Mini Book Expo for Bloggers

The Nettle Spinner [Avisannschild's review]

2009-04-21T17:35:22-04:00

Avisannschild enjoyed some zany bear-meets-woman moments but The Nettle Spinner might have whirled just a little too quickly, here's more:

My favourite scene is Alma’s encounter with a bear—part rant about the craziness of what she’s doing, part comedy of errors, part philosophical musing about the nature of right and wrong, this is possibly the best woman-meets-beast scene I’ve ever read—complete with a Janis Joplin soundtrack no less.

* 3 stars *

Keep reading Avisannschild's review...

More information

Author Site: kathrynkuitenbrouwer.com/

Publisher: Goose Lane Editions (April 2004)

ISBN-10: 0864924224

ISBN-13: 978-0864924223

Goose Lane | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

On Hiatus

2009-04-21T11:36:59-04:00

The MBE 2008 season has wrapped up. We had an amazing response from 505 bloggers spanning the world from 11 different countries. The response from publishers & authors was phenomenal too with 72 getting involved offering 465 titles and 1185 individual books to be claimed. Thank you all for participating!

Unfortunately, with this massive unplanned growth (this all started with me offering 38 books on my personal blog) came some chaos, disappointment and angst.

Many bloggers never received the books they claimed, and many books which shipped out by publishers never got reviewed.

Internally, we encountered a bottle neck in getting all the reviews onto the site. While Anne, Dead Robot & I have worked hard to get everything online, we still have a backlog of almost 100 to get onto the site.

This little-project-that-could has had a number of bottle necks, technical issues and shipping troubles causing lost books, missing reviews and leaving a lot of people disappointed and pissed off this year. And for that I’m very sorry!

So, Mini Book Expo is on Hiatus.

It is on hiatus until we can work through,
some of the kinks that have caused:

people to wait for months to get a book that never came.
publishers to ship books that never get commented on beyond the release post on Mini Book Expo
backlogs in getting reviews onto the site
and a team of well intentioned volunteers to be run ragged.

While we are on hiatus:

we won’t be accepting any new publishers, authors or new titles
we won’t be taking any more book claims

However, we will be working on

getting the backlog of reviews live on the site.
finding a way to make the site more consistent, usable, predictable and effective for you.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how to improve things, (click here), as we go through the process of figuring out how and if we can continue to run Mini Book Expo so it works for everyone involved. (Share your feedback & ideas and comment on other people’s ideas on our User Voice Forums)

We have gotten a lot of great books into the hands of a lot of great people.

Thank you for being involved. Thank you for following through. Thank you for caring enough to read this entire post and thank you for all you support, feedback and patience.

So Many Ways To Sleep Badly [Dead Robot's review]

2009-03-10T15:30:59-04:00

With his endearing, sharp shootin' style, Dead Robot expounds on the merits of So Many Ways To Sleep Badly over at deadrobot.com:

So Many Ways To Sleep Badly is a memoir (Autobio? Loveletter? Suicide note?) to the sub-gay scene in San Francisco during the time of Desert Storm. When I say “sub-gay” I’m lumping in several non-Will And Grace style homo categories, such as subversive queer punks that protest the homogeneity of Gay Pride Parades, stinky closeted Craigslist trolls, gender flipping transsexuals and sex trade workers with fibromyalgia.
* 4.5 stars *

Keep reading Dead Robot's entertaining review...

More information

Author Site: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
City Lights Books | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0872864685
ISBN-13: 978-0872864689

Sailor Girl [Eaglegrl's review]

2009-03-10T14:22:49-04:00

Sailor Girl isn't quite shipshape for Eaglegrl:

Olson provides vivid descriptions of the lake and life on the ships. The storms, the calming water, the galley, the loading and unloading of freight. Life going from port to port, working hard, getting drunk, falling in lust, getting high. She discovers the upstairs/downstairs nature of ship life, meets great friends, and enemies.

