Category: book reviews

What to Read During Social Distancing

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

What interesting times we live in! For those of you who are looking for book titles for kiddos in junior and senior high, I’ve compiled a list of books I’ve read and recommend and a few titles I haven’t read but were recommended by various publishing houses and educational websites. Weblinks for more information concerning each included. Just click on the title!  Enjoy!

Books I’ve read

  1. “Dumplin’” by Julie Murphy.   LOVE this novel! A great story about a plump high school girl with THE most positive body image.  Love Willowdean’s voice. She’s funny and smart and a warrior princess at heart. There is a follow-up novel “Puddin’ that I haven’t read. (jr/sr high)
  2. “Sorcerer and the Crown” by Zen Cho. Who doesn’t like magic and British folklore? Another book with a strong young female character who, although is not our protagonist, is one of my favourite characters that I’ve met this year.(jr/sr high)
  3. “The Nest” by Kenneth Oppel. I’d describe this as a “supernatural allegory”. Creepy but beautiful at the same time. A story about the love of family told from the perspective of a young boy.(jr high)
  4. “Belzhar” by Meg Wolitzer Literary summer school for troubled youth where the author for discussion is Sylvia Plath.  A book that possesses enchanted journals as a plot device.(jr/sr high)
  5. The “Unwind” series by Neal Shusterman series…all four of them. You want to generate a great discussion with your kid?  Read the series with him/her. Seriously one of my favourite series EVER! (jr/sr high)
  6. “Lumber Janes” graphic novel series by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Shannon Waters and Brooke Allen.  A group of “kick-ass” girls who go to summer camp and fight supernatural creatures. LOVE the art, love the story with a diverse cast of characters.(elem/jr high)
  7. “Nimona” by Noelle Stevenson. a graphic novel that again possesses a VERY strong (and hilarious) character that can morph into other beings. So funny and sarcastic.(jr high)
  8. “Bridge of Clay” by Markus Zusak. A gaggle of rough and tumble brothers who have to raise themselves after their mother dies and their father abandons them. They beat each other up every chance they get but they also love each other beyond belief. (jr/sr high)
  9. “The Boy the Mouse the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Makes me cry everytime I read it. Short, sweet, and hugely profound. (ages 8-80)
  10. 142 Ostriches” by April Davila. Why are the ostriches dying? Truly a mystery. Tallulah has to deal with the unexpected death of her grandmother and successfully manage the ostrich farm she has thereby inherited. Things don’t go well. (sr high)
  11. “When We Were Vikings” by Andrew David MacDonald. A young woman who struggles developmentally is the narrator of this novel. She loves Vikings, in fact, she believes she is one! Can her warrior spirit help her navigate the world of adulthood especially when her only family is her brother and he has substance abuse issues. I LOVED this novel. More appropriate for high school students. (sr high)
  12. The Martian” by Andy Weir. I bought 6 copies for my classroom…they went missing right away. My 10th-grade boys LOVED this novel. I stayed up all night reading it (even though math was involved). My students say the book is better than the movie. (jr/sr high)
  13. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Seriously, I shouldn’t have to tell you why this is a good one. (elementary/jr high)
  14. Creatures by Crissy Van Meter. The story about a failure of a father trying to convince his daughter (or himself) that they are fortunate to live and “adventure of being homeless and selling drugs for food because facing reality would be devastating. This daughter feels it is her duty to keep her father together long enough to see herself into adulthood.(sr high)
  15. Island by Johanna Skibsrud. Skibsrud’s reimagining of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” is a timely novel in the age of “us”  and “them” a mentality that seems exacerbated by the current political situation. This novel forces us to contemplate our role in the various structures that form our identity be it political, historical or societal. It reminds us that governments can be built on precarious scaffolds that strive more towards power than people. (sr high)
  16. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh. When the outside world suddenly infringes upon your “haven” making you question the only life you’ve ever known, do you fight against it? Or do you let it consume you? Love this book. It would make for an amazing discussion. (sr high)
  17. Women Talking by Miriam Toews. This is an important book. This is a disturbing book. This is a book where the voices of women who can no longer be silenced by tradition and fear. Horrifyingly based on a true story, Miriam Toews tells a story of a group of Mennonite women, members of a traditional colony in Bolivia who are forced to meet in the hayloft of a barn and determine whether or not they will break from the colony, the only home they’ve ever known. (sr high)
  18. The Girl With All the Gifts” by M.R. Carey. “Zombie literature” at its best. A story about a gifted little girl who just happens to be “hungry”. Turns out, humans are more terrifying than the “hungries”. I had our High School librarian buy 6 copies for students. Like “Unwind” it is a novel that conjures some deep topics of discussion. (jr/sr high)
  19. “Far From the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy. A good classic. (sr. high)
  20. The Southern Reach Trilogy” by Jeff Vandermeer. I taught “Annihilation” the first of this trilogy to my 10th grade English class. It was a tough read BUT students loved it. Environmental Dystopian Literature. (sr. high)
  21. “My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante. Easy enough to read but deep in theme especially regarding relationships” (sr. high)
  22. The Sparrow by Doria Russell. Science Fiction. Theological. Heartbreaking. Jesuits in space. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? (sr. high)
  23. The Unexpected Spy by Tracy Walder. Have you ever wanted to be a spy? Tracy Walder gives a first-person account of what it was like to work for the CIA during 911. It is more than just a story about tracking terrorists though, it is also a story of how she was treated as a woman in a patriarchal society, it is a reflection of her insecurities as an adolescent and how she learned to overcome them. Non-fiction. (jr/sr high)
  24. I am Afraid of Men Vivek Shraya (I’ve read this one. It is awesome but definitely for high school students. Deals with issues of gender identity, homophobia, bullying). (Sr high).
  25. Smoke by Dan Vyleta. When you sin your body emits smoke. Only the “dregs” of society (the poor and oppressed) smoke. Upper class goes through life without nary a stain on their pristine white collars. Themes of social class, discrimination. Dan Vyleta has come out with a second in the series called “Soot” (jr/sr high)
  26. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. The story of a young boy, a slave from a sugar plantation in Barbados, who travels with his “master”, an adventurer and inventor, to the Arctic and then to Eastern Canada. Washington is a gifted artist who is asked to illustrate academic texts from the various eccentrics he meets. (sr. high)

