Book ~ "Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis" (2008) Robyn Harding

From Goodreads ~ Lucy had no clue that her husband of sixteen years was about to bolt. Now she's dealing with shock, loneliness and girlfriends who alternately pity her and provoke her. She also - unbelievably - is apparently competing with her own teenage daughter for a new man's attention.

Trent pictured freedom, self-discovery ... and maybe some sex with actual passion. So far, he's mostly watching hockey in a hotel room and wondering what's next. Being middle-aged and married isn't easy. The jury's still out on being middle-aged and single.

Trent and Lucy are in their 40s, have been married for 16 years and have a 15 year old daughter named Samantha. Trent comes home from work one day and says he needs to find himself and is leaving. Lucy is stunned (he's never given her any indication of how he was feeling) and figures he'll be back home shortly.

Trent has had his eye on Annika, a colleague, for about a year and now that he's "single", they get together right away. She starts planning their future and all he wanted was a fling but she's hard to get rid of (she was way to extreme to be believable). In the meantime, Lucy, who works as a props procurer on a TV show, has suddenly attracted the attention of Wynn, a 27 year old who plays a 17 year old character, who's never given her the time of day before (really?!). Against her better judgement, she goes along with it hoping for a revenge fling but Wynn wants more (a young fella with morals?!). In the meantime, Samantha starts rebelling.

I've read a couple books by this author and liked them but I didn't care for this one. I found it too unrealistic and the characters unlikable (especially Samantha who is a super stereotypical spoiled teenager). Trent learned he should have been careful what he wished for ... he got the life he wanted but realized it wasn't all it was cracked up to be so was ready to go home and was shocked that Lucy wouldn't forget/forgive him for "banging" Annika. Lucy learned there are consequences for her actions when she lets things move forward with Wynn (double standard?!).

It's written in first person perspective in Lucy and Trent's voices (the chapters are labeled). It was written in 2008 and is dated as there are references to Richard Dean Anderson and Richard Hatch being relevant at the time. The ending comes quickly and abruptly and I wasn't buying it. As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "Princess" (2008) Ellen Miles

From Goodreads ~ It seems like it's going to be just another normal Peterson family trip for haircuts - that is until Charles meets Princess, a spoiled but irresistible Yorkie pup. She belongs to one of the stylists but Princess's owner is moving and can't take the puppy with her. Charles volunteers to care for Princess until they find her a new home. 

But it doesn't take long for the Petersons to get tired of Princess's privileged ways. How will Charles ever find the right family for this high maintenance pup?

Charles and his older sister, Lizzie, are in elementary school. The Peterson family have a puppy named Buddy plus they foster dogs and help them find homes.

While Charles and his family are getting haircuts, one of the stylists rushes in excitedly tells everyone she is heading to California to study under a master stylist. She has a yorkie named Princess who she can't take with her. Charles offers to foster Princess and find her a new home ... something the Peterson family regret when they discover how spoiled Princess is. She comes with a long list of instructions and a suitcase of clothes, bowls, placemats and more!

Though this book is a quick read and directed at elementary-aged children, I found it entertaining. There is a learning experience and a puppy tip at the end. It is written in third person perspective and first person from Princess' point of view. It is the twelfth in the Puppy Place series, which currently has 64 books in the series, and works as a stand alone.

Book ~ "Noodle" (2008) Ellen Miles

From Goodreads ~ Charles and Lizzie Peterson love puppies. They have a puppy of their own but they still foster other puppies who need their help.

When Lizzie spots Noodle he's in some major trouble. Once they rescue him, the Peterson's can't figure out where his people are. Lizzie is determined to find Noodle's family, but the question is, do they want to be found?

Lizzie and her younger brother, Charles, are in elementary school. They have a puppy named Buddy plus foster dogs and help them find homes.

 

The Peterson family are having their annual winter picnic at the lake when Lizzie notices something in the water. Looking through binoculars, she realizes a puppy had fallen in the the semi-frozen lake and is struggling to gt out. Mr. Peterson is a fireman and contacts his colleagues who save the puppy. With no collar, the Petersons take him home and name him Noodle and try to find his family. They wonder if he has been abandoned since it seems like no one is looking for him.

 

Though this book is a quick read and directed at elementary-aged children, I found it entertaining. There is a learning experience and a puppy tip at the end. It is written in third person perspective and first person from Noodle's point of view. It is the eleventh in the Puppy Place series, which currently has 64 books in the series, and works as a stand alone.

Book ~ "Maggie and Max" (2008) Ellen Miles

From Goodreads ~ Charles and Lizzie have helped lots of puppies find homes. But then they meet a Saint Bernard puppy with an unusual friend: a helpless kitten! And this pair needs to stick together. 

Will Charles and Lizzie find a way to keep these two together forever?

