Laughing Oyster Bookshop Presents
Annual Book Club Suggestions
October 16, 2012
Angela’s
Picks:
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
by Matthew Dicks
Hardcover –
Paperback release June, 2014
Reminiscent
of Emma Donoghue’s Room, Budo narrates the story as Max Delaney’s
imaginary friend. Budo is special. Not only is
he Max’s imaginary friend, he has been for more than five years. This is an
uncommon feat for any imaginary friend, their lifespans being the total time during
which their real friends believe in them. Max has some emotional and social
issues and Budo acts as a guide through his confusing, isolated world. Budo’s
voice is refreshing and real (despite his imaginary status), and he helps Max
to navigate the social situations and classroom challenges that he faces on a
daily basis. While
the concept of imaginary friends seems like child’s play, this novel is not for
children. Max may be the only person with whom Budo can interact with, but he
observes all that is going on around Max. When Max is trapped in a
situation that might ensure Budo’s survival for years to come, Budo is faced
with deciding which is more important: his own existence, or the happiness and
safety of Max, “the bravest boy in the world”. Matthew Dicks
weaves childhood fantasy with practicality and rationality, creating an
entirely believable story that leaves one questioning the reality of the
imaginary.
Evelyn’s
Picks:
The Tenants of the Hotel Biron
by Laura
Marello
Paperback
Between
1908 and 1918 the rooms of a decaying mansion - the Hotel Biron in Paris (now
home of the Musee Rodin) - were rented to artists – to Rodin and painters,
poets, sculptors, a composer, a dancer and a photographer – “decadents” and
bohemians of their time. Author Laura
Marello utilizes invented letters, diaries and notes to tell the stories of the
inhabitants – Rodin, Matisse, Picasso, Nijinsky, Rilke, Cocteau, Satie and
(most strikingly in my mind) Camille Claudel – collected and edited by Eduard
Steichen. In his introduction Steichen
writes “I hope they (the collected manuscripts) will provide a window into the
art world in
You will
want to enjoy Marello’s insight into this rich collaborative community with a
stack of art books (or the internet) at hand.
Passion, motivation, envy, theft, jealousy abound. Scholarly research underpins this compelling
view of an exceptional group of artists
- this is a book to be enjoyed repeatedly as the reader probes more
deeply into the enduring legacy of the characters who met at the Hotel Biron.
The Lola Quartet
by Emily St
John Mandel
Paperback
Emily St
John Mandel grew up on
The year is
2009, the economic collapse is in full swing, and the main character Gavin
Sasaki is coming undone. His girlfriend
has abandoned him, his shower leaks uncontrollably and he slips into inventing
quotes for his articles at the New York Star.
Fired, disgraced, Gavin accepts his sister’s invitation to return home
and work in her business as a broker of foreclosed homes in Sebastian Florida.
It is 10
years since high school graduation for Gavin and three other musicians whose
jazz ensemble “Lola Quartet” was the focus in their lives. The novel weaves the tale of their unraveling
over the ten years and a chance photograph, a child (Gavin’s?) that ties them
all together. Long after finishing this
book I continue to care and worry about these characters.
Ru by Kim Thuy,
translated by Sheila Fischman, Paperback
Ru – in Vietnamese it means lullaby; in French it is a small stream. In this beautiful book it is a kind of stream
of consciousness collection of vignettes that evoke precise images of a life of
luxury in Saigon, of filth and deprivation in a refugee camp in
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
by Robin
Sloan
Paperback
Meet Clay
Jannon, a recession-downsized graphic designer working the night shift at Mr.
Penumbra’s 24 hour bookstore (situated next door to a strip club). This tiny shop holds books impossibly old and
rare. And meet the unusual “customers”
who arrive late at night, not to purchase but to borrow obscure texts from dark
corners of the shop. Clay’s curiosity
is aroused - he notes patterns to their behaviour, and putting his gaming
skills and passion for codes to work, sets out to discover what is really going
on. The secret he stumbles on is much
bigger than the bookstore can hold.
Enter the
massive data digitization capacity of Google.
But Google alone cannot provide the answer - the old knowledge of first
books, of alchemy and immortality is brought to bear.
Robin Sloan
describes himself as a media inventor – “someone primarily interested in
content – words, pictures, ideas – who also experiments with new formats, new
tools, and new technology”. In this literary adventure he has
created a world where Gutenberg
meets Google books. Clay’s quest puts to
rest the notion that technology will ever replace print and paper books. And that’s a good thing, because Mr.
Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is an irresistible read!
