Maddaddam, by Margaret Atwood

Atwood does not disappoint, and once again she demonstrates why she is a literary great.  I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, and it still infiltrates my thoughts.  I keep finding innumerable connections and associations to it during my daily interactions. 

As for the story, it progresses and builds upon the storyline of characters from the earlier works.  Thos pigs --pigoons -- are back and they scare me half to death.  (As a child on a farm, I worked with pigs and recognize how intelligent they are without the any tampering with the frontal cortex.  The idea of these genetically altered pigs make me shudder.) 

As for the story, it is highly engaging, thought provoking, humorous (dare I say hilarious in parts), disturbing and makes we want to start the trilogy all over again.  Definitely not a trilogy for everyone, but definitely a work I want on my book shelves to read again, and again.

Library Journal offers this review:

The compelling conclusion to Atwood's dystopian trilogy opens with a brief synopsis of the series' first two books, Oryx & Crake and The Year of the Flood, then launches directly into the story of the MaddAddamites, survivors of a global pandemic that wiped out most of humanity.

Readers, even those unfamiliar with the human characters and the genetically engineered new species Atwood has created in her futuristic world, will be quickly drawn in and eager to find out what happens to the MaddAddamites and to the Crakers, a gentle, quasihuman species created by Crake.

Their world is full of many dangers, including direct attacks from criminally insane Painballers and from pigoons, transgenic pigs developed to grow replacement organs for humans. Toby, Zeb, and the rest of the MaddAddamites are alive, but will they be able to continue not only to subsist but to build up their small society and, eventually, live alongside the Crakers and even flourish? VERDICT Certainly of great interest to Atwood fans awaiting this third book of the trilogy and for fans of dystopian/postapocalyptic fiction generally, this finale is a gripping read for any reader.

Mount Pleasant, by Don Gillmor

This book's premise intrigued me: an middle aged man shocked to discover that his anticipated inheritance ended up being a few thousand dollars as opposed to the anticipated million plus.  Once again, an unlikable main character, but very timely and relevant.

Summary:
Harry Salter, a middle-aged man born into wealth but living with ballooning debt, is counting on his inheritance to rescue him financially and maybe even save his crumbling marriage, but when his father dies and the will is read, all that's left for him is $4,200. Unable to believe that his father, whose estate should have been worth millions, had died broke, Harry sets out to discover exactly what happened to the money.

Up and Down, by Terry Fallis

He did it again. Terry Fallis wrote another engaging and endearing book.  This time he took on Canadian US relations in the crazy world of the public relations industry. Mix it with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency and you get a winning combination. Was it great literature? No, but it was wonderful to read such a Canadian book.  To date, I think The Best Laid Plans is a stronger work, but I love politics and what could be funnier than Canadian politics.

Summary:

avid Stewart has left his job on Parliament Hill to join the team at a dog-eat-dog international PR firm in Toronto. Within his first few moments on the job he is assigned to a major project with the Canadian Space Agency and NASA to revitalize the public's interest in the CSA and NASA. David suggests the most out-of-this-world idea imaginable: hold a contest where two regular, Joe-Blow civilians accompany a shuttle mission for an orbit around the Ear - See more at: http://miltonpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/541995039_up_and_down#sthash.4KVv1jp2.dpuf

Beach Strip, by John Lawrence

This book confirms that the mystery/ detective genre is not for me.  I heard good things about this book, but I found it a bit of a tough slog.  I wanted to like it because the author is from Burlington, Ontario -- it's always good to support Canadian writers.  I read half of the book, then jumped to the end just in time to read the denouement and an explanation of how everything unraveled.  No big surprises, may I add. 

Here is the publisher's blurb:
I'd rather laugh in bad taste than cry in good taste." That?s how Josie Marshall deals with the death of her detective husband, Gabe, found naked outside their home on the beach with a bullet in his brain. Everyone calls it suicide. Josie knows it isn?t . . . but fears it could be. After all, she had provided Gabe with a motive. The clues are so strong that even Josie begins to believe Gabe shot himself. But when a horrific slaying occurs literally at her feet, she knows Gabe was murdered, and her determination to prove it carries her toward dark corners of the beach strip and exposes the darker sides of its residents. Fending off her fears with humour and outrage, she encounters a drug-crazed drifter, an organized-crime boss with romance on his mind, a woman with a murderous past and a pervert who?s been frequenting her garden shed. When a chance remark leads Josie to the astonishing truth of Gabe?s death, her story takes a shocking turn that no one could have seen coming.

