Leviathan – Scott Westerfield

First off, I just have to say this is a gorgeous cover with all of the texture and colour this is one of my favorites.

Just at the beginning of WWI, some nations have taken to steam-powered machines and some have taken to more animatistic made machines that they use for battles.

Aleksander Ferdinand has been kidnapped after his parents were killed by their own people.  There are only a few who are still faithful to Aleksander and his beliefs, and have taken precautions to keep him safe.

Deryn, a girl who is clambering at the bit to be able to become a pilot has disguised herself to try and join the British Air Service.  With her taking chances the way she is one thought came to me – will she be discovered? what will happen if she is?

With war starting, will both sides be able to reclaim or overcome the other side to get what they want?

I have to say, this is a great book for kids who in my case with my son is a reluctant reader, and when this book arrived he was actually interested in what it was all about.  It is also great for those exploring what genre’s of books they will ultimately want to read in adulthood to help them decide.

My son is reading this at school and at home, it is really holding his attention, and he is actually talking about what he thinks may happen in the chapters he hasn’t read.  Will Deryn be discovered, will the war change things that were once quiet and calm? What will really happen when the machines take over Europe, or when the Animals take over? The humour is great as well I find it is quite agreeable for kids.  I did hear my son chuckling at a few passages while he read quietly and then asked what part he was at, and once he told me I chuckled as well.

Like I mentioned before, the texturization of the dust cover as well as the full colour diagrams and illustrations in the novel make it quite unique and would be a keepsake just for that alone.

Scott’s Website

Simon and Schuster

Tomato – A Guide to The Pleasures of Choosing, Growing & Cooking – Gail Harland and Sofia Larrinua-Craxton

If you are contemplating starting to grow tomatoes, or just have a love of eating them then this book is definitely for you.

This smallish hardcover book has literally everything you will need to start to grow your first tomato plants to adding to your repertoire of gardening.

The detailed advice on every part from growing, varieties, diseases, pests, growing them in the ground, growing them in bags, pots or hanging baskets.

There is also a section for when you are ready to harvest, a selection of over 30 recipes to entice you to use your bountiful harvest of tomatoes.

I was really impressed with the full colour photographs and diagrams, along with the descriptions makes this in my opinion the Tomato Lovers Bible.

Who knew that there are over 5000 different varieties of all shapes and sizes that first originated in the western coastal highlands of South America that were grown by the Aztec’s and Mayans.  They also grow wild in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Northern Chile and Peru?

Here is a sampling of the full colour photographs and details from part of the book -

DK Publishing

Sofia’s Website

Help Me, Jacques Cousteau – Gil Adamson

I have to say this little book had me laughing out loud, I just loved it.

This is a reprint of Gil’s work that was originally published about 10 years ago by a small press The Porcupine’s Quill, which until now had a limited print run and was quite hard to find.

Through the eyes of oldest Hazel along with her younger brother Andrew are born into an eccentric and quirky family.  Through vignettes of the short stories, they have travelled and lived in Australia when their father taught there then moved back to Canada.

Talking about her family through her eyes, as only one could – her brother that once just stopped speaking and read books instead; her father the amateur inventor where the house they live in has been re wired more than once; the house is strewn with old and new inventions; the grandfather who once kept a deceased dog in the back of his car and drove around for a while.

There were many instances where I either laughed out loud, shook my head, and jaw dropped at the antics this family encountered.  Unbelievably funny, with a side of insanity will have you in the same boat as I was – in stitches, unable to comprehend what else was in store while being a part of this family.

Immensely addictive, full of personal insights and flowing like poetry, this would be a great book for an afternoon of reading when you need a pick me up on a snow falling day in front of a window with a hot beverage of your choice.

House of Anansi

Gil Adamson’s Website

Through Black Spruce – Joseph Boyden

I have to say, this book totally blew me away with its really strong narrative,  literally whisking me away to a place that I have lived close to in Northern Ontario that I had a hard time to even take a breath, much less do anything else until I finished the book.

I had heard all of the buzz surrounding this particular book, but I am now a confirmed new fan to Joseph’s works.  I will be looking for Three Day Road as well, the book he published before Through Black Spruce.  It is also book two of a three book trilogy, where Three Day Road is the first book, but they are also stand alone books.

