Book ~ "52 Ways to Wreck Your Retirement: ... And How to Rescue It" (2011) Tina Di Vito

From Amazon ~ Retirement planning isn't something that happens at a specific point in time or at a specific age - we are all affecting our retirement plans every day with every decision we do or don't make. Canadians are living longer, and the average retiree in the future may have as much as 30 years of retirement to plan for, and there are many simple things that will impact our eventual retirement life.

52 Ways to Wreck Your Retirement identifies 52 things we do that could wreck our retirement, explains why it puts your retirement at risk, and provides the strategy to correct the mistake, or better still, avoid it entirely.

52 Ways to Wreck Your Retirement is not a feel-good book about how wonderful retirement will be or an alarming fear-mongering book about dying broke, nor is it a get-rich-late-retirement solution. Quite simply, it is an easily-accessible and practical guide written for Canadians of all ages that gives you the tools you need to better manage the financial and personal aspects of your retirement.

I work as an educator in the group retirement industry and like reading books about retirement planning. This one just came out last month and is written by the head of one of the competitors of the company I work for.

The book covers all areas of retirement and has 11 parts:

• Starting to plan for retirement
• Mistakes around investing
• Mistakes around debt
• Saving for retirement
• Pensions
• Living in retirement
• Spending in retirement
• Paying too much tax
• New realities about retirement
• Protection planning
• Not asking for help

Not much was new to me but it was interesting to read it from someone else's perspective.

It's a good book if you are looking for a high level explanation of everything from Canada's government programs (C/QPP and OAS), accumulation and payout plans, the effect of the sandwich generation, downsizing your home, etc.

Book ~ "The Suite Life: The Magic and Mystery of Hotel Living" (2011) Christopher Heard

From Indigo ~ Hotel living has always seemed exotic. Why did Claude Monet, Greta Garbo, Coco Chanel, Vladimir Nabokov, Howard Hughes, and many other mercurial individuals desire such a life? Besides answering that question, The Suite Life features interviews with high-profile celebrities who have also chosen hotel living, such as Johnny Depp, Warren Beatty, Keanu Reeves, and Criss Angel.

Author Christopher Heard was conceived in the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto and now lives there as the writer-in-residence. The Suite Life is the culmination of a lifelong fascination with iconic hotels and those who have opted to reside in them. It tells of the enchantment of being exposed to many varied energies at the same time and describes the uniqueness of life lived in a place where people can let their inhibitions relax.

Living in a hotel is many things, but first and foremost it is magical.

I had read an article in the Toronto Star a couple months ago about this book. I hadn't heard of the author but apparently he is a "TV and radio personality and an author with several celebrity bios to his name".

What attracted me to this book (so I reserved it immediately from the Toronto library system and just got it on Friday) was that the author lives in one of Toronto's historic hotels, the Royal York. I've been to a few functions there (Christmas parties and conferences) and it's a grand old hotel.

The book is split up into three parts:

1. A private oasis of solitude ... with room service - details famous personalities (from the likes of Howard Hughes to Johnny Depp) and their experiences living the hotel life
2. Some kind of epic grandeur - provides the history and stories of the Royal York
3. Suite dreams - discusses the author's experiences living in the Royal York and surrounding area such as the personalities he's met and living through the G20 last year
   

It is an interesting book and I enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to anyone who lives in Toronto, who is interested in different ways of living and/or who enjoy getting a bit of insider gossip about personalities.

Here's a quote by Heard in the Toronto Star article:

"You don’t think about towels. You don’t think about making the bed, or taking out the garbage.

"One of the great lessons of hotel living is that you become very minimalist," said Heard, who personalized his room with photographs and his 5-year-old daughter’s artwork. "You just have what you need, what is of current concern. You don’t keep piles of magazines around anymore.

"And you don’t have neighbours. Your neighbours are here for two days, then gone. Whereas the maids that come in regularly and the door people that you see every day, they are the constants in your life."

It sounds like quite a life ... how would you like to live in a hotel?

Book ~ "Watcher" (2009) Valerie Sherrard

From Amazon ~ "I knew one thing -- I wasn't going to be rotting in that place for the rest of my life. I was getting out of there. That place turned people into the living dead. In that neighbourhood, it was hard to hear anything that didn't carry the sound of defeat."

Sixteen-year-old Porter Delaney has his future figured out, but his nice, neat plans are shaken when a man he believes may be his father suddenly appears in his Toronto neighbourhood. Porter knows that he wants nothing to do with the deadbeat dad who abandoned him and his sister twelve years earlier, but curiosity causes him to re-examine the past.

Unfortunately, actual memories are scarce and confusing, and much of what he knows is based on things his mother told him. As Porter looks for answers, it begins to seem that all he's ever going to find are more questions.

I came across this book on a table at my local library where they had a display of books that take place in Toronto. When I read the description, it sounded interesting ... and it was. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

This is considered a young adult novel, at a reading level of ages 12 and up. I found the writing style and language wasn't juvenile, though. The "voice" is Porter's who is sixteen. He lives in a low-income neighbourhood in Toronto with his mother and his surroundings and actions reflect his circumstances.

When he discovers a man (whom he nicknames "Watcher") who he suspects is his long lost father following him, he is torn with emotions. Should he confront him and demand to know why his father has had no contact with him and his sister? Should he turn the tables and follow him? The results are surprising when he finally makes his decision and takes action.

Book ~ "Midnight at the Dragon Cafe" (2004) Judy Fong Bates

From Amazon ~ Su-Jen Chou, six, meets her elderly father for the first time when she and her beautiful mother leave China to join him in a small Ontario town in the 1950s. She sleeps between her parents in the same bed in a room upstairs from the restaurant. "They settled into an uneasy and distant relationship. Their love, their tenderness, they gave to me." Then her adult half-brother joins them and his mail-order bride is on her way. Su-Jen, now Annie, is soon comfortable in English and makes friends as she grows up Canadian; her mother remains stranded among strangers, unable to speak the language. But even at home, the unspeakable drowns out what is being said. True to the young girl's viewpoint, the plain first-person narrative tells an immigrant story with rare intensity, the anger and the sadness, as the adults fight about one thing while Su-Jen wants to shout about what they all pretend they do not know. The mounting suspense of family secrets makes this first novel a breathless read, even as the simple, beautiful words make you want to stop and read the sentences over and over again.

I borrowed this book from my local library. They had a table set up by the door that had books set in Toronto so I checked it out and thought this one sounded interesting.

The first couple of chapters weren't grabbing me. If I can't get into a book, I stop reading it and move onto the next one. I'm glad that I stuck with this one because I ended up really enjoyed it. I liked the writing style and the story.

The story is written in Annie's voice, from age six to twelve. She manages to fit in in the small town where they are the only Chinese family and become Canadian. Annie knows she's different from the other kids but she doesn't want to be and assumes she doesn't have to be different.

Her young and beautiful mom, on the other hand, is bitter about having to leave China and live in a small dead town in Ontario. She doesn't bother to fit in or learn English which just makes it worse for her.

Annie's elderly dad owns a Chinese restaurant. Because he feels the only way to get ahead is to work hard, that's all he does. Her older brother eventually moves from Owen Sound and buys into the restaurant and works with them. Their dad is very intent on getting him married off, whether that is with a "mail order bride" or using a matchmaker, and her brother resists.

The book doesn't tell you what adult Annie is doing. Did she stay in Irvine and help her brother and sister-in-law run the restaurant? Or did she accomplish what her parents had hoped for her ... go to university and get a good job. Did she married a Chinese guy as her family expected or did she avoid an arranged marriage and marry a white guy? It would be interesting to know ... but maybe we are better off just hoping for the best for this family.

Book ~ "Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories" (2011) Randy Bachman

From Chapters Indigo ~ Randy Bachman has been rolling out chart-topping songs his whole life -"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," "These Eyes," "American Woman," "Taking Care of Business" - and since 2005, treating fans to a lifetime of stories on his hit CBC Radio show Randy's Vinyl Tap.

His approach is always fresh - even the most hardcore music fans will be surprised by what they can learn from Randy. Writing music and lyrics, performing live and recording #1 songs, producing new music, organizing reunion tours-Randy has done it all. Music is his life, and his anecdotes put you at the centre of it all.