Lizzie and her younger brother, Charles, are in elementary school. They have a puppy named Buddy plus their family fosters dogs and helps them find homes.

Lizzie loves dogs and volunteers at an animal rescue. Around Christmastime, a box is left outside the rescue with a kitten named Max and a St. Bernard puppy named Maggie, who Lizzie and Charles foster. Lizzie and Charles are able to find a home for the kitten but not the puppy ... and Maggie and Max are so attached to each other that there's no way they can be split up.

 

Though this book is a quick read and directed at elementary-aged children, I found it entertaining. There is a learning experience and a puppy tip at the end. It is written in third person perspective and first person from Maggie and Max's points of view. It is the tenth in the Puppy Place series, which currently has 64 books in the series, and works as a stand alone.

Book ~ "Pugsley" (2008) Ellen Miles

From Goodreads ~ Lizzie and Charles Peterson love puppies. Even though they finally have their very own puppy, Buddy, Lizzie still can't get enough time with dogs. She helps her Aunt Amanda at her doggie day care center as often as she can.

At the doggie day care, Lizzie meets a pesky but lovable pug named Pugsley. Pugsley is adorable but he didn't earn the nickname Mr. Pest for nothing and his owners decide he's too much of a handful to keep! 

Will Lizzie figure out how to get Pugsley to behave and find him a forever home?

Lizzie and her younger brother, Charles, are in elementary school. They have a puppy named Buddy plus foster dogs and help them find homes.

Lizzie loves dogs and volunteers at an animal rescue. She is very excited when her aunt and uncle move to their town and open a doggy daycare, where she helps out. There are lots of dogs, big and small, young and old. Pugsley is a rambunctious pug puppy (aka Mr. Pest) who attends the daycare. He is cute but a handful and his owners eventually decide to give him up to the rescue. Knowing how overcrowded the rescue is, Lizzie offers to foster Pugsley and find him a home, which she discovers is probably going to be an impossible task.

 

Though this book is a quick read and directed at elementary-aged children, I found it entertaining. There is a learning experience and a puppy tip at the end. It is written in third person perspective and first person from Pugsley’s point of view. It is the ninth in the Puppy Place series, which currently has 64 books in the series, and works as a stand alone.

Book ~ "Don't Tell a Soul" (2008) David Rosenfelt

From Goodreads ~ Tim Wallace's wife died in a boating accident several months ago. Tim was the only eye witness and one New Jersey cop is sure he killed her. He didn't but even if the police eventually clear his name, he'll never get over this terrible tragedy. 

On New Year's Eve, his two best friends and business partners finally convince him to go out for the first time since Maggie's death, and at their neighborhood pub just a few minutes before midnight, things in Tim Wallace's life go from bad to worse. "Can you keep a secret? A really big one?" a drunken stranger asks him. Before Tim can say anything or turn away, the man confesses to a months-old murder, even offering as proof the location of the woman's body. "Now it's your problem," he says and walks away. 

When the man turns out to have been telling the truth, Tim's life and work are put under the microscope again by the cops, and this time they're not giving up. But neither is Tim, even when things keep getting worse for him, and eventually he realizes he's the only person who can figure out what's really going on  - even if it kills him.

Tim finally convinced his bride, Maggie, to go on his beloved boat.  While on the water, the boat blows up, killing Maggie.  Novak, the investigating police officer, is convinced Tim had something to do with it.  Tim has been mourning many months later, throwing himself into his work.  His two best friends convince him to go out on New Years Eve to their favourite bar.  Tim's not in the mood and just before he's ready to head for home, a drunk stranger approaches him and unburdens him with a secret ... he murdered a woman a couple months go and buried her in a playground.  Being a good citizen, Tim tells Novak about it but Novak automatically thinks Tim did it.  When more people end up disappearing and/or getting killed, Novak continues to try to prove that Tim is the killer.  Tim realizes he must do whatever he has to to prove his innocence.

I've read many books by this author, mostly his Andy Carpenter series which I enjoy, and this is a stand alone.  I like the writing style and it is written in third person perspective.  I thought the story was really convoluted, though, and think the "whodunnit" and why could have gone in a more interesting direction.  And I am still confused as to why Tim's boat exploded in the first place.  There were lots of characters, many ended up dead.  The end wraps up rather quickly.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "Captured Hearts: New Brunswick's War Brides" (2008) Melynda Jarratt

From Goodreads ~ Imagine you're a young woman caught up in the ugly reality of war. You meet and fall in love with a young soldier from a foreign country. You marry and your world is upended: when the war ends, you leave all you've ever known behind - your family, friends, and way of life - to begin a new life in Canada.

