The Buzz...About Books

The Not-So-Great Outdoors

Long summer weekends make people want to go outside and spend time outside--camping, hiking, and sailing.  The following novels remind readers that sometimes it is better to stay inside and read about outdoor adventures that have gone terribly wrong.

Dark Places by Jon Evans
A computer programmer uncovers a serial killer while on a hike in the Himalayas.

Deliverance by James Dickey
Dickey's classic tale of a canoe trip that takes a horrifying turn was also made into a feature film.

The Devil You Know by Wayne Johnson
A canoe trip turns deadly when a family encounters a gang of criminals.

Ghosting by David Poyer
Family conflict, storms and pirates disrupt a family's sailing trip.

The Hidden by Bill Pronzini
A couple vacationing in a remote California cottage have their relationship tested when the husband is accused of murder.
        Large Print

The Lower River by Paul Theroux
Unemployed recently divorced Ellis Hock decides to return to Malawi where he had been a Peace Corps volunteer years earlier but his dreams of starting over are shattered by the reality of the impoverished village.

The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Old friends try to reconnect with a remote hike in Scandinavia but soon find themselves not only hopelessly lost but in the presence of an ancient evil.

Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Anne Dunne hopes to repair her dysfunctional family on a relaxing sailing vacation but soon realizes that there are many dangers on the high seas.
        Audiobook
        eBook
        Large Print
        Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

Vacation by Matthew Costello
A global crisis has made the world a scary place, so policeman Jack Murphy takes his family to the Paterville Family Camp--a secure vacation spot. Murphy soon discovers that idyllic spot has a much darker side.

I'll Have What She's Having: Remembering Nora Ephron 1941-2012

Nora Ephron died last night in New York at the age of 71 from complications arising from leukemia. One of the great American humourists of the 20^th century, Ms. Ephron was an accomplished screenwriter, director, novelist, journalist , playwright, essayist, producer and blogger with a remarkable list of credits over many decades.  The quintessential New Yorker, Ephron's irreverence, wit, and generosity were oft cited within her large circle of writers, filmmakers, and journalists. 

Read the reaction to her passing in the New York Times, Toronto Star, National Post, Huffington Post,  Washington Post, Globe and Mail, Gaurdian, and the New Yorker.  Watch the news coverage on ABC.

She began her career as a journalist writing for the New York Post, Esquire, and New York Magazine. Her career as a screenwriter included When Harry Met Sally (who can forget the scene in Katz's delicatessen that ended with one of the best one-liners ever?) and Silkwood. She both wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and Julie and Julia. 

Ephron's essays in I Feel Bad About My Neck (also available on audiobook read by the author) and in I Remember Nothing are direct, personal, and funny. And speaking of personal, her scathing novel Heartburn was inspired by the breakup of her second marriage to Carl "Watergate" Bernstein (who left her for another woman while Ephron was pregnant with their second child).  Her early essays are available in Wallflower at the Orgy.

 

 

 Watch Ephron's 2010 interview with Author Magazine:

   

 

Ephron on the set (1992) Courtesy of the Washington Academy of Achievment

 

  

Five Books about Alan Turing

Alan Mathison Turing was born in London on June 23, 1912.  He showed an early aptitude for the sciences and studied mathematics at King's College, Cambridge where he graduated with first class honours.

While he was at Cambridge, Turing proved that a machine would be capable of solving any mathematical computation as long as it could be expressed as an algorithm.  Known as the Turing Machine, this theoretical device became the model for early computers.

During World War II he worked at Bletchley Park, the British cryptanalytic headquarters, where he played a critical role in deciphering German Enigma codes.  He continued his association with the Government Communications Headquarters, a British intelligence agency, for much of his life.

Following the war, Turing worked at the National Physical Laboratory on the design of the Automatic Computing Engine.  Although his version of the machine was not built, Turing's visionary work influenced computer scientists for years to come.

In 1952, a male lover broke into Turing's house.  Turing reported the crime to the authorities and discussed his relationship with the man openly.  As homosexuality was a felony in England he was charged with and later convicted of gross indecency.  Turing opted for hormonal treatment rather than prison.  The conviction led to the removal of his security clearance and prevented him from continuing with his intelligence work which devastated Turing.

Turing died on June 7, 1954 of cyanide poisoning in an apparent suicide.  A partially eaten apple led to speculation that he had consumed poisoned fruit in an homage to his favourite fairy tale, Snow White.  The apple was not tested for poison.  His mother maintained that the death was accidental.  Still others believed that he had planned an ambiguous death.

