The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

A novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

Quickie Recap: The people of Guernsey started a book club during their WW2 occupation as an excuse for breaking curfew. However, as a London writer featuring them in an article soon finds out, the group who started out mostly as mere acquaintances at best quickly became much more, and they continue to rally around each other even as the aftereffects of war are still so keenly felt.

Quickie Review: I must have thought I would like this book, after all, it was in my home, on my night table. But I kept piling other books on top. When I finally reached for this one, I was surprised to find myself enjoying it - and not just enjoying it, but being truly captivated by its spirit. I don't want to use the word 'whimsical' here, it sounds just a tad too dismissive, but it felt homey to me. I was planning a vacation to the island myself before remembering that this is a work of fiction, and none of the characters would be there to greet me. I'm not exactly sure how a novel is written by two, but I can assure you that Shaffer and Barrows are very good at it, as the work is seamless and absorbing. This is an especially good curl-up-on-a-rainy-day book.

Quickie Recommendation: While I'm not sure I ever want a copy of the potato peel pie recipe, this book shall win a coveted spot on my bookshelf, to be read and reread.

The Gargoyle

A novel by Andrew Davidson.

Quickie Recap: A porn star is nearly killed in a horrific car crash, and while clinging to life and fantasising about death in a burn ward, his only visitor is a schizophrenic woman who claims to have known him in another life over 700 years ago.

Quickie Review: Wow. What a book. Pinging back and forth between gruesome and romantic and out of this world, the words and images never stop. Davidson is an artist who offers up a whole selection of juicy stories, many of which moved me to tears without a single drop of sentimentality, all weaved together in an unusual and compelling narrative that is tough (well, for me, quite impossible) to put down. I read 465 pages in 24 hours, stopping only to implore others to seek out a copy of their own (apologies to the man on the bus whose morning commute I interrupted with my enthusiasm).

Quickie Recommendation: Must-read.

King John of Canada

A novel of the Near Future, by Scott Gardiner.

WARNING: COOL BOOK ALERT!

Quickie Recap: Canada decides to get rid of the Queen of England and hold a lottery to establish a monarchy of our own. The guy with the winning ticket is John, and in John Canada gets WAY more than it bargained for!!

Quickie Review: I was\still am absolutely blown away by this book! I want to live in this Canada, this great country that Gardiner has created. I feel like I've fallen in love with his ideas. Gardiner is obviously a smart guy with big, bold opinions of his country. This is most definitely a political novel, of which there are not many floating around by Canadian writers, but this gem is so much more than its unique genre. It's funny, it's abrasive, it's loud but unfailingly polite. It seems that Gardiner has distilled the Canadian spirit and shoved it into these pages. I felt such an instant connection to this book, and it's no wonder - it's home.

Quickie Recommendation: Absolutely and without hesitation to anyone, but especially to all Canadians - 30 000 000 should sell, be read, and be referenced. Brilliant. I don't know where this book has been hiding, but I implore everyone to get out to their book stores and demand a copy now.

The Other

A Novel by David Guterson.

Quickie Recap: A strange friendship nets one man millions and makes him (and us) question just what a "good life" really means.

Quickie Review: I did not like Snow Falling on Cedars (also authored by Guterson). I know, I know, I'm in the minority here. Everyone else thought it was positively brilliant, and I thought it was not bad, certainly not badly written, it just didn't grab me. This one grabbed me in all kinds of fun places. This is a story I haven't heard told before, and speaking as someone who sometimes feels like she's already read every story worth telling, that's a rarity. The author lets us peak at two different lives, very different lives, each unique and ideal in its own way, each causing us to evaluate priorities in new ways. In that way, this book is just as introspective as Cedars was, but in a more engaging and dynamic way. This book is not as mellow (and by mellow, I mean boring). It actually takes you along the separate paths of a very strange man and a pretty ordinary man, but both paths have the same destination: you end up looking back at yourself.

Quickie Recommendation: B-

A Briefer History of Time

The science classic made more accessible - more concise - illustrated - updated with the latest research, by Stephen Hawking with Leonard Mlodinow.

Quickie Recap: Contrary to the title, A Briefer History is not actually any shorter than his previous book, A Brief History of Time. Rather, Hawking has edited out the boring bits but expanded on the better bits, plus added up-to-the-minute findings that didn't exist even 5 minutes ago.

Quickie Review: Hawking is a cool guy because he can write a book like this without assuming that I, the reader, am an idiot. He gives me some credit. He also knows that no one is as brilliant as he is. He is a gentle explainer, and for that, I thank him. One of these days, I am going to get string theory. I really am. Today was not that day, but until that day, I'm going to keep reading books like this, books that maybe bring me a little closer to spanking the ignorant out of me. It had some definitely Ohhhh moments, and even some Oohhh! moments, and once, an Oh? moment, but I'll leave you to guess which section that was.

Quickie Recommendation: Pretty fly for a white guy.

Black Out

A novel by Lisa Unger.

Quickie Recap: Annie Powers is a well-to-do suburban housewife and stay at home mom, or at least that's what she'd have you believe. The truth is, she has secrets, some of which are unknown even to herself, but when something mysterious is threatening her family, she does everything she can to get to the bottom of it all.

Quickie Review: Unger flips back and forth between present and past effortlessly, effectively creating a feeling of suspense that lasts a good 354 pages. Unger is not a master of her craft, but she is a good story teller, and I have to say that I had fun reading this book. It wasn't bluntly obvious, it was more delicate than that, the kind of book that has you combing the pages for hints, and you know what's coming without exactly being able to predict it.

Quickie Recommendation: Good stuff.

Risk

The Science and Politics of Fear, by Dan Gardner.

Quickie Recap: We have two processing systems when we are contemplating a threat to ourselves: our gut, and our head. Gut is quick to react, but often wrong. Gut doesn't differentiate between a little risk, and a big risk. Politicians and journalists have been all too happy to take advantage.

Quickie Review: I like to think that I'm relatively aware, when reading a newspaper or watching a news network, of the games they play, but I still feel this book will change the way I digest the news. Gardner focuses on the things we are familiar with: crime rates, cancer prevalence, the threat of terrorism, and basically breaks down how the media (and the people behind the media) have blown these all out of proportion, so that we all tend to overestimate the actual risk of these things, while grossly underestimating the things we actually should be worried about. Psychologists have known for years that we are vulnerable to misinterpreting the data when appeals are made to our emotions, and the very first work in this field was done by people working for the tobacco industry....Yeah.

Quickie Recommendation: It's not a "page-turner", but it is well-written, interesting, and informative.