This is the story of hundreds of women who made their way to New Brunswick at the end of the Second World War. Between 1942 and 1948, young women from all over Europe came to this part of Canada with their servicemen husbands. Some married Aboriginal New Brunswickers; others married French-speaking Acadians; still others married New Brunswickers of British descent. In this compelling volume, wives, widows, fiancees, and those who and returned to Europe after failed marriages tell compelling stories of prejudice, perseverance, kindness, hope, defeat and triumph. 

During World War II, there were many Canadians soldiers stationed overseas.  It was a time for living for the moment and during off-time there was no end to the possibilities for fun and romance. 

As months passed and the number of weddings increased, both British and Canadian authorities started getting concerned that too many marriages were being done in haste so the rules made tougher.  The soldiers had to fill out a "Permission to Marry" form and have it endorsed by their commanding officer.  If the bride and groom were under 21, they had to get their parents' written permission.  The bride-to-be had to get a letter of recommendation from her employer and take a medical from a Canadian military-approved doctor.  They also had to be interviewed by the padre of the soldier's unit to see if they fully understood the implications of marriage.

When the war ended in 1945, the first priority was to bring the soldiers home to Canada and the transportation of the war brides and their children had to wait until the next year.  A survey done in 1947 used New Brunswick as a "typical example" and determined there had been 1,820 marriages between New Brunswick soldiers and their war brides and that 1,760 wives were still in the province (only two had returned overseas and obtained divorces).

When many of the war brides arrived in New Brunswick, they discovered that life wasn't what they had been used to or expecting ... no running water, no electricity, outhouses, hard rural lives, they didn't speak the language (ie French), etc.  Many stayed and grew to love it while others stayed because they had no choice.

I'd read War Brides by this author and liked it.  That book was a collection of stories of Canada's war brides ... some of the stories were told by the brides themselves, others by children or grandchildren.  This book focuses on New Brunswick.  I liked this book too and found it interesting ... it's hard to imagine what it was like during that time and being a war bride.

If you want to learn more about Canadian War Brides, you can go to the extensive website.

Book ~ "Relative Happiness" (2008) Lesley Crewe

From Goodreads ~ Lexie Ivy loves her little house in Cape Breton, her big family and the endless sea that surrounds her. She wouldn't trade her life for anything but at thirty she's starting to feel like something's missing. 

Enter Adrian, a charming backpacker who takes a wrong turn at the U.S. border and ends up on Lexie's doorstep, and Joss, an irresistible man who disappears just as quickly as he arrives. Lexie s peaceful life has suddenly become more complicated than she ever imagined. 

Lexie is a librarian living in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, with her cat, Sophie.  At 30, she is the oldest daughter of four and is always there for her family and friends.  It seems like everyone is living the lives they want except for her and she's ready for her turn.

Adrian has been traveling and ends up in Glace Bay.  He has no place to stay so Lexie invites him to be her roommate ... she can use the money and the company.  She starts to have feelings for him and then he disappears.  But she carries on like always.  When Lexie goes on a camping trip with a friend, she meets Joss there.  He works in Alaska and is visiting a friend in Cape Breton.  Lexie and Joss are drawn to each other right away and spend most of the week together.  He is going back to Alaska and makes this clear so they enjoy the time they have.

I liked this story and the characters.  I liked the writing style ... it's written in third person perspective in various voices including Lexie's, Adrian's and Joss', depending on where the focus was.  I lived in Glace Bay for grade eight in the mid 1970s, right around the corner from where Lexie does community theatre.  The story happens in the 1990s and I had a good sense of the people and characteristics.  It was nice to read a book about people from "back home".

Book ~ "Peggy's Cove: The Amazing History of a Coastal Village" (2008) Lesley Choyce

From Goodreads ~ Here is the complete history of the famous cove and the unique village that hosts thousands of visitors each year. The story begins with the formation of the rocks along these shores and the impact of the glaciers. The Mi'kmaq were the first to live here in the summers, harvesting the riches of the sea. A land grant in 1811 brought the first hardy settlers, who built homes and wharves and discovered that the sea could provide bounty but was also a source of great danger.

The story includes the origin of the name, Peggy's Cove, and details about the everyday life of nineteenth-century families living here. A history of the famous lighthouse is included and there are excerpts from many of the famous and not-so-famous visitors who have written about the Cove through two centuries.

The author explores the most damaging storms and the shipwrecks, the reports of sea monsters and other strange phenomena. Fishing was always a source of income, but it changed over the years. At times the fish prices were so low it was not worth the effort and, in recent years, dramatic changes to the ocean have seen the collapse of several important species of fish.

In the twentieth century, Peggy's Cove attracted artists, writers and ultimately thousands of tourists. Sculptor William de Garthe made his home here and created his monument to the coastal fishermen out of the sheer granite outcropping in his backyard. In 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed off the shores of Peggy's Cove and the community opened its doors to the world in an effort to provide support for the rescue workers and the families of the victims. From the earliest days to the present, the story of Peggy's Cove has been a tale of natural wonder and human endurance. 