These are his best stories. Even with all his success Randy is "still that kid from Winnipeg" and his enthusiasm for great music is as strong as ever. Hear how after years of dreaming Randy finally got to see his musical heroes, The Shadows, play live, and then got to record a Shadows tribute song with longtime friend Neil Young. Encounters with celebrities and rock legends abound, but it is the music that is the driving force behind his extraordinary career, and what brings us back for more stories from Randy's Vinyl Tap.

I don't listen to CBC and I've never heard of Bachman's show, Vinyl Tap. Though I'm not a huge fan of the Guess Who or Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), I like a lot of their songs.

I do like reading bios, books by Canadians and music. I was attracted to this book because I thought Bachman would have interesting stories to tell ... and he did. He is indeed still just "a kid from Winnipeg" who has had some experiences, both good and bad. He sounds like a nice fella who is very hardworking who hasn't forgotten his Canadian roots. My favourite chapters are the ones where he tells of meeting and playing with other great musicians.

The last chapter has some of his favourite lists. An interesting one is "Songs Played at Your Funeral" as suggested by his listeners which include:

• Old and Wise - Alan Parsons Project
• Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
• Wasn't that a Party? - Irish Rovers
• Thank You for Being a Friend - Andrew Gold
• Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
  

It's an interesting book to read and I'd recommend it.

Book ~ "Holding Still for as Long as Possible" (2009) Zoe Whittall

From Amazon ~ This captivating glimpse into the lives of three twentysomethings showcases Whittall’s ability to create complex characters. Connected through social circles in their Toronto neighborhood, they struggle to accept the past while mapping out the future: Josh, a female-to-male transgender works strenuous shifts as a paramedic and tries to erase from his mind the atrocities he witnesses daily; Amy, his ex-girlfriend and an amateur filmmaker, lives off of her wealthy parents; and Billy, a former child pop star, now endures extreme anxiety attacks. As the three become wrapped up in each others’ lives, the emotional roller coaster dips and rises. Haunted by memories of the tragedy of 9/11 and of the rampant fear of a SARS epidemic, which served as the scenery of their youth, this new generation’s members proclaim their true feelings through text messages and drown their excess emotion in booze. A poignant climax seems almost like a dream as the characters drift toward the shattering conclusion. An unforgettable depiction of growing up in the new millennium.

I came across this book in my quest to read more books by Canadian authors. As a bonus, it takes place in Toronto.

It's an interesting story of Josh, Amy and Billy, each with their own demons and how they deal with them. Josh and Amy break up but are determined to remain friends. Billy and Maria have just broken up and are trying to remain friends. Tensions are added when Billy and Josh get together.

This story "happened" in my 'hood. They live and hang out not far from where I live which made it more enjoyable as I knew exactly where they were and the type of places they were hanging out in. The author did a good job of capturing the mood and atmosphere of the area.

I enjoyed the writing style. The voice of each chapter changes from Josh to Amy to Billy so you get an idea of what is going on in their head and hearts.

I'd recommend this book.

Book ~ "Natural Order" (2011) Brian Francis

From Amazon ~ Joyce Sparks has lived the whole of her 86 years in the small community of Balsden, Ontario. “There isn’t anything on earth you can’t find your own backyard,” her mother used to say, and Joyce has structured her life accordingly. Today, she occupies a bed in what she knows will be her final home, a shared room at Chestnut Park Nursing Home where she contemplates the bland streetscape through her window and tries not to be too gruff with the nurses.

This is not at all how Joyce expected her life to turn out. As a girl, she’d allowed herself to imagine a future of adventure in the arms of her friend Freddy Pender, whose chin bore a Kirk Douglas cleft and who danced the cha-cha divinely. Though troubled by the whispered assertions of her sister and friends that he was “fruity,” Joyce adored Freddy for all that was un-Balsden in his flamboyant ways. When Freddy led the homecoming parade down the main street, his expertly twirled baton and outrageous white suit gleaming in the sun, Joyce fell head over heels in unrequited love.

Years later, after Freddy had left Balsden for an acting career in New York, Joyce married Charlie, a kind and reserved man who could hardly be less like Freddy. They married with little fanfare and she bore one son, John. Though she did love Charlie, Joyce often caught herself thinking about Freddy, buying Hollywood gossip magazines in hopes of catching a glimpse of his face. Meanwhile, she was growing increasingly alarmed about John’s preference for dolls and kitchen sets. She concealed the mounting signs that John was not a “normal” boy, even buying him a coveted doll if he promised to keep it a secret from Charlie.

