Deviant Behavior by Mike Sager

Published by Black Cat - An imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc.
Distributed by Publishers Group Canada

Jonathan Seede has it all – he enjoys his job with Washington D.C.’s most esteemed newspaper, and has a beautiful wife and a new baby. Appearances are rarely as they seem though, and this situation is no different. Just a short distance away is the Fourteenth Street strip where chaos runs rampant in the form of drugs, hookers and pimps. Reaching his limit on frustration with life, Seede plunges headlong into this deviant world. This novel paints a vivid and memorable picture of what happens when a person decides to Just Say Yes.

I found it pretty hard to get into this book at first. The characters are colourful and well written but they seem to almost get lost in the chaos of the first half of the novel. I was determined to see it through to the end, and I am glad I did. While the first half of the book strikes me as disjointed, and unbelievable to an extreme, the second half of the book brings everything together wonderfully – albeit a little too neatly. I liked the inclusion of very real everyday situations that many would like to ignore – homelessness, drug abuse, prostitution, police corruption and so on. It balanced nicely with the more mysterious storyline of the crystal skulls.

The writing style is greatly descriptive and scenes will often stick with you for a while. Even though I have completed the book, I am still finding my mind playing with the troubling – and even shocking – scene involving a dead hooker and a toddler. The author appears to have done a great deal of research and I have to admit that the philosophy that is sprinkled throughout really added something special. I like when a book provides food for thought, even if it’s not intended to be taken seriously.

I didn’t love this book, but once I got caught up in the story I grew to like it. One thing is for certain; it’s definitely unlike anything else I have ever read and I am looking forward to reading more Mike Sager titles. If you have the opportunity to read it, give it a whirl. If you read it, please do leave a comment and let me know what you think. It would be great to see other opinions.

Author’s website: http://www.mikesager.com

The Gathering by Anne Enright

Published by Black Cat - An imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc.
Distributed by Publishers Group Canada

Compared to the rest of her family, Veronica seems to have it all – a nice house, a loving husband, beautiful children and financial freedom. Following her brother's tragic death, Veronica makes the journey to collect his body and bring him home to Dublin where the rest of the Hegarty clan - including Veronica's other eight siblings - are waiting. As Veronica travels with her brother's body, she finds herself revisiting childhood memories and once more faces the dreadful secret that she shares with only one other. Liam. Now, more than ever before, it seems that Veronica's family are relying upon her to keep things together and only time will tell if she will succeed, or whether the Hegarty wake will be accompanied by fireworks.

This was a fascinating and powerful read. The eloquence and descriptive detail were truly impressive. In the early pages when the character discusses the first time her grandparents met, I found it practically spellbinding. This author has a gift for intertwining everyday facts with thought and emotion that make every single second of life seem magical.

The style of writing is unique - to me at least. The character shares her life as it happens with a frank and honest style and I especially love the way her thought process is captured. Fleeting images, playing out each line of thought to the end only to begin again and letting her mind wander through each alternative scenario. The reader is teased into playing along and using their own imagination in such a way that the characters seem to become more real. I think another thing that did it for me, was the richness of the Irish culture. It made me realise just how much of my Irish ancestry was still evident in my own upbringing and perhaps that made this novel just a touch more special to me.

I will definitely read this again.

The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story by Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Lisa Brown

Published by McSweeney's
Distributed by Publisher's Group Canada

A unique tale set in a small cottage, within a tiny village - the only cottage not adorned with the bright and cheery Christmas lights and decorations that could be easily seen on every other home. A piercing cry shatters the stillness of the night and so begins a wild adventure. A runaway latke has a number of encounters during which he explains not only his own existence but also the traditions and history of the holiday known as Hanukah.

Just a glance at this cover will show what a treasured book this is destined to be. With its hard cover in a rich, deep red which is foil-stamped, it seems almost too pretty to read. Maybe it's just the book-lover in me but I just adore some of the covers out there as much as I love the contents within. When you open this book the illustrations inside are just as delightful albeit more of a simplistic style. It was a fun - and strange - little book. I would even say whimsical, A great resource for teaching all children, from any background, the basics about Hanukah.

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

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Published by Running Press
Distributed by Publishers Group Canada

Skinny Bitch is "a no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous." Authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin write in a bold and frank manner about the foods we eat on a daily basis. They make it easy to make informed choices by providing information on a variety of subjects.