I'm originally from Nova Scotia and have been to Peggy's Cove many times over the years.  This book caught my eye because I thought it would be interesting to learn more about it.

The first chapter in the book is called "A Gift from Africa".  Huh?  Well, that caught my attention right away.  Nearly 500 million years ago, in the other side of the Atlantic, deposits of sand and mud became compacted beneath the ocean and eventually helped form the coastline of the ancient continent of Gondwana.  The sand and mud became compressed, forming shale and sandstone.  Then 100 million year later, a collision occurred and 50 million years later, Peggy's Cove was then near the equator and still recovering from the collision.  After another 50 million years, Gondwana moved east and south and rock was dragged and dropped along the way, creating Nova Scotia.  So what was left that jammed into North America was originally part of Africa.  Interesting, eh?

The author then continues to tell about the first families who lived and settled in Peggy's Cove, how it got its name, how it has grown and thrived throughout the years, the ups and downs of fishing industry, rum running, the lighthouse, deaths of people getting too close to the edge of the rocks, the SwissAir Flight 111 crash, how it has developed into the tourist destination it is today, and more.

I liked the writing style.  There was a lot of history and information provided but I didn't find it boring or too detailed.

I read the digital version of this book and was surprised that the illustrations and pictures were removed.  So if you are going to read this book, I recommend that you read a printed version as there are apparently pictures, etc. in it.

Here are some pictures I took when I was there a couple years ago:

Book ~ "Darwin's Nightmare" (2008) Mike Knowles

From Goodreads ~ Wilson spent his entire life under the radar. Few people knew who he was and even less knew how to find him. Only two people even knew what he really did. He worked jobs for one very bad man. Illegal jobs no one could ever know about. Wilson was invisible until the day he crossed the line and risked everything to save the last connection to humanity he had. One day changed everything. Wilson saved his friends and earned the hatred of a vengeful mob boss, a man who claimed he was Charles Darwin’s worst nightmare. 

Wilson survived his transgression and went even deeper into the underworld of Hamilton becoming a ghost in the city - an unknown to almost everyone until he was paid back for his one good deed. It started with a simple job. Steal a bag from the airport and hand it off. No one said what was in the bag, and no one mentioned who the real owners were or what they would do to get it back. One bag sets into motion a violent chain of events from which no one will escape untouched. 

Wilson learns that no one forgets, no one gets away clean and no good deed goes unpunished.

Wilson is a loner and works for Paolo, an Italian mobster in Hamilton, ON, doing jobs that Paolo doesn't want to do and doesn't want any connection to.  Paolo asks Wilson to intercept a bag at the airport and give it to Julian, Paolo's right hand man.  Sounds like an easy job, right?  The next thing Wilson knows he's caught in the middle of a battle between the Italian mob and the Russian mob, and both want him dead.  He has to use all his experience and cunning to make sure he survives.

This is the first (of six) in the Wilson series ... I had read the second one a couple weeks ago and liked it enough to start at the beginning and read the series.  It was fun to read a book set in Hamilton, which isn't too far from Toronto.

I liked the writing style.  It's written in first person perspective from Wilson's point of view.  It was blunt and to the point.  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.  Despite his occupation and the characters he encounters, I found Wilson likable.  In this book, we find out about his childhood and how/why he is the way he is today.

I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Book ~ "Good to a Fault" (2008) Marina Endicott

From Goodreads ~ Clara Purdy is at a crossroads. At forty-three, she is divorced, living in her late parents' house, and nearing her twentieth year as a claims adjuster at a local insurance firm. Driving to the bank during her lunch hour, she crashes into a sharp left turn, taking the Gage family in the other car with her. 

When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara decides to do the right thing. She moves Lorraine's three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house - and then has to cope with the consequences of practical goodness: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love. 

Clara is divorced, living in her late parents' house and in her early forties.  She's has a boring job with an insurance company and there is no purpose to her life.  One day she is involved in a car accident, which wasn't her fault.  In the other car is a family ... a father, mother, three young children and the father's mother.  The mother is put in the hospital and Clara takes the rest of the family home to her house as they have nowhere else to go (they were on their way from Winnipeg to Fort McMurray and living in their car).

It's discovered that Lorraine, the mother, has cancer and has to stay in the hospital for treatment.  The father steals Clara's car and money and takes off, leaving her with his three kids and his cranky mother.  Rather than throw them out, Clara takes some time off from work to take care of them with the help of her elderly next door neighbour and Lorraine's brother who has come to town when he hears his sister is sick.  Clara's life has definitely changed.

