My Most Anticipated Reads For Spring & Summer (And Brief Hiatus Announcement)

Photo: Aude Van Ryn

First, a quick explanation about my planned hiatus: Some health issues will have me in hospital and out of commission for a time. So, I won’t be able to share any reviews or news for a little while. In my absence, I hope you will tell me all about the books you are reading and enjoying. I always love to hear great recommendations from fellow book lovers and given I will have some extensive downtime – your suggestions will be particularly welcomed right now.

So — please leave a comment and share some reading suggestions with me or tell me about the books you are most anticipating this spring and summer!! (I truly would love to hear from you.)

Before taking my break, I thought I would share with you some titles I am really looking forward to this spring and summer. (One resource I love and look forward to each year is The Millions: Most Anticipated. This is a giant list of books and there are always a large number of titles that hold appeal for me.)

Anyway…onto my hotly anticipated books:

* And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini – Hosseini’s wonderful novel The Kite Runner was an amazing and emotional reading experience for me several summers ago.

* Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – with each of her novels, I become more and more intrigued with this writer. This could be a huge book for her.

* Transatlantic by Colum McCann – McCann is another writer I respect and I am quite curious about this new one.

* Night Film by Marisha Pessl – only her second novel, it’s been delayed a couple of times and is being much-hyped. I didn’t love her first book, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, though I did like it and was impressed by her potential.

* The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin – Grandin is a bit of a hero in this house so I am keen to read her new book which was released today!

* Paris by Edward Rutherfurd – Rutherfurd is always great for an immersive and escapist reading experience. This 832 page tome should be a wonderful summer read!

* Gioconda from Lucille Turner – a debut that is getting me quite excited: a) I love literary fiction debuts; b) historical fiction!!

* The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – okay, the word ‘screwball’ in the description is appealing. And, if I am being shallow – i love the cover design. So yes! Sometimes I judge a book by its cover.

New Canadian Books Making Me Drooly:

* In Calamity’s Wake by Natalee Caple – this is silly but the word ‘calamity’ has always been one of my favourites and I have long been taken with the legend of Calamity Jane. So…this book really is a must read for me.

* The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai – this book sounds amazing!

* Bone & Bread by Saleema Nawaz – sounds fascinating and possibly has the potential to be a novel that can crossover to mature YA readers.

* The Family Took Shape by Shashi Bhat – a debut novel that has really captured my attention! (In case you didn’t note earlier in the post: I am such a huge fan of literary debuts. It’s like a genre unto itself for me!)

* Caught by Lisa Moore – Moore is such a compelling storyteller. Any novel she writes is going to be worth reading!

* Maxine by debut novelist Claire Wilkshire – As we have already established…I love a debut novel. A debut novel from Newfoundland-based writer makes me very excited!

* Miracles of Ordinary Men by Amanda Leduc – I have heard such great things about this book!

* Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado – I actually received an advanced copy of the novel from Penguin Canada (thank you!!) and devoured it. Szado’s well researched imaginings are immersive and transportive. I really loved this book and have been working on a proper review for the novel.

* River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay – I think this is going to be a great read. Kay is a lovely man and cares deeply about the research he puts into each of his historical fiction novels.

If you are looking for more reading suggestions, Publishers Weekly has also posted a fairly comprehensive list of books – there’s sure to be something for every reader here.

So – tell me what you are most looking forward to reading over the next couple of months?? I really would love to hear about all the great reading you have planned.

 

 

The Truth About Luck – Iain Reid

I have been eager to get a copy of Iain Reid’s new book so when I received a review edition from House of Anansi – a surprise, and a great one at that – I was ecstatic and did not wait to jump into the story. Reid’s previous book, One Bird’s Choice was one of my favourite reads of 2010 and my expectations were sky-high for The Truth About Luck. It rocks! Hard!

From the book’s description:

 In The Truth about Luck, Iain Reid, author of the highly popular coming-of-age memoir One Bird’s Choice, accompanies his grandmother on a five-day vacation — which turns out to be a “staycation” at his basement apartment in Kingston. While the twenty-eight-year-old writer is at the beginning of his adult life, his ninety-two-year-old grandmother is nearing the end of hers. Between escorting his grandma to local attractions and restaurants, the two exchange memories and she begins to reveal details of her inspiring life story.
Told with subtlety, humour, and heart, this delightful comic memoir reflects on family connections; how we experience adversity, the passage of time, and aging; and most importantly what it truly means to feel lucky.

Sometimes you read a book and it is something you connect with so personally and deeply it can become nearly impossible to detach from it to assess or review in a constructive way. That happened with this amazing book. But, I have been thinking about it for a few days now and I feel – my personal attachment wrestled off to the side – the strength of Reid’s writing – the flow of the story and his ability to make us curious and really care about what he and his grandma are up to – make this book totally worth its 5-star rating.