News of Freddy finally arrived, and it was horrifying: he had killed himself, throwing himself into the sea from a cruise ship. “A mother always knows when something isn’t right with her son,” was Mrs. Pender’s steely utterance when Joyce paid her respects, cryptically alleging that Freddy’s homosexuality had led to his destruction. That night, Joyce threatened to take away John’s doll if he did not join the softball team. Convinced she had to protect John from himself, she set her small family on a narrow path bounded by secrecy and shame, which ultimately led to unimaginable loss.

Today, as her life ebbs away at Chestnut Park, Joyce ponders the terrible choices she made as a mother and wife and doubts that she can be forgiven, or that she deserves to be. Then a young nursing home volunteer named Timothy appears, so much like her long lost John. Might there be some grace ahead in Joyce’s life after all?

Voiced by an unforgettable and heartbreakingly flawed narrator, Natural Order is a masterpiece of empathy, a wry and tender depiction of the end-of-life remembrances and reconciliations that one might undertake when there is nothing more to lose, and no time to waste.

I liked the writing style of this book. It was quick and drew me into the story.

I wasn't crazy about the way the story bounced around, though, about Joyce's life. I don't mind flashbacks but this was all over the place with different events in her life. Sometimes it wasn't obvious right away at what point in her life we're at.

Joyce Sparks isn't likeable at all. Just out of high school and living in a small town in Ontario, she falls in love with Freddy and is blind to the fact that he is gay. After he leaves town for bigger and better things, she settles and marries Charlie. Charlie just seems to plod through life and is uninteresting. They have a son, John, who becomes the focus of Joyce's life. John spends his early years as a mama's boy before rebelling and becoming a secretive unlikeable jerk. But he doesn't know any better because Joyce was all about hiding the truths and expecting that John will turn out "normal".

Joyce becomes a bitter alone old woman living in a retirement home ... I didn't feel a lot of sympathy for her.

Despite all this, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading other books by this author.

Book ~ "Journeys into the Unknown: Mysterious Canadian Encounters with the Paranormal" (2006) Richard Palmisano

From Amazon ~ This fascinating and bloodcurdling book takes the reader through a collection of amazing ghost stories and paranormal investigations across Ontario that have never before been reported. The circumstances behind fifteen unusual cases of hauntings and ghostly manifestations are explored together with the detailed sagas of full-scale investigations into six further spooky inexplicables occurring in or near Toronto.

The book concludes with a look into a complete investigation of a haunting, including a guide that explains the techniques used to conduct a paranormal investigation. The final section that explains the theories behind what a ghost is, how they manifest, and where they hide - challenging the classic theories of life-after-death research. So turn on all the lights, keep your back to the wall, and be prepared to take a journey into the reality of the unexplained.

Interesting stories of hauntings in Toronto and Ontario.

The first chapter has stories of hauntings that had been reported. I enjoyed the second chapter more because not only were they stories of hauntings but they were investigated.

It would have been nice if the author had been able to research the background of the properties to report who the spirits were rather than just having a medium say it who they were.

Do you believe in spirits?

Book ~ "Overshadows: An Investigation into a Terrifying Modern Canadian Haunting" (2003) Richard Palmisano

From Amazon ~ In 1995, a young girl living with her abusive mother commits suicide. Shortly afterwards, her spirit returns to the house, only to find her mother gone and strangers moving in. She also finds the older spirits who dwell there, beginning a powerful battle for control of the house - and trapping its new residents in the middle. "Overshadows" chronicles the events of this terrifying multiple haunting but more importantly, it shares the incredible discoveries made during the course of a six-year investigation. This book will challenge and disprove classic theories, and create upheaval in the circle of life-after-death research.

Al and Kellie moved into a townhouse in the spring of 1996 in Toronto. As they were putting their stuff away, they heard a noise of someone coming up the stairs ... but there was no one there. The next day a rocking chair was rocking on its own in one of the bedrooms. The doors to a cabinet kept opening.

With the author (Richard) and Jon (who communicated with the spirits with a pendulum), Al spends a few years researching and discover that not only is the girl who overdosed on drugs still "residing" in the house but there are also other spirits residing there too.