I love to read and I usually know right away if I am going to "get into" a book or not and finish reading it.  With this one, I was on the fence but I kept going.

It's almost 400 pages and it seemed like a long story.  I found the writing style and story made it a lot of work to read.  When I read, I usually just have one book on the go.  With this one, I had to keep putting it aside and read something else for a break.

Even though Clara was finding purpose in her life, I found the story too much of a downer.  I didn't find the characters likable and I wasn't feeling sorry for their dire situations.  Paul the Anglican priest and the cranky grandmother were tiresome.

I made it to the halfway point before I couldn't take it anymore and finally gave up.

Book ~ "Izzy & Lenore: Two Dogs, an Unexpected Journey, and Me" (2008) Jon Katz

From Goodreads ~ In "Izzy & Lenore", Jon Katz delves deeper into his connection with the beautiful, once-abandoned dog, learning yet again about the unexpected places animals can take us. Affectionate and intuitive, Izzy is unlike any dog Katz has encountered and the two undertake a journey Katz could not have imagined without the arrival of a new companion: a spirited, bright-eyed black Labrador puppy named Lenore.

As trained hospice volunteers visiting homes and nursing facilities in upstate New York, Katz and Izzy bring comfort and canine companionship to people who most need it. An eighty-year-old Alzheimer’s patient smiles for the first time in months when she feels Izzy’s soft fur. A retired logger joyfully remembers his own beloved dog when he sees Izzy. As Izzy bonds with patients and Katz focuses on their families, the author begins to come to terms with his own life, discovering dark realities he has never confronted. Meanwhile, Lenore - quickly dubbed the Hound of Love - arrives at Bedlam. Her genial personality and boundless capacity for affection steer Katz out of the shadows, rekindle his love of working with dogs and restore his connection to the farm and the animals and people around him.

Humorous and deeply moving, "Izzy & Lenore" is a story of a man confronting his past, embracing the blessings of his current life and rediscovering the meaning of friendship, family, and faith. Katz shares an uplifting tale of love, compassion, and the rich and complex relationships between dogs and their humans.

Jon Katz is an author living on Bedlam Farm, which has a variety of animals.  He is contacted about a border collie named Izzy, who has been living his life fenced in with little contact with humans.  Katz adopts him and socializes him.  Katz discovers that Izzy may be a good hospice dog so they enrol in the program.  Izzy does indeed have a knack for comforting people who are dying but also those who are supporting people who are dying.  Katz also gets Lenore, a black Lab puppy who is a sweetie.  During this, Katz acknowledges that he has depression and works through it.

I love reading stories about animals.  This is the fifth book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I like the writing style and thought it flowed well.  I found it odd that it was called "Izzy & Lenore" since Izzy gets more focus than Lenore.

Book ~ "7th Heaven" (2008) James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

From Goodreads ~ A terrible fire in a wealthy suburban home leaves a married couple dead and Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner Rich Conklin searching for clues. And after California's golden boy, Michael Campion has been missing for a month, there finally seems to be a lead in his case - a very devastating lead.

As fire after fire consume couples in wealthy, comfortable homes, Lindsay and the Murder Club must race to find the arsonists responsible and get to the bottom of Michael Campion's disappearance. But suddenly the fires are raging too close to home.

Frightened for her life and torn between two men, Lindsay must find a way to solve the most daunting dilemmas she's ever faced - at work and at home. 

There are four members of the Women's Murder Club ... Lindsay, Cindy, Claire and Yuki.

There are two main cases going on.  Someone is invading the homes of older wealthy couples, tying them up, robbing them and then setting the house on fire which kills the couples.  Lindsay is one of the officers investigating this case along with her partner, Rich.

The other case is that of  Michael, the missing 18 year old son of a former governor.  He was seen going into the house of a prostitute but never seen again.  June finally admits that Michael did visit her but he died (he had a major heart condition) and she and her boyfriend cut him up and threw his body in a dumpster.  Three months later there is no hope of finding the body.  Push comes to shove, though, and June denies what happened and said she was pressured by the police to confess.  Yuki is prosecutor on the case.

There was not really any focus on Cindy in this book.  Claire is pregnant and about to give birth.

This is the seventh in the Women's Murder Club series (and the  eighth one I've read). Though it is part of a series, it does work as a stand alone.

I enjoyed the writing style and it went at a good pace. I liked the short choppy chapters. The point of view shifted ... it was first person perspective when the focus was on Lindsay and third person perspective when the focus was on everyone else ... but it was easy to figure out.  As a head's up, there is swearing, adult activity and violence.

I thought the fire storyline was just okay.  I found June's trial storyline more interesting.  There was a twist at the end I didn't see coming.

I thought this book was okay and will continue to get caught up in the series.

