The Buzz...About Books

Books for Ontario Wine Week

Ontario Wine Week begins June 16. Created by the Ontario government in 2005 to celebrate the wines from Ontario's four wine regions.

Each of these books feature wine in some fashion:

Graphic Novel

The Drops of God by Tadashi Agi
This manga series was a hit in its native Japan, credited with doubling the country's consumption of wine. In the series, a one of the world's top wine experts sets up a scavenger hunt to determine whether his son or his protege will inherit his estate. The two men must uncover the identity of 12 great wines based on cryptic clues. It's a fantastic series. I feel like I'm getting an education in wine as I read. Start with Volume 1.

Fiction

A Good Year by Peter Mayle
• Large Print
An Englishman inherits a vineyard and relocates to Provence. Also a feature film.

Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson
Sun Valley, Idaho sheriff Walt Fleming must thwart a plot to steal a rare bottle of wine at an exclusive wine festival.

Nose by James Conaway
An unmarked bottle of Cabernet appears on a wine critic's doorstep and sparks a search for the wine's origin.

The Scent of Sake by Joyce Lebra-Chapman
A woman struggles to maintain control of her family's sake brewing business in spite of the restrictions on women in 19th century Japan.

Sideways by Rex Pickett
• eAudiobook
Two friends take a road trip through California's wine country. Also a feature film.

Mystery Fiction

Champagne: the Farewell by Janet Hubbard
• eAudiobook
• eBook
In France for a friend's wedding, NYPD Detective Max Maguire is drawn into a murder investigation in the Champagne region.

The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
• eBook
The police chief in a small Dordogne village has his hands full with murder and with an American corporation making large land purchases.

Death of a Wine Merchant by David Dickinson
• eBook
A murder at a society wedding leads Lord Francis Powerscourt into an investigation of the cutthroat French wine industry.

The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby
• Large Print
Lucie Montgomery returns to her family's Virginia vineyard after her father's sudden death. The first in Crosby's Wine Country Mystery series. Find out more about the series.

 Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
Inspector Rutledge investigates a firm producing Madeira wine after an unidentified body is discovered.

Romance

Wine, Tarts and Sex by Susan Johnson
A gifted chef finds a Minnesota vintner intoxicating.

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.  

Love is a Burning Thing: Fire Fighters in Romance Novels

Poor tormented Guy Montag, the fireman protagonist of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 doesn't have a lot of romance in his life.

The firefighters featured in these romance novels are a different story, however.

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts
• Audiobook
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Will the relationship between two smoke jumpers sizzle or just burn out?

The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox
Three friends can't resist the temptation to call a hotline that dispatches firemen to lonely women.

Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs
• Audiobook
• eBook
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
Sarah Moon finds her romantic life heating up when she returns to her hometown and discovers the high school heartthrob is now a fireman.

Men on Fire
This compilation contains three steamy firefighter romances: The Firefighter Wears Prada by Rachelle Chase, Playing with Fire by Jodi Lynn Copeland and Too Hot to Handle by Susan Lyons.

The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
• Large Print
Two smoke jumpers fall in love with the same woman.

eBooks

The Fireman who Loved Me by Jennifer Bernard
Sparks fly when news producer Melissa wins a date with Fire Chief Harry.

Seducing Simon by Maya Banks
A secret pregnancy heats up the relationship between Toni and her best friend Simon.

Fifty Shades of Grey Cup Sunday

The Grey Cup often features forward passes, fumbles, defensive maneuvers and plays that go out of bounds. So do many romance novels. The books on this list are about football players and the women in their lives.

An Ex to Grind by Jane Heller
Successful business woman Melanie Banks hires a matchmaker to rid her of her deadbeat sponge of a husband. After his new romance transforms the ex-football player into the perfect man, Melanie decides she wants him back.

Hot Stuff by Carly Phillips
Annabel Jordan works in the public relations department of her uncle's sports agency where she is determined to avoid dating the athletes she works with. Until she meets ex-football player Brandon Vaughan and realizes he is not just another jock but a man with real depth.

The Matchmakers by Debbie Macomber
A single mother and a former football player begin dating to make their children happy but surprise themselves by falling in love.
• Audiobook
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
She's broke, stranded and wearing a beaver costume. He's a football player with a nice car. They decide to travel together as friends, fighting their growing attraction.
• Audiobook
• eBook
• Large Print
• Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton
Single mother Tara does her best to resist sexy football player Mick Riley in this steamy romance.

 The Rana Look by Sandra Brown
Model Rana Ramsey becomes disillusioned with the industry and goes into seclusion in a Texas boarding house, hiding her beauty behind dark glasses and shapeless clothes. She is shocked when sexy football player Trent Gamblin pays attention to her but she soon finds herself responding.
• Large Print

Season of Passion by Danielle Steel
The idyllic life shared by football player Tom and his wife Kate comes to a tragic end. Will she be able to love again?
• Large Print

The Sweet Spot by Kayla Perrin
Zoe Andrews is a tough sports reporter whose childhood has left her suspicious of athletes. Kahari Brown is a sexy football player who is suspicious of the media. How will they deal with the chemistry they feel?

Please note that not all of these books are as steamy as Fifty Shades of Grey.  I just couldn't resist the title.

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"

Have You Been Let Down By a Book?

Have you ever heard about a new book in a beloved series and gotten very excited? You wait and wait for it to finally be published, and then you wait and wait for it while it's on hold. Once you finally start reading it, you realize that you really don't like the book at all! I recently had that experience.

Long before Twilight, there was a series of books that all teenage girls read. Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley. There were many Sweet Valley (SV) series which followed the two main characters at different stages in their lives, including, SV Kids, SV Twins, SV High and SV University, to name a few.

The two blonde-haired, blue-eyed California girls might have been identical twins, but they had drastically different personalities. Elizabeth was academic and dreamed of becoming a journalist, while Jessica was flirty and travelled with the in crowd.

Sweet Valley Confidential is the recent adult book that visits the twins ten years after graduating from high school. The twins have had a falling out, over a guy. Elizabeth has fled to New York to write for a theatre magazine/blog, while Jessica surprisingly has remained in Sweet Valley. Right from the first chapter, I knew I was in trouble. Somehow the twins personalities have drastically changed, gone are the girls we once knew. Jessica is suddenly a valley girl, who throws "like" into a sentence for no reason at all. Elizabeth, who used to value and agonize over every relationship, now thinks nothing of one-night stands or "friends with benefits." I know the twins had to grow up and become adults, but I did not realize that they would become people that I would not care for.

Now the writing of these books was never of a very high standard, but the characters were what kept bringing readers back. The best part of the book was the Epilogue that provides a brief "where are they now" for some of the characters from the series. In the end, I felt that I should have left my fond memories of the series in the past. Have you read any books that you looked forward to only to be disappointed and let down?

Jane Austen Ruined My Life

If the idea of discovering lost writings by your favourite author sounds exciting, then Jane Austen Ruined My Life is the book for you!

Professor Emma Grant has always believed in happy endings, her favourite author, Jane Austen, instilled this belief in her. Emma even believes that she found her own happy ending. However, this all comes to a crashing end when she discovers her husband in the arms of her teaching assistant. Then she loses her job after the same teaching assistant falsely accuses her of plagiarism.

While wondering what to do with her life, Emma is contacted by a mysterious Mrs. Parrot, who claims to have a collection of lost letters written by Jane Austen. Emma, her faith in Austen's happily-ever-afters fading fast, jumps on a plane bound for England. She hopes these letters will renew her academic credibility and possibly prove happy endings just do not exist.

Things do not go as planned, when Mrs. Parrot refuses to simply hand over the letters and instead sends Emma on a series of tasks, to gradually reveal unknown secrets about Austen's personal life. Along the way, Emma also encounters her former best friend, Adam, who she lost touch with after her marriage.

Witty and smartly written, you feel as if you are visiting all the Jane Austen sites across England, along  with Emma.

Also available in: Large Print

If you enjoy this story, you may also want to read Beth Pattillo's next novel, Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, which deals with a similar theme, except instead of long lost letters, an early version of Austen's Pride and Prejudice has been found.

Posted by Erin

Juliet ends the curse

Juliet by Anne Fortier is a "sequel" to Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.  Author, Anne Fortier was born and grew up in Denmark. She recently moved to North America to work in film.

If you like historical fiction Juliet is for you.  If you like books that take you to exotic places Juliet if for you.  If you always wanted to change the ending of Shakespeare's tragedy Juliet is definitely for you.

Jules, as her family calls her, has always had a special feeling about the story of Romeo and Juliet. She has even spent much of her adult life teaching Shakespeare's play to kids.   Although her parents are both dead she does have an estranged twin sister and loving aunt.  When the aunt dies she leaves Jules' twin a house and Jules a letter.   The letter sends her off to Siena, Italy in search of a lost treasure that only she can claim.  Along the way she finds family she didn't know existed, falls in love with a guy who might be her Romeo and realizes almost too late that the Shakespeare's "curse" might actually kill her!

My favourite sections of Juliet take us back in time to medieval Sienna where we learn the true story of Juliet and her Romeo. 

Can't wait for the movie!

Read the book or listen to the excellent audiobook.

-- Jane

Below is selection of other novels inspired by Shakespeare's life and his plays:

 

Star-Crossed Lovers

After seeing the movie Bright Star I just had to read poet John Keats' letters to Fanny Brawne. Thankfully I found just the book!

Bright Star is a movie that starts slowly and pulls you in. By the end, you find yourself hoping against all odds that things will work out, despite already knowing how it will end. Director Jane Campion and stars Ben Whishaw (Keats) and Abbie Cornish (Fanny) do a lovely job with this movie wonderfully portraying the true love story.

Keats and Fanny are complete opposites, he a poor poet and she a flirty seamstress, interested in fashion. Despite their differences they fall deeply in love, which is a shock to friends and family, who at first try to dissuade the couple. Just when things are looking up for our lovers, Keats falls ill. Due to his worsening health, he must move to Italy and the lovers are kept apart. This separation causes Keats to write some of the most moving and celebrated poetry and love letters of the English language. However, upon his death at the age of 25, Keats was still separated from his love and considered himself a failure. After his death, Fanny went into mourning and secluded herself from the world. She wore his ring for the rest of her life.

So Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne is a collection of Keats' letters and poetry, inspired by his love for Fanny. This edition also includes and introduction by Jane Campion. Andrew Motion's biography of the poet, simply entitled Keats, inspired Jane Campion to create the film. It is the first major biography of Keats in thirty years and examines how his works still resonate today.

 

Posted by Erin

Me, Myself and Why?

Cadence Jones is an FBI agent hot on the heels of a serial killer known as the ThreeFer Killer. Cadence however, is not you typical FBI agent. Me, Myself and Why? is a new book from MaryJanice Davidson.

The secret FBI department, BOFFO (Bureau of False Flag Ops), employs Cadence and other agents who are actually quite similar to the psychopaths they hunt. BOFFO is a very interesting place to work, since employees include a kleptomaniac, a sociopath, an agoraphobe, and a boss who enjoys julienning vegetables far too much. Cadence fits right in with this motley crew, suffering from multiple personality disorder. Her three personalities, or "sisters," create the perfect crime-fighting agent. Cadence's sisters appear to help solve different stages of the crime, when Cadence becomes stressed or afraid. Shiro is a martial-arts expert, while Adrienne is just a tad crazy.

The ThreeFer Killer likes to kill in threes and as the bodies pile up, Cadence begins to believe that the killer is leaving messages for her at the crime scenes. In her private life, Cadence is trying to date her best friend's brother. He knows about her sisters and seems alright with it, could he be the one? Is the killer really trying to contact her?

This is the first book in a trilogy, designed for those who enjoy dark humour and mystery.