Will has been a Cree bush pilot for decades and finds himself in the hospital suffering from a coma.  Annie, his niece has her own problems as well.  Looking for her sister that succumbed to the modelling world and some of its perils is number one on her agenda.  The family hasn’t heard from her in months, they are worried, and want to know if she is still alive.  Something happened to her when she was in New York smoozing with people in the industry and all of the deals and plans they have for not only one another but themselves as well.

Will, Annie and the rest of the family come from a small northern Ontario community that is mostly inhabited by native people.  They use snowmobiles in the winter to travel across the lake to other parts of the area, as well as hunt and fish.  In this cold climate, the smell of black spruce, the wood burning stoves, and the problems of drugs and alcohol gives this book the authentic yet real problems that this and other communities face within the Native community.

As Will is laying in his coma, Anne comes to him to tell her story of how finding her sister is becoming a lost cause and how she feels about the whole situation – her sister, her boyfriend who is involved with drug dealing, and the modeling world may have added to her disappearance.  Annie goes to Toronto where she started her modeling career where it then takes her to Montreal and then to New York.  The rumours and conflicting stories don’t bode well for her sister she feels; and praying that she is safe somewhere, anywhere, so that she has enough time to find her.

Will in his own way is communicating how he ended up in this whole predicament – the persons who are responsible, the reason why.  Will has other demons as well – alcohol, losing his wife and young child in a house fire shortly after being married all contribute to how he lives his life now, and the dreams still yet to be realized, with a woman who he has been friends with for years, but just got reconnected.

Rife with heartbreak, fierce love – for one another and others, ancient feuds that have gone on for years with no chance of reconciliation, along with the bonds that hold friends and family together are just impeccable.

I have to say that if I didn’t already know the area Joseph talks about in the novel I think it would have been a totally new experience of seeing it through his eyes for the first time; alas, since I do know the area, I can re imagine the sights and sounds of a small town far away from the nearest larger city, isolated with the cold Ontario winter howling in the background.  The rich and storied cast of characters along with the storytelling will want you to savour this novel and then possibly re read it again to gain a different perspective each time you do.

Through Black Spruce won the Scotia Bank Giller Prize for 2008, CBA Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year for 2009, and was long listed for the I.M.P.A.C Dublin Award in 2009

Penguin

Quill and Quire’s Review

Joseph’s Website

CBC Canada Reads 2010 is announced !

I wasn’t online or able to listen to the announcement when I was out and about earlier today,but have already placed holds on 2 more books at the library, 2 they didn’t have and I haven’t checked out one last book yet, but here are the books and the people who are defending their choices -

Defended by Perdita Felicien

Defended by Roland Pemberton

Defended by Simi Sara

Defended by Samantha Nutt

Defended by Michel Vezina

Now, there are also some really great contests in keeping with the theme – From now until March when they start to really tear down and build back up the books they are defending from the other panelists; they have book giveaways if you go HERE and check back often as they will change frequently.

Then, they also have a contest where the winner will win a Sony E Reader (how cool is that)  and you can find it HERE

And, last but certainly not least if you missed the announcement like I did you can view them all on the radio, yes, I just said that you will know what I mean when you watch the announcement live on the radio from earlier today

What are YOU going to read ??

Love Your Body, Love Your Life – Sarah Maria

I was a bit sceptical about this book when I received an email for it, but alas, it had me intrigued just by the content of what may or may not be in the book.

With the advent of all of these celebrity shows that tout how slim, skinny or large one or many celebrities have become is basically 6pm news nowadays.  The images of slim people exercising, on diet plans are on every channel that you may or may not watch on a continuous basis 24/7 wanting you to buy that excercise system, go on that diet, or make you feel even worse about how your body image is against one or any people who are healthier and look like they are having way more fun then you have had in a while.  Remember those?

Love Your Body, Love Your Life will hopefully assist you to diminish or end the 5 negative body obsessions, and have you start to live happily and confidently, as well as end the self-destructive thoughts and behaviours that we all do at one time or another.  Yes, you heard me right.  We ALL do it even if we do have a healthy self-esteem.  We are human after all.