Book ~ "Barnacle Love" (2008) Anthony De Sa

From Goodreads ~ At the heart of this collection of intimately linked stories is the relationship between a father and his son. A young fisherman washes up nearly dead on the shores of Newfoundland. It is Manuel Rebelo who has tried to escape the suffocating smallness of his Portuguese village and the crushing weight of his mother’s expectations to build a future for himself in a terra nova. Manuel struggles to shed the traditions of a village frozen in time and to silence the brutal voice of Maria Theresa da Conceicao Rebelo, but embracing the promise of his adopted land is not as simple as he had hoped.

Manuel’s son, Antonio, is born into Toronto’s little Portugal, a world of colourful houses and labyrinthine back alleys. In the Rebelo home, the Church looms large, men and women inhabit sharply divided space, pigs are slaughtered in the garage, and a family lives in the shadow cast by a father’s failures. Most days Antonio and his friends take to their bikes, pushing the boundaries of their neighbourhood street by street, but when they finally break through to the city beyond they confront dangers of a new sort.

With fantastic detail, larger-than-life characters and passionate empathy, Anthony De Sa invites readers into the lives of the Rebelos and finds there both the promise and the disappointment inherent in the choices made by the father and the expectations placed on the son.

It's the 1950s in Portugal.  As the oldest son, Manuel's mother has high hopes for him.  Manual wants to leave his small village and experience the world so he gets a job on a fishing boat which will take him off the coast of Newfoundland.  Despite the guilt that he feels about leaving his family and disappointing his mother, he settles in Canada and looks forward to the endless possibilities and making something of himself.

Fast forward and it's the 1970s and Manuel is now married, living in Toronto and has two children.  They "live" in the Palmerston/Queen Street W area  ... just east of my 'hood so I knew a lot of the landmarks mentioned.  Though they (and the rest of his family) are now living in Toronto, they still have the same traditions from home such as butchering pigs in garages and making their own wine.  None of Manuel's dreams have come true and he sees himself as a failure.  He wants to make sure that same doesn't happen to his children.  But the same pressures his mother put on him, he is putting on his son, Antonio.  It was sad to see that optimistic Manuel had turned into bitter Manuel.

This is the second book I've read by this author.  I had read Kicking the Sky (written in 2013) a couple years go, which took an experience from Barnacle Love and expanded on it. 

It's a sad depressing story.  I found the writing a bit draggy in places and it could have been tighter.  It a bit confusing at times as the author jumped back and forth in time a bit.  Manuel's story in the 1950s (the first part of the book) was written in third person perspective and Antonio's story in the 1970s is written in first person perspective from Antonio's point of view. I found this a bit confusing too until I figured out whose voice it was.

Except for Antonio, I didn't find the characters likeable.  Everyone let Manuel get away with being just a jerk for so long.  He had so much yet couldn't see it.  Like Antonio, I kept wondering why his mother hadn't left.

I wasn't crazy about the ending.

Book ~ "Cat Capers: Catitude for Cat Lovers" (2008) Gandee Vasan

From Goodreads ~ America's 70 million cat owners will rejoice in finding a captivating coffee table book that is as purr-fect as their beloved feline companion.

Forty-seven percent of cat owners confess that they have more photos of their beloved Morris than of their spouse or significant other. Looking through the pages and portraits of Gandee Vasan's "Cat Capers", this doesn't seem far-fetched.

Scaredy cats, cat burglars and mystery cats inhabit Vasan's pictorials and are presented alongside humorous cat-classifieds, interesting trivia, and delightful musings on all things feline.

Vasan's work has been exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery in London and has garnered numerous awards. He finds his inspiration in absorbing what he sees around him and transforming it into what he wants others to see. 

I enjoy reading books about cats.  This is a cute one that has a variety of short stories, sayings, poems, definitions and lots of beautiful pictures of cats.

Here's a poem by Eleanor Farjeon

Cats sleep ...
Anywhere, Any table,
Any chair, Top of piano,
Window-ledge, in the middle,
On the edge, Open drawer,
Empty shoe,
Anybody's lap will do,
Filling in a cardboard box,
In the cupboard,
With the frocks - anywhere!
They don't care!
Cats sleep anywhere!

Politically correct cat definitions ...

• The cat is not far; he is mass enhanced.
• The cat is not lazy; he is motivationally challenged.

A couple of the pictures:

Book ~ "The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts" (2008) Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby

From Goodreads ~ No one dominated a stage the way Chris Farley did. For him, comedy was not a routine; it was a way of life. He could not enter a room unnoticed or let a conversation go without making someone laugh. Fans knew Chris as "Saturday Night Live"’s sweaty, swaggering, motivational speaker; as the irresistible Chippendales stripper; and as Tommy Callahan, the underdog hero of "Tommy Boy". His family knew him as sensitive and passionate, deeply religious, and devoted to bringing laughter into others’ lives. 