Reid & his Grandmother, © Ottawa Citizen

Along with some eerie similarities between Reid and I (hello worry, anxiety and writerly lifestyle you crazy trifecta, you), our grandmothers are very similar women. Both were born in the U.K. (his in Scotland, mine in England (in 1917) but with her family she moved to Scotland very early on in her life). Both women lived through two World Wars and the depression and both ladies worked hard for most of their lives. As well, they are very smart and funny people. So, in reading Reid’s book, it was like having my grandma here with me again. (Sadly, grandma died in the summer of 2009, at the age of 92.) There were moments in the book that had me laughing so hard, tears streamed down my face and my stomach hurt. In one particularly hilarious scene, Reid’s grandmother somehow becomes entangled in her seatbelt. This quickly brought to mind an outing my grandma and I had together many years ago. It was a very hot summer day and we were going out for lunch. My car at that time was nicknamed ‘Oven Car’ – it was a notoriously bad place to be on hot, unrelentingly sunny days. I helped grandma into the car and as I got settled into my own seat, she suddenly lurched forward, grabbing the dashboard while shouting “My Ass is on fire!” But the dashboard was really hot too. “My hands are on fire!”, she then yelled. “How do you live like this?”, she wondered out loud while simultaneously trying to get undone from the seatbelt in some failed attempt at escape and fumbling with the interior controls, searching for the non-existent air-conditioning. It was so hot. But it was so hilarious and quickly became a funny story we liked to re-tell.

There were other, quieter moments, in The Truth About Luck that were beautiful and heartfelt. I am glad Reid – encouraged by his brother Jimmy – went with the idea of giving his grandmother time together as a birthday gift. They spent five days at Reid’s home in Kingston, Ontario talking, eating, seeing some local sites and learning things about one another they hadn’t previously known.

I have, unintentionally, been on this trend lately of reading books with older people featuring as main characters – here, Reid’s grandma is 92; last week I read Terry Fallis’ newest novel, Up and Down. It features a 71-year-old protagonist. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, which I read a few months ago, was a completely endearing hoot. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and Helen Simonson‘s Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand also feature characters of retirement age. Given our demographic trend towards an aging population, perhaps this is the new thing in publishing? If it is — I am a big fan. I can think of quite a few more books I have read and enjoyed in recent years that feature mature characters with interesting stories — I bet you can come ups with some great books too, if you think about it for a moment. As individuals, we have a lot to learn. Within developed societies, we take a lot for granted. Hearing about the experiences, challenges and triumphs of older generations should smarten us up and help us realize that older does not mean already dead. Older does not mean no longer worth our time. On the contrary, our respect, gratitude and time should be used to honour and value those who have come before us.

Helen Edna

I remember talking with my own grandma about the idea that when people get old they often get forgotten. She used to tell me how lucky she felt to have her family around her and I would feel really sad thinking about those who either had no one or had people who choose to stay away. My grandmother always had more energy and more of a social life than I ever seem(ed) to muster and I really hope to live as excellent a life as she did. So, I thank Reid for his wonderful book but also for the fact that through his book I was able to spend some precious, dedicated time remembering my own grandmother and the shenanigans we got up to together. That is a great gift to a reader indeed!

This is a much more personal review than I usually write. But I suspect this is happening to a lot of people reading The Truth About Luck. I feel that most people will find it a challenge to read this book in a detached manner. Reid’s style invites you in to a comfortable, relatable story that opens you up for reminiscence. Oh, and in a totally weird yet even more personal aside:  I really need to get in touch with Reid’s mum to find out about her use of plain yogourt to help her diabetic cat. My wonderful dog recently developed insulin-dependent diabetes and he’s had a very rough go these past few months. He’s a bit more stable now, thanks goodness, and I am researching ways to help him further. Reading that yogourt could be some sort of miracle supplement to help my dog’s coat and general health, well — I need to know more!

Edited to add: Reid recently spoke with the 49th Shelf about The Truth About Luck. It’s a great article!

Ru by Kim Thúy

Ru: A Novel by Kim Thúy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We lost power for over 24 hours, thank to Super Storm Sandy, so I decided to re-read this beautiful book.

Kim Thúy’s novel, Ru was shortlisted for this year’s Giller Award. Released in its original French in 2010, it won the French-language Governor-General’s Award that same year, and has secured foreign rights in 15 countries. (Though according to a rep at Random House Canada, I have been told a U.S. publication date has not been established.) The English translation has been crafted beautifully by Sheila Fischman. While I was reading, I sensed the tenderness and integrity Fischman brought to this project. (But I would now like to read Ru in French!)

Ru is a fictional memoir told in beautiful vignettes that weave us through An Tinh’s escape from Vietnam to her time in a Malaysian refugee camp to her new life in Canada. The novel begins with a note on the meaning of ru. In French, it denotes a small stream or a flow – of water, blood, tears or almost anything else. In Vietnamese, ru means a lullaby.