It's an interesting true story.

Do you believe in spirits?

Book ~ "Canaduh: Idiots from the Frozen North" (2010) Leland Gregory

From Amazon ~ Gregory sets his sights north to the frozen tundra of Canada to skewer Canadians, in "Canaduh: Idiots from the Frozen North". Inside "Canaduh: Idiots from the Frozen North", Gregory offers hundreds of accounts of Canadian stupidity at its most random and bizarre, starring French-speaking Quebecois, Yukon fur trappers and Arctic Circle Eskimos.

Because the stories Leland chronicles are just that unbelievable, each anecdote, quote, or factoid is presented with relevant background information - including its verified news source.

It's a quick read. The stories are a small page each of unusual things that have happened in Canada.

Book ~ "Strange Days: Amazing Stories from Canada's Wildest Decade" (2011) Ted Ferguson

From Amazon ~ The 1920s were one of the wildest decades in Canada's history, a time of frivolous fads, shocking crimes, and political and social changes that definitively yanked the country out of the 19th century and into the modern age. In "Strange Days", Ted Ferguson revisits dozens of stories that could only have happened in the 20s - tales of serial killers, athletes, con men, crackpots, prime ministers, bathing beauties, and more - all of them nearly too amazing to believe and too entertaining to be forgotten.

Three to five short and snappy stories for each year from 1920 to 1929, most of them we don't learn in history books. It was fun to read some different but interesting tales.

My only complaint is that it wasn't edited very well ... there are tons of typos and grammatical errors.

Book ~ "The Accident" (2011) Linwood Barclay

From Goodreads ~ It’s the new normal at the Garber household in Connecticut: Glen, a contractor, has seen his business shaken by the housing crisis, and now his wife, Sheila, is taking a business course at night to increase her chances of landing a good-paying job.

But she should have been home by now.

Waiting for Sheila’s return, with their eight-year-old daughter sleeping soundly, Glen soon finds his worst fears confirmed: Sheila and two others have been killed in a car accident. Adding to the tragedy, the police claim Sheila was responsible.

Glen knows it’s impossible; he knew his wife and she would never do such a thing. When he investigates, Glen begins to uncover layers of lawlessness beneath the placid surface of their suburb, secret after dangerous secret behind the closed doors.

Propelled into a vortex of corruption and illegal activity, pursued by mysterious killers, and confronted by threats from neighbors he thought he knew, Glen must take his own desperate measures and go to terrifying new places in himself to avenge his wife and protect his child.

Bold and timely, with the shocking twists and startling insights that have become trademarks of this new master of domestic suspense, The Accident is a riveting triumph, a book that moves at a breathless pace to a climax no one will see coming.

I enjoy Barclay's writing and this is the ninth book by him that I've read in the last few years.

This book was good. I found, though, that it took me a while to get into it. The first half of the book wasn't all that exciting and kind of plodded along ... but once the second half got started, it really took off. Lots of action and twists and turns with every page I turned.

I was kind of confused about what was happening at first since Barclay was being coy. But once all was revealed, it made sense. And it didn't ruin the story once I knew what was going on.

The endings were satisfying. I didn't see them coming and I bought them. I thought all along that there was something funky going on with one of the people but I didn't have any idea it was as major as it turned out to be. Hard to say anything else without giving it away.

I'd recommend this book.

Book ~ "The Spider Bites" (2010) Medora Sale

From Amazon ~ When detective Rick Montoya returns to the city to try to clear his name after being accused of taking a bribe, he discovers someone is living in his apartment. Before he can find out who it is, the apartment house goes up in flames. Rick watches covertly as the police remove two bodies. Was the firebombing meant for him? Who exactly was killed in the fire? And why? What was his landlady Cheryl doing at home in the middle of the afternoon? And why is her daughter Susanna acting strangely? Then his estranged wife arrives at the scene of the fire. The questions mount up, along with the suspects.

This was a very quick read ... it's about 130 pages.

It sounded like a good story. But because it is such a short book, nothing gets fleshed out very well. It's very high level, quick and, before you know it, the murders have been solved. And I wasn't buying any of it.

And that's why I don't like short stories and novellas. Had I known it was a novella, I wouldn't have borrowed it.