Titles I haven’t read but were recommended by various educational/publishing sites: (be sure to read them before handing them out to the kiddos)

Turtles all the way Down  John Green

All The Bright Places  Jennifer Niven

Chicken Girl Heather Smith

Frankly in Love   David Yoon

Darius the Great is Not Ok Adib Khorram

Of Curses and Kisses Sandhya Menon

Chain of Gold Cassandra Clare 

We Are the Wildcats  Siobhan Vivian

Winterwood Shea Ernshaw

Don’t Call the Wolf Aleksandra Ross

The Grace Year Kim Liggett

Feed M. T. Anderson

Swim the fly Don Calame

For reluctant male readers

Random Tom Leeven

Trapped Michael Northrop

Long Way Down Jason Reynolds

Orbiting Jupiter  Gary Schmidt

Noggin John Corey Whaley

Dear Martin Nic Stone

Gym Candy Carl Deuker

Ghost Boy  Jewel Parker Rhodes

The Wilder Boys Brandon Wallace

 

The Paragon Hotel

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

The Paragon Hotel was the selection for my February book club. I love Lyndsay Faye. It is always wonderful to find an author who not only writes a good suspenseful yarn but also a writer who has a delightful way with words.

Although the Paragon Hotel is a story filled with murder, robbery, and disguise, it is written using charming colloquialisms and vivid descriptions of the cultural milieu at the time. 

“The atmosphere pulses, cigar-dank and gritty. I can practically hear the rushed calls of next time, old sport, as the rats scattered. It’s identical to every other gin and faro joint in these United States of Nonsense with a single exception.

This is now my gin joint” (pg107).