But Chris did not know moderation, either in his boundless generosity toward friends or in the reckless abandon of his drug and alcohol abuse. For ten years, Chris cycled in and out of rehabilitation centers, constantly fighting his insecurities and his fears. Despite three hard-fought years of sobriety, addiction would ultimately take his life at the tragically young age of thirty-three. Fame on "SNL" and three straight number-one box office hits gave way to a string of embarrassing public appearances, followed by a fatal overdose in December 1997. 

Here is Chris Farley as remembered by his family, friends, and colleagues - the true story of a man who lived to make us laugh and died as a result. "The Chris Farley Show" is an evocative and harrowing portrait of a family trapped by addiction, a father forced to bury a son, and a gifted and kindhearted man ultimately torn apart by the demons inside him.

I liked Saturday Night Live back in the beginning and had stopped watching it by the time Chris Farley (1964 - 97) was on it in the early to mid-1990s. I hadn't seen a lot of what he was in (he'd only been in ten movies and starred in four of those) but I thought his story would be interesting ... and it was.

It's written by one of his brothers, Tom, and starts back when they were kids.  Chris was a football jock and always wanted to get laughs.  He barely got through university and went to work for his family's business, which was run by his dad and started by his grandfather (his dad had to quit school and give up his dreams to take over the business when his grandfather got sick).  Though he eventually quit so he could pursue his dream of getting into comedy, Chris never stopped seeking his father's approval.  

Like his father, Chris had an addiction to food and alcohol.  No one acknowledged that their father had addictions, though (his father was over 600 pounds when he died a year after Chris).  Chris was in and out of rehab for food, drugs and alcohol over the years.  He eventually was clean for three years but something drove him back into it the last two years of his life.  He couldn't get work because no one would insure him until he was clean for two years, which didn't happen.

I liked the structure of the book.  Instead of Tom telling the story, it is told by his brothers, friends and co-stars (like Alec Baldwin, Tim Meadows, David Spade, Chris Rock, John Goodman and Lorne Michaels).

It's a sad story.  Chris had so much going for him but he couldn't control his demons.  He was religious and went to mass every week, had priests for friends and helped so many people ... but he couldn't help himself.

Book ~ "Toronto: The Way We Were" (2008) Mike Filey

From Goodreads ~ For decades Toronto historian Mike Filey has regaled readers with stories of the city's past through its landmarks, neighbourhoods, streetscapes, social customs, pleasure palaces, politics, sporting events, celebrities, and defining moments. Now in one lavishly illustrated volume, he serves up the best of his meditations on everything from the Royal York Hotel, the Flatiron Building, and the Necropolis to Massey Hall, the Palais Royale, and the Canadian National Exhibition, with streetcar jaunts through Cabbagetown, the Annex, Rosedale, and Little Italy and trips down memory lane with Mary Pickford, Glenn Miller, Bob Hope and Ed Mirvish.

Filey recounts in vivid detail the devastation of city disasters such as Hurricane Hazel and the Great Fire of 1904 and spins yarns about doughnut shops old and new, milk deliveries by horse, swimming at Lake Ontario’s beaches, Sunday blue laws and how both World Wars affected Torontonians.

Mike Filey had a column in the Toronto Sun for about 30 years and I read it for many years (I like learning about the history of Toronto) ... this book is a compilation of some of his columns.

It is divided into sections ... there are lots of stories and pictures:

1. Toronto's passing scene - the CNE, water tanks, police, car phones and more
2. Toronto's war years - William Winer Cooke (Colonel Custer's second-in-command was a Canadian), celebrating the end of the wars and remembering those who never came home, and more
3. Toronto's pleasure palaces - the dance halls, Palais Royale, the theatres, and more
4. Toronto at work - the birth of Canadian Tire, the origins of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, the history of Henry's, and more
5. Toronto and disaster - the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, the fire on the Noronic, the Torontonians who died on the Empress of Ireland, Hurricane Hazel, and more
6. Toronto landmarks - the Flatiron Building, the Roundhouse, the CN Tower, Casa Loma, and more
7. Toronto then and now - One Bloor Street E, Spadina Hotel, Campbell House, and more
8. Toronto on the move - ferries to Toronto Island, the Toronto-Rochester ferry (alas, I never go to go on it), airports, TTC, and more
9. Toronto at play - hockey, the CNE, bathing cars, and more
10. Toronto streetscapes
11. Toronto neighbourhoods
12. Toronto waterfront
13. Toronto's famous and celebrated - Marilyn Bell, Glenn Miller, Mary Pickford, and more

For example, we learn about Palace Pier, which was an amusement pier and the development was proclaimed as one of the biggest landmarks to ever be built on the Toronto waterfront and would be similar to the many amusement piers found along the coast in England. The proposed pier would include a 30,000 sq ft ballroom that would accommodate 3,000 couples, a roller rink (converted for ice skating in the winter months), 1,400-seat theatre, an outdoor Band Pavilion seating 1,500, and several restaurants and souvenir stores. The pier would also allow for steamer ships to dock alongside the structure, easing congestion for the 50,000 people a day the prospectus claimed would attend the amusement facility.