It all talks about the 5 steps to end Negative Body Obsession and to start living happily and confidently…

Throughout the book I felt and this is my opinion, it was giving me a case of negative body obsession by how many times it referred to it.  It is threaded throughout the whole book, no matter the positive things it wants you to do.  Like an addiction, that negative body obsession is lurking behind the blinds watch out ! mentality.

Yes, we all have negative images and thoughts that come to us throughout a variety of outlets – television, internet, radio, magazines, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be a size 2 like the model do we? We can be healthy, by doing what we can with what is in our control – eating healthy, controlling our portions, decreasing our junk food binges.  Getting more excercise.

Now, for me I didn’t relate to this book.  For one, the old message of Negative Body Obsession or Image was throughout the book.  I feel as thought if you want to get over the negativity of how you are feeling, the author could have just described it in one chapter and then went onto the more important aspect of the book – giving you the tools you need to overcome feeling like this.

There is quite a long list of recommended reading in the back as well for you to peruse and pick and chose at your leisure.

Author’s Website

Adam’s Media

 

 

The Recipe Club – Andrea Isreal and Nancy Garfunkle

Lilly and Val have been best friends since childhood.  As a way of being better friends and combining their love of cooking they came up with The Recipe Club.

As there are only 2 members, they would send letters back and forth to one another with recipes sometimes because of how the other was feeling and to lift their spirits, and to add to the mix of what was going on their lives at the time.

Once adults, a situation happened that threw them apart, then the letters and recipes stopped.  After the death of Val’s mother, the emails started again, as well as arguments from the past have come back into focus – Lilly’s father paying for Val’s education, the way he paid more attention to her then Lilly; the unknown history that both sets of parent’s had that have now come to the surface, with new and old feelings that haven’t been dealt with.

As the years went by, the girls eventually went their separate ways Val becomes a doctor, Lilly wanted to become a singer and performer, but eventually becoming a caterer.  When they start to communicate once again it is like a long-lost part of them has been stitched back together.  They love and admiration for one another back as it was before.  As they are older now, they come to the things that have spilt them apart in the first place.  With neither wanting to talk about it, it does get solved and both eventually realize that they are the ones that were somewhat taken advantage of, and with that and dealing with it; they become even better friends for the long-term.

With the recipes that are included in the book, they are quite interesting.  You can use the recipes in your own home.  For me it showed the real basis for making and keeping a friendship.  It was also the ability to reclaim the friendship that was once abandoned long ago.   The family dynamics was quite interesting, yet unorthodox as well.

The Recipe Club

The Recipe Club on ABC’s Good Morning America

This book is also being published by HarperCollins in a new edition.

 

 

 

I Need Bookish Help !

This book I have seen in my Grandmother’s kitchen as well as my Parent’s kitchen many years ago.  Since my heritage is Ukrainian with Czech I am posting this post to see if this will work any more than the appeal I have posted on Facebook.

For the last few years, I have been missing the smells coming out of my parents kitchen with the smells of Poppy Seed Roll among other things I do not have the recipes for, that suffice to say had taken advantage of since I was a child when these heavenly delights came out of the oven and ready to eat.

This is a Canadian book that was first published in Winnipeg Manitoba by Savella Stechishin 1957.  Here are the details

Stechishin, Savella ([1957] 1995). Traditional Ukrainian Cookery (18th ed. ed.). Winnipeg: Trident Press. ISBN 0-919490-36-0.

Now that being said there are a few copies on Amazon and elsewhere I have looked with prices of over $250.00.  I think that is an outrageous price to pay for a used and somewhat damaged book – either the dust cover is missing, or the pages are creased or the binding is falling apart in one way or another.

So, if anyone comes across this particular book, in whatever edition, I am willing to pay a maximum of $50 for the book.

This book brings really fond memories of my grandparents and parents all huddled in the kitchen making some of these delectable dishes to the table to be able to have a taste and enjoy one another’s company.