The novel possesses two timelines. One that takes place in the present where Alice has found herself on a train heading for Portland after suffering a gunshot wound. She befriends a handsome porter and ends up at a hotel filled with an assortment of fascinating characters. The second storyline occurs in the past and consists of Alice’s life growing up in New York amidst another assortment of fascinating characters most of whom are members of the mafia.

I loved our narrator Alice aka Nobody. Although her life is riddled with more than just bullets she proves to be one of the most spectacular heroines in literature I’ve ever read. She is smart and brave, resourceful and cunning and incredibly good-natured considering her circumstances.

I want Alice as a friend. The pages where she and the character Blossom are sitting up in Blossom’s room drinking whiskey out of “cut glass tumblers” and discussing life are some of my favourites in the book. Their bantering is entertaining and reflective of a friendship we all wish we had.

 

Lindsay Faye is a guaranteed delightful read. She is an author who easily transports her readers into a land of story.

I Am Afraid of Men

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I’m Afraid of Men
Vivek Shraya
“The experience of repeatedly being stared at slowly mutated me into an alien” (pg 2)
I cannot express how profoundly important it is to read this book. It is a short, honest, heartwrenching read. The strength of spirit Vivek has built because of the lifetime of intimidation is noteworthy not only because she has survived, but also because she has immersed as a remarkable writer.
This book should be read in every high school. The issues presented in Vivek’s narrative need to be acknowledged and discussed in every classroom. Penguin Random House Canada does provide free teachers guide on its site.

The Bridge of Clay

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The Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

“Us Dunbar boys.
From oldest to youngest:
Me, Rory, Henry, Clayton, Thomas.
We would never be the same…I should tell you what we were like:
Many considered us tearaways.
Barbarians.
Mostly they were right:
Our mother was dead
Our father had fled” (14-15).

I was afraid to read this novel. Zusak’s novel “The Book Thief” is one that is close to my heart. I have read thousands of books in my lifetime and “The Book Thief” is definitely on my top ten. I believed there was no way he could write anything better and if he did, and I read it, I’d be bitterly disappointed. But “The bridge of Clay” was this month’s book club pick, and seeing how I am the founding member I felt it my duty to read. So, 6 days before we met I set out to read 500+ pages of a book, I was very apprehensive about reading.
And I was disappointed ….
For the first 80 pages but then, I couldn’t help but become enchanted with the Dunbar family. It started slowly and at first, I was annoyed with Matthew’s (our narrator’s) storytelling. Matthew, it seemed to me, had no sense of direction, and I didn’t really understand his intentions. However, it was when Penelope’s story started that I became more invested in the story. Penelope is a woman who has a plethora of stories to tell. Her escape from Stalinist Austria ultimately led her to Australia. A journey numerous in tales. (one favourite of her sons being the size of the cockroaches she encountered in the refugee camp when she first arrived at her new country.
The Dunbar boys loved their mother. And after her death, it is Matthew that takes it upon himself to become the story tell in the family. The entire novel, therefore, is Matthew’s story of his family in which he plays particular homage to his brother Clay (you will understand whey Clay is the focus when you read the book).
The novel is beautifully written. As a reader, you have to be prepared to take the time to “sip” the prose. You cannot read it quickly or to do so you will miss subtle clues integral in understanding character motivation.
Zusak’s writes fiction as a poet. You have to be patient enough to wait for the accumulation of points of conflict to resolve themselves, often in ways that will break your heart.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

Every once in a while I find a treasure. Actually, I went seeking this treasure. I Googled “Best books of 2019”, and up popped The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and the Horse. I thought I’d find it in the children’s section, but bookstore had it shelved under “graphic novel”. Truthfully, there should be a section in bookstores called “books that will make you smile and believe the world is a good place”.
Written and illustrated by Charlie Mackesy this little book is simply filled with pages consisting of a charming conversation between a boy, a mole a fox and a horse each asking each other questions or making statements about life and responding with the most beautiful of replies.

The first page:
“‘I’m so small’ said the mole.”
“‘Yes,’ said the boy. ‘But you make a huge difference.’”

aaaaaand my eyes got leakier and leakier as I read on.
This book would make a beautiful graduation gift or birthday gift (for people big and small). But honestly, go by it for yourself, keep it on your bedside table and read it anytime your feeling sorry for yourself.

142 Ostriches by April Davila

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

I read this novel over the weekend, actually over the course of a Saturday between loads of laundry. While I was changing my whites from the washer and into the dryer I would wonder “why aren’t Tallulah‘s ostriches laying eggs? Are they sick? Heartbroken?” I became quite invested in Tallulah‘s ostriches and worried about their safety. 

Obviously the novel isn’t just about ostriches. It’s a novel about self discovery. It’s about believing one thing about yourself and then realizing you are wrong, that your identity sometimes isn’t found out in the great unknown but rather it can be found in the love and expectations of those around you. 

This little novel, was quick and captivating without intricacies of plot or grandiose themes. The writing style was engaging enough to hold me throughout several loads of laundry and then some!

Thank you Kensington Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy. Novel will be available February 25.

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment


You know, in a warped, conniving, murderous way I’d say this novel is a story about friendship. Nina and Lachlan are grifters who scope out mansions of the rich and steal “only what won’t be missed”. It’s a profession Nina comes by naturally seeing how she was raised by a mother who earned a living under “questionable “ means. Now her mother is battling cancer, and the bills are adding up Nina decides to embark upon the heist of a lifetime. But this time she will have to revisit her past. She knows where to find the money she needs… in a safe in Stonehaven, a place that possesses a plethora of childhood memories
Our other narrator is Vanessa, the new mistress of Stonehaven. Upon the death of her father, the social media sensation, Vanessa decides to return to the family estate, a place that holds emotional childhood memories as well.
Nina and Vanessa’s lives will indeed collide, resulting in the unearthing of decades-old secrets, betrayal and murder.
This was such a great weekend read. The writing and plot sucked me in immediately, and I admit to staying awake until the end. There were some lovely plot twists and turns that kept me interested until the final page.

I was lucky enough to get a free galley copy of Pretty Things from Random House. You’ll be able to get your hands on a copy in April!

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

It is the dead of winter where I live, -35C with snow and a killer wind chill. There is nothing else to do but go straight home after work, crawl under a quilt and read. Thankfully Simon and Schuster Canada through Netgalley sent me an advanced reading copy of Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. I was the perfect read for a frigid winter evening. The story captured my interest immediately, maybe because the story is familiar. Based VERY loosely on the true story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and the abuse she endured throughout her childhood by her mother Dee Dee….which ended in murder.
Instead, this account puts our victim in the “driver’s” seat, so to speak, where Rose gold testifies against her mother, thereby retaliating against her abuser by putting her in jail. She then spends the next five years plotting how to get her revenge against her mother.
The story is written from various points of view from multiple timelines. One timeline takes place during the five years Rose Gold’s mother “Patty” is serving time in jail. Here we learn how Rose makes her way in the world independent of her mother manipulation with only the help of the neighbour. Rose learns to drive gets a job and buys a house (which happens to be her mother’s childhood home), and continues her online relationship with her boyfriend, Phil. It is during this time of her mother’s incarceration that Rose Gold’s father makes an appearance apologizing for not being “there” for her. Rose is happy to have a father in her life because Patty made her believe her father left them and died of a drug overdose. Rose Gold is overjoyed to have her father in her life…but how much will he expect from him? How does she feel about the new family he had made for himself.
The second timeline is when the mother Patty is released from jail and attempts to return to the life she had left. The same town in the same neighbourhood, the daughter whose testimony landed her in prison in the first place.
Oh my goodness, I did not know who to trust in this novel. Obviously not Patty who is an egotistical manipulator who feels the world owes her for all the “good” she claims to have done in the world including being the perfect mother. Has Patty learned her lesson after five years in prison? Will she own up to the physical, mental and emotional harm she caused her daughter and make amends?
Can we, as readers, trust Rose Gold? While I was reading, I couldn’t help but feel there was something “off” with this girl. I kept telling myself it was because of the abuse she suffered under the hands of her mother that made her so clingy and bitter. Horrifyingly enough, there are glimmers, flashes actually of her mother in her…like when she lies to manipulate a person or situation to get what she thinks she deserves. And Rose seems to do so without remorse-just like her mother. Is it her fractured upbringing that makes manipulation the only way she knows how to survive independent of her mother? Or maybe it is because “there is always a special bond between mothers and daughter- but sometimes it goes horribly wrong”.
I loved this book. I finished it in an evening. I found both Patty and Rose such tragic characters I couldn’t wait to reach the end of the novel to see how and if they survived the lives they created for themselves.