Whether you are concerned about the disturbing trend of chemically altering foods (including the surprising use of arsenic), the devastating occurrences in slaughterhouses around the world, the addictive qualities of dairy products (yep, you read it right) or the countless other subjects that are explored, the authors present much food for thought and do it in a way that everyone can understand.

This is one of the most powerful books I have read. I couldn’t put it down and even found myself sitting in bed, 2am in the morning, crying as I read the segment on slaughterhouses. That part of the book alone had such an impact on me that I switched to a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle the next day. I shared pieces of that section with my husband the next day and saw from his face that he found it as disturbing as I did. Contained are quotes from actual slaughterhouse workers as they share the atrocities they have witnessed, or have been guilty of. The evident lack of humanity is simply heartbreaking.

The book also contains a lot of frightening content on the subject of the use of chemicals and antibiotics. While it was easy to understand, I also found it overwhelming. It has been bothering me for some time that food is being altered and treated so commonly and it makes it difficult to avoid many of the ingredients. They seem to be in everything.

In addition though, this book provides many practical ideas for changing your lifestyle and eating habits as well as providing countless resources for alternative food sources. I found it an immense help the next day as I set off on my quest for vegetarian information.

It’s an addictive read which packs one heck of a punch. It will probably cause your TBR (to be read) pile to grow at an astonishing rate also as it includes references from scores of fascinating titles.

I only had one issue with this book and before I share it with you, I ask that you keep in mind that this book was worth the read, and that despite my irritation that will soon become obvious, I still believe this is a book that should be read by all.

My issue was the disproportionate use of bad language. While I can swear better than any sailor and don’t usually care about the use of expletives in books I read. I found that the language was irritating, excessively used, and distracting. I believe the authors run the risk of losing readers because of this. It was a great read but I would have liked it better if the expletives had been less overbearing.

Website: http://www.skinnybitch.net/

My Happy Life by Lydia Millet

Published by Soft Skull Press
Distributed by Publishers Group Canada

Lydia Millet has created a stunning book that leaves the reader surprised by the choice of title. The book begins in a hospital building. A building that contains one solitary soul who has lived a tragic life leading finally to her withdrawal from society.

The book continues with a tour of the main character's life. How she started life abandoned in a cardboard box and was constantly shuffled from place to place. Instead of knowing love and kindness, she experienced only spite, indifference, and worse. The events are sometimes shocking, sometimes deeply saddening, and never fail to reach the heart and soul of the reader.

I adored this novel. It was my first experience with books by Lydia Millet though I do have Oh Pure and Radiant Heart on my bookshelf waiting for me to discover it.

I am unsure what I expected from this book. When I saw the title, I had imagined it would be perhaps a feel-good story, or maybe perhaps if the title were meant in sarcasm, it would be something along the lines of the Adrian Mole diaries. I was so off the mark.

The author pulls no punches and opens with a scene that is so surprising, shocking and unexpected that I thought the book couldn't possibly continue on that level. Again, I was so off the mark. As I continued to explore the pages, the events continued to touch me in ways that so few books do. The experiences the character had to face are terrible and seemingly endless. What stunned me most is the fact that the character seems to think nothing of them, and simply believes that this is how life should be.

One of the memorable moments for me, was when upon being struck by a car, and having one of her feet crushed as a young girl, the character feels the need to apologise to her foot until she feels it has forgiven her. I can't even begin to explain the extent of the sadness I felt during that scene as I realised that this character believes that everything is her fault. I just wanted to reach into the pages and hug her so tightly. We never learn the name of this remarkably strong woman, and yet she still affects the reader on an extremely deep level. The content of this novel will linger on long after the last page is turned.

A brilliant, moving novel that I think has become one of my favourites. Read it. You won't be disappointed. Don't believe me? Try an excerpt

Author's website: http://www.lydiamillet.net/

The Diary of Petr Ginz: 1941 - 1942 edited by Chava Pressburger

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press - An Imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc.
Distributed by Publishers Group Canada

This diary is an account of Petr Ginz's life as a 14 year old boy in the time of the Holocaust. It is written in a wonderfully - and often heartbreaking - open and frank style that couldn't possibly fail to touch the reader deeply.

The events, which led to the discovery of this diary, are almost as fascinating as the book itself. The following is taken from the back of the book:

In 2003, before setting out on the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle, Ilan Ramon - the first-ever Israeli astronaut and a son of Auschwitz survivors - sought to bring something on his voyage to commemorate the Holocaust. At the suggestion of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, he took Moon Landscape, a small drawing made in 1942 by a Prague teenager, Petr Ginz who died in Auschwitz.