Speaking from Among the Bones, by Alan Bradley

Flavia is at it again, and she is in fine form.  Her intellect in this book aptly describes her as "genius" and she is all the more lovable for it.  The best part (worse part)
of the book? The cliff hanger ending!  Now I have to wait until April to find out what happens next! 

Wonderful.

Summary:

hen the tomb of Saint Tancred, the patron saint of Bishop's Lacey, is opened on the five-hundredth anniversary of his death and the body of the missing church organist, Mr. Collicutt, is discovered inside, eleven-year-old amateur detective Flavia de Luce launches her own investigation into his deat - See more at: http://miltonpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/551588039_speaking_from_among_the_bones#sthash.89m8qx7M.dpuf

hen the tomb of Saint Tancred, the patron saint of Bishop's Lacey, is opened on the five-hundredth anniversary of his death and the body of the missing church organist, Mr. Collicutt, is discovered inside, eleven-year-old amateur detective Flavia de Luce launches her own investigation into his deat - See more at: http://miltonpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/551588039_speaking_from_among_the_bones#sthash.89m8qx7M.dpuf

hen the tomb of Saint Tancred, the patron saint of Bishop's Lacey, is opened on the five-hundredth anniversary of his death and the body of the missing church organist, Mr. Collicutt, is discovered inside, eleven-year-old amateur detective Flavia de Luce launches her own investigation into his deat - See more at: http://miltonpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/551588039_speaking_from_among_the_bones#sthash.89m8qx7M.dpuf

hen the tomb of Saint Tancred, the patron saint of Bishop's Lacey, is opened on the five-hundredth anniversary of his death and the body of the missing church organist, Mr. Collicutt, is discovered inside, eleven-year-old amateur detective Flavia de Luce launches her own investigation into his deat - See more at: http://miltonpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/551588039_speaking_from_among_the_bones#sthash.89m8qx7M.dpuf

Triggers, by Robert J. Sawyer

An intriguing story that I was enjoying, but I ran out of time and had to return it. Damn two week loans at the Library. Harrumph. The summer is coming and surely I'll get my hands on it again.  In the meantime, I'll watch for Red Planet Blues.

Summary:
On the eve of a secret military operation, an assassin's bullet strikes U.S. President Seth Jerrison. He is rushed to hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life. At the same hospital, Canadian researcher Dr. Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a device that can erase traumatic memories. Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience-but the memories that flash through Jerrison's mind are not his memories.                                                                                                                                         

It quickly becomes clear that the electromagnetic pulse generated by the bomb amplified and scrambled Dr. Singh's equipment, allowing a random group of people to access one another's minds. And now one of those people has access to the president's memories-including classified information regarding an upcoming military mission, which, if revealed, could cost countless lives. But the task of determining who has switched memories with whom is a daunting one, particularly when some of the people involved have reasons to lie...

The Headmaster's Wager, by Vincent Lam

I'm not sure if I didn't like this book because of the topic -- war -- or if it was the work itself.  I guess it says a lot in the fact that I finished the book, but it was tough.  I skipped torture pages and other areas that seemed to be filled with more words than substance.  Again, I'm not sure if I'm criticizing the writing or just the terrible infliction of war onto my psyche. 

I'm also biased as I like novels with rich characters. I was getting pretty frustrated with Percival Chen and his inability to grow.  He was not a good father, but he proved to be loving, in the end.  I just wonder if his son actually knew he was loved so passionately.  Some of the other characters were stock types.  Mak appeared to be such until Lam gave the reader an opportunity to see his conflict as he had to torture Percival. 