I had high hopes for this book as i started it but after enjoying the first third or so i found myself rather disinterested by it. I ended up reading three other books before finally getting thru this one. I found a lot of the story-lines became tedious and i just wanted to shake Kate and say “What the hell are you doing?”. Instead of focusing on a few story-lines and expanding on them, i felt pulled in many directions while we learned about Kate’s sister, landlord, and best friend, the head cook’s home life, the pot-smoking teenager on the boat, her abusive boyfriend and his strange friends. I also would have been interested in hearing more about the upstairs/downstairs nature of life on the lakes. The fact that though their are definite classes aboard the ship, they are a family of sorts and those classes are strict, yet not.

My big question at the end of the book was...what was she really running from in Montreal?
* 2.5 stars *

Keep reading Eaglegrl's review...

More information

Porcupine's Quill | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0889843015
ISBN-13: 978-0889843011

Utopian Reality [Popin's review]

2009-03-07T13:19:43-05:00

Increasingly, I am reading that blurbs on books are misleading and sometimes even wrong! Utopian Reality is no exception according to Poin at Popin's Lair:

I loved the concept of this book and the world Simone created is wonderful to read. However, the execution isn’t that great.
* 2 stars *

Keep reading Popin's review...

More information

- First Page
- Read a Sample
Invisible College Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1931468087
ISBN-13: 978-1931468084

Axis Mundi Sum [Sean's review]

2009-03-07T12:56:26-05:00

Sean at the fortress of solitude recognizes that Axis Mundi Sum may have benefitted from some tough editorial love in its development:

Axis Mundi Sum was in short, a disappointment.

Keep reading Sean's review...

More information

Excerpt
Invisible College Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1931468168
ISBN-13: 978-1931468169

Reading by Lightning [Anna's review]

2009-03-06T12:02:26-05:00

Reading by Lightning strikes Anna with its tone and quality:

Reading by Lightning is a wonderfully written coming of age story about a girl from the Canadian prairies who is sent to England just prior to WWII.
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Anna's review...

More information

Goose Lane | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0864925123
ISBN-13: 978-0864925121

Through Black Spruce [Debbie's review]

2009-03-06T11:12:45-05:00

Debbie, like so many others, raves about Through Black Spruce:

The threads of the the seemingly disparate stories of Will & Annie Bird come together ever so subtly...
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Debbie's review...

More information

Author Site: Joseph Boyden
Penguin Group (Canada) | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0670020575
ISBN-13: 978-0670020577

The Impostor [Sheri's review]

2009-03-06T10:58:46-05:00

Sheri is left with a lasting impression of dreariness after reading The Impostor :

The Impostor is the story of Adam Napier, a lost soul who was recently fired and forced to leave his house. He takes residence in a country house that his brother purchased years earlier but has since been vacant. He seeks to reconnect with his inner poet, and spends much of his time alone in the quiet community in a rural part of South Africa. After a chance encounter with a childhood acquaintance named Canning, Adam’s quiet existence begins to take on new meaning. It does not take long however, for Adam’s involvement with Canning and his wife Baby, to become complicated and dangerous.

It comes as no surprise to me that Damon Galgut has received much recognition and praise for his writing, as his words and imagery were incredibly powerful throughout the novel. I felt Adam’s intense loneliness, as if it were a tangible presence, with the turn of every page. That is exactly why I have contradictory feelings about this book. On the one hand, Galgut’s writing transported me into the novel and I couldn’t help but read on to see how he would continue to convey such raw emotion. And yet, it is those same beautiful that left me with a gloomy feeling that was hard to shake.
* 4 stars *

Keep reading Sheri's review...

More information

Extra Info: Read an Excerpt
McClelland & Stewart | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0771035489
ISBN-13: 978-0771035487

BizzWords [Squidgeaboo's review]

2009-03-05T12:19:56-05:00

BizzWords isn't the buzz Squidgeaboo was looking for:

I’d call this a ‘not quite’ book...