Book ~ "HotelBiz: A Memoir" (2010) Hans Gerhardt

From Amazon ~ Operating some of the world's most famous and exclusive hotels exposed Hans Gerhardt to the private lives of kings and queens, world leaders, and movie stars. He has been trapped on an elevator with a notorious dictator, cracked jokes with Prince Philip, drank expensive wine with Charlton Heston, helped Dudley Moore escape marauding Japanese tourists, and Burt Reynolds woo Loni Anderson. David Carradine mooned him, Sophia Loren dazzled, The Queen Mother charmed, and Marlon Brando directed traffic during an early morning fire alarm. But "HotelBiz: A Memoir" is more than just a collection of fascinating anecdotes about famous people - although it is certainly that, too - it is also a compelling rags-to-riches story, how a child of the deprivation of post-war Germany became a cabin boy sailing the world and rose to become Canada's best-known hotelier. It is a story of great triumph and of heart-rending tragedy: Hans for the first time tells how he lost his son Ralph in the attack on the World Trade Center Sept 11, 2001. He takes the reader behind the scenes to detail his many years in the hotel business, from his days as a waiter at a small inn in Germany to running the Sutton Place, Toronto's premiere hotel, to overseeing hotel operations in the Caribbean and Canada. Filled with insight, humor, and drama, Hans Gerhardt's "HotelBiz: A Memoir" offers a unique window into one's man's adventure-filled life and the business he loves.

This book appealed to me because most of the hotels he worked at are in Toronto and I like gossip!

Gerhardt starts the book by talking about his son, Ralph, who was killed in 9/11 along with Ralph's girlfriend, Linda.

Then he takes us back to his beginnings in Germany, leaving home at 15 to work on boats before finally settling into the hotel business.

Gerhardt has lots of stories to tell and speaks well of most of the people he has encountered.

He seems like the kind of guy you could sit down and have a beer with.

Book ~ "The Canadian Housewife: An Affectionate History" (2005) Rosemary Neering

From Amazon ~ An engaging account of Canada's ingenious housewives.

Light and lively, but factual, The Canadian Housewife traces the various eras of this feminine icon of the north, from the 1600s with the first Acadian women along the Bay of Fundy, who lit their houses with candles and heated them with fires, to the 1950s suburban housewife, who treasured her new labor-saving kitchen devices and magazine recipes for jellied salads with marshmallows.

This engaging cultural history provides amusing information and anecdotes on how Canadian housewives dealt with the trials and tribulations of running a household through Canada's many social periods. Creating fascinating snapshots of specific times in the country's history, sidebars throughout The Canadian Housewife feature quotes, recipes, household hints, excerpts from books and magazines, advertisements and historical illustrations of housewives at work.

This book is an interesting read about housewives from the 1600s to the 1950s in Canada. Because of all the information, it's not a book you would sit and read in one sitting. Not only is there info broken up into sections per years like wife, nurse, mother, etc. to let you know how things were, there are sidebars (in blue) with letters from housewives telling about their lives, ads, recipes, etc. Washing machines and vacuum cleaners made such a difference in their lives!

I found myself reading parts of this book, shaking my head in wonderment at all that these women did and what was expected of them.

From the 1800s ...

"Monday night I would sort over the soiled clothing, fill up my tubs and set the white things to soak. While the family were eating breakfast, around six o'clock on Tuesday morning, I would set the wash water in two large galvanized iron wash-boilers on the stove to heat. By the time the dishes were cleared away and washed, the separator scoured, the beds made and the floors swept, and the table set for dinner, it would be nine 'o clock, and I would ready to start on the main business of the day - the washing."

From the 1920s ...

"You will want your husband to fall in love with you every day, as he will surely want you to fall in love with him. Of course, you can't always be dressed up but you can try to be always clean and neat, and you can welcome him always with a smile that comes so easy now."

From the 1950s ...

"A woman was urged to feed her man properly, keep a clean house for him, ask a bout his day but never complain about hers, keep the children from bothering hm when he was tired, make the very best of his paycheque, and always be cheerful and ready for whatever he suggested."

I would have been a lousy housewife in those years ... just ask Gord about the first (and last!) time he asked me to sew a button on a shirt for him or iron.

