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Archive for the ‘Book Reviews’ Category

There are not many authors who can write compelling stories that both adults and children can both love. John Boyne, who wrote ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’ is one such author. He says himself that it’s not a matter of writing books for children that adults will like; it is all about good story telling. John Boyne did a degree in literature at Trinity College in Dublin after which he took and year out and then went on the Malcolm Bradbury’s creative writing course at the University of East Anglia. Here he won the Curtis Brown award and never looked back.

Another great children’s and adult author is Roald Dahl who was born in Cardiff in 1916. He didn’t get much praise for his writing and was even told by his English teach he would never succeed in writing. This put him off going to university. After a stint in the Royal Air Force he rose to fame in the 1940′s and went on to become one of the world’s bestselling authors. In 2008 the Times places Dahl sixteenth in its lit of ‘The 50 great British Writers since 1945′. His books are known for their un-expecting and surprising endings, often using very dark humor. He worked at Cadbury the chocolate company which is where he got his inspiration for writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which he wrote in 1964 and made in a film 1971 but renamed Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. Apparently he dreamed of inventing a new chocolate which would impress Mr Cadbury himself. Instead he used his imagination to create the famous chocolatier and factory. Matilida was his most successful book which sold over half a million copies in 6 months, capturing hearts of many children and adults alike. Like most of his bestselling books Matilda was made into an award winning film.

JK Rowling is probably the most recent author of childrens and adults books who is on everyone’s radar thanks to the great success of the Harry Potter Series. She has won numerous awards including an OBE in 2001, in 2010 was voted the most influential women in the UK by leading magazine editors. According to the Sunday Times Rich List J K Rowling is now worth an estimated £530million. Joanne Rowling which is her real name is also just as famous for her ‘rags to riches’ life story. She went from living on benefits as a single mum to become a multi millionaire within 5 years.

In 1976, on a frozen field in the midst of the worst winter storm anyone could remember, gunfire rained down on a group of state narcotics agents near Columbus, Mississippi. A heroin deal had gone bad, and a sniper for the dealers opened fire with deadly accuracy. A wounded agent fell in a pool of his own blood, but what should have been fatal was not, because of a voice that commanded the young Captain to bring the bullet proof vests to what appeared to be a routine deal. I know this to be true, because I was that young Captain.

Similar stories of the paranormal and supernatural are to be found in a new book, “The Mystery of Fate: Common Coincidence or Divine Intervention?”

The Mystery of Fate: Common Coincidence or Divine Intervention, a collection of short stories, is a honeycomb of treasures for anyone who has ever walked alone–pausing to look back–feeling someone was near but seeing no one; for those who have shivered suddenly as if “someone just walked across my grave;” and for those who felt a faint buzzing, an enchanting melody or distant murmuring near their ears and asked a loved one, “What did you say?”–only to see quizzical glances and hear, “I didn’t say anything.” The stories in this anthology suggest that someone is shadowing us, and it just might be–goodness and mercy.

The book’s stories of love lost and rediscovered shrink our physical confines, detail close encounters with denizens of the deep, paint the thin line between happiness and disaster and life and death, and bear testimony to the smallness of the universe and the mutual commonality we share across many divides. The harvest of miracles contained in this anthology refutes those who embrace sterile paradigms and say that anything that is not measurable, quantifiable, or cannot bear the scrutiny of the scientific process should be thrown in the fire. Such a statement is not scientific itself, but philosophical, and violates its own rules and must be–thrown in the fire by its own standards. The Mystery of Fate is a book to rescue from any fire if only to gaze into tales with intimate flames that sear away comfortable dogma and call into question the randomness of life.

A collection of great Canadian authors and books to take with you on your trip across Canada.

Canadian Content

1. National Dream and Last Spike by Pierre Berton. Non-fiction by one of Canada’s most prolific writers. The National Dream is about the planning and the commencement of the Canadian Pacific railway from 1871 to 1881. The Last Spike describes the construction phase between 1881 and 1885.

2. Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen. This is the second novel by Leonard Cohen after The Favourite Game and is one of the first post modern Canadian novels. This book centers around a love triangle and deals with self-abandonment. Definitely not a beach read but a true Canadian classic.

3. The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro. A collection of short stories by one of Canada’s most beautiful writers. Some of the themes she touches on are secrets, love, ordinary lives and betrayal. Her novel was awarded the Giller Prize in 1998.

4. As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross. Set during the Great Depression in the fictional mid-western town of Horizon, presumably in Saskatchewan, it deals with the struggles and hardships of a minister’s wife and her husband. Originally released in 1941, it sold poorly until it’s re-release in 1957.

5. The Studhorse Man by Robert Kroetsch. The book details the fantastical adventures of Hazard LePage as he roams through barns, beer-halls and bathtubs. The Studhorse Man won the Governor General’s literary award in 1969. Robert Kroetsch was born and lived in Alberta his whole life and his novels center around Prairie life.

6. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. One of the most famous Canadian authors and novels, this takes place in the near future and has won the Governor General’s award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award as well as being adapted for the cinema, opera, radio and stage.

7. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat. It is a first person narrative of Mowat’s research into the nature of the Arctic Wolf. He was sent to investigate the declining caribou populations and whether the wolves were responsible. Wolves were perceived to be savage killers before this novel was released but Mowat helped to change this perception.