City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Here is another author that I enjoyed over the summer. City of Ember, like the Young Adult novel, Eclipse is also being made into a movie. I think the City of Ember has a better chance of being a good film than the other, though.

Again, a fun-filled read with strong child characters. The sequel and prequel weren't as engaging but I would recommend all three works by DuPrau to younger readers.

From the Publisher
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.

Penguin book of Canadian short stories

I'm currently reading The Penguin book of Canadian short stories edited by Jane Urquhart. I have to admit that I haven't purchased a collection of Canadian short stories since university, but all the screaming from the literati made me curious. The misogynistic attacks on Urquhart's selection is quite disconcerting, but I guess to be expected. Academics tend to be insecure and vicious from my limited perspective. My ruling of the collection: so far so good. I'm thoroughly enjoying the selections. I think Penguin was brilliant to select Urquhart. Not only is she a sensitive reader, but she has the star power to get someone like me to pay attention to the publication of such a collection.

My favourite short story so far: Vision by Alistair MacLeod. In this work, MacLeod explores the difference between sight and vision. Characters without sight "see" differently than those with sight. It was particularly thought provoking and of course, made me think of Blindness again... more on that later.

I plan to take this collection to the cottage and immerse myself. But I have already re-discovered the problem (or maybe prize) of a short story: once you finish reading it, you want to read it again!

Blindness

Where did the summer go... Isn't the summer a time for reading all kinds of paper backs and trashy novels? Instead, I seemed to have read throught the full gambit:

At the cottage in July, I finally got around to reading Pillars of the Earth -- what a perfect cottage read... it was easy, interesting and you came to know and care for the characters. With that many pages you had lots of opportunities to come to know them. When I got home, I started to read World without end, but other books (with due dates) pre-empted this other tome Ken Follet.

In August I bought Breaking Dawn. What a disappointment. The list serves' mantra was "don't burn it, return it." I think Stephenie Meyers must have put all her energies into Host. Enough said about this dud.

Towards the end of August, Blindness by Jose Saramago came up on my hold list. OK, let's set the record straight, there is no fluff in this work. I'm not sure if I will ever be the same after reading this work. I'm still feeling somewhat raw. Saramago's novel certainly illustrates just how vulnerable we are, how blind we are and yet, we remain undeniably connected. My only criticism: the inside book jacket told too much.

What next? All I can handle right now is Baking boot camp : five days of basic training at the Culinary Institute of America. I think I need to bake to come to grips with Blindness. I'm sure the mudslide cookies can solve the problems of the world.

I do have a copy of The Penguin book of Canadian Short Stories, selected and introduced by Jane Urquhart. I think I may want to own this one. But I digress, here is the publisher's blurb for Blindness:
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature