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BOOKS
Staff Pick - Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Submitted by The Reader on 02.3.12 at 7:01am.
Dark family secrets brought Irma Voth, an eighteen year old, and her family from Canada to live in a Mennonite community in Chihuahua Mexico. They appear to live in another place and time, living simply and tending to cattle.
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5 Fiction Titles to Watch for in February
Submitted by The Reader on 02.2.12 at 7:01am.
Already read all the new titles from our ones to watch for post last month?
Wondering what the buzz is for this month?
Here are 5 new novels that you should keep your eye out for in February.
A Good American (M)
by Alex George (February 7)
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George Elliot Clarke and El Jones at Halifax Public Libraries
Submitted by The Reader on 02.1.12 at 6:31am.
African Heritage Month is here! It is a time for celebration and reflection.
Halifax Public Libraries are very pleased to have wordsmiths George Elliot Clarke and El Jones appearing at our North Branch Library on Wednesday evening, February 2nd.
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Profile: Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin
Submitted by The Reader on 01.31.12 at 6:45am.
Joe O'Loughlin (M) is a fictitious crime solving clinical psychologist created by Australian author Michael Robotham.
The series began in 2005 with the novel The Suspect (M), which garnered much praise around the world.
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Staff Pick - My Antonia by Willa Cather
Submitted by The Reader on 01.30.12 at 6:40am.
Published in 1918 My Antonia (M) by Willa Cather is considered to be one of her best novels. If you, like me, grew up devouring books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (M), you will certainly appreciate My Antonia.
Narrator, Jim Burden, travels to Black Hawk, Nebraska following the death of his parents to...
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What are we talking about, again?
Submitted by The Reader on 01.27.12 at 6:41am.
For a while, I used to write posts for the Reader under the theme of "Six Degrees of the Library Collection". They were fun little posts that connected authors and titles found at the library, through commonalities and links between the books or the writers. I recently noticed something that is m...
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Dear All and All
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.26.12 at 8:07am.
Dear fellow bloggers and commentors and lurkers and all and all,
I am taking a blog break. I have to. I really want to get this book as good as I can before the first of March. I intended to start sending it out the first of February but due to the process I alluded to in my last post, that won'...
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Read Your Way Around the World - Sudan
Submitted by The Reader on 01.26.12 at 6:48am.
Read Your Way Around the World invites you to Sudan. Sudan is a large and ethnically diverse country with Arabic as the dominant language and a long history of conflict and civil war.
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Staff Pick- Chinaberry Sidewalks : a memoir by Rodney Crowell
Submitted by The Reader on 01.25.12 at 6:57am.
Rodney Crowell is a singer songwriter from Houston. Early in his career he was championed by likes of Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. He later broke into the Nashville mainstream in1988, with a string five consecutive top ten country hits from his album Diamonds and Dirt.
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Tuesday Challenge - structure, structure, structure
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.24.12 at 8:21am.
Yes, I'm getting my query package together. It is zooming right along. I have a plan and a girl with a plan is a good thing. Bu.......t! Part of doing this is to write several synopses and in doing that I stumbled upon - no, I didn't stumble upon it - a structure cheat sheet was given to me by M...
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Author Reading: Under the Same Sky by Genevieve Graham
Submitted by The Reader on 01.24.12 at 6:47am.
Local author Genevieve Graham has penned a fantastic debut novel, Under the Same Sky (M). A historical romance novel set in Colonial America and Scotland, it tells the heart wrenching story of lovers Maggie and Andrew. It is a wining combination of fast paced adventure, compelling characters, an ...
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Who they are! What they want! How to Win them Over!
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.23.12 at 8:18am.
Who They Are? - agents, publishers, editors.
What they want? - hm mm...I think they want to do well at their work, make names for their clients and find gems that others have overlooked. Maybe they just want to be left alone because they are far too busy already. Some of them want to garden, or ...
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2011 Edgar Awards nominees
Submitted by The Reader on 01.23.12 at 6:31am.
The Edgar Award nominees for 2011 have been announced. There are a number of categories each with five nominees. The winners will be announced in April. For now, to keep you busy until then, here is the shortlist for the Edgar Award - Best Novel.
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The Story Prize: the best of US short fiction
Submitted by The Reader on 01.20.12 at 6:38am.
The Story Prize finalists for 2011 have been chosen. This award has been around since 2004 and is described as such: "an annual book award honoring the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up will receive $5,000. Eligible books must b...
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Stanzas in the Stacks
Submitted by The Reader on 01.19.12 at 6:39am.
Ever wonder what it’s like to be in the library after it closes? Halifax Poet Laureate Tanya Davis did, and she approached the Spring Garden Road Library with a program idea that would settle her curiosity. The result is Stanzas in the Stacks: Poetry in the Library After Dark.
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Staff Pick - The Astral by Kate Christensen
Submitted by The Reader on 01.18.12 at 6:57am.
Harry Quirk in Kate Christensen's The Astral (M) finds himself stripped of everything at age 57 and forced into the position to either reclaim or to rebuild his life. Thirty years of marriage to Luz ends with her unfounded suspicion that Harry is having an affair with his long-time friend Marion.
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Mighty Mayors
Submitted by The Reader on 01.17.12 at 6:53am.
I admit that the idea for this post came from The Coast articles of January 5, 2012. The main theme of that week's The Coast was what would make a good mayor, including a piece on fictional mayors. I was reminded of a few books that I have read in which the mayor was the main character.
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Where I Am Today on my Journey
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.16.12 at 8:44am.
It is bright and sunny and, I imagine, cold. I have plenty of clients this week and a course to give at the university. In other words - a full slate.
Today I'm meeting my editor to discuss next steps with the book. For all of you who thrill at the words 'my editor' let me explain. My editor isn...
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Things You Never Thought You'd Be When You Grew up
Submitted by The Reader on 01.16.12 at 6:28am.
Typographer, gravedigger, grifter .... may not be what most children will tell you they will be when they grow up. The subjects of the memoirs below managed to get there and those paths lead to some engaging stories.
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Superstitious Feeling
Submitted by The Reader on 01.13.12 at 6:41am.
Today's post is brought to you by the number 13. As in Friday the 13th, a special day for the more superstitious among us. I am crossing my fingers that writing this post doesn't bring me bad luck (knock on wood). Listed below are two novels and two short story collections that feature a central ...
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Canadian True Crime
Submitted by The Reader on 01.12.12 at 7:07am.
True Crime is a genre that has been popular throughout the years that I have worked in libraries - and I am sure it always will be. Since the start of the New Year, there have been a lot of reports in the newspapers on crime and the problem it presents to society.
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Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction - 2011 shortlist
Submitted by The Reader on 01.11.12 at 6:40am.
The Charles Taylor Prize commemorates Charles Taylor's pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction. The prize will be awarded to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
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Tuesday Challenge - beyond concepts
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.10.12 at 8:54am.
A short challenge today - I'm over at the Burrowers going on about the Northern Gateway Pipe-line controversy. Do visit...
This is a two-part exercise. The first is to sit quietly and calm your mind. When it is calmed down a bit from all its discurviness, I want you to listen.
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Where Genesis Begins by Tom Dawe - Newfoundland and Labrador's Heritage and History Book Award winne
Submitted by The Reader on 01.10.12 at 6:55am.
Poet Tom Dawe has won the 2011 Heritage and History Book award. This award is sponsored by The Historic Sites Associations of Newfoundland and Labrador. The prize is granted to a work of literature that exemplifies excellence in the interpretation of the history and heritage of Newfoundland and L...
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The Joy of Books
Submitted by Crooked House on 01.10.12 at 6:45am.
Just watch: The Joy of Books, via Sara O'Leary and Nathalie Foy on facebook. Gorgeous. Someone commented "I want to like this more than once." Yes.
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Saturday thoughts
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.9.12 at 8:02am.
I'm back at it. Well I have to be if I'm going to keep to my schedule. I want to finish my revision by the fifteenth. I've already set it up with the person who'd editing for me. She'll do a read of the whole thing without touching it - just as a reader this time - and then we'll sit and talk. Fo...
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Tiny Topics
Submitted by The Reader on 01.9.12 at 6:43am.
Even the smallest of things have their stories, and more and more those stories are being told in book form. Science and technical histories are popular these days, and its not just the big things—planets, inventions, social movements—that make for essential reading. Here are a few books on some ...
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Can I drop by for a visit?
Submitted by Vicki Grant's blog on 01.6.12 at 8:23am.
Toronto at the end of January. Is there a lovelier place to be?
No. Not if you get to enjoy the warmth of the Ontario Library Association’s SuperConference. (What a corny line. Clearly, I’ll do anything for a segue.)
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Books For Long Winter Days
Submitted by Field Notes From Cumberland County on 01.6.12 at 8:21am.
Here is a list of my favourite books of 2011.These aren't necessarily books that came out in 2011; they are simply the ones I read this year that I enjoyed the most and have recommended to others. They're listed in no particular order.
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Staff Pick - The King's Speech by Mark Logue
Submitted by The Reader on 01.6.12 at 6:48am.
I wonder if I'm alone in reading The King's Speech (M) by Mark Logue before having seen the movie (M). This is one of those less common cases where the book follows the movie.
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In Memoriam - Josef Škvorecký
Submitted by The Reader on 01.5.12 at 6:45am.
A superstar of Czechoslovakian and Canadian literature has passed away. Josef Škvorecký (M) has lost his fight with cancer at the age of 87.
Josef was born in Czechoslovakia in 1924 and later emigrated to Canada in 1968, at the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
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Insecure Writers' Support Group and The Writers' Prayer
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.4.12 at 8:34am.
Don't you feel all fresh and vigorous after your holiday? You, you over there with kitty litter in your hair? You been sleeping off a thousand shortbread cookies and couldn't stumble to your bed? You watched Bad Santa and thought the main character had some redeeming factors?
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5 Fiction Releases to Watch for in January
Submitted by The Reader on 01.4.12 at 6:44am.
Not only is it a new year, but it's also a new month of course, and so time for the latest peek at some fiction titles to watch for. Here are five that you'll be hearing about in January.
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Tuesday Challenge - pushing through research
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 01.3.12 at 7:52am.
Researching the background of one's novel can be exhilarating by times, or it can be tedious. Sometimes I wonder when I am lost in some web library of information and misinformation on residential schools for Aboriginals in the south-western corner of Alberta, why I bother.
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From the Author Stage - Ami McKay and Kelley Armstrong
Submitted by The Reader on 01.3.12 at 6:22am.
We recently hosted authors Kelley Armstrong and Ami McKay for author readings at two of our branch libraries.
Kelley read from her latest novel Spell Bound (M) to a packed audience at the Keshen Goodman Library in November.
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Whatever Happened to A Very Young Dancer?
Submitted by Crooked House on 01.3.12 at 6:18am.
I vividly remember the first time I saw this book, A Very Young Dancer. It was a rainy October afternoon and I must have been about ten years old. I pulled it off the shelf in the Bookmobile, which was parked in its customary spot in the far corner of the Save-Easy lot, and sat right down on the ...
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The TBR Challenge: Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith
Submitted by The Reader on 12.21.11 at 7:05am.
I looked at the calendar the other day and had a mild moment of panic when I realized the date and my progress in the To Be Read book challenge for 2011. My last post was in September, I've been a little delinquent.
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Tuesday Challenge - the books we keep close
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 12.20.11 at 8:28am.
What books do you keep close to your writing? If you're like me you might have Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, Stephen King's On Writing and about a dozen more writing books. You probably have a good dictionary, Fowler's Modern English Usage and Strunk & White's Elements of Style.
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Read Your Way Around the World - North Pole
Submitted by The Reader on 12.20.11 at 6:38am.
Read Your Way Around the World invites you to the North Pole - but good luck getting there! It's not impossible, of course, if you are in great physical condition, can endure cold weather camping, and have tens of thousands of dollars to spare.
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“A truly hilarious book…”
Submitted by Vicki Grant's blog on 12.19.11 at 8:50am.
And the really good news is that I was actually trying to be hilarious…Here’s the whole fabulous review of Betsy Wickwire’s Dirty Secret from www.canadiangiftguide.com.
“Kudos to Canadian Vicki Grant for writing a truly hilarious book that’ll make you smile while defying all the tropes that ofte...
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Christopher Hitchens – 1949-2011. Thoughts on my hero and inspiration.
Submitted by This Needs To Stop on 12.19.11 at 7:54am.
Today will be filled with memorials of Hitch, and likely more than a few cheers that the strongest opponent of religious tyranny has finally quit the fight.
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Books Into Film: coming soon.
Submitted by The Reader on 12.19.11 at 6:49am.
I knew that the holiday movie season would bring a bunch of blockbusters to the big screen, but when I did a little check in at IMDB.com this week to see about upcoming books-into-film releases, I was bowled over the with selection coming out in just the next few weeks. I'll keep the preamble sho...
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In Memoriam - Russell Hoban, 1925-2011
Submitted by The Reader on 12.16.11 at 7:00am.
Russell Hoban (M), the successful multifaceted author of adult fiction, science fiction, fantasy and children's books, has passed away at the age of 86.
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Literary Non-Fiction - The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize longlist
Submitted by The Reader on 12.15.11 at 7:06am.
This year, for the first time, the Charles Taylor Foundation has announced its longlist. In previous years, this prestigious award for literary nonfiction had only announced its shortlist and winner. Their desire is to bring attention to a greater number of worthy Canadian titles. Last year's win...
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Accidental Adventures
Submitted by The Reader on 12.14.11 at 6:44am.
The holidays are a time when every one seems busy, whether because of celebrations, or the hectic pace that comes through the end of the year's approach. During the holiday season, even more so than at other times of the year, I feel like I'm constantly planning: planning meals, planning gifts, p...
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Tuesday Challenge
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 12.13.11 at 8:36am.
As the New Year approaches the mind goes to goals - to opportunities missed or challenges left undone. I will wait for the actual new year before challenging you to make a new list of goals but today's post will be a getting ready for the same.
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The Library's Buddhist Collection: New Books
Submitted by The Reader on 12.13.11 at 6:57am.
Even if you're not interested in Buddhism, most Haligonians have heard of Shambhala, the school they run in the city's north end, and maybe even the organization's place in the publishing world (Shambhala published two of the books in my list, below).
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Christmas e-Books Novels
Submitted by The Reader on 12.12.11 at 6:37am.
Looking for some holiday themed fiction for your e-reader? Checkout these Christmas stories, all available from the Library's Digital Media Download service.
A Cowboy Christmas
by Janette Kenny
"Reid Barclay doesn't have time for Christmas, not with trouble brewing at the Crown Seven Ranch. He...
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Writer's Workshop: Blast from the Past
Submitted by Rainy Saturday on 12.9.11 at 8:36am.
Today's Writer's Workshop prompt at Mama Kat's is to look back on what we were blogging about last year at this time and see how it's changed. I'm going to do you one better. I'm going back into the old archives - yes, the Livejournal days - as well as my December posts from this blog to see what...
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The Jolly Postman Literary Address Contest
Submitted by Richard Levangie's blog on 12.9.11 at 7:44am.
It’s been an incredibly difficult week, so it’s time for some fun! Let the bells ring out and the banners fly!
Voting is now open for The Jolly Postman Literary Address Contest! I found a great deal to like in each entry, so I’m glad that picking a winner is your job, not mine. The favorite entr...
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Staff Pick - A Book of Secrets by Michael Holroyd
Submitted by The Reader on 12.9.11 at 7:02am.
I first came across Michael Holroyd (M) a few years ago when I read his biography of Augustus John (M). Normally a Holroyd biography is quite an investment in reading time, but definitely worth the effort.
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“The ending is absolutely perfect…”
Submitted by Vicki Grant's blog on 12.8.11 at 8:44am.
And, happily, it sounds like the rest of the book wasn’t so bad either. Here’s an excerpt from an Atlantic Books Today review of Betsy Wickwire’s Dirty Secret.
“This book magnificently conveys the drama and emotional intensity that so often typify the teen experience… Without ever once belittlin...
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Writer's Workshop: Blast from the Past
Submitted by Rainy Saturday on 12.8.11 at 8:05am.
Today's Writer's Workshop prompt at Mama Kat's is to look back on what we were blogging about last year at this time and see how it's changed. I'm going to do you one better. I'm going back into the old archives - yes, the Livejournal days - as well as my December posts from this blog to see what...
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3 Neglected Literary Classics
Submitted by The Reader on 12.8.11 at 7:20am.
The Guardian newspaper's website has a fun series of lists called "The Ten Best". Among the offerings are: ten best graphic novels, the ten best songs based on books, ten best fictional sleuths and ten best neglected literary classics.
From this last list come the following three reading suggest...
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Insecure Writers' Support Group - A Call to Arms!
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 12.7.11 at 8:51am.
Hi, my name is Jan and I'm an insecure writer.
To meet other members of our group go to Alex's site - he has the clubhouse.
I just tried doing a riff off of the 12 step program. I'm a big believer in AA and think it is an effective program. Heck, I know it is. My dad was a member for the last 1...
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Profile: Joe Gunther
Submitted by The Reader on 12.7.11 at 7:07am.
Meet Joe Gunther (M), the lead character in Archer Mayor's long running police procedural mystery series. The first title in the series is Open Season (M), published way back in 1988. Tag Man (M) published in 2011 is book number twenty-two. (Please note that Open Season is currently available as ...
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Tuesday Challenge - counting our blessings
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 12.6.11 at 8:46am.
For today's challenge I have dipped into Write for Your Lives by Joseph Sestito. Sestito is a Buddhist and writes about how Buddhist teachings can inspire creative writing. From the chapter called Using Your Precious Human Life to the Fullest he writes about developing our sense of auspiciousn...
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Ami McKay Reads Tonight at the Spring Garden Road Public Library
Submitted by The Reader on 12.6.11 at 7:20am.
Please come out and join us tonight as we proudly host award winning author Ami McKay.
All are Welcome.
Spring Garden Rd. Memorial Public Library
Tuesday, December 6/7:00 pm
Special thanks to our co-sponsor, The Canada Council for the Arts.
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Where am I and where am I going?
Submitted by Jan Morrison's blog on 12.5.11 at 8:42am.
As this year winds down and I am sixteen days from turning 60 - yep you read that right - my mind turns to what I've accomplished and what paths I still want to explore. I have found one of the most brilliant uses of blogging is for me to state my goals.
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Private Eye Writers of America - 2011 Shamus Awards
Submitted by The Reader on 12.5.11 at 6:22am.
The Shamus Awards are given annually by the Private Eye Writers of America, celebrating the year's best in Private Eye fiction.
Here are this year's winners:
Best Hardcover PI Novel
No Mercy: a mystery (M)
by Lori Armstrong
"Well, technically there is Mercy: Mercy Gunderson, the star of this...
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Ursula Le Guin and the The Aeneid's Lavinia
Submitted by Peter O’Brien on 01.26.10 at 1:27pm.
Lavinia, By Ursula K. Le Guin
Reviewed by Peter O’Brien
Ursula K. Le Guin's career as a creator of alternative realities dates back four decades now. She is perhaps best known for the Earthsea series for young adults, but her oeuvre in adult science fiction and fantasy has a speculat...
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Book Review: Of Canoes, Maritime History, and Friendship
Submitted by Keith McPhail on 12.18.09 at 7:35am.
It’s a little bit of adventure memoir, philosophical retrospective, chronicle of a friendship, historical reflection … and more. As a slim volume, Like an Ever Rolling Stream author Hugh W. McKervill packs this literary trip to the gunwales.
A modest edition by Four East Publications, McKervil...
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Book Review: An Echo in the Bone
Submitted by Carolyn Davison on 12.5.09 at 9:37am.
Diana Gabaldon’s seventh and latest installment, An Echo in the Bone, has enough interrelated tales (five to be exact) to sustain fans through many cold winter nights.
An Echo in the Bone is the continuing historical fiction saga of Clare Randall and Jamie Fraser and their family in 18th cen...
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Book Excerpt: An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon
Submitted by Nicholas Graham on 12.5.09 at 9:42am.
The following is excerpted from the hardcover edition of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. Excerpted by permission of Anchor Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted...
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Memories of home
Submitted by Jera Yin on 04.17.09 at 10:29am.
“Up Home” is a book with a story by Shauntay Grant and artwork by Susan Tooke that is published by Nimbus Publishing. The first thing that strikes you about the book “Up Home” is the beautiful patchwork image that adorns the cover. Symbolic of the stories and memories of growing up, “Up Home” w...
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Stories of Afghanistan from those who know
Submitted by Janus Siebritz on 04.16.09 at 7:49am.
When it comes to understanding the experience of war and conflict in Afghanistan from a distance, one of the only ways to get a grasp the every day challenges faced is from reading the stories of those who were personally involved.
Outside the Wire explores in a very human manner, not only th...
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Mac Maharaj: South African hero
Submitted by Dr. Linda Liebenberg on 02.17.09 at 9:39am.
Anyone interested in South African politics should read this book. This mammoth work of Padraig O’Malley’s provides a vivid account of the past 60 years of South Africa’s history, positioning it around the story of a man who is unflinchingly critical of himself, the movement he served loyally for...
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Margaret Atwood's Debt Plan
Submitted by Dorey Thomas on 01.6.09 at 11:54am.
Payback: Debt and the Shadow side of Wealth
By Margaret Atwood
Because it has appeared at the time of a global economic crisis stemming mainly from an overload of debt, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth has been hailed as timely. Given the prominence Margaret Atwood has given...