 

More pictures of the Kids’ Gingerbread Cookies Last Year

Booking Mama and Bermudaonion have been doing a virtual cookie swap the last 12 days, and I posted my recipe here.  I did add one picture of one of the kids artistic endeavour on the page, and here are the rest.  In getting into the spirit, I thought I’d share the other pictures.

Aren’t they creative??

Make sure you check out all of the recipes that are being posted today !

The Carnivore – Mark Sinnett

In the fall of 1954 Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto with such a force that killed 81 people and injuring many more.

Ray and Mary Townes who were recently married have that typical Canadian life – he being a police officer and Mary a nurse that anyone would want to have and see from the outside as one that is destined to succeed.  Ray is not only young but being hailed as a hero on that fateful night that the hurricane hit, he has a lot to live up to.  Mary, a young nurse working at St. Joseph’s has that persona of a Florence Nightingale working the night shift in her own way.

50 years later, Ray is on his deathbed from emphysema just by chance reading the paper one morning  Ray has made the papers once again;  with the same picture that had haunted him then as it does now.  Mary is still irked to this day about their life so long ago, just waiting patiently until Ray breathes his last breath; what she thought they once had as you will see is a total fabrication, or at least it is in her eyes and she will have nothing of it.  She also knows more than she is letting onto;  Ray, who is telling the whole story throughout this work of fiction that had me engrossed to the point of stalking the characters in a way that you are allowed to when reading a book.

The story itself jumps from present-day to those fateful days when Hurricane Hazel hit, with all of the force it intended.  Ray seems to think that coming clean after all of these years will absolve him of the things that he hadn’t had the guts to reveal to his loving wife Mary.  He fully intended to, but when things got right down to it, he chickened out.

Mary finding the notebook in-between his bed wasn’t exactly the cleverest place to hide his journal for anyone not to find it, but when Mary goes back, she can’t find it with all of the secrets her husband kept from her.

Like I had stated earlier, I was literally stalking this novel – it didn’t matter if I was reading it, or it was sitting on my table eyeing me from where it sat, the story along with all of the characters were on my mind like a woman possessed wanting to know if Ray and Mary would reconcile before Ray took his last breath, or would the animosity of all the heartbreak and sadness of things already done would still fester like a wound would that hasn’t been tended to.

I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

ECW Press

If you are entering a giveaway, PLEASE READ THIS

I love to give out free stuff, but there are times that it is not fun.  Here are some instances…

1.  You have entered the information in the comments section, when it specifically states to use the contact form to do so.

2.  The information you need to enter is not included

I will not enter anyone in giveaways if this information is not followed.  I get so many entries that it is hard for me to add you to the mix, if the requirements are not followed.  I would love to add you, but if you do not fill out ALL of the information I have requested to make it easier for me and for you, then it isn’t really fair is it?

Thanks !

Last Giveaway of the year! – Knitting the Season

I was asked by some wonderful publicists at Penguin Canada what would be a great way of talking about Kate Jacob’s new book Knit The Season, and the only thing that came to me was to have a giveaway of …Mitts.  They are handmade by yours truly, 100% acrylic, and washable.  The image I have attached is what they look like, although, these are already spoken for, so you will have a choice of colours – Navy Blue, Beige, and a Grey/White mix with Black tops.

Now here are the rules:

ONE entry PERIOD ! per person, ip address, household. (and if you come across this post on a freebie site, you will also be disqualified)

Open to CANADIAN residents ONLY (sorry US and European people)

1.  In the message part of the contact form, tell me what it was about Kate’s previous 2 books that makes you want to read the third book  Knit The Season.

2.  You MUST include your name and mailing address (or you will not be entered)  along with the question.  NO PO BOXES

I have THREE pairs of mitts to giveaway, so that means one pair per winner.

THEN…

You must use the Contact Form on THIS blog <—–CLICK AND ENTER ALL OF THE INFORMATION – Name, Address, Answer to the question, OR YOU WILL NOT BE ENTERED ! Whatever comments are posted will NOT be treated as an entry.

Giveaway ends on DECEMBER 10, 2009, so that the packages can be sent from the publisher on the 11th to make sure you get them in time for Christmas.

Now, I just received my copy yesterday, and there are some great looking recipes, and one or two knitting patterns as well in the back of the book.  So, when you go to buy your copy if you are a knitter, try them out.  I know I will once I have finished ready my copy.

Good Luck to all that enter!

Special Thanks to Barbara at Penguin Canada for supplying the shipping costs for the mitts!

The Brightest Star in the Sky – Marian Keyes

This is the first book that I have read by Marian and I have to say, I am sitting on the fence.

Marian writes about a 4 plex townhouse at 66 star street, where there are some very eclectic characters in the mix.  The differences almost immediately discernable, yet they all come together in the end by a force that is in the stars so to speak.

Kate is the one that owns the top flat, who works as a PR representing rocks bands that are making their comebacks to the spotlight, who is turning 40 and has never been married.

There are 2 Polish men that share a flat with Lydia who are cab drivers.  Yes they share a flat, but what else will they share? Only time will tell.

Jessica is the octogenarian in the building.  She is the brains behind the whole building.  She brings into the mix her foster son who is starring in his own TV gardening show that is being recorded.  Did I mention she is also a pay per talk psychic as well?

Then there is Meave and Matt who have been married for a few years, and are happy the way they are, or at least it looks and feels that way until you dig a bit deeper into their lives.

Then there is this force of sorts that is the buildings guardian angel so to speak, who oversees everything, good and bad, feels what they feel and think in quiet ways.  St first the residents do come across this “being” that is looking over them, which makes some think they are being watched, but nothing comes of it, until the last day of the 60 that this “being” is there for and needs to make a huge decision about who and when.

I liked the way that Marian tackles some of the really tough issues of today – older parents aging and getting ill, violent acts that may take hold of a person after the fact, instead of keeping it all buried and not dealt with.

I think that if it could have been laid out differently than  adding a fantasy twist to it, but it was ok.

Penguin / Michael Joseph

Sex, Drugs, & Gefilte Fish – Edited By Shana Liebman

When I received the offer to read and review this book it had me intrigued.  Even the title had me wondering right away what it was all about, and I have to admit, I was laughing out loud laughing, shaking my head, and open mouth shocked at some of the stories in this collection from the Heeb Story Collection.

From scoring drugs for your uncle, to spending a New Year’s Eve with porn stars (yes, you heard me correct) it was a hilarious ride into what is to be Jewish, and the stories of living anywhere in America , and what it could have in store for you.

There are 50 stories from the downright laugh out loud laughing funny to sentimental of what it meant for these people to be “Jewish”.

Strangely unique, it had me reading story after story wondering what was next in the queue.

I loved it.

View Video

Whiskey Gulf – Clyde Ford

Charlie Noble, retired from the Coast Guard is living a serene life on his boat on the waters in the Pacific Northwest.

Switching gears from working full time to retiring / investigations brings him the case of a unusual sort – a couple literally disappears off the grid on their boat near a section of water that is known as “Whiskey Gulf” where the military test fires torpedoes and other weapons.  Much advertisement is given to when these tests are being done, but in this instance they were well clear of the area, and all of a sudden just disappear off the face of the earth.
They radioed in for help, but no one was able to help them before radio contact could determine where exactly they were and how to get to them in dense fog.

As the boat club nearby wants to know what happened to their sailing friends, Charlie is asked to take a look into what he can find out, and give their friends some measure of relief in knowing any kind of information he can find.

As Charlie starts to take a look around and make inquiries he reveals a possible torpedoing to their boat, which was way off in another section of the water where they were and where the testing was taking place.  Now the Canadian and American military officials aren’t saying a word, Charlie thinks there is more to this then just a stray torpedo; He was right.
Will Charlie and his friend Raven be able to find the couple in such difficult circumstances?

In the twists and turns and absolute stop dead in your tracks adventure or terrorists, past alliances, and broken friendships, Charlie takes you the reader off on a water adventure full of descriptive narratives that will have you wanting to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest to experience the wild forests, the water, the beauty and most of all a different lifestyle that I have had the opportunity to experience when I lived in British Columbia.

It was for me a visit back to a place that I have experienced for myself and was missing it so much as I was reading the book.  I will definitely have to take a trip back out west to be able to experience it all again even if, for a short time.

Author’s Website

Vanguard Press