The Buzz...About Books

Orange Prize Loses Sponsorship

UK mobile services company Orange has announced today it is withdrawing its sponsorship of the Orange Prize for Fiction, a prestigous literary prize celebrating the contribution of women writers.  Orange has supported the prize for 17 years but the company has decided to concentrate its sponsorship activities on film rather than literature.  Organizers of the prize plan to continue with a new sponsor.

The Orange Prize is open to all women writers regardless of nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter.  Each year the winner receives £30,000 and a bronze statue called The Bessie.  Past winners have included Canadian writers Anne Michaels for her novel Fugitive Pieces and Carol Shields for Larry's Party. 

This year's finalists are:

Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick

        Large Print

        eBook

        eAudiobook

The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
        eBook     

Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

        Audiobook

        eBook       

Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding

        (to be published in Canada in August 2012)

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

        eBook

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

        Audiobook

        Large Print

        eAudiobook

        eBook

The 2012 winner will be announced on May 30.

Related Page:

Orange Prize Award Page--winners and finalists since 2007

Fiction for Victoria Day

Queen Victoria inherited the throne on June 20 1837 when she was 18 years old and remained monarch until her death in 1901. It was the longest reign in the history of the British monarchy and the longest reign by a female monarch in history.  The years of her reign coincided with a period of great cultural, political, industrial and scientific change. 

As if her actual life wasn't busy enough, Queen Victoria lives on as a fictional character in a wide range of novels which include standard historical fiction, crime and fanciful speculative fiction novels.

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann
Queen Victoria asks her agents Sir Maurice Newbury and Veronica Hobbes to investigate after an airship mysteriously crashes in this Steampunk mystery.

The Captive of Kensington Palace by Jean Plaidy
The novel concentrates on Victoria's early years, particularly her sheltered environment.  This is the first book in Plaidy's Queen Victoria series followed by The Queen and Lord M, The Queen's Husband and the Widow of Windsor.

• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Barron
Irish barrister Patrick Fitzgerald is summoned to Windsor Castle by Queen Victoria where Prince Albert is near death.  She is a woman uncertain of the future and obsessed with the past.  Threats to his own life complicate Patrick's search for the truth about the Queen's history.

• Large Print

India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K. Carr
After an assassination threat, Queen Victoria's favourite spy India Black disguises herself as a palace servant to investigate.

• eBook

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A.E. Moorat
When Queen Victoria ascends to the throne she must not only contend with traditional affairs of state, but also with a secret war between her subjects and the undead.

Related Posts

• Life as Queen Victoria

The eh List Author Series: May 16-17

Meet the authors everyone's reading at this week's eh List programs.

Wednesday May 16

Anakana Schofield will be discussing her latest work of fiction Malarky, a sad and funny book about motherhood and middle age.

12:30-2:00 p.m.    Northern District
7:00-8:15 p.m.     North York Central Library  

 

 

Russell Smith will discuss his work and will share his experiences as his novel Girl Crazy is adapted into a screenplay.

7:00-8:15 p.m.    S. Walter Stewart

 

 

Thursday May 17

Lynn Coady, author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize nominated novel The Antagonist, will discuss her work and experiences as a young Canadian writer. 

7:00-8:15 p.m.    Barbara Frum

 

 

Columnist and author Joey Slinger will read from and discuss his new comic novel Nina, the Bandit Queen.

7:00-8:15 p.m.    Toronto Reference Library

The Empress Strikes Back

Toronto author Eva Stachniak's new novel The Winter Palace is the story of the rise of the Russian Empress Catherine II, who is better known to history as Catherine the Great. 

The novel starts in 1743 and is told from the perspective of Varvara, a bookseller's daughter, who begins work in the Winter Palace in the Royal Wardrobe of the Empress Elizabeth.  She soon starts to train as a spy under the guidance of Chancellor Bestuzhev. 

When the young princess Sophia arrives from Zerbst as a potential bride for the Grand Duke Peter, the nephew of the Empress and heir to the Russian throne, Varvara's life changes forever.  She becomes a friend and later a spy for Sophia, who is renamed Catherine after her wedding to Grand Duke Peter.

We follow the lives of Varvara and Catherine, these unlikely friends, through their marriages and children and watch them survive in the very lethal enviroment of the Winter Palace.  The Empress Elizabeth can be quite mercurial, so everyone has to keep their wits about them, and have 'Tongues' (spies) around the palace to keep them informed and prepared for anything that may happen.

As the potential bride, and later wife, of Grand Duke Peter, Catherine's life is very difficult.  She needs all her wits, and her friends, to survive and ultimately triumph.

For those who enjoy historical fiction, this is a sumptuous read.  The characterization is fantastic.  You will feel you really get to know these characters.  The novel is quite descriptive, so all the beautiful gowns and rooms of the Winter Palace come into the mind's eye quite easily.  The pace is fairly leisurely, but there is enough tension due to the back-stabbing environment of the Winter Palace that it will keep you turning the pages and perhaps reading past your bedtime.

After you finish and wait for Stachniak's second novel to continue the story, you may want to learn more about Catherine the Great.  Have a look at her memoirs or one of the biographies written about her. 

• The Memoirs of Catherine the Great by Catherine II, Empress of Russia
• Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
• Catherine the Great: A Short History by Isabel De Madariaga

 

 

Books for Lost Sock Memorial Day

Often on laundry day I discover that some of the socks are missing their mates.  Did they have mates to begin with?  Have they been sucked into the dryer?  Did they disintegrate?  Jerry Seinfeld maintains that socks don't simply get lost but instead run away, hatching intricate escape plans.

May 9 is Lost Sock Memorial Day--a day for fondly remembering socks that have gone missing and for clearing out that sock drawer.

If you have mismatched socks and a creative streak, you might want to combine the two with one of these craft books:

Adorable Sock Dolls to Make and Love by Connie Stone and Emola Lowe
This book provides the instructions for 35 sock dolls.

Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori
This book provides instructions for fast and easy toys from old socks, mittens and gloves.

Sockology: 16 New Sock Creatures, Cute & Cuddly--Weird & Wild by Brenna Maloney
Turn your socks into aliens and other creatures with this book.

Stray Sock Sewing, Too: More Super-Cute Sock Softies to Make and Love by Daniel
With step-by-step detailed instructions, this book will have you fashioning adorable creatures out of your mismatched socks in no time.

If you aren't crafty enough to make your own sock monkey, I recommend this novel:

Sock by Penn Jillette
A sock monkey named Dickie narrates this tale of a police diver's search for answers after he finds the body of an ex-lover.  I loved this strange, wonderful book.

Is Geek the New Cool?

In the book, Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, and Other Misfits are Taking Over the World a geek is defined as: "a person who's passionate about something and strives to be an expert."

Recently one of my friends commented that while we were in school, being a geek was considered a bad thing! This statement made me think. Have things truly changed? Are geeks now more socially accepted? Or have the geeks of the past simply grown up to design computers and make television shows like the Big Bang Theory and blockbuster superhero movies. These geeks have grown into successful adults. Is it true, just as the book title suggests, that The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth?

The following are a few of my favourite geeky books and movies, including a few biographies by some self-proclaimed geeks, who made it big.

Non-Fiction

Fiction

 
                 

DVDs

                                                        

Successful Geeks

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.

 

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