The Education of an Idealist

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When I was thirteen, I wanted to be a Secret Service Agent. I clipped all the articles from the newspaper that covered the attempted assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan. I would imagine myself dressed in a black suit carrying a gun. Years later, I wanted to be a journalist. Instead of protecting politicians, I would write about them. I would travel to get the story and then I would write the truth. When I picked up Samantha Power’s memoir The Education of an Idealist and read the jacket cover, I thought immediately that “this was the life I wanted to live all those years ago.”.
Power tells the story of her life born in Ireland and moving with her mother and brother to America when she was a young child. She learns an American accent and plays baseball and assimilates quite naturally into the Culture.
Powers grows up, goes to college and eventually becomes a war correspondent assigned to cover the war in Bosnia cultivating a strong sense of justice regarding war victims.
Back in America, Samantha works with Obama’s presidential campaign and eventually works her way to becoming The United States Ambassador to the United Nations.
Power is the master of detail. The author must have been journaling or writing consistently throughout her experiences — a habit of a journalist. Reading the memoir of a writer is always a pleasant experience because gifted writers have a strong writer’s voice it feels as though they, or in this case, Samatha Power herself was sitting across the table telling her stories to me over a cup of tea…or a glass of whiskey.
What an inspiring book for young women to read. To read the life of bravery, creativity, political astuteness and empathy and all the adventures that come with it.

“…the relief of a father who has been reunited with his son, newly free of a deadly disease. The look on a government ministers’ face as he traverses a rainbow crosswalk. the insistence of diplomats to go on serving their country,  even when being ignored and insulted because they know that our nation is bigger than any one leader. And the persistent attempts- after unforgivable acts- to find the humanity in one’s foe” (pg 552).

A Nearly Normal Family

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A Nearly Normal Family by M. T. Edvardsson

The Sandells are a perfectly normal family leading a perfectly normal life. They play Monopoly, go on hikes, listen to podcasts. Their reality is normal, yet sometimes mundane everyday reality. Until one day they get a phone call from a lawyer saying their daughter Stella has been arrested on suspicion of murder. It seems Stella’s much older lover has been brutally stabbed to death.
The novel is broken into 3 separate points of view. Father, Daughter, Mother each first-person narrative giving their own interpretation and involvement with the crime. Edvardsson is very successful in creating distinct and convincing voices for each. And I admired the artful way the author made sure to weave the essential plot points from the various point of view without breaking continuity.

A Nearly Perfect Family topped off my holiday reading perfectly. Easy and quick to read if you want to escape a cold winter day wrapped up in a cosy quilt.

In Love with the World

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One of my New Year’s reading resolutions is to increase my exposure to non-fiction. I’m always looking for ways to help keep my anxiety under control, so I figured if I read In Love with the World about the journey of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk I may get some pointers. And Pointers I did find! Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche decides to run away from his monastery and truly be out on his own, all alone in the world in order to embark upon a “wandering retreat”. During this time he discovers who he really is, without the label monk, son, teacher, friend. He would just “be” and accept whatever the world presented. Without money. Without food. Without title.

This book is compelling so much, so I found myself highlighting points I found personally profound. Some of the lessons I learned were: I should try to be brave enough “to expose [myself] to circumstances so unfamiliar as to make me familiar with myself. (pg. 13). So lead a life of adventure. Do not be afraid of change. Perfect encouragement to start the new year. Another lesson: If [I] can train [myself] to slow down and [watch] my thoughts -not to get carried away from them but just to notice-[I] will be amazed by the universes that [I] traverse moment after moment (63).” This is a tough one. Anxiety makes it difficult to “still” my mind. This will take practice. Lesson three: and ultimately “all that we are looking for in life- all the happiness, contentment and peace of mind- is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness itself fundamentally pure and good…make space in your life to recognize the richness of your basic nature to see the purity of your being and let its innate qualities of love, compassion and wisdom naturally emerge. (252).”

Such beautiful words to know that in our awareness of whatever we happen to be experiencing, whether it be love or fear, sadness or joy, likes the capacity for goodness and pureness. Now we just have to remind ourselves of this when it matters most.

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

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I was given an advanced reading copy of When We Were Vikings By Simon and Schuster. This is a wonderful story of a young woman given a life filled with all sorts of battles. Zelda is up for the fight. She has a fascination with the Vikings, in fact, she believes she is a Viking. As a Viking, she has to accomplish various quests in order to create her own legend
Gert is Zelda’s brother, he too has many battles to fight. Having to care for his sister on his is own, he finds it tempting to resort to unsavoury means of making a living. Taking care of Zelda is not easy. Even though she is no longer a child, she needs several support systems in place to help her function in society. Lists are essential, as is counting backwards when she is anxious, especially when the “Grendels” skulk about.
I really loved this book. It is wonderfully written from Zelda’s point of view. Her quirks and fascinations and sense of humour make her story an interesting one to read.
This is a novel that is all about having the courage to create your own story and have it legendary.

From Mansions to Madness

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From Mansions to Madness

Remember my review of The Poisoned Thread from a few months ago? Well, since then, I have had the pleasure of reading two more of Laura Purcell’s novels. Let’s start with The Silent Companions, the first of her novels. Purcell portrays her protagonist, Elsie, as an unreliable narrator. I mean let’s face it, the story begins with our heroine in an asylum having committed some sort of heinous crime where she is disfigured. She doesn’t talk and she doesn’t sleep but what she may be open to doing with the encouragement of her doctor is to write. The doctor’s hope is that she will write her “story” so that he knows the truth behind her “crime” and therefore can try to effectively “treat her”. Told in flashbacks, we learn that our narrator suffered heartache early in her marriage when her husband dies unexpectedly. She, along with her companion (her husband’s cousin) make the trek to her husband’s estate The Bridge which she now, of course, has inherited. It is an isolated place where she is met with hostile looks from the help because they feel she is complicit in their “master’s death. Lonely, pregnant and creeped out by this more, our narrator is suspicious of all of those around her. Her only ally is her companion. Weird events begin to occur, where we, as readers question their authenticity. Are they real, or are they figments of her paranoid brain? Luckily she has her companion with her to validate what she sees. The estate has a past, however, one that is tempered with the hatred and murder. Through all of this, life-sized wooden figures, carved decades ago stand as silent witnesses to her descent into madness. Are they genuinely silent, or are they the cause of her fevered brain and paranoia? Our heroine is also haunted by her past, where murder and madness exist.

To add to my list of novels written by Purcell, I ordered Bone China through Amazon. It must not be sold in North America yet because it was sent to me from Madrid! It arrived beautifully bound in hardcover. Bone China possesses two storylines. One storyline takes place in the past when Louise Pincroft moves with her father to a mansion (Morvoren House) built along the ravaged coast. She accompanies her father so she can to help him conduct medical experiments on criminals who are dying of consumption. The second storyline takes place 4 decades later. It includes our protagonist Hester who has arrived at Morvoren House to take care of an ageing Louise who, well, who seems to be downright batty truth be told. Both women possess tragic histories that have come to haunt them in the present. Both women also have secrets, secrets that motivate them to behave and make choices that are anything but rational.

Laura Purcell is a master at creating an atmosphere. All three of her novels reveal settings so vivid I could be sitting in a movie theatre experience it all on the big screen. This author is my favourite writer of the “Victorian Gothic” of the moment.