Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte

Published by Little Brown and Company an imprint of Hachette Book Group

Do you ever find yourself wondering what happens to your garbage? The author - Elizabeth Royte - decides to track the weekly journey of the garbage from her home. What follows is an in depth account of trips to landfills, recycling centers, sewage treatment centers, scrap metal centers and much, much more. There are some parts that are a little 'squicky' like the subject of composting and 'disco rice' (maggots) or while doing cleanups and encountering 'Coney Island whitefish' (used condoms). I think the biggest gross factor for me was the subject of Biosolids. I am completely in awe of the author and her determination to leave no stone unturned.

The detail in this book is both incredible and fascinating. To quote a san man (garbage collector) - 'People think there is a garbage fairy. You put it on the curb and pffft, its gone. They don’t have a clue'. This totally applies to me. I didn't even think much about what happens after I drop off my recyclables at the local depot so it was wonderful to get such a great education on the subject. I found myself frequently quoting parts of the book to my husband as I learned new facts and it even raised my own curiosity about landfills here in Canada since the book is based in the USA. I will definitely need to see if I can find a Canadian book about trash.

What did I like most about this book? It was most probably the facts and figures that are sprinkled throughout the narrative. I found them easy to understand and the author clearly put a lot of time and effort into making sure the book was not only easy to comprehend but that it would keep the reader interested also. I couldn't put this title down and read it in about a day and a half. I especially liked the sprinklings of garbage history. Another thing I liked was that unlike so many books which tell a reader what they need to be doing differently in their life, this author provides many different thoughts and ideas in such a friendly manner that the reader can't help but be enthused about garbage and how to maybe handle it a little differently in their own way. I especially love that the book covers both the pros and cons of recycling and that it encourages the reader to consider cutting down on the garbage at the origin - being more aware of purchases.

I loved one of the ideas that was thrown around by a student in the book, during a recycling meeting. The student in question asked about making the original producers more responsible. Someone replied that they wouldn't agree to 'sticking it to the companies' but it really got me thinking and in an era where nothing is really built to last, this could really be a viable option. If companies were forced to take back the packaging, damaged goods and so on and had to handle the financial responsibility for disposal then surely they would be encouraged to go back to building things that last longer, or cut down on the endless - and oftentimes unnecessarily excessive packaging. It sounds good to me.

This was a brilliantly written and greatly informative read that I would recommend to anyone. You can get an idea about things you can do to make a difference at http://www.booknoise.net/garbageland/ and you can learn even more about the book too.

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

Published by Twelve An Imprint of Hachette Book Group USA

In Boomsday, Christopher Buckley brings us the character of Cassandra Devine, a 29 year old blogger who causes chaos and mayhem when she posts on her blog, that she believes Baby Boomers should be given government incentives to commit suicide at the age of 70.

We first meet Cassandra as a promising student who leaves no doubt that she can achieve anything she wants in life, including getting into Yale. She is forced to leave that dream when her dad confesses he used her university funds to start his new business which isn't going that great just yet and so, as an alternative, she joins the US Military.

While on duty in Bosnia, she is asked to escort a congressman from his plane to his destination. Simple right? Not when that congressman is Randy Jepperson, who, through a multitude of choices, winds up driving the two of them into a minefield, resulting in the congressman losing a leg and the world thinking they were both having sex.. Can things get any worse?

Now Cass works for a PR company during the day and writes her blog at night. The Baby Boomer post which she writes, has the whole world buzzing, including a senator who wants to take the issue all the way to the White House. It also captures the attention of Gideon Payne, also known as Mr Pro-Life, who Cass describes as a preacher on steroids.

What follows is a truly wild and out of control ride, with truly hilarious moments and yet the author somehow also manages to add more than a few heartwarming moments.

This is one of those books that just when you think it cannot possibly get any funnier, it does! There are so many fun twists and suprises. The characters are brilliantly written, the story is just fantastic and I honestly can't find enough good things to say about this book. It's a must read. It's my first experience with a Christopher Buckley novel but it certainly won't be my last.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

From the Publisher (Little, Brown & Company Books - An Imprint of Hachette Book Group USA) :

When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope.

In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life on Earth continuing without her-her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out hope that she'll be found, her killer trying to cover his tracks. As months pass without leads, Susie sees her parents' marriage being contorted by loss, her sister hardening herself in an effort to stay strong, and her little brother trying to grasp the meaning of the word gone.