Jane’s
Picks:
The Day of the Jack Russell
by Colin
Bateman
Paperback
This book
is so consistently witty and amusing that the ins and outs of solving the crime
which the novel pretends to be about, (the defacing of a Richard Branson-like
millionaire’s billboard, followed by murderous mayhem) take a back seat to the
writer’s distinctive, young, Irish working-class voice. Mr. Bateman is a master
of sparkling dialogue.
Our main
character runs the No Alibis bookstore part-time and is otherwise engaged as a
detective. He has two faithful sidekicks, a young man who helps out in the shop
(who could be a doppelganger for Blackadder’s
Baldric) and a girlfriend who is a little bit pregnant and in an on-again
off-again relationship with him. His cantankerous mother is also in the
picture. He lives with her and she must be the most reprobate, curmudgeonly
portrayal of an elderly mother in all literature. She is hilarious! I have
chosen this book to make the point that there is just as much value in humorous
writing as there is in serious literature. Everyone needs a laugh once in a
while and there are more than a few laughs in this book. Colin Bateman is also
the author of the Murphy’s Law series.
This is How
by Augusten
Burroughs
Paperback
Augusten
Burroughs may well have written a self-help book that is actually able to help
people. Quite the concept! Let me just give a snippet of his advice so that you
can see what I mean.
When you
say, “I need more confidence,” what you’re really saying is, “I need those
people over there to approve of me.” This is the desire to control other people
and what they think. The first person who figures out how to do this owns the
world.
This man may not really have the solutions to all your
problems, but he is so engaging and clever that you are willing to give him the
benefit of the doubt, suspend your disbelief, at least while you an enthralled
within the pages of this book. A week later, who knows? you say. But, it’s a
month since I read the book and it still stays with me in parts and that is
because of the strength of Burrough’s writing voice and his intelligence. He
could write about making jam and it would be engaging. This book just purports
to tell you how to succeed in life.
Karen’s
Picks:
In the
By Erik
Larson
Paperback
The
sub-title of this absorbing account is Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s
Sincere in
his attempts to represent the best of his country, and to faithfully relay back
to Roosevelt his impressions of the new regime, Dodd is slow to realize that
his efforts are being thwarted by members within his own State Dept who are
eager to have him removed as he is so obviously not one of the “pretty good
club” (as the wealthy members of the US foreign service described themselves).
Martha, an
intelligent although indiscriminate young woman, is doing her bit for
international relations by ‘forming liaisons’ with then head of the Gestapo, a
member of the French State Department, and a Russian diplomat. Her initial entrancement with the glory of
the new
Larson’s
tale of the Dodd family’s enlightenment fills in so many gaps in my own
understanding of why Hitler’s rise to power was unchallenged by the rest of the
world. A riveting read. I have to admit
to being shocked at the seeming pettiness of so much of what consumed “the
powers that be” at the time. Hindsight I
know, but still…
Defending Jacob
By William
Landay
Paperback
release date Feb 26 2013
Former
district attorney William Landay’s tale blends family turmoil and courtroom
drama like no one since Scott Turow in his brilliant Presumed Innocent.
Andy Barber
has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban
A
suspenseful, character-driven mystery that reminds us just how fragile our
lives really are, Defending Jacob has been compared to Ordinary People and We
Need to Talk About Kevin.
Turn of Mind
By Alice
LaPlante
Paperback
Dr Jennifer
White is a retired orthopedic surgeon suffering from dementia. When her friend and neighbour Amanda is found
dead with four of her fingers surgically removed, Dr White is the prime
suspect. But she herself doesn’t know
whether she did it. Told in White’s own voice this distressingly believable
portrayal of the disintegration of this once brilliant woman, moves from first
person into second person and finally, into a third person narrative.
The story
that emerges is one of two strong women whose friendship was more complex,
often adversarial. As the investigation
into the murder progresses, White’s relationship with her live-in caretaker and
two grown children intensify, and the question no one wants to ask
lingers: Is White’s shattered memory
preventing her from revealing the truth or helping her to hide it?
Written as
an attempt to deal with her own mother’s decline into Alzheimer’s LaPlante has
created a mystery that one appears to be viewing through a prism.
“An
unforgettable novel about forgetting” one critic wrote…
Ola’s
Picks:
Jacqueline Winspear
Jacqueline Winspear was
born and raised in the
Her
main character Maisie Dobbs is also the title of her first novel in what
is now a series of 9 books. All are available in paperback.
Winspear’s
books are very engaging, with strong plots and interesting characters. The
books are set in the late 1920's and early 1930's, post-war
Jacqueline
Winspear’s novels have been nominated for and won many awards.