Book ~ "On the Outside Looking Indian: How My Second Childhood Changed My Life" (2011) Rupinder Gill

From Amazon ~ "There's a phenomenon in Amish culture called Rumspringa, where Amish adolescents are permitted to break free from their modest and traditional lifestyles to indulge in normally taboo activities. They dress how they want, go out if and when they please, smoke, drink and generally party like it's 1899. At the end they decide if they will return and join the Amish church.

"I am 30 years old. I wore my hair in two braids every day until I was 12. I dressed more conservatively than most Amish, barely left my house until I was 18 and spent the last 12 years studying and working hard on my career like a good little Indian girl. The time has come; you are witness to the dawning of my Indian Rumspringa, a Ram-Singha if you will. But instead of smoking and drinking Bud Lights in a park while yelling 'Down with barn raising!' I plan to indulge in a different manner — by pursuing everything I wish had been a part of my youth. Things I always felt were part of most North Americans' adolescent experience. I will learn to swim, go to summer camp, see Disneyworld, take dance lessons, have sleepovers and finally get the pet I longed for my whole life.

"This is the story of the ultimate New Year's resolution, more akin to a new life resolution. Will it all be fun? Will my friends and family support my walk down memory-less lane? Will it all matter in the end? I don't know yet but much like my young Rumspringaed-out counterpart, I will decide whether or not there is any going back."

I had read about this book a couple weeks ago and I thought I'd check it out.

I enjoyed Gill's writing style. It was funny and quick paced. I found the stories she told amusing, especially with her parents' reactions. It was interesting insight for her to finally realize as an adult why her parents had said "no" to things when she was a child. And it was nice to see her appreciate her culture and embrace it.

It's a good reminder to fulfill your dreams and resolutions and to live life to the fullest.

Book ~ "The Top 100 Canadian Albums" (2008) Bob Mersereau

From Amazon ~ Here is the ultimate guide to Canadian music, featuring the best albums that Canadian musicians ever produced. An unprecedented book, The Top 100 Canadian Albums includes the finest albums in Canadian music history chosen by a blue-ribbon panel. The results from 1 to 100 have sparked passionate debate among Canada's music aficionados. This book is jam-packed with incredible behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the albums and the history of Canadian music, as told by the musicians themselves. Find out how Gordon Lightfoot helped get Blue Rodeo back to Canada. Learn about the song that connects The Guess Who to The Tragically Hip. Meet Simply Saucer, the band who waited 30 years for its album to become a hit. Connect the dots between Don Messer and Music from Big Pink. Despite debate about what is and isn't on the list (or perhaps because of it), The Top 100 Canadian Albums is the essential book on Canadian music - not to be missed!

I found Mersereau's Top 100 Canadian Singles interesting so was curious to see what were considered the Top 100 Canadian albums.

As expected, there were a lot of albums by Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Rush, Blue Rodeo and the Tragically Hip. Surprisingly there were some bands I've never heard of. As I said of the singles list, I'm surprised there are no Great Big Sea albums on this albums list.

Of the 100, here are what I have on my ipod or have owned:

Book ~ "Karma" (2011) Cathy Ostlere

From Amazon ~ This epic novel, written in free verse poems in a diary format, straddles two countries and the clash of Indian cultures in the tale of 15-year-old Maya. Raised in Canada, Maya is the product of a marriage between her Hindu mother and Sikh father, a union that upset both families. Her 1984 trip to India with her father, after her mother's suicide, thrusts her life into further chaos when her father disappears during riots that follow Indira Gandhi's assassination. In her first YA novel, Ostlere makes Maya's subsequent muteness believable in the wake of the many traumas she endures. Burdened with guilt over her parents' fate, as well as that of a Sikh man burned alive in front of her, she asks, "Is my silence unfounded too?/ No. I do not deserve to be found./ Or loved." A family in a desert town takes Maya in and 17-year-old Sandeep (who contributes kinetic, lovestruck journal entries) takes special interest in her. In contrast to the hatred, mistrust, and violence, the friendship--and then love--between Maya and Sandeep offers hope, rebirth, and renewal.

I was kind of leery when I read that this was written in "free verse poems" but I gave it a chance and I'm glad I did. Nothing rhymed (yay!) and basically it was short chunky paragraphs which I didn't notice after a while.