* 2 stars *

Keep reading Squidgeaboo's review...

More information

Adams Media | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com

ISBN-10: 1598694723
ISBN-13: 978-1598694727

The Mystery Of The Mad Science Teacher [blacklin's review]

2009-03-05T12:12:11-05:00

According to blacklin, adults may also get a laugh from The Mystery Of The Mad Science Teacher:

I decided to stretch my book review wings a little and try my hand at reviewing a childrens' book, and I'm glad I received the opportunity. So, here goes:

At first, the fact that the main character has the same name as the author threw me, but after a while I got used to it. Or more likely, I lost myself in the story and found myself chuckling at a child's application of adult terms to his non-adult world. For example, Marty loves to watch detective shows and so he attempts to conduct his investigation into Trina's bicycle theft the way it's done on TV: Stake outs, reports, interrogations, and even an attempt at gathering fingerprints. On one stake out, Marty even thinks like one of those old-time detectives: "As I waited, time became a caterpillar inching along a highway to a rest stop called Trouble. I closed my eyes and waited for the ride to end." Refreshing!

Marty Chan the author even provides some "lessons learned on the playground" type scenarios which I think everyone (adults included of course) can relate to in some way or another. Ida's situation provides an excellent example and really, kind of a semi-unusual example: Ida is a juvenile diabetic and like Marty, Trina, and Remi is in the fifth grade. Ida doesn't want others to see her as the "sick" kid, but doesn't want anyone to get close to her. Ida recognizes the reality of her diabetes while her father cannot. Frustrated with her father Ida screams at him:

    [. . .] The only time you ever spend with me is when it's time for my tests and shots.

    I want you to get better.

    Dad, I have to take these stupid insulin shots for the rest of my life. That's not getting better. That's a prison sentence [. . .]

Read in context, I found Ida's venting powerful and heartbreaking. But the book does end on a happy note and the overall tone of the book is light and funny. And if you're into hockey, you will love all the street hockey scenes and references to Canadian hockey teams (cool.)

I enjoyed reading The Mystery Of The Mad Science Teacher. Chan has a gift for writing how children think and express themselves. It's also a gift that draws the reader into the story and into Marty, Trina, Ida, and Remi's world.

More information

Thistledown Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1897235380
ISBN-13: 978-1897235386

Walking with Wolf [Kristi H's review]

2009-03-05T11:53:45-05:00

Perseverance pays off for Kristi in reading Walking with Wolf:

At first, this book was hard to follow – it has so many people and places, many with unfamiliar names to me, that I was not sure how I was going to keep up. The style was also a little hard to follow –but I kept with it, and am glad that I did.

The narration of the book jumps back and forth between Kay and Wolf – and this was confusing in the beginning. As I read, I learned to watch for the “quotes” – as Wolf’s stories were “quoted” and Kay’s were not. I would also recommend that you allot enough time to read complete chapters at a sitting, as they are each like short stories.

Like chapter 4, Stepping Stones, which tells how the Quakers from America were accepted by the people of Costa Rica and how together the started building their community and businesses. From page 49:

“Monteverde felt like it was to be our home right from the beginning and it has continued to feel that way. The economics of it were and still are bouncing on the borderline. There have been opportunities to go into something better economically, but we’ve made our choices and feel very satisfied with them. I remember thinking, ‘Well, if the dairy plant fails and if Monteverde fails,’ and under the circumstances they very well could have, I felt I’d enjoyed the experience and could always start over and survive. Besides, at the time to me it wasn’t work, it was just part of the project of the community we were living in.”

I also liked chapter 6, The Path to Extinction, which tells the story of the golden toads and the part they played in helping bring awareness to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

I cannot do justice in trying to give a complete overview of this book, as it encompasses so much time and important material, so I am going to cheat and include the words from the inside cover...
* 4 stars *

Keep reading Kristi's review...

More information

Book Site: Walking With Wolf Blog
ASIN: B001E3S78E

Through Black Spruce [Diana's review]

2009-03-05T11:33:44-05:00

Through Black Spruce has found another dedicated supporter in Diana:

I loved reading this book. Joseph writes an aboriginal/murder story describing in detail the way of aboriginal life, the clash between the old vs the new way of life, from people getting around on snowmobiles, problems of addiction, hunting and trapping and living off the land. There are two points of view - Will is the senior aboriginal who lives in the old way. Annie is the new aboriginal who travels to New York and Toronto to find her sister. It tells of Annie going to large A list parties and the people she meets who are not always good. Will has his own problems on the reserve including Marius, who has been bringing drugs onto the reserve for years. Marius thinks Will is snitching and has him beaten up from time to time. There is a twist in the story, you'll have to read it to find out. Boyden uses symbolism throughout the story, the bear, the osprey (strong, free), and the black spruce (protecting, unable to see the future clearly , welcome sign of home). Annie returns home without her sister.
* 4 stars *

More information

Author Site: Joseph Boyden
Penguin Group (Canada) | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
Publisher: Viking Adult (March 19, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0670020575
ISBN-13: 978-0670020577

Grown Up Digital [Mark's review]

2009-03-05T11:17:24-05:00

Mark gives Grown Up Digital top grades on his blog, Mark Leslie's Blog:

Following up on his book Growing up Digital from well over a decade ago, Tapscott returns to study the new generation, dubbed the Net Generation by the author. Based upon a multi-million dollar four year private research study, Tapscott provides an in-depth look into the routines, habits and challenges of this young generation.

This is a fascinating, eye-opening look at the Net Generation, and serves to contradict many blatant assumptions being made about today's youth. Tapscott deftly handles the claims that today's young people are a bunch of spoiled brats with limited attention spans who have had everything handed to them and have no scruples by analysing facts and statistics and applying information from surveys with over 11,000 youth.

Including detailed statistics and charts as well as quotes and examples from real youth all over the world, Tapscott demonstrates a generation that is not only remarkably bright and skilled at thinking, interacting and socializing in entirely new ways, but that they are active participants in a complex and challenging world, that they are fine analysts and are concerned about basic integrity.

Tapscott not only goes through dynamic shifts brought about by this merger of youth and technology (with concepts such as education needing to change from a traditional "broadcast" style to a more interactive environment), but it outlines strategies and suggestions for how to properly embrace and understand the Net Generation.

This is a timely and well informed book that is easy to read and definitely pleasurable and eye-opening. Despite the hard data, charts and graphs, it is an approachable and fascinating read. The Net Generation is mobilized, skilled and connected in a way that no previous generation every possible could be -- they are changing the world and will continue to change it.

And though Tapscott has many positive responses to some of the "darker" sides of this new world the Net Generation are both navigating through and creating, he does offer cautionary details that youth and the older generations need to be clear about such as issues of privacy (that many are either not properly aware of and are giving up in the pursuit of high level/advanced networking), cyberbullying (often much more dangerous and "permanent" than bullying performed in school yards previous to the turn of the century) and a different look at defining "social skills."

I would highly recommend Grown up Digital to adults of all ages, particularly parents, as there are insightful suggestions on how to properly connect with and understand the Net Generation without being imposing and causing them more frustration. I would particularly suggest that those who have a negative view of the younger generation and their "technology endowed habits" pick it up and start looking at these details in a whole new light.
* 5 stars *

More information

Book Site: http://www.growingupdigital.com/
McGraw Hill | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0071508635
ISBN-13: 978-0071508636

Sweetsmoke [Julie's review]

2009-03-05T11:04:36-05:00

Sweetsmoke gets another great review from a Mini Book Expo Blogger named Julie:

Ever since I was a kid, I have always found novels about the Civil War to be extremely interesting -- I guess I'd choose that time period as my favorite one in the United States' history. SWEETSMOKE definitely goes up there are one of the best books about the Civil War that I've read in recent memory.
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Julie's review.....