I'm glad I finished the work, but I am ready for something completely different. Below is a review from Publishers Weekly:

Lam's latest (after Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures) is a masterfully paced exploration of a world convulsed by war, wherein faith and reason no longer hold sway. Percival Chen, an affluent Chinese English instructor in late 1960s Saigon, is determined to escape the politics of war-torn Vietnam, profiting from the sidelines instead. He instructs his son, Dai Jai, to remain faithful only to their Chinese heritage, not realizing that even this allegiance has become a deadly liability. Obeying his father's edict, Dai Jai is arrested by Vietnamese authorities, and Percival exhausts his shady connections in his attempts to rescue Dai Jai from the brutality of the police. Meanwhile, Percival falls in love with Jacqueline-a mixed-race prostitute with ulterior motives-despite the objections of his loyal friend Mak, a man embroiled in his own mysterious affairs. Lam marshals his characters with humor, suspense, and tenderness as the fall of Saigon looms. Even as Percival navigates the minefield of shifting ideologies, treachery, and paranoia-incurring one inconceivable cost upon another-his devotion suffuses every page. Lam depicts a world caught in an implacable cycle of violence, leavened only by the grace of a father's love.

February, by Lisa Moore

1982, by Jian Ghomeshi

Reading this book was like flashing back to the 1980s. It was so much fun to be able to connect to all the pop culture references (e.g. Culture Club) and get transported in time.  The writing was simple, light hearted reminiscing and thoroughly enjoyable.  It was also thoroughly forgettable.  I "experienced" the 1980s a few times through Ghomeshi's remembrances, but did not feel compelled to finish it.  I like this CBC personality, but I'm so interested as to read all these small nuances of his adolescent year.

Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

One of my favourite books.

Summary:
Selected as the 2011 CBC Canada Reads Winner! This book beat out work by Douglas Coupland and Will Ferguson because it is very, very good -- a terrific Canadian political satire. Here's the set up: A burnt-out politcal aide quits just before an election -- but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock -- an engineering professor who will do anything, anything, to avoid teaching English to engineers -- to let his name stand in the election. No need to campaign, certain to lose, and so on. Then a great scandal blows away his opponent, and to their horror, Angus is elected. He decides to see what good an honest M.P. who doesn't care about being re-elected can do in Parliament. The results are hilarious -- and with chess, a hovercraft, and the love of a good woman thrown in, this very funny book has something for everyone.

Beatrice & Virgil, by Yann Martel

Rarely has a book annoyed me as much as this novel, by Yann Martel.  I thoroughly enjoyed Life of Pi so I guess I had pretty high expectations.  It wasn't that the book was poorly written, it just seemed very contrived.  The description of a pear, a dialogue between Beatrice and Virgil, went on for pages. It appeared to me that it was a writing exercise -- something that was put into the story since it was already written.

The description of the taxidermist with the list of different animals found inside the store was of Biblical proportions and maybe that was the intent.  I found it merely annoying.

Yes, I recognize that Martel is a skilled writer.  I caught many of the different literary allusions, and I'm sure I missed many more.  I now know more about flip books than I ever imagined I needed, and without a doubt, the publishing industry is not for the faint of heart. I get that but the fact remains that after all those pages I just didn't care that much about Henry or his plight.

So, I closed the book and feel no loss at not finishing it.  Sad, as I wanted to enjoy it, and I'm in need of a good novel right now.

I am Half-sick of Shadows, by Alan Bradley

Oh I just love Flavia DeLuce. She is delightful.

And the book is fun, too. Quite frankly, Flavia could be on a quest for the holy grail, and I would be just as happy. The book is character driven, in my opinion, and I just love this precocious child!

Here is the publisher's summary: Christmas surprise for detective-in-training Flavia de Luce than a dreadful murder under Buckshaw''s roof - and a snowbound house full of suspects. It's Christmas time, and our beloved Flavia is tucked away in her laboratory whipping up a sticky concoction to trap that infamous sneak, Saint Nick, and thereby prove once and for all - despite the claims of her evil sisters - that he does exist. But she is soon distracted from her task: Colonel de Luce, in desperate need of funds, has rented the family''s crumbling manor house to a film company for the holidays. When its crew arrives from London to shoot a movie starring the reclusive and renowned actress, Phyllis Wyvern, there''s no end to the disruptions - and dramas - demanding Flavia''s attention.