What Palace Pier was supposed to look like

Only the first phase of the redesigned amusement pier, 90 metres long, was opened on June 10, 1941, and it became popular as a major dance hall of the big band era during World War II and the postwar years. Hollywood celebrity Bob Hope, who was in town promoting his latest film, officially opened the new Palace Pier by doing a few laps around the roller rink in front of fans.

What it ended up looking like

As big band music faded away, boxing and wrestling matches, religious revival meetings, country and western concerts, and high school proms became the major events to frequent the Palace Pier.

The pier was destroyed by fire in 1963 and the site later redeveloped into condos and a public park (Sheldon Lookout).

If you live in Toronto or are from Toronto, you will find this book interesting.

Book ~ "Dying for Dinner" (2008) - Miranda Bliss

From fictiondb.com ~ Things are really cooking for Annie with her transition to the restaurant biz full time. But what's meant to be the first day of the rest of her life might be the last day of someone else's.

Annie is finally leaving the safety of her old bank job to work at her boyfriend Jim's restaurant, Bellywasher's. Lucky for Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, she's working as the manager and staying safely away from the flames. And lucky for Annie, she's working with her best friend, Eve, the hostess.

Things start taking a turn for the worse when Jim's old friend, legendary cook Jacques Lavoie, doesn't show up to teach their cooking class. When Annie goes to fetch him, she finds his assistant dead and Lavoie nowhere to be found. With his odd disappearance and evidence mounting up against him, it looks like the cook has really landed in the soup. Now Annie must sift through every morsel of evidence--before someone else gets served their last course.

This is the fourth in the Cooking Class Series ... I finished the first one on Sunday. You don't need to have read the others to know what's going on ... things from the other books are mentioned but not in great deal so as to not give too much away.

As in the first book, I still don't understand why she and her friend, Eve, are encouraged to investigate murder. Annie is a teller turned office manager of a restaurant and Eve worked in a department store and is now the hostess of the restaurant. They have no experience or background ... they are just told over and over (and over!) that they are good at investigating.

Other than that, I don't mind this series. The books are light and I enjoyed the writing style.

Some characters from the first book are expanded (like Annie's ex-husband, Peter, and Chef Lavoie ... I don't know how big their roles were in the last two books since I haven't read them).

I found the storyline believeable and I bought the ending.

Book ~ "How to Talk to a Widower" (2008) Jonathan Tropper

From GoodReads ~ Doug Parker is a widower at age twenty-nine, and in his quiet suburban town, that makes him something of a celebrity—the object of sympathy, curiosity, and, in some cases, unbridled desire. But Doug has other things on his mind. First there's his sixteen year-old stepson, Russ: a once-sweet kid who now is getting into increasingly serious trouble on a daily basis. Then there are Doug's sisters: his bossy twin, Clair, who's just left he husband and moved in with Doug, determined to rouse him from his Grieving stupor. And Debbie, who's engaged to Doug's ex-best friend and manically determined to pull off the perfect wedding at any cost. Soon Doug's entire nuclear family is in his face. And when he starts dipping his toes into the shark-infested waters of the second-time around dating scene, it isn't long before his new life is spinning hopelessly out of control, cutting a harrowing and often hilarious swath of sexual missteps and escalating chaos across the suburban landscape.

Lady Banana had recently read this and recommended it so I thought I'd check it out.

It took me a couple chapters to get into it and I'm glad I stuck with it.

I enjoyed the writing style ... most of the time it was funny and sarcastic. It's almost like Doug was talking to me. As I was reading this, I could imagine it being made into a movie.

I felt bad for Doug. He was widowed before he was 30. He thought he had found "the one" in Hailey (who was more than ten years older than him) and would spend the rest of his life with her. But when she is killed in a plane crash, his life is destroyed and he has to find a way to rebuild it ... but he doesn't want to. Instead he spends his days and nights with his buddy, Jack Daniels. A year later, the bathroom still has her products on the counter and her red bra is still hanging on the back of the door where she'd left it.

His thought processes are interesting ... he blames Hailey for catching that plane, he blames himself for letting her leave on the business trip, he blames her because now he has to start all over again, etc.

His family are characters but I liked them ... all are hurting over things in their lives and trying to makes the best of it.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it ... it's happy and sad at the same time.

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: