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HALIFAX BOOKS SEP 9, 2010
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The Blue Hour by Lilian Pizzichini

Jean Rhys (today known primarily for her groundbreaking Wide Sargasso Sea) was born Ella Gwendoline Rees Williams in Dominica in 1890. Her childhood was a sad, insecure time. She was alternately neglected and disliked by her parents, and terrified by the servants. Read More.

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Hollywood Moguls

I am a huge movie fan, one of those people who enjoys “behind the scenes” DVD extras. So a review of The Men Who Would Be King: an almost epic tale of moguls, movies, and a company called DreamWorks, by Nicole Laporte, has captured my attention and put this book on my must-read list. Read More.

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CBC Literary Awards - a call for entries

CBC's Literary Awards are once again looking for Canada's next big writing talent. Could it be you?
Last year's six winners were all west of Quebec. I think it is time for the East Coast to grab some of the glory.
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Hunting Hemingway

Ernest "Papa" Hemingway is one of America’s most famous writers of the 20th century. A man of action himself, he wrote novels, short stories and articles about outdoors men, expatriates, soldiers and other men of action in a plain-spoken no-frill style of writing. Read More.

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Farthing by Jo Walton

Imagine a world in which Britain negotiated a peace with Hitler. Jo Walton does in Farthing and it's not very nice.
It is 1949 and Hitler is in control of continental Europe and his influence is spanning the western world. Antisemitism and general intolerance are becoming more acceptable and bla...
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Read Your Way Around the World - Kashmir

Said by many to be among the most beautiful places on earth, Kashmir has long been an inspiration for writers. It's more recent political instability has also inspired much debate and writing.
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Big Name Fiction -- Coming Soon

The fall fiction catalogues are beginning to arrive, drawing attention to all the great fiction that will be released in the next few months. There are a lot of big name authors with new titles coming out this fall, here's a few to consider (especially now while the hold lists are still short!). Read More.

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This Time Together by Carol Burnett

If you were fortunate enough to have been of television watching age during the 70's and enjoyed the Carol Burnett Show, this memoir will certainly resonate with you. Read More.

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Staff Pick - Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia, by Greg Brown

In 2006 Greg Brown and his wife Anne decided on a new adventure. They decided they wanted to further simplify their lives and as a result, they chose to live on a small island off Nova Scotia. Island Year: finding Nova Scotia is a reflection on their experiences thus far Read More.

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Dogtown: tales of rescue, rehabilitation and redemption by Stefan Bechtel

Dogtown: tales of rescue, rehabilitation and redemption by Stefan Bechtel tells the story of 15 homeless, unwanted, unprotected, but not unlovable dogs and the amazing work done by the Best Friends Animal Society. Read More.

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Songs and Literature

Songs are often little stories told through music and lyrics. The best examples I can think of are songs like "Take this job and shove it", " "Ode to Billie Joe" or "Phantom 309". Funny, how it is usually country songs that have the best, and most straight forward lyrics. I guess that is because ... Read More.

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Book Awards- James Tait Black Memorial Prizes

"The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are Scotland's most prestigious and the U.K.'s oldest literary awards. The prizes have achieved an international reputation for their recognition of literary excellence in biography and fiction. Read More.

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hermit hits no. 1 and i go drinking

NOVA SCOTIA
1 The Hermit of Africville
Jon Tattrie
2 Buried in the Woods
Mike Parker
3 Memoirs of a Cape Breton Doctor
C. Lamont MacMillan
4 Trails of Halifax Regional Municipality
Michael Haynes
5 Ghosts of Nova Scotia 10th Anniversary Edition
Darryll Walsh
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Staff Pick - Segei Lukyanenko's 'Watch' series

I'm finally finishing Sergei Lukyanenko's four part series that began in 2006. While not overly popular in North America, Lukyanenko is one of Russia's top sci-fi writers. The translation is excellent, but you can tell it was written in another language. Read More.