When Wyvern is convinced to perform a famous scene to help raise funds for the local church, it is decided that Buckshaw Manor is the only suitable location. Its foyer alone is bigger than the parish hall, and could fit every man, woman, and child in Bishop''s Lacey, to a soul. It''s almost Christmas Eve, but - to no one''s surprise - all of the village inhabitants fight their way through a raging snowstorm to be in the audience that magical night.

As the actors take to the stage, however, the blizzard sets in, and it becomes clear that the villagers will have to hunker down at Buckshaw for the night. Sleeping head to toe in the de Luces'' foyer seems amenable to most, until word spreads of the evening''s shocking conclusion - Phyllis Wyvern is found strangled to death in the Blue Bedroom, with a length of film from one of her movies tied in an elaborate bow around her neck.

But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of her chemical cleverness and crime-solving prowess to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight. But when she does piece the puzzle together and deduce who has committed this twisted crime, will Flavia be able to escape in one piece.

The Tiger, by John Vaillant

A wonderful and enlightening read by Canadian author, John Vaillant. Well written, artfully paced, it was a joy to read. I love they way other topics are so deftly woven into the fabric of the story. Yes, you get a suspenseful story of a Siberia or Amor Tiger stalking human prey, but you also get a better understanding of the former Soviet Union, anthropology, hunting mentality, travel literature and so much more.

Along with the Tiger, and its victim, Markov, one of the most compelling characters is Yuri Trush. The book allows him to develop wonderfully as a character. You come to know him and like him. I can believe that Brad Pitt would indeed want to play this character in the movie version of this book. The suspense builds like some kind of Stephen King novel, but this is a true story!

The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway

I finished this book last night and I'm still absorbing it. It struck me particularly hard, because I remember the siege and contemplating what I could do to help. I wasn't sure I could be a relief worker, or a volunteer. It was so inconceivable that such a modern city to be reduced to such a degree. It still is...

This book, like the music I imagined in the book, moved me greatly. Each character seemed to represent a different musical refrain or movement. The characters were ordinary people trying to survive in extraordinary times as they struggles to maintain their dignity and their humanity.

I don't even know what book to read next because how can I give a new book a chance with this one still echoing in my mind.

Here is the summary:

This brilliant novel with universal resonance tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst. One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty-two people as the cellist watches from a window in his flat. He vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni's Adagio once a day for each of the twenty-two victims. The Adagio had been re-created from a fragment after the only extant score was firebombed in the Dresden Music Library, but the fact that it had been rebuilt by a different composer into something new and worthwhile gives the cellist hope. Meanwhile, Kenan steels himself for his weekly walk through the dangerous streets to collect water for his family on the other side of town, and Dragan, a man Kenan doesn't know, tries to make his way towards the source of the free meal he knows is waiting. Both men are almost paralyzed with fear, uncertain when the next shot will land on the bridges or streets they must cross, unwilling to talk to their old friends of what life was once like before divisions were unleashed on their city. Then there is "Arrow," the pseudonymous name of a gifted female sniper, who is asked to protect the cellist from a hidden shooter who is out to kill him as he plays his memorial to the victims. In this beautiful and unforgettable novel, Steven Galloway has taken an extraordinary, imaginative leap to create a story that speaks powerfully to the dignity and generosity of the human spirit under extraordinary duress.

The Ape House, by Sara Gruen

I didn't expect to enjoy this novel -- perhaps because the cover wasn't particularly appealing, but I was pleasantly surprised. In the end, I actually cared about John and Amanda, as well as Isabel, and of course, the apes. There were a number of touching moments, and the pacing was good. Yes, the bad characters were very bad, and the good had overcome a host of obstacles. There was even a stripper with a heart of gold (sorta), and a cast of other character types, but it was enjoyable and engaging. It was a lovely read for a long road trip...

Publishers blurb:

Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships - but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.

Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn''t understand people, but animals she gets - especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she''s ever felt among humans… until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what''s really going on inside.

When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and "liberating" the apes, John''s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he''ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggest - and unlikeliest - phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda.

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

I just started this work and was horrified to discover that the pigs from Oryx and Crake are back. Those swine give me nightmares! Thankfully, a hold came in from the Library so I switched to Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning. I only have two weeks to read it. What a change! I went from "literature" to pure entertaining bubble gum. We all need that now and then... I will return to Ren and Toby, though. I liked their characters immediately. If I were a more patient person, I would re-read Oryx and Crake before returning to Year of the Flood, but I doubt that will happen.

The Year of the Flood -- From the Publisher
The long-awaited new novel from Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood is a brilliant visionary imagining of the future that calls to mind her classic novel The Handmaid's Tale.

Adam One, the kindly leader of God's Gardeners - a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion - has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have been spared: Ren, a young trapeze-dancer, locked inside a high-end sex club; and one of God's Gardeners, Toby, who is barricaded inside a luxurious spa. Have others survived?

By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and witty, The Year of the Flood unfolds Toby's and Ren's stories during the years prior to their meeting again. The novel not only brilliantly reflects to us a world we recognize but poignantly reminds us of our enduring humanity.

Incident Report, by Martha Baillie

Initially, I thought this book would only appeal to people in the library field. The majority of"incidents" are Library examples, but as the book develops, other incidents surface and a complex and rich story develops.

The cover is painfully plain -- the death knoll for many works -- but it works for this work.

Publisher's blurb:
In a Toronto library, home to the mad and the marginalized, notes appear, written by someone who believes he is Rigoletto, the hunchbacked jester from Verdis opera. Convinced that the young librarian, Miriam, is his daughter, he promises to protect her from grief. Little does he know how much loss she has already experienced; or does he? The Incident Report, both mystery and love story, daringly explores the fragility of our individual identities. Strikingly original in its structure, comprised of 140 highly distilled, lyric reports, the novel depicts the tensions between private and public storytelling, the subtle dynamics of a socially exposed workplace. The Incident Report is a novel of gestures, one that invites the reader to be astonished by the circumstances its characters confront. Reports on bizarre public behaviour intertwine with reports on the private life of the novels narrator. Shifting constantly between harmony and dissonance, elegant in its restraint and excitingly contemporary, The Incident Report takes the pulse of our fragmented urban existence with detachment and wit, while a quiet tragedy unfolds.

The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson

I walked past this book many times and noted its cover. There was something very compelling about it, but the title was off putting. The word Gargoyle is so connotative and takes me back to childish fears of the dark.

One day, though, I actually picked it up and read the publishers blurb -- actually, the inside back jacket -- and discovered that Andrew Davidson is Canadian AND from Manitoba. I was enticed and took it home.

I have to admit that it took me awhile to become engaged. Firstly, the opening seemed contrived and I didn't appreciate the narrator speaking directly to the reader. Reading about the pain and disfigurement of the horrific burn actualized those childish fears of the dark. The fact that the author was Canadian encouraged me to read on, and I'm so glad I did. Yes, there were times when I rolled my eyes, but I was hooked and couldn't put it down. I guess am truly drawn to aspects of the world that are outside the classical rigours of symmetry and proportion prescribed as beauty. I may come to see Gargoyles as beautiful, after all.

I think this review from the Edmonton Sun sums it up nicely, “A wild page-turner and a boldly impudent work that flirts with the trappings of gothic romances, historical novels and fantasies while skirting their clichés and remaining defiantly unique.”

I would recommend this book to most, and especially to those who enjoyed Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.

Publisher's Blurb:
An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time. On a burn ward, a man lies between living and dying, so disfigured that no one from his past life would even recognize him. His only comfort comes from imagining various inventive ways to end his misery. Then a woman named Marianne Engel walks into his hospital room, a wild-haired, schizophrenic sculptress on the lam from the psych ward upstairs, who insists that she knows him - that she has known him, in fact, for seven hundred years. She remembers vividly when they met, in another hospital ward at a convent in medieval Germany, when she was a nun and he was a wounded mercenary left to die. If he has forgotten this, he is not to worry: she will prove it to him. And so Marianne Engel begins to tell him their story, carving away his disbelief and slowly drawing him into the orbit and power of a word he'd never uttered: love.