More information

Q&A with David Fuller
Reader Group Guide
Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1401323316
ISBN-13: 978-1401323318

Beginners Half Marathon Trainer [Carmel's review]

2009-03-05T10:56:12-05:00

Beginners Half Marathon Trainer: The 14 Week Program to Completing a Half-Marathon in Your Best Time makes Carmel yearn for spring:

From the moment I opened the book I felt confident that it could help me achieve the fitness and skill to complete a half-marathon. When I first received the book, I'd flipped through the pages, checking out the different parts of the book in no particular order. I stumbled across a guide to fitting sneakers properly, and dressing for training, nutrition, and week by week training schedules.

As I read the book from the start and got into the details, my confidence deepened. It is not solely a book of workout routines, it covers preparing and completing a marathon from soup to nuts. From the start, the book covers why to do a marathon, basic fitness, reading your heart rate, buying the right equipment and nutrition. For me, the novice runner, it was especially helpful to cover the correct posture to run and how it impacts your stride and stamina.

The workouts are broken up by week. You're given information on how to train, and how not to train. The book provides not only the routines, but why you're doing certain types of training during particular weeks. It not only covers the training aspects, but how your body might be responding during certain periods of the training and how to stay on track mentally. It also stresses the importance of staying on track with the scheduled routines whether you're feeling strong or tired. It also talks about the importance of rest days, and allowing yourself the time off, and not beating yourself up for a missed training day.

Overall, I liked the book for it's straight forward approach to the subject. It gives clear information without masking it in jargon or being elitist. It's good for the absolute beginner getting into running for the first time, as well as the runner with a few marathons under their belt. I'd suspect that more experienced runners would find much of the information to be too basic, though could fill in some gaps and help even them refine their training. A great place to start if you want to get into running, too bad I'll have to wait until spring to put it into action.
* 4 stars *

More information

Ulysses Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1569756368
ISBN-13: 978-1569756362

What if red ran out [Suzanne's review]

2009-03-05T10:50:50-05:00

What if red ran out will not clot, and it bleeds a little through the gauze of pacing for Suzanne:

Katia Grubisic’s debut poetry collection is at once both whimsical and realistic. While one piece will read straight out of a daydream, the next seems to be merely retelling the day’s events — although, admittedly, with a lot more style and grace than a news report.

Grubisic’s lyrical talents are unquestionable, but at times these skills are not enough to sustain the weight of this small yet substantial book. Sure, it’s less than 100 pages, but the content here is still fairly heavy and I often found myself wading through it at a rather slow pace.

A few gems do stand out in this collection, however, including “Barometer” (an analysis of what happens in the moment you decide to kiss someone) and “Manifesto for August” (the story of the month of August, personified as a flighty yet independent woman).

Overall, What if red ran out is a mixed bouquet that could use a bit more pruning.
* 3 stars *

More information

Goose Lane | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0864925093
ISBN-13: 978-0864925091

Fatal Encryption [Jennifer's review]

2009-03-03T12:53:44-05:00

Fatal Encryption hasn't lit up Jennifer's life, but she rolls with it:

Debra Purdy Kong has written a modern day whodunit about a computer geek turned sleuth, who must encounter several ordeals in order to solve a crime.

It was a good read, but I found Alex's boldness to be foolhardy and implausible, not to mention too far out of character to be truly believable.

If you are looking for an entertaining read that does manage to keep you guessing, and you're not too picky about the plausibility, then I would recommend this book. All in all, it wasn't a waste of time to read it.
* 3 stars *

More information

Author Site: Debra Purdy Kong
Extra Info:
- Click here to read the first four chapters
Debra Purdy Kong | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 096992111X
ISBN-13: 978-0969921110

Ice Tomb [MonieG's review]

2009-03-03T12:37:56-05:00

Ice Tomb surprises MonieG on her blog, Reading With Monie:

Volcanologist, Dr. Erica Daniels, misses a unique opportunity to be a participant in an upcoming mission to the moon to establish the first moon base. As a consolation she is given an assignment in Antarctica. Deep inside a hotspot scientists have been disappearing. Paired up with a fully armed Navy Seal team Erica and the new team are sent to find the missing scientists and find out just what is really under all that ice.

