staff picks
June 2018 Staff Picks
David’s Pick: The Rub of Time by Martin Amis Amis, who touts himself as “the only hereditary novelist in the Anglophone literary corpus”, is pretty authoritative when writing about literature, even when so much of it is devoted to his adulation of Nabokov & Bellow; Amis on politics and culture can be irritating, but the quality of the writing…
April 2018 Staff Picks
Brenda’s Picks – “I am not your negro” DVD by James Baldwin; Between the world and me by Ta-Nehisi Coates These two items provide a deep insight into racial politics in the US, the American identity and a personal glimpse into the lives of two men, one contemporary and the other who died almost 30 years ago. As…
May 2017 Staff Picks
Angela’s Pick: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons I found this book googling “If you like David Sedaris…” Published in 1932, it’s a comic parody of the “rural novels” of the time. I laughed out loud (repeatedly) at lines like, “The porridge gave an ominous, leering heave. . .” and “The thin wind sniveled among the…
March 2017 Staff Picks
Brenda’s Pick: Eight days a week [videorecording] : the touring years When the Beatles made their first appearances they arrived at a time of confluence; a mix of world events, a shifting music scene, television appearances, air travel and a population bubble of teenagers. This film/documentary by Ron Howard captures the early years of this influential…
January 2017 Staff Picks
Brenda’s Pick: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett I picked the right book to start the New Year…Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. This is her most recent story and it rolls along effortlessly from the first paragraph drawing the reader into the lives of her characters. The children of two families wind their way through childhood with back…
November 2016 Staff Picks
Brenda’s Pick: Disappearance in Damascus by Deborah Campbell I had heard an interview with Deborah Campbell on CBC radio and watched for her book, Disappearance in Damascus. Her story begins just after Saddam Hussein has been overthrown and she is working as an underground journalist in Damascus, Syria. She meets a “fixer” named Ahlam and…
September 2016 Staff Picks
Brenda’s Pick: Isabella : the warrior queen by Kirstin Downey For anyone with an interest in history and specifically Spanish history, this book is a fascinating biography of Isabella of Castile, who became Queen of Spain. Her life-span, from the mid-1400’s to 1504 encompassed some of the most interesting and critical events in that part of the world.…
July 2016 Staff Picks
David’s Pick: The Girls by Emma Cline It might be unusual to decide on a staff pick when you’re only on page 17 of a book, but this one is special. With barely enough time to establish the protagonist and the milieu, Emma Cline has already hooked me totally with the assuredness of her writing…
June 2016 Staff Picks
Brenda’s Pick: The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel Author Yann Martel has a way of telling a story that leaves behind a residue. In the case of The High Mountains of Portugal, the unifying feature that joins three seemingly separate stories is just that –a region of northern Portugal. Each of the three narratives…
May 2016 Staff Picks
Joanne’s Pick: A Profession of Hope: Farming on the Edge of the Grizzly Trail by Jenna Butler This poetic and thought provoking book is about a couple that buys 160 acres of rough bush in Northern Alberta with the intent to farm it and preserve a piece of virgin land for future generations. The land…
RSS · Follow blog