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A Year in a Life

A colleague of mine recently returned from having a year off work. During this time he crossed off a bucket list worth of travel going to Germany, China, Argentina, Cuba, Thailand and a few more that I am sure that I have forgotten. Going to just one of those areas would be dream enough for a lot... Read More.

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Staff Pick: Black Alley by Mauricio Segura

Okay, here’s the truth. I’ve been having a horrible time trying to write this post about Black Alley by Mauricio Segura. And I keep asking myself, why? I really liked this book: I thought it was well written, had a great story and an important message. Read More.

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Can you Name a Book by its Cover? and other fun sites

How well do you know book covers?
The link to this book trivia quiz from sporcle.com has been making the rounds of several library blogs. Hope you have fun with it!
How well do you know your book covers?
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The Case of the Missing Servant, by Tarquin Hall

There has been a lot of great press about this new cozy mystery series set in modern day Delhi.
The Case of the Missing Servant,
by Tarquin Hall.
Meet Vish Puir, the lead investigator of Delhi's Most Private Investigations Ltd.
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Who Am I?

I recently stumbled across two different books that caught my eye for their similarity in titles and, to a certain extent, themes. Both play with questions of identity and, starting right from the title, make a statement about who the character is. Read More.

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New Books You Might Have Missed - Fiction

The deliveries of newly arrived fiction have been looking pretty good lately. It seemed like it was time to devote a post to a few of those titles. These aren't the giant blockbusters with long waiting lists, but great looking fiction that I found on the shelf today. Read More.

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Financial Fiction - Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett

Sometimes you can find reading suggestions in the most unexpected places.
The Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year longlist has been announced. For the first time in the six years of the award, there is a fiction title included among the nominees.
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2010 RITA and Golden Heart Winners

The 2010 RITA and Golden Heart Award Winners were recently announced. For the full list see The Romance Writers of America page.
Best Young Adult Romance
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
"When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that he...
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Dragon my feet...

I have to apologize for not writing yesterday... but the thing is... I met this girl with a dragon tattoo and I'm a little distracted at the moment. Therefore, blogging is put on hold until I get the last few Chapters of this fantastic book read.
It's a trilogy... so you might have to bear with...
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Older posts Anne of Green Gables on Prince Edward Island

In a sometimes forgotten nation, it’s fitting that a humble farmhouse in Cavendish — a hamlet of 94 people — inspires pilgrimages.
Green Gables is a modest dwelling treasured throughout much of the world, thanks to author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s stories. The Prince Edward Island native fashioned ...
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Both Sides Now

When Fredericton-based writer Raymond Fraser was awarded the inaugural Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in Literary Arts by his home province last year, he could hardly believe the news. Read More.

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First We Take Manhattan - New York Stories

When I think of New York City, I invariably picture the Manhattan skyline. I guess it is because it is featured prominently in so many films and tv shows (cue the Law & Order theme song).
It is also an extremely popular setting for novels.
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Eisner Award - Best New Series - Chew, by John Layman

The 2010 Eisner Awards were recently announced. The winner of the award for best new graphic novel series was Chew: taster's choice, by John Layman.
Chew is the story of a FDA agent who can receive psychic information from the food he eats. His special beat is solving bizarre food crimes.
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Staff Pick - The Lady and the Poet by Maeve Haran

Not much is known about Ann More, wife and inspiration of poet John Donne. Donne first met More in the home of her uncle and his employer, Thomas Egerton. Read More.

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One of my favourite things... Lost in Austen

You do not have to be a fan of the literary genius Jane Austen to get Lost in Austen but I suppose it would help. Imagine being a very contemporary woman transported to your favourite fictional world and realizing just how hard fitting in would be. And all the trouble you could get up to! Read More.

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Winter of Content Too

It has been a long and winding road for Newfoundland’s Kathleen Winter, but the time of arrival is at last upon her.
The 50 year-old writer - who now lives with her husband and two daughters in Montreal - has fulfilled a lifelong dream with the release of her first full-length novel Annabel (Ana...
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CBC Information Morning - Summer Books (part two)

Kristina and I were fortunate enough to be invited back to CBC Radio's Information Morning show to participate in a second summer books panel.
Listed below are the titles we discussed on the show this morning:
David's suggestions:
The Bird Detective: investigating the secret lives of birds, by...
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Robert Munsch and the Oedipal Complex

Oedipus was a stranger to the city. He killed the wicked king and married his widow. At the time, he didn’t know that the king was actually his father, and his new wife was actually his own mother- he doesn’t find out until the end of the story, when he is suitably horrified at what he had done. Read More.

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Staff Pick - Adventures Among Ants, by Mark W Moffett

Ants have recently become a very popular topic in my community. With the local discoveries of European Fire Ants, feisty little creatures who's bites and stings are wrecking havoc among backyard gardeners and terrorizing pets and children, perhaps now is the perfect time to learn more about thes... Read More.

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Writers Helping Writers: Merry Monteleone

I don’t know writer Merry Monteleone well, other than to say that she’s a smart, strong woman and we share some loyal friends. Her home in Illinois was recently flooded, and suffered a great deal of damage.
Merry and her family — including three children in middle school and younger — are worki...
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Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers

Canadian/ New Zealander author Eleanor Catton is among the wealth of international young talent comprising this year's longlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers. This prize is awarded to the best eligible published or produced literary work in the English language, written by an autho... Read More.

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A book at war with itself

Tough questions get short shrift in Lawrence Scanlon's A Year of Living Generously, an account of volunteering for 12 charities in as many months.
Lawrence Scanlan’s idea was deceptively simple.
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"Rhymes with Rectal" - Alison Bechdel

Since July is Queer Pride Month in Halifax, I wanted to blog about one of my favourite graphic novelists, Alison Bechdel, (the pronunciation of her last name, as she says on her website, "rhymes with rectal"). Two of her books are in the Library's collection, Fun Home: a family tragicomic (2006) ... Read More.

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Reading Lessig’s Remix : Copyright Regulating Culture

My summer reading this year includes Lawrence Lessig‘s Remix, and it’s so far been refreshing to read about how copyright drives and hampers our culture. Tonight, though, I’m hung up on a dark, sour fact about copyright, especially as it exists in America, which is that an act that was meant to ... Read More.

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Orphans : Family Reading

Feature: Family Reading: Ages 8+ (Children’s books that adults will love too!)
From Oliver Twist to Harry Potter, the plight of the orphan has tugged at the heartstrings of readers for generations. What is the appeal of these stories? Well, aside from the pity they evoke, without the protection ...
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Staff Picks: Graphic Memoirs

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the graphic novels section of my branch lately. Of the books I’ve read recently, two stand out: Stitches by David Small (2008) & Nikolai Maslov’s (2006) Siberia. Read More.

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Food for Thought

You know that eating has become complicated when we need manifestos and exposes to help us through dinner. North Americans, despite our apparent diet consciousness, rely too heavily on fast and prepared foods and have as a result, according to Fast Food Nation: the dark side of the all-American m... Read More.

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Only now its "Les douze ans perdu"

People sometimes ask ,"how is my book on life in Canada's new frontier towns of the 1950s going?"
The book was called "Les dix ans trouve" --- all about the postwar determination to make up for the years lost to the Great Depression AND World War One.
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Call me a pessimist...

I love reading about disaster preparedness. There's something comforting about an expert's reassurance. Everything will be alright.
Almost every title I've read warns not to use a single book as a be-all/end-all survival guide.
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Frank MacDonald night

Frank MacDonald chats with friends among the capacity crowd that packed the Inverness County Centre for the Arts Wednesday night for a tribute to the Inverness County author and poet. The River Hill Players performed several of MacDonald’s songs and plays, Read More.

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The Hermit of Africville: the life of Eddie Carvery , by Jon Tattrie

Journalist Jon Tattrie’s account of the life of Eddie Carvery is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Halifax or in civil rights in general. The book focuses on Eddie Carvery, a man resolved to right the wrongs of what happened to his community. Read More.

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Flawed Characters and Conflict

One major problem that I face in writing for the late-middle grades is that I’m so far removed from them. I’m not only over the hill, I’m way down the hollow.
We don’t have children, and I don’t really remember what it was like to be 12 or 13, although I do remember hating it. It’s one reason wh...
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Shorts for Summer - Essay Edition

Last summer I wrote a post about reading short stories in the summer time. The idea being that summer is a great time to grab a book and feel like you can dip into it and jump back out again, without taking on the commitment of a whole novel. Read More.

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Secret Lives

PSST, wanna know a secret?
I think you do ... or at least it seems like the publishing industry thinks you do—if the number of books on the supposed secret life (and sometimes lives) of people, places and things is any indication.
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Gay/Lesbian Fiction

The first novels I can remember reading that had lesbian characters were The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg. Read More.

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Transgender Tales

My first exposure to transgender stories was in the Pulitzer Prize book, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin.
Other tales you might consider are:
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25 Questions With Author Sarah Hina

Sarah Hina • Plum Blossoms in Paris
I knew that Sarah Hina and I could be great friends on the day she called me a cocksucker.
But I need to back up. I met Sarah online; I know a few members of an online writing circle, and when I decided to finish my young adult novel I decided to connect with...
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Cooking with Magic Realism

In the New York Review of Books, I came across an ad for Aimee Bender's new novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (also mentioned in an earlier post). It tells the story of a girl who, when she eats, tastes the emotions of the cook, as well as the food. Read More.

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Five Books I Want to Read this Summer - Eric's Picks

As a readers' advisory at the public library (working in a bunch of departments), I need to stay current about literature for all ages. This is a challenge, requiring me to read widely in the areas of children, teen and adult publishing. Read More.

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Plum Blossoms in Paris by Sarah Hina

Sarah Hina and I both went to medical school, both hate the smell of formaldehyde with a passion, and both dreamed of being writers. Sarah is living that dream with the release of Plum Blossoms in Paris, and she’s launching her blog promotion tour today at Travis Erwin’s blog. Read More.

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2010 Orange Award for New Writers - The Boy Next Door, by Irene Sabatini

The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini is a modern day Zimbabwean love story. Fourteen year old Lindiwe Bishop becomes enthralled with the boy next door, who has been accused of setting his stepmother on fire. These two rather unlikely interracial suitors join together, trying to make sense of their... Read More.

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The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia

The Fifth Servant is a fast paced historical mystery set in 16th century Prague. A Christian girl has been found murdered in a Jewish shop, leading to serious accusations of blood libel and threats of revenge. Sexton Benyamin Ben-Akiva has three days to find the murderer before the already volat... Read More.

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Who are the Canadian 20 under 40?

Last week, I wrote a blog post about New Yorker magazine's 20 under 40—their look at 20 young authors who are going to define the next generation of American fiction—it got me wondering ... who are the Canadian 20 under 40? Read More.

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Ursula Le Guin and the The Aeneid's Lavinia

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

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

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

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... Read More.

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Memories of home

“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... Read More.

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Stories of Afghanistan from those who know

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

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... Read More.

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Margaret Atwood's Debt Plan

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

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... Read More.

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Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano

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... Read More.

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The Man Who Made Vermeers

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

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 ... Read More.

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Shining at the Bottom of the Sea, by Stephen Marche: an excerpt

[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

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... Read More.

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Lightning and Blackberries: An excerpt

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

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... Read More.

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Nikolski, by Nicolas Dickner: A Review

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... Read More.

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Society of Wolves, a review of Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong

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... Read More.

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Chronicler of the Winds

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

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 “... Read More.

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