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A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano -- an excerpt
Submitted by Topbanana on 12.12.08 at 11:36am.
And then there was the piano, which the National Library had decided to purchase from Gould’s estate. An eight-foot-eleven-and-one-quarter-inch Steinway concert grand, it was known as CD 318 (C to signify its special status as having been put aside for the use of Steinway concert artists, and D d...
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Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano
Submitted by Johanna Graham on 12.12.08 at 11:34am.
When I was about seven years old I played in the local Kiwanis music festival for the first time. I sat down at the piano to play the first notes of “Under the Haycock” and nothing happened. The action of the grand piano’s keys was so stiff my little fingers did not produce any sound at all. I qu...
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The Man Who Made Vermeers
Submitted by Dorey Thomas on 11.15.08 at 10:32am.
On May 29, 1945, Han van Meegeren was arrested
in Amsterdam on the charge that during the Nazi occupation he sold a painting by Jan Vermeer to Herman Goering, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe. This transaction amounted to trading with the enemy, and was in effect an act of collaboration. ...
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Marche on Sanjania
Submitted by Keith McPhail on 11.10.08 at 11:54am.
Wake up armchair travelers! There’s a new country to explore. Stephen Marche’s Shining at the Bottom of the Sea requires only that you get comfortable in your favorite reading chair, flip open the cover and let your eyes do the walking. Marche’s novel isn’t a real travelogue, because it is based ...
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Shining at the Bottom of the Sea, by Stephen Marche: an excerpt
Submitted by Nicholas Graham on 11.10.08 at 12:05pm.
[For the sake of readability and accessibility, the spelling and in some cases the syntax of this story have been normalized.—s.m.]
Wherever they may be, and wherever they may be from, all men do relish a hanging. The Drama of Law, with its Crime and its Punish and its splendid gibbet Finish, ...
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Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs: An Excerpt
Submitted by Nicholas Graham on 11.7.08 at 2:39pm.
I started playing my first song — “Little Bird, Little Bird,” a folk elegy about a Second World War soldier. I stood at the front of the stage but stepped down on the floor after sensing that the lyrics couldn’t be heard at the back of the hall. Before I got too deeply into the song, however, I b...
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Lightning and Blackberries: An excerpt
Submitted by Nicholas Graham on 10.29.08 at 10:14am.
The following is an excerpt from Lightning and Blackberries, by Joanne Jefferson.
I felt my heart beating harder and my breath coming in shorter bursts, but I tried to keep myself calm as I turned to retrace my steps. Thunderstorms did not frighten me. Was it this way, I thought, or tha...
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Book Review: Lightning and Blackberries
Submitted by Anne Esslinger on 10.29.08 at 10:11am.
In the eighteenth century, life for teenage girls was much different than it is today. By the time they reached seventeen, young ladies were expected to think seriously of marriage to an approved suitor. Elizabeth Evans was different. She rebelled against her mother’s idea that she should spend h...
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Nikolski, by Nicolas Dickner: A Review
Submitted by Lynn Lethbridge on 09.27.08 at 3:24pm.
My first thought when I finished Nikolski was that I would like to read it again. Not in a bad way as in, “Holy crow, I’m supposed to review this and I have nothing to say I better read it again” but in a good way as in, “I think I could take something different from this book each time I read it...
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Society of Wolves, a review of Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong
Submitted by Keith McPhail on 09.24.08 at 6:58pm.
I have to admit up front that I am not familiar with Chinese, so I have not read Wolf Totem in its original language, thus leaving me, as a reviewer, at the mercy of the translator. Author Jiang Rong (whose real name is Lu Jiamin) is well served by translator Howard Goldblatt—and I don’t just say...
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Chronicler of the Winds
Submitted by Wanda McDonald on 09.22.08 at 9:03am.
Henning Mankell is perhaps best known as the author of the Kurt Wallander series of crime stories. He has, though, an impressive volume of work outside of that genre, including the one discussed here.
Chronicler of the Winds is written with both great intensity and a beautiful calmness. The st...
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Book Review: The Truth About Canada
Submitted by Michael Bradfield on 09.5.08 at 10:10am.
As implied by the tabloid-style title, Mel Hurtig’s latest book is necessary reading, particularly for journalists, editorial writers, politicians, and CEOs. For all Canadians it provides a mass of data and sources to evaluate the misleading and often downright false statements served up by our “...
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