The opening that follows, gives us a good idea of what’s in store:

I came into the world during the Tet Offensive, in the early days of the Year of the Monkey, when the long chains of firecrackers draped in front of houses exploded polyphonically along with the sound of the machine guns.

I first saw the light of day in Saigon, where firecrackers, fragmented into a thousand shreds, coloured the ground red like the petals of cherry blossoms or like the blood of the two million soldiers deployed and scattered through the villages and cities of a Vietnam that had been ripped in two.

I was born in the shadow of skies adorned with fireworks, decorated with garlands of light, shot through with rockets and missiles. The purpose of my birth was to replace lives that had been lost. My life’s duty was to prolong that of my mother.

I love the form this book takes and feel that the way Thúy tells us this story fully captures how we remember events from the past. Our recollections help form the big picture but it’s the snippets of memory, of moments along the way, that fit together like a puzzle and create the full portrait of a life. Even in its entirety life can be messy but whole, disjointed and connected at the same time. But from the chaos and uncertainty, physical and moral strength and endurance can emerge and sustain us.

Prior to the Giller Awards gala event, Thúy did a quick Q & A session with CBC Books.

I would suggest you take a few minutes to watch this video of Thúy, as she talks about writing Ru and the immigrant experience. Thúy has become my new favourite person. She’s bright, funny and quirky. Around these parts, we call that adorakable!

Read her book; won’t you? It’s one of my most favourite reads of 2012.

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Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

(This review is from 2009, but given my recent post about In One Person, I thought I would add this past review to the site.)

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dear Mr. Irving;

I just finished reading your new book, Last Night in Twisted River. I enjoy your writing style very much and your layers of storytelling have always been amazing to me. I do have to ask you something difficult, though.

I have had this hope, each time I hear of a new John Irving book being released, that THIS time I am going to be totally surprised by how and where you have taken us as readers. My only wish is for you to really break out of you Exeter/wrestling/boys&mothers box. You do this group of themes so well, and have shown that time and again. In fact, in your new novel you rail against authors who do the same thing by “writing what they know”. You can understand my confusion.

In Last Night in Twisted River, the (very)thinly veiled references to almost every book you have ever published, peppered throughout this novel, is a bit disconcerting. Along with a few badly cloaked allusions to some of your personal, real life events I am left worried your creative well is getting depleted. We readers know you KNOW this stuff ~ your comfort zone, your heart.

Please Mr. Irving, something different next time? I know you have the talent to pull off the absolutely unexpected and render the reading world gob-smacked! I still heart you and still give the novel 4 stars!

Sincerely,

Jennifer

Okay, so before the book has to go back to the library, I pulled out a couple of quotes that stood out for me.

A)”Ketchum meant that someone should have killed Ralph Nader. (Gore would have beaten Bush in Florida if Nader hadn’t played the spoiler role.) Ketchum believed that Ralph Nader should be bound and gagged – “preferably, in a child’s defective car seat” – and sunk in the Androscoggin.”

Okay, this just made me laugh out loud, picturing it.

B)”Danny Angel’s fiction had been ransacked for every conceivable autobiographical scrap; his novels had been dissected and overanalyzed for whatever could be construed as the virtual memoirs hidden inside them. But what did Danny expect? In the media, real life was more important that fiction; those elements of a novel that were, at least, based on personal experience were of more interest to the general public that those pieces of the novel-writing process that were “merely” made up.”

C) “That kind of question drove Danny Angel crazy, but he expected too much from journalists; most of them lacked the imagination to believe that anything credible in a novel had been “wholly imagined.” And those former journalists who later turned to writing fiction subscribed to that tiresome Hemingway dictum of writing about what you know. What bullshit was this? Novels should be about the people you know? How many boring but deadeningly realistic novels ca be attributed to this lame and utterly uninspired advice?”

D) “Dysfunctional families; damaging sexual experiences; various losses of innocence, all leading to regret. These stories were small, domestic tragedies – none of them condemnations of society or government. In Danny Angel’s novels the villain – if there was one – was more often human nature…”

Funny how my tongue-in-cheek letter, above, can be addressed with passages from the novel. These quotations were all taken from the same time in the book, covering pages 372 through 377.

Hmmmmm.

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In One Person by John Irving

In One Person by John Irving
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

john, john, john!!
you suck me in.
every time!

there’s this matrix on wikipedia. i am sure you have seen it. the matrix makes me sigh and amuses me. it’s a conundrum.

near the end of the book, I felt like you were ticking boxes. giving readers a list of socially important things to mull. i don’t take issue with the issues…they are important and need to be written about so that tolerance and acceptance become the norms…i take issue with the fact this device (is that what it was?) interrupted the flow of the story and yanked me out of my irving induced haze of literary delight. it was like being smacked in the face with a big fish. possibly a frozen big fish.

that cost you one-star. no. i will not give it back.

i still love you.

call me.