If you would like to know more about Alan Turing, these are some of the books in the library system:

Alan M. Turing by Sara Turing

The Annotated Turing: a Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability by Charles Petzold

The Essential Turing: Seminal Writings in Computing, Logic, Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life, Plus the Secrets of Enigma

The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer by David Leavitt

Turing's Cathedral: the Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson
        Audiobook
        eAudiobook
        eBook

Other suggestions for Pride Week:
        LGBTQ Teen Reads
        LGBT Recommended Reading 2012

Related Posts:
        Can Computers "Think" Like Humans?

Fifty Shades of Twilight

If it wasn't for Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series there would be no Shades of Grey.  E.L. James' erotic trilogy has made the publishing world very, very  happy and readers just can't get their hands on the novels fast enough.  English author E.L. James debut series  "Fifty Shades of Grey,  Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed"  has been on bestseller lists for weeks and weeks.

 

You know you've hit the "big time" when libraries (in the USA) ban your books and critics dismiss them all as "Mommy porn",  whatever that is.  I presume that none of E.L. James' critics have read a paranormal romance or watched the True Blood series on TV?   Why is Harlequin the biggest publisher in the world?  

E.L. James was recently interviewed on  CBC's Q by a Jian Ghomeshi who claimed to have read and loved her books (I'm sure I heard him say it).  When asked about the books and all the controversy she said that it's just a love story inspired by the popular Twilight series and that the main character "Ana" is the one in control not her domineering lover, Christian.

Is Fifty Shades like Twilight?   Yes and no.  The content is much hotter and more adult.  However, Fifty Shades did start as online fan fiction continuing the Twilight story.  E.L. James eventually removed the vampires which I think is too bad.  When I imagine Christian Grey, the troubled billionaire, as a vampire the story works a bit better.   He's just too... much... he just can't be human?  Can he?  At one point, early on,  I thought if he's not a vampire perhaps Christian Grey is a dark immortal like Dorian Gray of Oscar Wilde fame.  I was sure he had a picture of himself up in the attic that was aging while he stayed young forever.  Wrong again!

Where and how will our tortured couple do the deed next?  Will Christian be able to change his wicked ways to keep Ana from running away or will she turn to the dark side and save him the trouble?   Fifty Shades is not great literature... but it's fun and the story interesting enough to keep me reading.  

Will I read all three books?  You bet.  Just like the Twilight series I have to find out what happens to the romantic couple.  And just like Twilight, a movie is in the works and the blogosphere is already trying to guess which actors are just right to play Christian and Ana. 

There are holds galore on all versions of Fifty Shades (book, ebook and the on audiobook).   I hope I get the last book before the movie comes out.

 

E.L. and a fan. Did I mention that the cover art is great?

 

There over 100 holds on another new erotic novel called  "Maidenhead" by Tamara Faith Berger.    This one is apparently for those who like their "juicy reads" well written.    Maidenhead was recommended on CBC and reviewed in the Toronto Star.

For more hot romances check out Viveca's blog "Romance Fiction: Some Like it Hot"

Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

The Walter Scott Prize for 2012 has been awarded to Irish novelist and playwright Sebastian Barry for his novel On Canaan's Side.  In the novel, 89 year old Lily Bere tells the story of her life in Dublin during the Irish War of Independence and her later life in the United States.  The novel also appeared on the Man Booker Prize longlist.  It is available in: regular print, audiobook, large print, eAudiobook and eBook formats.

The prize defines historical fiction as novels set 60 or more years in the past.  This is the third time the award has been presented since it was established in 2010.

This year two Canadian writers were nominated--Esi Edugyan for her World War II era novel Half-Blood Blues and Patrick deWitt  The Sisters Brothers, a novel set in 1850s California and Oregon.

 

Shortlist

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
        Audiobook
        eBook

Pure by Andrew Miller
        Audiobook
        Large Print

The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
        eBook

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
        Audiobook
        Large Print
        eBook

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
        Audiobook
        eAudiobook
        eBook

Life with Father

Childhood can be a confusing and difficult time but it must be even more stressful with celebrity parents.  On Father's Day, try one of these memoirs written by the child of a famous writer.

Dream Catcher by Margaret Salinger
Salinger describes her lonely, isolated childhood with her father, reclusive author J.D. Salinger. 

