The Buzz...About Books

Thanks, Toronto - and Keep Reading!

I’m a little sad; I can’t deny it.

April is almost over…and that means Keep Toronto Reading month is coming to an end. Here are just a couple of highlights to keep you reading and get a little excited all over again…

There were tons of things happening on the library’s Facebook page. Every Tuesday in April, readers posted three favourite books, and librarians across the city suggested one (or two!) more to try. I had a lot of fun answering some of the recommendations myself, and had an even better time checking out the huge variety of posted books. If there was ever a doubt that Toronto is a reading city, one only had to take a look at the eclectic mix of favourites!

This year’s thought provoking One Book, Girls Fall Down, incited a number of events throughout Toronto. These included everything from a city-wide photo contest to graffiti workshops, to guest lecturers exploring key issues like homelessness and mental health. In addition, there were numerous other Keep Toronto Reading events, both online and in branches that had all ages and all types of readers coming around. These included author visits, like those part of the eh List author series (which is ongoing!)

This year’s theme, What Are You Reading Where?, kept us all connected through books and spaces, and you may have noticed the Reader Walls and other displays in library branches. We also had a chance to get some YouTube videos up of what Torontonians were reading this month – so be sure to check that out!

If you’re still looking for something to read, don’t forget to check out our booklists. These are updated regularly, with different themes to fit a variety of reading tastes and interests. For example, if you really liked the Toronto-based aspect of Girls Fall Down, you may want to check out other titles that also have a Toronto connection.

 

Hope you enjoyed this April’s Keep Toronto Reading features and events – we certainly had fun being a part of it!

Three Canadians Nominated for Commonwealth Book Prize

This year three Canadian writers are competing for the Commonwealth Book Prize.  Formerly called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the focus of the award has been changed.  In addition to the name change it now honours debut novels by writers from Commonwealth countries.  The structure remains similar to the former prize: nominated books compete regionally and the five regional winners compete for the overall award.

Nason, Senior, and Skibsrud will compete for the Canada and Europe Regional prize against three UK writers.

This is the complete list of nominees in all regions.  Please note that some of the international titles have not yet been released in Canada.

Canada and Europe

A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvette Edwards (UK)
    -- eBook
The Dancing and the Death on Lemon Street by Denis Hirson (UK)
Dancing Lessons by Olive Senior (Canada)
Pao by Kerry Young (UK)
    --eBook
The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud (Canada)
    -- Audiobook
    -- eBook
    -- eAudiobook
    -- Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
The Town that Drowned by Riel Nason (Canada)

Africa

The Dubious Salvation of Jack V. by Jacques Strauss (South Africa) 

Jubilee by Shelley Harris (South Africa)

Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku (Zambia)

 

Asia

The Book of Answers by C.Y. Gopinath (India)
Chinaman: the Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lanka)
Rebirth by Jahvni Barua (India)
The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya (India)
The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad (Pakistan)
    -- Large Print
    -- eBook

Caribbean

 

 

Sweetheart by Alecia McKenzie

 

 

Pacific

Me and Mr Booker by Cory Taylor (Australia)
The Ottoman Motel by Christopher Currie (Australia)
Purple Threads by Jeanine Leane (Australia)
The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen (Australia)

The winners of the regional awards will be announced on May 22 and the overall winner on June 8.

Seen Reading Toronto Fiction

If it's April it must be Keep Toronto Reading at the library.  As part of this festival of reading people all over Toronto can be seen reading the library's One Book choice "Girls fall Down" by Maggie Helwig.  The library has planned some fascinating and fun events around the content which includes our subway system and our wonderful ravines.

 

I highly recommend "Girls Fall Down".  It's part love-in for the city of Toronto, part love story, part mystery.   It is so much fun reading a book  and knowing exactly where the characters are walking or the subway stop they get off at or streetcar line they're taking.   Still, I've lived here a long, long time and there some places I've never seen but now want to visit like the Terraced Garden in High Park or the Brickworks in the Don Valley.   As to the story girls do indeed start falling.  Are they being poisoned or faking it?   Will the main characters, Alex and Susie, figure out what's actually going on in time and perhaps rekindle their grand passion?   See also Tita's blog review.

 

For those who have already read the book and want more fiction featuring Toronto Library Staff have a list of recommended reads called Toronto Fiction and I have a few to add below:

Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindanrath Maharaj

Fauna by Alissa York

Unless by Carol Shields

And here is some just published fiction set in Toronto:

Everybody has Everything by Katrina Onstad

Spoiled Rotten by Mary Jackman

Web of Angels by Lilian Nattel

 

I'm looking forward to Julie Wilson's "Seen Reading"  which contains short stories inspired by sightings of people reading in public, on Toronto's transit system.  See also her great Seen Reading blog.

 

What are you reading?   Where are you reading?    Join the conversation and be seen reading this month and all year round.

 

Memorable Reads

Before I Go to Sleep – S.J. Watson

“The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don’t know where I am, how I came to be here. I don’t know how I’m going to get home.”

 Every morning, Christine Lucas wakes up next to someone that she doesn’t recognize, in an unfamiliar home, believing that she is still in her twenties. Each day, a man who claims to be her husband explains that she was in an accident 20 years prior, that the two of them are happily married and that she is 47 years old.

Christine is able to retain her memories throughout the day, but everything is erased at night when she goes to sleep.  Upon the recommendation of her doctor, she begins to write a journal to try to piece together the details of her past. Each morning, her doctor calls to direct her to her journal, which is kept hidden in her closet.

As the details of her past unravel, they are far more horrifying and shocking than Christine could have ever imagined.This is a chilling and harrowing psychological thriller.

Other novels featuring characters with memory disorders

The Dark Room - Minette Walters

After a car accident leaves Jinx Kingsley with amnesia, she is left wondering what her role was in the gruesome murders of her fiancé and best friend.

What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty

After hitting her head at the gym, Alice believes that she is 29 years old, pregnant and happily married. In actuality she is 39 years old, with three children and is in the midst of an ugly divorce. As she begins to piece together the events of the past ten years, Alice realizes that some things are better off forgotten. This is a compelling and humorous novel.

Still Alice – Lisa Genova

Alice is a 52 year old university professor, happily married with three grown children. After experiencing months of forgetfulness, she discovers that she is suffering from the early signs of Alzheimer’s. Alice tries to find meaning in her life and make sense of her disease. This is a poignant, insightful and powerful novel.

       

Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced

This year, for the first time since 1977, there will be no Pulitzer Prize given for fiction.  The jurors have announced that they could not reach a concensus and will therefore not present this award.

The Pulitzer Prizes for books are awarded in several categories.

Biography or Autobiography

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner:
George F. Kennan: an American Life by John Lewis Gaddis

Finalists:
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution by Mary Gabriel

Malcolm X: a Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
        Audiobook
        eBook
        Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

Drama

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner:
Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Finalists:
Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz

Sons of the Prophet by Stephen Karam

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finalists:
The Pale King: an Unfinished Novel by David Foster Wallace
        Audiobook
        Large Print

Swamplandia by Karen Russell
        eAudiobook
        eBook       

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

General Non-Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner:
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
        eAudiobook

Finalists:
One Hundred Names for Love: a Stroke, a Marriage and the Language of Healing by Diane Ackerman
        Large Print
        eAudiobook

Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men by Mara Hvistendahl

History

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner:
Malcolm X: a Life of Reinvention by Manning Maracle
        Audiobook
        eBook
        Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

Finalists:
Empires, Nations & Families: a History of the North American West, 1800-1860 by Anne F. Hyde

The Eleventh Day: the Full Story of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan

Railroaded: the Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America by Richard White

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner:
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

Finalists:
Core Samples from the World by Forrest Gander

How Long by Ron Padgett

Maggie Helwig Live Chat

We had a wonderful time talking with Maggie Helwig, author of Girls Fall Down.  If you were unable to attend, the transcript is available at the link below.

Maggie Helwig Chat

Titanic Fiction

Unless you've been living in a cave, you are aware that this weekend marks the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  Thanks to wonderful archival databases we can see how the Titanic disaster was presented in newspapers at the time.  The image above is from the Globe on April 16, 1912.

If you're interested in a fictional look at the Titanic, these novels will provide some insight on the voyage, the shipwreck and its aftermath.

The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski
In this alternative history novel the Titanic is saved but the consequences to the United States are dire.  A century after the voyage, a handful of people risk everything to repair the past.

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
An ambitious seamstress boards the ill-fated ocean liner as a maid to real-life fashion designer Lucile Duff Gordon, who was later villainized for her actions after the shipwreck. 

From Time to Time by Jack Finney
Time travelling government agent Simon Morley visits the early 20th century in an effort to prevent World War I. 

The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe
A woman turns to spiritualism for comfort after her mother and sister die on the Titanic.

No Greater Love by Danielle Steel
Edwina Winfield and her five siblings survive the sinking of the Titanic, but her parents and fiance are not as lucky.  Edwina must not only care for her younger siblings, but manage the family's newspaper.

• Large Print
  

For non-fiction about the Titanic, please consult our 100th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Titanic booklist.

Water, Water Everywhere but is it Safe to Drink?

Water surrounds us, so it’s easy to take for granted. If this was a typical spring and we hadn’t already destroyed our climate, it would likely be raining every other day right around now. For our health, we are encouraged to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, some say more. Even the ancient Chinese zodiac acknowledges the power of water – this is the Year of the Water Dragon, an auspicious occasion celebrated only once every 60 years.

A few weeks ago, our federal government encouraged us to celebrate Canada Water Week. Why celebrate water at all? Water gives us life and nourishes crops in the fields but it also nourishes our soul and provides aesthetic pleasure beyond compare (swimming up at the cottage? canoe ride anyone?). Increasingly, it is also at risk. What better way to learn how to preserve – and conserve water – than through awe-inspiring and informative books?

Here are some of my fav water books – some are for drooling over and inspiration, but others offer the cold hard facts we need to keep our water clean and clear for future generations. 
 
Allan Casey’s Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada is an ode to one of Canada’s greatest national assets – our fresh water lakes. More than 60% of the world’s lakes are in our beautiful country but increasingly, many of these lakes are threatened by acid rain, climate change and other human-caused destruction. Yes, Casey offers the historical and scientific information but he also gives us reason to believe...



For a more specific look at Ontario lakes, Wayne Grady offers us Great Lakes: The Natural History of a Changing Region. As Grady points out, ever since the early explorers, we’ve admired, explored and exploited these unique lakes. Our Great Lakes contain 95% of North America’s fresh water and yet we routinely pour poisonous wastes into them without hesitation. Home to many of Ontario’s core industries, it is easy to forget that the Great Lakes are also home, temporary or otherwise, to billions of migrating birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians – not to mention the source of our drinking water.

Bringing it even closer to home, Remembering the Don: A Rare Record of Earlier Times within the Don River Valley by Charles Sauriol conjures up my childhood memories of ‘day camping’ on a tributary of the Don, pretending along with my dog and my friends that we were miles away, living off the land like pioneers. No one has written more with more passion or intimate knowledge of the Don River Valley than Sauriol. When he wasn’t exploring, canoeing or hiking, he was lobbying to save the valley along with his colleagues in the Don Valley Conservation Association.



Ok, now you’re inspired, right?? Want to take action to defend one of our greatest resources? Next up then is HTO: Toronto's Water from Lake Iroquois to Lost Rivers to Low-flow Toilets by Wayne Reeves and Christina Palassio. Half a dozen major watersheds cut a network of ravines through our city. But Toronto has almost always mismanaged our water, from the decades-long transformation of the city's creeks into sewer sheds to the alteration of our waterfront. Recently, the ridiculous trend of hiding Toronto's water underground has been countered by citizen-led efforts to restore the city's surface water; this title documents the fight and paints a vision toward which we can all work. 

Dry Run: Preventing the Next Urban Water Crisis by Jerry Yudelson offers lots of practical solutions for industry, businesses and ordinary citizens. Water conservation strategies are outlined but so are strategies for reusing grey water, retrofitting and reclamation systems. 

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation also produces a practical guide for homeowners – not only does the guide offer water conservation tips for your bathroom, kitchen and laundry room, but it also addresses outdoor water efficiency literally at the roots – use their guidelines and species lists to develop a landscape plan for your garden.

So celebrate water with a tall, cold one but remember that water is absolutely a limited resource and unfortunately, we can’t just find another planet if we pollute all our clean water. Drink it, swim in it, canoe in it and enjoy the view from the shore but conserve it too.

Girls Fall Down Online Discussion

Girls Fall Down by Maggie Helwig was chosen as this year's One Book Community Read.  If you've read the book and want to discuss it with other readers, please join us on Book Buzz, Toronto Public Library's online book club.

It's easy to become a member.  All you need to do is go to our registration page and select a user name.  Lurkers are also welcome to read the discussion, but if you want to have your say about the book, you need to sign up. 

We also have an Open Discussion where we have conversations about anything related to books.  It's a wonderful place to get (and make) book recommendations.

Maggie Helwig will be joining us for an online chat on Monday April 16 at 7 pm.  This is a terrific opportunity to meet and talk to an author, all from the comfort of your own home.  Visit our chat page to sign up for an email reminder.

If you would like to meet the author in person, she is also appearing at:

Agincourt Branch, Tuesday April 10, 2 pm.

St Clair/Silverthorn, Tuesday April 10, 7 pm.

 

 

 

And Now Pitching: Five Books about Baseball

Today is Major League Baseball's opening day.  I like baseball--theoretically.  The mythology, the history and the stories appeal to me but I do find the actual games a bit tedious.  At least the stories are riveting.  These are five non-fiction books about baseball.

Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry
Pulitzer Prize winning Dan Barry tells the story of the longest game in baseball history, played in 1981 by two minor league teams.

Curveball: the Remarkable Story of Toni Stone the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League by Martha Ackmann
Infielder Toni Stone was the first of three female players in the Negro League playing alongside such legends as Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks and Willie Mays.

The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macorís by Mark Kurlansky
Baseball has had an undeniable influence on the impoverished Dominican Republic town that has produced over 70 major league players.

• Audiobook
  

Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History by Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce and Daniel Paiser
Pitcher Galarraga was one batter away from a perfect game when veteran umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled an opposing hitter had reached base safely. In this book, Galarraga and Joyce share their experiences of the game and its aftermath.

Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit by Matt McCarthy
After graduating with a degree in molecular biophysics from Yale, McCarthy was drafted by the Anaheim Angels and spent a summer playing for their minor league team in Provo, Utah. In this book, he tells the story of the not particularly glamorous life in the minors.

This is just a small sample of the many books on baseball at Toronto Public Library.  Michael has more suggestions in this blog post.