun of, while she comments in her head all the things she wishes she could say. When she receives a dire health prognosis, she decides to live like she hasn't been. Her family is mightily confused by her sudden backbone, and she is finally, blissfully happy. There is much more to the story, but if I told more, you might not have the fun of reading it too.

It's a romance, a feel good read, and although it's predictable, it's absolutely wonderful. Many LM fans like The Blue Castle best. Also, it's a musical written by Hank Stinson. If you ever get a chance to see this performed, please do.

 Get a head start on the 4th Canadian Book Challenge:
I picked up a copy (with the equally old fashioned cover) at our local Walmart, because we can do that on Prince Edward Island. Would someone like a copy? I so love this book, I'd like to send it to someone else to share the enjoyment and love of LM Montgomery and Valency Stirling. I'll take requests for a week in the comments (make sure I can contact you somehow) and then draw a name after October 9th..
Good luck!

ps - there are already comments on this post, so please wait a moment for the comments to load.

BOOK: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, 431 pages

4th CBC Challenge; It's the End of the World Challenge; Giller longlist 2009

(The cover is gorgeous! See that face?)
Teenagers are such interesting creatures. I had this book on my desk for Silent Reading period (which we still do in high school) and a student saw it. He said Oryx and Crake was one of his favorite books. Wow, not a book or author I'd expect many sixteen year old boys to like. I was pleased a few days later to be able to tell him that Oryx and Crake had just showed up  in this book. I'll have to lend this book to him. And now I have to find my copy of Oryx and Crake to try. I was scared last year by some mixed reviews, but now that I am familiar with the world, I may attempt it. The Year of the Flood is a companion novel to Oryx and Crake, so not necessary to read one before the other, and I believe they are now described as being part of a trilogy.

What I like about dystopian novels is the way authors imagine a world, similar to ours, but more extreme. You can see how life has evolved to this new state of spliced animals like the liolambs or rakunks. This novel is sometime in the future, after the Waterless Flood, which appears to be a pandemic virus that kills only humans. Two women, Ren and Toby, who ended up in an isolation situation, survived the flood. Both were previously members of The Gardeners, a cult based on respecting animals and the Earth. Each chapter begins with a sermon, and a song. I usually sang the song in my head with typical hymn music.  The Gardeners honor their saints each day, based on naturalists or well known people from now. For example, Saint David Suzuki and Saint Terry Fox, plus so many more that I didn't even recognize. I imagined The Gardeners were like PETA in the future, as they completely avoided any animal products.

Ren and Toby alternate chapters to show how they ended up in the place they did from their time in The Gardeners. There are so many issues to discuss in this novel - the Corporations who run the world, the gene splicing, the extinct animals, what a person can do to survive when absolutely necessary. I also found the book quite humorous, not in one-liners, but somehow it was funny. Toby was a bit of a cynic so she was sarcastic and funny in her head as she dealt with the strong believers.

The story runs along nicely, back and forth in time, very easy to want to keep reading. The women were strong, but I did feel a slight detachedness from them. I cared what happened but I wasn't emotionally attached to them. It seemed a tad coincidental that the only people who survived were all connected somehow, rather convenient. The ending was rather ambiguous as well, but it didn't bother me as much as it might have - it was hopeful, as I like my dystopian novels to be.

In honour of the 30th anniversay of the Terry Fox Runs this past week:
Saint Terry's Day is dedicated to all Wayfarers - prime among them Saint Terry Fox who ran so far with one mortal and one metallic leg; who set a shining example of courage in the face of overwhelming odds; who showed what eh human body can do in the way of locomotion without fossil fuels; who raced against Mortality, and in the end outran his own Death, and lives on in Memory. p 403


also reviewed:
rhinoa at rhinoa's ramblings
leeswammes' blog
jules at jules' book review 
softdrink at fizzy thoughts
wendy at caribousmom
kailana and chrisbookarama buddy read
lori at she treads softly

BOOK: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston, 562 pages

4th Canadian Book Challenge; Giller Shortlist 1998

Newfoundland joined Canada in 1948 after a referendum. Joey Smallwood was the first premier of Newfoundland, which made him a Father of Confederation. He died in 1991. That about sums up my knowledge of Newfoundland history, in relation to Canada, at least until I read this book. Johnston has written a book for Newfoundland that covers the life of Joey Smallwood, born in 1900.

It's epic, as is Newfoundland.

On the other hand, I was an islander. I wondered, if like [my father], I would be so bewildered by the sheer unknowable, unencompassable size of the world that I would have to come back home. How could you say for certain where you were, where home left off and away began, if the earth that you were standing on went on forever, as it must have seemed to him, in all directions? For an islander, there had to be natural limits, gaps, demarcations, not just artificial ones on a map. p 132

I, living on an island, completely understand this passage. Johnston has a way of letting the reader see Newfoundland, along the railway, in the outports, or in St.John's. And Joey Smallwood was a Newfoundlander to the core. Based on the wikipedia article, he described his character and all the conflicts in Smallwood very well. I had to read the article to get an idea of what was real and what wasn't. 

Here's what I was surprised wasn't real. The main conflict for Smallwood, other than wanting to be remembered for something, was his obsession with a local reporter, Sheilagh Fielding. They had gone to school together and an incident, reminiscent of Robertson Davis' Fifth Business, haunts them. Smallwood was from the wrong side of the tracks but was given a chance to attend a tony prep school and always wanted to be famous, to show 'them' he was worth something. The incident with Prowse (the rich guy), Fielding, and Smallwood makes up a bit of a mystery that stitches its way through the novel. But Fielding wasn't a real person. I didn't like that. She was an obsession for Smallwood. He was almost portrayed as asexual, except for his dealings with Fielding. This seemed to go against his character and if I was a family member, this would bother me. His real wife, Clara, is barely mentioned in the story.

The Fielding character provides the humour for sure. Her articles were dry and biting.  She was also writing a concise history of Newfoundland, and I'd love to read her take on the history of any province, or Canada. It certainly could have livened up Canadian history in high school if it had been written by Fielding.

I liked how the author managed to include a lot of Smallwood's real life, and it was his interactions with the people of Newfoundland that I liked best. The real history, not the made up stuff. The made up stuff was well written, with a mystery that I didn't suspect but was rationally explained, with fascinating characters. I just didn't think it belonged in the book. Once I realized Fielding was a made up character, I questioned everything, which defeats the point of a historical novel for me. I would encourage any one interested in Newfoundland history to have a look at this epic novel, but to be aware that not all is true. (And I know, it's fiction, but historical fiction should not make up major parts.)

BOOK: The Girls - Lori Lansens

It's Orange July, time to read a book or two that have been nominated for the Orange Prize. I've chosen a Canadian nominee from 2007, Lori Lansens and her wonderful book, The Girls. For more info on the Orange Prize Project, check out the blog or the Facebook page.

The Girls - Lori Lansens, 457 pages

Orange July: longlist 2007; Countdown Challenge: 2005; 4th Canadian Book Challenge

Ruby and Rose are 29 year old conjoined twins. Rose is writing her autobiography, and Ruby writes a few chapters to be fit in between Rose's. The two sisters have extremely distinctive voices, as Rose is a writer, trying to tell her story, putting thought into what she is telling, while Ruby writes much more straightforward, more like a child's diary. The two views of similar events are a wonderful technique to show the girls different personalities and take on life.

The story is not huge, just the story of their remarkable, yet unremarkable life. Living in a small town in southern Ontario, they have a small circle of family and acquaintances, even while being well known. The writing was wonderful, and I couldn't put it down. I like a book that has some foreshadowing of events so I am not too startled and the two sisters tell their story very differently, and in different order. Nicely done.

I've already passed this book along to my sister, and I am now looking forward to Lori Lansens other book, The Wife's Tale.

also reviewed: Apprentice Writer , suzi at whimpulsive , lynn at lynn's little corner, terri at reading, writing, and retirement,

BOOK: A Tangled Web by LM Montgomery

A Tangled Web by LM Montgomery, 257 pages (marginally challenged*)

1930s Mini-Challenge (published in 1931); 4th Canadian Book Challenge

A great find - an LM book I hadn't read before. All the characters you love to see are here - the confirmed bachelors, the old maids, the stubborn star-crossed lovers who haven't spoken in ten years, a mistreated orphan, and the crotchety aunt who speaks the truth with a sharp tongue. The main story here is that Aunt Becky has decided to leave the family heirloom to someone when she dies, but it won't be announced until a year after her death. She sets out a few guidelines (no swearing, must be married, no drinking) which cause the two clans, the Darks and the Penhallows, to, in some cases, radically change their behaviour.

LM keeps a large cast of characters unique, interacting, and easy to follow. I enjoyed most of the storylines although some were predictable. LM has a few story lines that she follows, but I enjoy her books because of the predictability. So I knew where the orphan would end up, which couples would get together but not who would get the family jug. She did a great job of the ending, tying up the story lines and surprising me as well. There is an unfortunate last paragraph that is quite jarring and offensive that could so easily be changed without changing the story. Other than that disappointing moment, A Tangled Web is a delightful Montgomery book.

* marginally challenged: a book with very little space between lines (likely, it's a public domain book/classic) giving deceivingly few pages to read