The Buzz...About Books

Calling All Angels: Heavenly Creatures in Recent Fiction

Angel fiction is all the rage. Fans of Danielle Trussoni's best-selling Angelology, a tale of secret societies, ancient libraries, and fallen angels, eagerly await the upcoming release of Angelopolis. If you like books by Dan Brown, you must check this series out. Even more exciting, Will Smith has signed on to produce the film adaptation. Paul Bettany in Legion (above) is one of the many heavenly bodies to grace the big screen. The super-hot Mortal Instruments series is due to hit theatres in August.

Recent titles featuring angels (and a few hot demons) range from steamy romance (J.R. Ward), to mystery (Linda Poitven), to dark urban fantasy (Tad Williams, Nalini Singh). This sub-genre is a celestial mash-up of religious sources, literary traditions, and pure invention. Fallen angels make for less than angelic behaviour - which is part of the attraction. Angel fiction by Laini Taylor, Lauren Kate, Michelle Rowan, and Becca Fitzpatrick appeal to both teen and adult readers. In fact, Lauren Kate's fallen angel, Daniel Grigori, is arguably even more sparkly than Edward Cullen. Some angels are just working stiffs: Stephanie Chong's guardian angel, Serena St. Clair, has a day job as a yoga instructor. Simon Rich's What in God's Name? takes this to the next level: God is a cranky CEO who wants to liquidate his assets  - but not before he challenges two underpaid angels to save the Earth.

Read on:

Check out these seraphic graphics - fallen angels have long been a fixture in graphic fiction:           

Ben Foster's role as the mutant, Angel, in X-Men 3: The Last Stand is oft cited as a positive LGBT symbol.  

This Guy Matters: Anti-Heroes in Literature

The secret’s out: this year’s Keep Toronto Reading official One Book selection is Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451.

If you haven’t gotten around to reading this classic work, now is a great time to get started and join the rest of the city as we explore a dystopian future with Guy Montag, a fireman directed to burn books.

Like other literary characters, Guy is not your typical hero. He does his job, but after a while, he grows weary with the nature of his work. In a society intent on keeping its citizens in a state of constant distraction, with little intellectual freedom, Guy is disillusioned. Ultimately, he is prompted to challenge this world, in often unconventional ways.

So what makes someone an anti-hero as opposed to just a regular old hero? Definitions vary, but in general, the anti-hero is someone who tends to be a little grittier, a little more flawed and can have questionable morals. Anti-heroes are characters that may not be the most courageous or brave, but tend to notice when things in the world aren’t right and will often fight back, even if it means hurting people along the way. There is no clear cut right or wrong, and many times, anti-heroes have complex back stories or experiences that shape their perspectives.

In the case of Fahrenheit 451, Guy comes from a long line of firemen, and although he began his career taking pride in his work, his views begin to shift.

Here are a few other works and their anti-heroes that you may want to check out too:

Modern Anti-Heroes

Fight Club by Chuck Pahlaniuk
The anti-hero: Tyler Durden

In this twisted read, we meet Tyler, an unconventional personality with a penchant for mischief and mayhem, geared towards bringing down modern civilization, which he considers overly consumerist and devoid of real feeling or emotion.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
The anti-hero: V

In a dystopian Britain, V is the masked vigilante for whom no price is too high to pay for a free society. He is both highly intelligent and fiercely passionate, making him a dangerous, yet charismatic anarchist anti-hero.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeffry Lindsay [Dexter series]
The Anti-hero: Dexter Morgan

Forensic analyst by day, methodical serial murderer by night, the troubled Dexter has his own moral compass – and it doesn’t always point due north.

 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling [Harry Potter series]
The anti-hero: Severus Snape

At first simply a malicious and unnerving teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Snape soon grows to become an increasingly complicated character, with his loyalties never completely revealed until much later. We see hints of his motives early on in the series, but nothing is ever quite as it seems in the world of Harry Potter.

That Yellow Bastard by Frank Miller [Sin City series]
The anti-hero: Detective John Hartigan

When ex-cop Hartigan saves little Nancy Callahan, he is wrongfully imprisoned for her rape instead by a malicious and powerful family. Although vengeance is high on his list, and intense violence is not beyond him, he always has a soft spot for Nancy, whom he will protect at any cost.

 

Classic Anti-Heroes

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The anti-hero: Jay Gatsby

Raised in poverty, the titular Gatsby rises to wealth and success through a series of illegal means, including selling prohibited alcohol and organized criminal activities.  His re-invention, however, does end up displaying some of his more idealistic and innocent nature in spite of it all.

 

Robin Hood by various authors
The anti-hero: Robin Hood

Maybe one of the most memorable anti-heroes, the legendary Robin Hood made it a mission to take from the wealthy and give to the less fortunate, branding him an outlaw. Being a wanted man did little to stop Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, who travelled far and wide, dispensing justice as they saw fit.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
The anti-hero: Stephen Dedalus

In this classic semi-autobiographical novel, Stephen Dedalus (a representation of Joyce’s own alter-ego) grows disillusioned with concepts of religion, nationality and morality. He transitions to become an artist, rejecting societal structures in the process.

 

There are many, many more – in fact, the trope of the anti-hero could be just as popular as the traditional hero, maybe because the qualities of the anti-hero tend to resonate with everyday readers. Have a character I missed? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Favourites from 2013: Part 5: The Final Chapter

This is the last installment of our staff recommendations from 2012. Follow the links at the end of the blog post to see the other posts in the series.

Alan:

Are You My Mother? : a Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel
The follow-up to Bechdel’s autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home deals with her complex relationship with her mother as Fun Home addressed her father. Funny, moving and insightful into the process of artistic creation.

Luchadoras by Peggy Adam
Adams’ graphic novel Luchadoras focuses a lens on the ongoing violence against women in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez. Raw art and a melodramatic plot overlay complex themes of gender, race and class.

The Song of Roland by Michel Rabagliati
Quebec comic artist Rabagliati tells the story of the death of the family patriarch, in a celebration of a life fully lived.

Elsa:

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
    • Audiobook
    • eAudiobook
    • Large Print
    • Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
This is the tale of two young sisters who learn that their father has gambled away all their wealth and they have been pretty much sold off as wives to American suitors.

KP:

The Phryne Fisher Series by Kerry Greenwood
They are really well-written with an exotic setting (Australia in the last 20s) and a fascinating heroine (Phryne, born poor, now a rich "Honourable," a jazz age free spirit and amateur sleuth).

The first three books in the series have been compiled in a single volume:
Introducing the Honourable Phryne Fisher

M:

Farthing by Jo Walton
A traditional country house murder with a twist. It's the first volume of an alternative history series that takes place after World War II ended with a peace treaty that handed most of Europe to the Nazis. The whole trilogy is fabulous.

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
    • eBook
I loved this this book about how people behave at the end of the world. It's a wonderful story about a man who is determined to do the right thing, even though it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

Let's Pretend this Never Happened: a Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
    • Audiobook
    • Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
The author describes her memoir as "Little House on the Prairie with more cursing"; I can't write a better summary than that.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
    • Audiobook
    • eAudiobook
    • eBook
I knew the story but I'd actually never read the book, although I had played a computer game based on it. Hercule Poirot must solve a murder on a train that has been trapped by a blizzard. It was delightful.

Related Posts:

• Staff Favourites from 2012: Part 1
• Staff Favourites from 2012: Part 2
• Staff Favourites from 2012: Part 3
• Staff Favourites from 2012: Part 4
  

The Cats of Japan

I love travel almost as much as I love cats and I often spend my vacations looking for cats, missing my own cats or generally checking out how other countries treat all their animals (sadly, not well – companion animals, like other animals, are mistreated, abused or ignored in every country on the planet if my forays to five continents so far are any indication).

The logo for a major delivery company in Japan.

My recent trip to Japan was a surprise in that I had no idea that Japan was so cat-crazy (in retrospect, Hello Kitty and the number of cats in anime and manga should’ve been a clue). Cats on clothing (don’t ask how many items I bought), in advertising, in books and magazines, in logos (even companies which have nothing to do with cats like one of Japan’s major delivery services) -– cat images are everywhere. I did not see a lot of stray cats in Japan, and almost all that I did see sported that telltale ear notch indicating that they’d been TNRed (trapped, neutered and released, a world-wide volunteer program to sterilize the local stray and feral cat population) much to my relief. No need to carry cat food and fresh water around in this country.

People who can't have their own cats because of financial or space considerations can pay to play with resident cats in 'cat cafes'.

Now back in cold, cold Canada, I continue to explore the theme of cats in Japan -– the library catalogue has tonnes! One doesn’t have to read Japanese thankfully; books including Days of Cats in Tokyo aka Tokyo  – neko moyo have lots of beautiful photos (dare I say kitty porn?) to enjoy. (And given all the clicks and comments on my last blog post, “Let’s Make Every Day Black Cat Appreciation Day”, clearly I’m not the only ailurophile using the library website.)

There are lots of choices for young people –- cats are the main characters in many Japanese folktales including Two Foolish Cats, a story about greed and cooperation  and Three Samurai Cats, a tale of patience, surprise and using time to allow one’s opponent to defeat himself. The Beckoning Cat recounts how the ubiquitous Maneki Neko also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, or Money Cat became such a common Japanese figurine in local stores and restaurants. The Boy Who Drew Cats  recreates another centuries-old Japanese legend on the beauty and power of art.

Poster advising of TNR program and the significance of ear notch.

For young adults, there’s Mysterious Tales of Japan which offers another interpretation of “The Boy Who Drew Cats.” And of course there’s lots of manga and anime. Baron the Cat Returns will entertain young teens and older teens and adults will enjoy Tekkonkinkreet, the book. Tekkonkinkreet collects the stories of Black and White, two orphan vigilantes who roam their fictional city in Japan righting wrongs while still having fun. While the human characters Black and White are known as the Cats, the stories also feature the four-legged variety of cats who stroll the alleys or take a more active role in the skirmishes. Compare the book to the anime/DVD version made a few years later. You can even learn how to draw your own cool cat-girls with Manga Mania Chibi and Furry Characters.

Not a fan of manga but still looking for your Japanese fix? No worries -- even the set-in-Iowa book, Dewey, the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World includes a chapter where Japanese Public Television makes a visit to film this real-life world-famous cat for a documentary on cats. If you’re more into science fiction/fantasy, check out Fudoki, the story of a woman who takes the form of a small tortoiseshell cat (torties being a personal favourite) on a kami, or spirit road. Her family has been destroyed and this loss renders her taleless, but the only one left alive to pass on stories of her clan.

Lots to choose from at a Japanese bookstore.

And now for something completely different, of course look no further than your library. Only from Japan would one find a book called Crafting with Cat Hair; Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat. “A handful of your cat’s hair and a few simple supplies are all you need to make and decorate finger puppets, change purses, knickknack boxes, badges, kitty portraits and more.” Complete with detailed instructions, a list of resources and more kitty porn, you and your sweetie can craft away. Fur balls anyone?

 

 

 

Reading Gangnam Style (강남스타일): South Korean Fiction in Translation

South Korean rapper Psy's music video Gangnam Style went viral last August with now over 7 million hits on YouTube. It has spawned hundreds of parodies and tributes and has brought Korean pop culture galloping (literally) front and center to a Western audience.

Of course, this is old news to the legions of North American K-Pop fans who have been dancing to South Korean groups for years. News to you? Here's a selection available from the library: First Album by Girls' Generation,  The First Album to Anyone by 2NE1, Mini4 by Bigbang, Wonder World by the Wonder Girls, Red: The 4th Single Album by After School, So Cool by Sistar and The Shinee World by Shinee (South Korea's One Direction). 

However, if your speed is more book club than night club, here's another great, if somewhat less bouncy, import worth checking out: recent South Korean fiction in translation. 

Please Look After Mom by Kyung Sook Shin.   A rural woman goes missing at a busy subway station in Seoul. Her children, all successful adults, and her husband frantically search for her while each is wracked with guilt about their relationships with the missing woman. Shin is a best-selling author in South Korea - and her book is getting great reviews in North America. This was our online book club's choice in May.

Black Flower by Young-Ha Kim.  Chronicles the hardships suffered by hundreds of Koreans who went to Mexico in 1905 to escape the impending invasion from Japan. Instead of finding a better life, they found a life of indentured servitude working in terrible conditions for wealthy landowners.

Tongue by Kyung Ran Jo. A cooking school teacher is devastated when her partner leaves her for an ex-model. The relationship between food and sex is explored in this psychological tale of infidelity and revenge.

The Old Garden by Hwang Sok-Yong.  A political prisoner is freed after 18 years in jail to find that the love of his life has died. He discovers her letters and journals and re-traces their life together.  Sok-Yong, a longtime dissident of the South Korean government, has himself been jailed as a political prisoner. 

Like your reads a little more graphic?  South Korean manhwa is challenging the dominance of Japanese manga. Here are some popular series available from the library.

 
   

• Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries by Hey-Jin Jeon
• Goong by Soohee Park
• Angel Diary by Yun Hee-Lee
• Banya by Kim Young-Oh

Finally - Gangnam Style comes to Canada - watch Stratford Festival cast members participate in a parody with the CBC's Peter Mansbridge. Enjoy!