Robert Rotenberg
Robert
Rotenberg is a
His three
books:
Rotenberg applies his courtroom knowledge
to modify the legal thriller template into a larger study of the vagaries of
human behaviour. The twists and turns in his stories unfold briskly, but
the author allows sufficient time to develop his cast of characters in three
dimensions, rather than simply giving them a series of quirks. Some of the main
characters, like homicide Detective Ari Greene and Officer Daniel Kennicott,
appear and develop in all three novels.
Rotenberg’s writing style is understated
and fluid, enhanced by his insider knowledge of
The Guilty
Plea has been entered in the 2012 Arthur Ellis Awards as Best Mystery Novel of
the Year.
Susan’s
Picks:
419
By Will
Hardcover –
Paperback due March, 2013
Will
A retired
His
daughter rises from her isolated high-rise life & determines to hunt down
the scammer responsible & outdo him at his own game.
In
A young
woman, pregnant, walks across the northern Nigerian desert lands, escaping her
nomadic family, looking for a better life in the southern cities for herself
& her unborn child.
A young man
struggles for survival & honour as his village is taken over &
destroyed in the frenzy to extract oil from the coastal areas with quick &
dirty methods.
Once the
back stories had been set up & the storylines began to intersect, I found
it hard to put this book down. The tale is a grim one & winners are hard to
find. But the pace will keep you
reading, as will
419 has, however, been shortlisted for
the 2012 Giller Prize.
The Night Circus
By Erin
Mogenstern
Paperback
This book
made me smile – with pleasure, with wonder at the use of language, with delight
at the very imagining of it.
Here is a
tale of Magic – with a capital M. As you
might have guessed, it takes place with a circus as its stage set. Two rival magicians pit their protégés
against each other in a not-so-trivial ‘game’, in an attempt to prove whose
methods are superior. The accomplished
apprentices ply their illusions & their magic within the confines of the
circus, which is itself a mystery. It
arrives at dusk, suddenly & unannounced, at its various destinations. It remains open until dawn & is filled
with wonders & …..well…..magic. The
stuff of dreams. In fact, it is called
Le Cirque des Reves.
But not all
unravels as it was meant to do. There is
a love story involved, which informs & heightens many of the magic
bits. Several seemingly minor characters
step to the fore & become involved.
But the
most magical parts of this book, for me, are in the descriptive passages, which
are often totally transporting. I was
reminded of the early joys of reading & becoming lost in another world for
a delicious & dreamlike time.
The Night Circus is a debut novel. I hope for more. To read more bits of whimsy from Ms
Morgenstern, check out her website & blog: erinmorgenstern.com
Lone Wolf
By Jodi
Picoult
Hardcover -
Paperback due October 2012
Picoult has
written many times before about controversial issues. This time, the issue concerns the decision to
let someone die; to take them off life support.
Who should make that decision? Why? What are the factors to be considered?
There is a
wounded family here. A son who has had
an irreparable confrontation with his father; a wife who has left the marriage
as a result of this rift & has moved on to another relationship & family;
a daughter who resents her brother’s departure, as it has meant a divorce &
upheaval for her. At the centre of the
drama is the father who now lies in a coma, possibly never to awaken again.
The back
story, sometimes more compelling than the human one, is the story of wolves
& an intimate look at their way of life.
The father has been completely consumed with a desire to really learn
about wolves & has spent 2 years living with a pack in the wild (Picoult
learned from a man who had done precisely this). Now he has been caring for a captive pack,
intimately involved in their pack life.
The daughter is the only one who has shared this part of his life in any
way.
The
siblings are divided in their views of what should happen with their
father. What are their reasons, their
different motivations?
The 2
stories – wolf & human – have interesting parallels, and readers will
probably have preferences & see different connections. The possibility for discussing differences is
rich.
The Voluntourist
By Ken Budd
Paperback
This is not
one of your great literary novels. In
fact, it is not even fiction. This is a
memoir, written by an observant & thoughtful journalist, about a period in
his life which was fraught with large personal issues. His attempts to come to terms with his
father’s sudden death, his views of fatherhood & the absence of children in
an otherwise happy marriage prompted him to respond to an ad for volunteers in
post-Katrina
Then followed
a string of short-term, assistance-oriented treks to other world hotspots:
Not only
does he take these trips with a journalist’s eye, but also with his very
personal heart, recording at many levels, often with a wickedly dry sense of
humour. Well, not always dry – the man
is truly funny. Budd made me laugh out
loud on several occasions (distracting for others nearby). He also made me consider things I had not.
He bravely
questions, for example, the ethics of making such forays into other cultures,
with no appreciable skills to offer.
Food for thought - & discussion.
You might
not make such trips nor even aspire to do so.
But….should the mood take you over (& one never knows), Budd has
included some voluntourist tips & agencies in the appendix. His Voluntourist website is also
entertaining.