The Buzz...About Books

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

 

 

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

Jane Rogers wins the Arthur C. Clarke Award

Jane Rogers has won Britain's most prestigious Science Fiction award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award,  for her novel The Testament of Jessie Lamb.

Set  in the near future, the world has been forever changed by an act of bioterrorism.  A virus that kills pregnant women is on the loose and women are dying by the millions.  The future of the human race is in serious peril.

Jessie Lamb is an ordinary sixteen year-old girl who decides to save the human race.  She volunteers to become impregrated with an immune embryo, which will require her to to be put into a coma from which she will never recover.  Her parents are horrified by her decision.  They see it as an idealistic act by an impressionable young woman and set about to stop her.

The Testament of Jessie Lamb is Jane Rogers first venture into Science Fiction and appeared on the  Man Booker Prize's Longlist last year. 

 The other books on the shortlist were:

• Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
• The Postmortal by Drew Magary
• Embassytown by China Miéville
• Rule 34 by Charles Stross
• The Waters Rising by Sheri S. Tepper

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!

The Gift of Being a Man Wolf

Anne Rice returns to her gothic horror roots with The Wolf Gift. She has crafted tales of vampires, witches and angels, and now, Rice tackles werewolves.

We are introduced to our anti-hero Reuben Golding, while he is on location writing a story for the San Francisco Observer. Reuben seems to have it all, wealth, good looks and a promising career as a journalist. He is attracted to the lovely and older Marchent Nideck, who is selling her ancient family home. Reuben is captivated by the mysterious mansion, nestled in a redwood forest just north of San Francisco. While giving a tour of the house, Marchent recalls her family history, which includes a missing great-uncle Felix, who has finally been officially declared dead. During their romantic evening, Marchent is attacked and murdered and Reuben is bitten by a strange animal, while fighting with the attackers.

Of course, we all know the bizarre changes Reuben "suddenly" begins to experience at night. He dubs himself "the Man Wolf," discovering that his new animal senses allow him to hear and smell evil-doers and their victims. He becomes a vigilante of sorts, while the media, police and scientists hunt for his true identity. Throughout the novel, Reuben struggles with the moral dilemma of good and evil, and the internal conflict of embracing and fearing what he is becoming. The question of what bit him and if there are more man wolves out there continues to haunt him.

Also available in: Audiobook and Large Print

Anne Rice recently visited the Appel Salon to talk about The Wolf Gift, if you missed her that night, here are the videos!

 

 

 

The poem that ignited the Renaissance

In The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, Stephen Greenblatt tells the story of Poggio Bracciolini and his discovery of  Titus Lucretius Carus' influential poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things).  According to Greenblatt, it is the discovery of this beautiful poem, which had been lost for more than a thousand years, that was the spark that begun the Renaissance and therefore the beginning of the modern world. 

Lucretius' poem contained some very dangerous ideas for 15th century Europe.  It claimed that the universe functions without the help of gods, that death should not be feared because there is no afterlife, and that the world is made up of very small particles that are randomly colliding and swerving.  Greenblatt argues that these ideas went on to have a significant impact on the great thinkers who followed, including Galileo, Freud, Darwin and Einstein.

Greenblatt presents a vivid picture of the political, intellectual and religious climate of the early 1400s, when the Roman Catholic Church was split between several Popes and interest in the works of Greek and Roman philosophers was reviving.  Bracciolini, one of the great bookhunters of his time, spent his life trying to find lost classical manuscripts, such as On The Nature of Things, by visiting remote monasteries where generations of monks had spent their time copying, and recopying, the books in their collections.

 

The Swerve was a engaging and enjoyable book, easily understood by anyone with a basic knowledge of history. It may appeal to those who enjoy medieval and Renaissance history  as well as anyone interested in the history of philosophy.  Fans of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens may also find it of interest, as Lucretius' philosophy is part of the history of the their ideas.

 

The Swerve was the winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Non-Fiction. Reviews for this book appeared in the Globe and Mail, and The Guardian, and The New York Times. The Swerve is also available as an eAudiobook.

 

For more suggestions of non-fiction books, have a look at our Literary Non-Fiction We Recommend list.

Folk Song Comes to Life

Everyone at some point has heard the Kingston Trio's haunting folk song "Tom Dooley," about a man who is convicted of murder and sentenced to hang for his crime. In Sharyn McCrumb's novel, The Ballad of Tom Dooley, the story is retold with surprising results.

McCrumb researched historical documents and legal evidence of the murder and ensuing trial to write this book. The first shock of the novel is that the man, on which the legend is based, was actually named Tom Dula, and furthermore, McCrumb comes to the conclusion that he was innocent.