The Animal in You

There's something kind of charming about stories that include animals. It's nothing new, of course: many classic works of literature focus on animal characters and often make them integral to the story's plot.

What can be just as charming - and sometimes dramatic, sinister or more - is when an animal takes on the role of narrator, or is otherwise very humanlike in nature. When we think of how close we are to some of our animal friends, it's not hard to imagine animals telling the story as they see it.

 

Mother chimpanzees have displayed emotional grieving rituals when infants died, and there have been many studies surrounding language and primates. Even smaller creatures like mice have displayed various 'grimacing' expressions when in pain!

Check out some of these titles that have animals in the main role and find out just how similar they may sometimes be...

 

If you're curious about 'humanlike' qualities found in animals, you can also check out this quick read online.

If you'd like to revisit some classic reads - including some for children - here are some other animal stories:

Chronicles of Narnia    Watership Down    Animal Farm   Charlotte's Web

Enjoy!

 

Books Inspired by Television

Television series inspired by books are certainly nothing new.  Roots, Dexter, Wallander, and Game of Thrones are a few that come to mind.   Sometimes the inspiration also goes the other way and a book is inspired by a television show. 

 

Here is a list of some books that have been inspired by of our favourite shows:

 

If you are impatiently waiting to find what happens next for Lady Mary and MatthewCrawley and if John Bates will get out of jail, check out the World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellows.  This companion book provides background information on the popular series as well as British society during the early 20th century.   It is also available as an eAudiobook.  If you enjoy that book, have a look at the Chronicles of Downton Abbey, by the same author, which looks into the behind the scenes of the highly anticipated third season.

 

The Rise of Emily Thorne: A Revenge Novel by Liz Parker is for my fellow Revenge fans out there. It covers the period of Emily's life when she is with Satoshi Takeda, learning the truth behind her father's death and preparing for her revenge on the Graysons.  The book is on order at the moment, but feel free to go ahead an place a hold.

 

The novels by Richard Castle, the main character of the television series Castle.

Heat Wave	Naked Heat	Heat Rises	Frozen Heat
eBook eAudiobook	eBook	eBook Audiobook eAudiobook	Audiobook

 

The [television show] and Philosophy books look at the different themes and storylines of popular television series from a philosophical point of view.

Big Bang Theory	Breaking Bad	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	The Daily Show	Game of Thrones	The Simpsons	True Blood	24

 

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 Graphic Novels which continue the story after the end of the television series.

Book 1	Book 2	Book 3	Book 4	Book 5	Book 6	Book 7	Book 8

 

The Murder She Wrote mystery series by Donald Bain continue the adventures of fictional novelist and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher.

Trouble at High Tide

Fine Art of Murder

Skating on Thin Ice

The Queen's Jewels

Nashville Noir

A Fatal Feast

Slaying in Savannah

Murder on Parade

 

Some series even inspire their own cookbooks:

A Feast of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones)	The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook	The Unoffical Mad Men Cookbook	The Sopranos Family Cookbook

 

Any others come to mind?  Please share in the comments.

Manga: Staff Members Pick Their Favourites

Manga are Japanese comic books but that description is perhaps oversimplistic.  In Japan, manga are read by people of all ages and classes.  Subject matters are varied with non-fiction as well as fiction manga available.  It is becoming more popular in North America as well.  In 2008, the Canadian and US manga market was valued at $175 million. 

Manga generally uses black and white images, often featuring stylized characters with oversized eyes.  Most manga published in North America retain their original Japanese formatting with the books reading from right to left. 

I asked library staff members to suggest some of their favourite manga titles and these were their responses.  Since manga is usually published in multi-volume series, the links below are for the catalogue record for the first book in the series.

Bakuman by Tsugumi Ōba and Takeshi Obata
Two high school students team up to produce manga. The series documents their struggles as they learn to craft a good story and create the art to match.

A Distant Neighborhood by Jirō Taniguchi
A middle-aged business man is given a chance to relive his childhood when he wakes up as a 14 year old. This is a wonderful, poignant story with beautiful illustrations. Unlike most manga, this two volume story is formatted like a Western book, reading from left to right.

Drops of God by Tadashi Agi
A wine critic has died but instead of leaving a traditional will, he has set a challenge. His biological son and his protegé must compete to prove who has more knowledge of wine. The winner takes all. Packed with information about wine, the series was a bestseller in France as well as Japan.

Kingyo Used Books by Seimu Yoshizaki
This mystical used bookstore has the perfect book for every customer who enters. Really a collection of short stories about the bookstore patrons, this series also provides a history of manga.

Oishinbo, a la carte by Tetsu Kariya
A journalist must track down the dishes that will create the "Ultimate Menu" for his newspaper. Each volume of this series centres on a different aspect of Japanese cuisine.

While these are examples of somewhat serious manga stories, there is a lot of variety within the format.  You can find horror, historical sagas, science fiction, fantasy and romance among the manga at Toronto Public Library.

Can't get enough graphic novels and manga? Check out these blog posts.

• Graphic Novels Recommended by Library Staff
• More Graphic Novels Recommended by Staff
• Non-Fiction Graphic Books Recommended by Staff

Non-Fiction Graphic Books Recommended by Staff

Some of the most moving and profound graphic novels are not "novels" at all but are works of non-fiction.  There are some wonderful memoirs but you can find graphic novels about science, history and current affairs as well.  These non-fiction graphic novels were selected by staff as their favourites.

Dragonslippers: This is What an Abusive Relationship Looks Like by Rosalind B. Penfold
Penfold documents her own journey from successful business woman to abused spouse and demonstrates how women become trapped in violent relationships.

Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
Based on her childhood diaries and memories, Bechdel tells the story of her life with her father, a closeted gay man who taught English and ran the local funeral parlor.

The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld
A history of media and examination of current media issues from NPR broadcaster Brooke Gladstone.

Louis Riel: a Comic Strip Biography by Chester Brown
A critically acclaimed book examining the life of Métis leader Louis Riel.

Maus: a Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
Widely considered a masterpiece, Spiegelman illustrates his father's Holocaust experiences.

The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson: a Wordless Narrative Told in One Hundred and Nine Woodblock Engravings by George A. Walker
The life and death of one of Canada's legendary landscape painters is presented in a series of wood engravings.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
A series of black and white images tells the story of Satrapi's childhood during a time of political upheaval in Iran.

The Stuff of Life: a Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz, Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon
This entertaining and accessible book teaches the basics of genetics using a narrative about an alien.

Related Posts:

Graphic Novels Recommended by Library Staff
More Graphic Novels Recommended by Staff

More Graphic Novels Recommended by Staff

If you aren't a graphic novel reader, you may be surprised at the great variety of titles available.  Not all graphic books deal with masked crime fighters, although there are lots of those.  You can find stories from all different genres--general fiction, crime, speculative fiction.  There is a graphic novel that is perfect for every reader.

These are some of the favourite graphic novels of library staff members:

Blankets by Craig Thompson
Thompson's semi-autobiographical work tells the story of his childhood, his relationships with his brother and his parents and his struggle to find his own identity.

Daytripper by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
Every chapter of this Eisner Award winning book concentrates on a different significant event in the life of Brás, a Brazilian writer and ends with his death. Although Brás dies in each chapter, the entire story of his life is told with a message of living life to the fullest.

Invincible by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker
High school student Mark Grayson is pretty normal, except that his father is a superhero and that he's discovered he has inherited superpowers of his own.

Locke and Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
A mysterious mansion with strange doors, mystical keys and supernatural creatures becomes home to the Locke children after their lives are shattered by the murder of their father.

The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
A woman finds a mysterious disappearing bookmobile containing all the books that have had an impact on her life and she becomes obsessed with reliving her past through the books.

The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar
A cat belonging to a rabbi develops the ability to speak after eating the family's other pet, a parrot. Set in 1930s Algeria, the story follows the pair as they explore and discuss the world around them.

Revolver by Matt Kindt
The United States is attacked by a dirty bomb, society collapes, chaos reigns and mild-mannered Sam becomes a hero but when he wakes up the next morning, everything is back to normal; the next day he finds himself back in the disaster and Sam must find out what is happening to his world.

Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley
In order to win the heart of Ramona Flowers, slacker musician Scott must defeat her evil exes. Set in Toronto, this series is full of local landmarks including Wychwood Library, where Scott first sees Ramona and Toronto Reference Library, where an epic battle is staged.

Invincible, Locke and Key, The Rabbi's Cat and Scott Pilgrim are multi-volume works.  The links will take you to the first book in the series.

If you haven't seen anything you like, more staff recommendations are on their way.  Check this blog next Wednesday when the focus will be non-fiction graphic books.

Related Post:

Graphic Novels Recommended by Library Staff