After the shuttle's tragic explosion on February 1, 2003 - what would have been Ginz's seventy-fifth birthday - news reports of the teenage prodigy and his painting reached Prague, where a man made a startling discovery: he was in possession of Ginz's wartime diary, which had been hidden away in his attic for decades. Soon thereafter, the diary made its way to Petr's sister, Chava Pressburger, who instantly recognized her brother's handwriting and his playful but precociously perceptive voice in its pages. The diary has since been published throughout Europe, where it has moved thousands of readers and become an international best seller.

I have read many books on this subject and as tragic and devastating as many of those books are, few are written from the eyes of a child and I think for me it was the backdrop of hatred, brutality and despair mixed with such innocence, hope, and playfulness that made this one of the most touching accounts I have read.

I liked that the book is sprinkled throughout with some of Petr Ginz's artwork and the drawings are just incredible. It's a great pity that he died so young, as I could see from the artwork, and from his writing, that he had a great deal to offer the world. I think the thing that struck me most, was the fact that regardless of how tough life became, he was dedicated to learning and exploring culture. He comes across as so much older than his actual years. His knowledge of music and authors is great and it is clear in the entries where he discusses school, that he is probably the brightest student in the class, if not the whole school.

This was a fantastic book and I loved that Petr's sister added notes throughout to explain the background a little on some days, and shares extra information about this wonderful boy.

The Diary of Petr Ginz is one of my favourite reads of the year. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not being incredibly moved by it.

Beam Me Up Jesus: A Heathen's Guide to The Rapture by Jim Gerard

Published by Nation Books an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group.

Distributed by Publishers Group Canada

Jim Gerard - author of Yankees Suck, and Celebrity Skin - brings us a light-hearted and often laugh-out-loud funny look at the end of the world in his book Beam Me Up Jesus: A Heathen's guide to the rapture. It's written with a fearless and straight talking attitude which will leave you in tears with laughter. The introduction itself is comical and in the twenty chapters he delves into this subject with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek as the chapter titles show:

• The Rapture - A Brief Introduction
• The Book of Revelation - Reader's Digest Version
• Whose Rapture is it, Anyway?
• The Rapture in Pop Culture
• Signs That the Rapture is Near, or It's Not Global Warming, Stupid
• Televangelists and Other Public Figures Who Believe They Will Be Raptured, but Who Most Definitely Won't Be
• Why Jesus is Upset That the Christian Right Has Exploited Him for Their Own Purposes and Tarnished His Reputation, but Can't Do Anything about it
• Antichrists, False Christs, and False Starts
• How to Get Raptured, the Multicultural Rapture, What to Pack for the Rapture, and How to Make Sure You Get Left Behind
• The Rapture - God's Greatest Product Launch
• Rapture Spin Control
• The Tribulation - God and Satan's Lollapalooza
• The Post-Rapture Survival Guide (Including How to Protect Yourself against Plagues, Dragons, the Mark of the Beast, the Whore of Babylon, and Satanic Spam
• The Mark of the Beast
• Post-Rapture Culture
• Sex and Relationships
• Left Behind - What to Do After God Breaks Up with You
• Left Behind and Begrudging It (PTRSD - Posttraumatic Rapture Stress Disorder and Other Tribulations
• The Post-Trib: What Happens After the End of the World?
• God: The Last Word

This book is hilarious. It's a well balanced mix of information, sarcasm, digs and humour. I just adored the little lists that were included such as Miracles that were Falsely Attributed to Jesus, which includes the miracles of changing water into bud lite, and also not healing a leper, but offering to sign him up with an HMO. Another favourite of mine is the list of Christian Right Saturday Morning Cartoons which includes titles such as Casper the Holy Ghost, and Beavis and Butt-Head, Born Again.

It's a book that I believe people from all walks of life can giggle at, as long as they have an adequate sense of humour. If you think your faith may prevent you from enjoying this title, check Amazon.com. I was thrilled to see that in the reviews at Amazon.com there were Christian reviewers who had also given this book the thumbs up!

A fun read.

As an added note: I will be posting a review in the future of another title by this author: Who Moved My Secret? which is a parody of The Secret. I plan to read The Secret first so I can truly appreciate the parody.

Author's website: http://www.gangof60.com/

Author's blog: http://www.gangof60.blogspot.com/