And she explores the place called heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counselors to help newcomers adjust and friends to room with. Everything she ever wanted appears as soon as she thinks of it-except the thing she most wants: to be back with the people she loved on Earth.

With compassion, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie sees her loved ones pass through grief and begin to mend. Her father embarks on a risky quest to ensnare her killer. Her sister undertakes a feat of remarkable daring. And the boy Susie cared for moves on, only to find himself at the center of a miraculous event.

The Lovely Bones is luminous and astonishing, a novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. In the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven, and healing.

A friend had told me about this book and suggested I read it (Thanks Chris!) and I repeatedly forgot until recently when I obtained a copy.

It is an incredible book, written from the view of a teenage girl who is tragically murdered at the start of the tale and it follows her experience as she discovers heaven and watches her loved ones try and figure out how life works without her in it.

The writing is very descriptive and passionate. The tone changes almost constantly throughout the book and while one might expect a book with this subject matter to be dark, and while it has it's moments, surprisingly it isn't. It is however filled with a mixture of suspense, sadness, joy, grief, healing and even sprinkles of humour.

This one turned out to be among my favourites of all time.

The Mercy Room by Gilles Rozier

From the Publisher (Little, Brown & Company - An Imprint of Hachette Book Group USA):

A brilliant exploration of sexual obsession and human frailty in a country gripped by war.

In a small town in occupied France during World War II, a teacher of German is recruited by the Gestapo to translate sensitive documents. Every week, waiting for the next assignment, our narrator sits outside the commandant's office and watches prisoners being led to detention cells before being deported. Always existing on the fringes of life, caring only for books, the teacher has never done anything heroic. And certainly this is no time to get entangled in other people's problems.

But one day a stunning Jewish soldier is among the prisoners. His name is Herman and the teacher recognizes him from their lives before the war. In an unprecedented act of boldness, the teacher sneaks Herman out of headquarters, brings him home, and hides him in the cellar, along with a cache of banned books. So begins an extraordinary and shattering affair in which two people and two antagonistic languages, Yiddish and German, are magnetically attracted.

In a tour de force of novelistic technique, Gilles Rozier never reveals the gender of his narrator--opening the question of how many levels of transgression and risk the teacher is taking by hiding Herman. THE MERCY ROOM is an exquisite novel about the power of desire and the competing forces of good or ill in the heart of each of us.

I really tried to love this book as it is about a period in time which greatly holds my interest. I just couldn't connect with the characters in the way I usually would but despite that, it's still a good little book to read.

Since I know this book is originally written in French, I will likely end reading this again at some point in both languages as something may have been lost in translation.

I admit I hadn't even noticed the sex of the main character wasn't revealed at any point but for some reason my mind automatically assumed the character was a female. Next time I may try reading it with the character as a male and see if that makes a difference also.

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

From the Publisher (Warner Books - An Imprint of Hachette Book Group USA):

Somebody wants Mick Stranahan dead. Mick is sure of this, because he just had to dispatch a pistol-packing intruder with the help of a stuffed marlin head. But who would want to hurt a former Florida state investigator? The answer is plenty of people-as Stranahan soon finds himself acquainted with a litter of nefarious players, including a hit man whose skin problems could fill a comprehensive (if bizarre) medical textbook, a lawyer of questionable repute who advertises on billboards, and a TV show host whose taste for sensationalism is exceeded only by his vanity. The whole thing gets downright harrowing for the ex-cop in one of Hiaasen''s most breathtaking, madcap romps ever-where even a plastic surgeon with extremely shaky hands waits to wring Stranahan's neck.

This was my first experience with the works of Carl Hiaasen and definitely won't be my last. I had not been sure what to expect but what I got was a brilliantly funny tale with really exceptional characters that stick with you.

The main character Mick Stranahan is a hoot. I loved the way he is straight forward, unwilling to put up with hassle from anyone and the way he deals with those who are out to get him, in the funniest ways. The other most memorable for me is Chemo, a bad guy with a weed-whacker for a prosthesis.

This book is so over the top (in a good way) that you just can't help but laugh out loud at times. The book also manages to maintain some pretty great suspense and it's one of those books where the bad guys always get their just desserts. What more could you ask for?

It was one heck of a ride!

Author's website: http://www.carlhiaasen.com/