In 1866, the Civil War had just ended and men like Tom were returning home. When Tom returns to North Carolina, he finds his childhood sweetheart, Ann Melton, married not for love but stability. They begin a torrid affair, which is no secret from anyone in their small town. Instead of looking for work, Tom chooses to live with his mother, drinking and having trysts with multiple women including Ann's cousin, Laura Foster. Within months Laura is missing and Tom is the main suspect.

The story is narrated by Pauline Foster, another cousin of Ann's, and Zebulon Vance, Dula's lawyer and a former Confederate governor. Both narrators do not seem too trustworthy, but they do have interesting points of view. Pauline becomes the hired help at Ann's house just in-time to witness the now legendary events. Suffering from syphilis, Pauline is jealous of her beautiful cousin Ann and adds to the drama with tragic results.

Also available in:

Audiobook

Dispatches from the War on the Internet

When Wikipedia darkened it's site last week to protest the passing of laws that would have placed new restrictions on our use of the internet to share books, music and video, I was very glad to have just finished reading two excellent collections of essays by Cory Doctorow on the issues involved.

Cory Doctorow by Derryl Murphy

Doctorow was born in Toronto and has a reputation as an author of fine science-fiction and as a co-editor of the wildly popular blog Boing Boing. He has also been writing marvelously entertaining articles on the internet using down-to-earth, easy to understand language and examples from everyday life.

In his first collection -- Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future he writes in detail about the negative effects of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and other forms of control on the internet.

Doctorow's argument boils down to his belief that whatever we lose in the free exchange of information on the internet, we will gain in innovations which will enrich our culture in ways that cannot yet be predicted. Call him an optimist.

Doctorow has given away free downloads of all his novels from the beginning of his career. He has found that by making these copies free and encouraging his fans to share them online he has expanded the market for the printed editions of his books.

In his latest collection -- Context: Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century he writes about how these issues affect him as a creative writer and as a new parent.

He explains intellectual property, the "information economy", copyright enforcement and digital licensing in clearly understandable ways.

His warnings about the vulnerability of our passwords and our personal data online are frightening and sobering.

He explains why streaming will never replace the downloading of music online.

He also talks about how he manages the hundreds of non-spam emails he gets every day, and why he will never buy an iPad.

Together these books cover ten years of exciting, insightful coverage of these increasingly important issues in a highly readable way.

 

Wine & Murder

Ellen Crosby's The Merlot Murders beings late one night when Lucie Montgomery receives a phone call from her brother, Eli, telling her to come home immediately, because her father has been accidentally shot and killed. Lucie has been living in France for the past 2 years, recuperating from a car accident that has left her dependant on a cane.

Returning to her family's Virginia-based vineyard, Lucie discovers that much has changed since she left and that her father has actually died under suspicious circumstances. The family home is in shambles, Eli is desperate to sell the vineyard to escape their debts and her younger sister, Mia, is now dating Lucie's ex, who caused her debilitating accident.

Lucie's godfather, Fitz, warns Lucie that her father was murdered because he refused to sell the vineyard and gives her a mysterious key. The next day Fitz's body is discovered in one of the wine canisters. Lucie realizes family, friends and employees have suddenly become suspects. She also discovers that the murderer may be after her. While trying to get the harvest in and save the vineyard, Lucie must also try to unmask the killer before it's too late.

Also available in:

Large Print

Other books in this series include:

Millions and Millions of Cats

Millions of cats roam the Internet, from legendary kitties like Ceiling Cat, Keyboard Cat, and the touchingly rotund Maru to the captioned "kittehs" in I Can Haz Cheeseburger. 

In less than a decade, net cats have multiplied exponentially - with no sign of letting up. Chances are, you have at least one cat right now in your inbox or posted on Facebook. In particular, library staff have a symbiotic relationship with cats (if you don't own a cat when you are hired, you are issued one).

Some popular web cats are prowling their way into print. And we can help you find them.

Check out Cat vs Human by Yasmine Surovec which originated as a personal blog.  Simon's Cat and Simon's Cat: Beyond the Fence by Simon Tofield, a British animator, started as a delightful series of Internet shorts.

 The popularity of cat videos spawned "Catvertising," a brilliant parody by a Toronto-based ad agency:

  

Watch a real commerical that used cats to their ad-vantage.

Not all Internet cats are sweet like the Talking Cats.  Some are nightmarishly creative. Watch "Welcome to Kitty City" by the UK animator, Cyriak.

 

 Want more funny felines in print (beyond Garfield)?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Fat Freddy's Cat Omnibus by Gilbert Shelton
• Great Comic Cats by Malcolm Whyte
• The New Yorker Book of All-New Cat Cartoons

 

Ceiling Cat is watching . . .