It was an interesting story that spans six weeks. When Maya's mother commits suicide, she and her dad take the ashes to India (they live in Canada). They get separated during the riots. The first part of the story is voiced by Maya, the next part is voiced by Sandeep and the last part is voiced by Maya and Sandeep.

I got caught up in the story and liked the characters. I've never experienced anything like Maya and Sandeep had and was hoping it would end well for them.

The book is over 400 pages which may sound daunting but the text mostly only covers the left half of the page.

Conversations are written with one person
talking on the left hand side...

... and the other person on the right.

I find it odd that this is considered a "young adult" book. Sandeep and Maya are about 30 years younger than me but I found it didn't read like a YA book. Though I was okay with it, some parents might not appreciate some of the language ("sh!t", the "F-bomb", A-hole, etc.) or actions (Sandeep talks about gettin' it on with girls).

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you are looking for a good story and a different format.

Book ~ "The Guilty Plea" (2011) Robert Rotenberg

From Simon & Schuster ~ Bestselling author Robert Rotenberg is back with his next razor-sharp legal thriller. Rotenberg's insider knowledge of the behind-the-scenes courtroom machinations and his mesmerizing trial scenes make this another scorching page-turner.

On the morning that his headline-grabbing divorce trial is set to begin, Terrance Wyler, youngest son of the Wyler Food dynasty, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of his million-dollar home. Detective Ari Greene arrives minutes before the press and finds Wyler's four-year-old son asleep upstairs. When Wyler's ex-wife, a strange beauty named Samantha, shows up at her lawyer's office with a bloody knife, it looks as if the case is over.

But Greene soon discovers the Wyler family has secrets they'd like to keep hidden, and they're not the only ones. If there's one thing Greene knows, it's that the truth is never simple.

I had read Rotenberg's first novel, Old City Hall, in January and enjoyed it.

In February I was asked to review The Guilty Plea (it goes on sale on May 3, 2011) and participate in his Guilty Plea blogger tour. It gave me the chance to read Rotenberg's new book in addition to submitting questions for him to answer.

The story is in Toronto and, like the first book, I am very familiar with the locations where action takes place. In fact, I live near the hotel where Terrance Wyler's girlfriend, April, "stayed". Check out foursquare if you want to see the Toronto spots used in the book.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book. It's fast-paced and doesn't drag.

It was a nice surprise to some of the characters had been brought back from the first novel like Ari Greene, Jennifer Raglan and Jo Summers ... you get to know them even more.

Here are the some of things I was curious about and the author's responses:

1. In the two books in this series, you have been obvious in using Toronto as the location. Many Canadian authors don't do this ... to attract more readers, they set their stories in the U.S. Why did you choose to make it so obvious that the story is happening in Toronto? Do you think this will deter Americans and non-Torontonians from reading the book?
   
   I think all great drama is local. Many critics say that Toronto is a character in the book. And I’m very proud of that. As for an American audience, I think if I write good books about real people in a real place, they’ll read them.
2. We learned a lot about Canada's legal and court systems in this book. How close to being true are they? Or do you take liberties?
   
   I do take small liberties but the key ideas about how our courts work are true.
   
   
3. We get to know the characters so well. Are they based on people you know?No. But, of course, they all have bits of folks I encounter. I’m glad you feel you know all my fictional friends so well.
   
4. It seems that the book is set up so there can be a sequel ... will there be?
   Many. My goal is twenty books in twenty years. I hope you stick with me.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author!

If you want to meet Robert Rotenberg, he's going to be at Indigo in the Eaton Centre on May 6 at 1pm.


I received a copy of this ebook at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

Book ~ "Water for Elephants" (2006) Sara Gruen

From SaraGruen.com ~ As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

I had started reading this book a couple years ago. I couldn't get into it and gave up after a couple chapters.

I recently picked it up again and enjoyed it. I guess I was in a different frame of mind than before. I found the story moved along at a quick pace and it kept my interest. I cared about the characters.

I found the history of the circus interesting. I'm so glad I wasn't around in those days and had to endure what they did.

My only problem with this book was the amount of abuse of animals, especially with Rosie the elephant. I know it was a key to the story but it was hard to read.

The movie version with Robert Pattison, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz (I bet he'll be fabulous as August) is coming out in a couple weeks. I'm not sure whether I'll go see it because of the animal abuse.