Experience by Martin Amis
Novelist Amis' memoir about his childhood and life with his famous father Kingsley Amis.
        Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

Lies My Mother Never Told Me by Kaylie Jones
James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity, led a glamorus life surrounded by writers and Hollywood stars however the celebrity lifestyle was disguising a dysfunctional home life.  In this memoir his daughter Kaylie confronts the alcoholism that has plagued her family.
        Large Print

My Father is a Book by Janna Malamud Smith
Smith shares an intimate portrait of her father Bernard Malamud.

My Father's Places by Aeronwy Thomas-Ellis
These are Aeronwy's recollections of her childhood in Wales with her parents Caitlin and Dylan Thomas.

Reading My Father: a Memoir by Alexandra Styron
Novelist William Styron was a difficult man who frequently put his creative needs above those of his family.  Although as a child Alexandra found him intimidating, this memoir documents her adult search to understand her father more clearly. 

Shut Up He Explained: the Memoir of a Blacklisted Kid by Kate Lardner
Lardner writes about the difficulties she faced during the McCarthy era after her mother Frances Chaney and stepfather Ring Lardner Jr. were blacklisted.

Yossarian Slept Here: When Joseph Heller was Dad, the Apthrop was Home and Life was a Catch-22 by Erica Heller
Heller describes her eccentric childhood with novelist Joseph Heller.

The Ties of Friendship

Set in contemporary Mumbai, Thirty Umrigar's The World We Found is the story of four very close friends who have drifted apart in the years following university.  In the 1970s, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita and Nishta were inseparable, but over the next twenty or so years, they have let their busy lives, and their life choices, come between them.

When Armaiti is diagnosed with incurable cancer, she contacts her old friends to ask them to visit her in the United States before she dies.  As the friends reconnect, they each are forced to examine their lives, the choices they have made and the reasons why the friends had grown apart.  Yet, they find that the bonds of love and friendship that once tied them together are still very strong. 

This is a lovely story about those special friendships that survive over many years as well as a look at the complexity of life in modern India.

Thirty Umrigar's previous novel, The Space Between Us, has been a book-club favourite since it was published in 2005.    The World We Found is also available in Large Print.

2012 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

Jon McGregor has won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award this year for his novel Even the Dogs about homeless addicts coping with the death of a friend. 

It is the world's largest literary prize for a single work of fiction with the winning author receiving €100000.  The award was established in 1996 by the Municipal Government of Dublin City.  Libraries in major and capital cities around the world submit nominations for the award.  Even the Dogs was nominated by the M. I. Rudomino State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow. 

This year Canadian writer David Bergen was nominated for The Matter with Morris.  Two Canadian writers have previously won the award: Rawi Hage in 2008 for De Niro's Game and Alistair MacLeod in 2001 for No Great Mischief.

2012 Shortlist

The Eternal Son by Cristovão Tezza

Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor

Landed by Tim Pears

Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
        Large Print

Limassol by Yishai Sarid

The Matter with Morris by David Bergen

Matterhorn by Karl Malantes

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
        eAudiobook

Rocks in the Belly by Jon Bauer

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
        Large Print
        eAudiobook
        eBook

Join Guest Author Kim Moritsugu on Book Buzz!

Book Buzz is very pleased to have guest author Kim Moritsugu join our bookclub this month.  She's been fielding questions about the life of a writer in Toronto and about her novels including The Restoration of Emily, and The Glenwood Treasure.  If you'd like to participate, please post your questions here.

Book Buzz is Toronto Public Library's online bookclub and you can participate whenever you like, from wherever you have Internet access.  It's a relaxed environment for book lovers to gather and discuss books.  This month our featured book is The Restoration of Emily.  We also have an Open Discussion where general conversation about books takes place.  It's a fantastic place to get recommendations for new reading material.

Book lovers of all ages are welcome!

Stay tuned for details about our annual summer contest running in July and August.

The Play's the Thing at Yorkville

There's a book club for everyone at Toronto Public Library.  If you've got a flair for the dramatic you might want to consider attending a meeting of the Yorkville branch Play-Reading Group.

The Play-Reading Group has been meeting at Yorkville Branch for over 20 years. The enthusiastic members gather regularly on Tuesday evenings (rain or shine, cold or warm) from 7-8:30 p.m.
The group read a variety of plays from the Branch's special Theatre Play Set Collection.

Everyone is welcome to join in. Take a part and read along!

For more information, please call the Yorkville Branch at 416-393-7660.