Geologist, Dr. David Marsh is the scientist who landed the assignment on the moon. His goal is and has always been to come out on top no matter what the consequences are. He proved this ten years ago when he stole Erica’s college thesis and passed off two years of her work as his own. Years of telling himself that it was worth it have come down to this critical mission and he can’t afford the doubts now causing him to let his fear slip through the cracks.

What Erica finds under the ice has a surprising connection to David’s work on the moon and now she’s forced to work with him again. With the fate of the earth at stake, she has no choice but to set aside the hatred she’s carried for ten years and figure out a way to survive.

Set in 2015 Ice Tomb is a shocking thriller that takes you from the coldest place on earth to the desolate landscape of the moon. What makes this so scary to me is that the storyline seems very plausible even with the surprising ending. The technical aspects of the book are written so that they are easily understood. With books of this type it’s easy to get lost in the details but I was able to stay right on track with Jackson’s descriptions.

The characters aren’t real deep but I still felt empathy for both Erica and David. The one thing I was disappointed in was the sex scene with Erica and an archeologist on the new team. It was kind of out there with no back story between the characters. They’d only known each other for a couple of days and after the one sex scene Erica and the archeologist both claim to love each other. The archeologist goes so far as to claim that this “quickie” in an airplane bathroom was the best sex of his life. This part of the story was so out of place it was an awkward chapter that I wouldn’t have missed.

Other than that portion of the book I do recommend Ice Tomb. It was a pretty good thriller that really surprised me.

More information

Author Site:
- Deborah Jackson
- Deborah’s Blog
Extra Info: Excerpt
Invisible College Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1931468192
ISBN-13: 978-1931468190

Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain [Michele's review]

2009-03-03T12:16:36-05:00

Probably this introduction to Michele's favourable review of Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain will be longer than review itself, and oh look, it is:

This is a quick book by famous cartoonist Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame. This book, by Penguin Group, is a great, quick, read.
* 5 stars *

More information

Author Site:
- The Scott Adams Blog
- Dilbert.com
Penguin Group (Canada) | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1591842301
ISBN-13: 978-1591842309

Porn for New Moms [Michele's review]

2009-02-27T12:30:23-05:00

Porn for New Moms gives Michele smiles:

The best little "porn" book ever :)
* 5 stars *

Find where Michele keeps her copy here...

More information

Book Site: Porn for Women
- site: www.wannasnuggle.com
- blog: http://www.wannasnuggle.com/index/blog/
- Pornometer Quiz
Chronicle Books | Raincoast Books | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 081186216X
ISBN-13: 978-0811862165

Napoleon's Gambit [Stephanie's review]

2009-02-27T12:13:44-05:00

Requesting Napoleon's Gambit is a move Stephanie wishes she hadn't made:

All I can say for this book is that....it was horrible. Absolutely horrible. In fact, I couldn't even finish it. It was that bad. First of all, the plot started way too slow. I was practically dozing by the second half of the first chapter. Also, there's way too many details about ships and stuff that are completely pointless, at least to me. I don't care what each little detail on a ship is called. And, personally for me, I find reading about wars, especially war at sea, completely boring.

* 1 star *

Keep reading Stephanie's review...

More information

Book Site:
- Napoleon's Gambit
- Captain's Log
Extra Info:
- First Page
- Excerpt
- Download the first twelve chapters for free
- Chapter 11
Eric Goldman | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0978471709
ISBN-13: 978-0978471705

Proof Of The Illuminati [Samia's review]

2009-02-27T11:58:11-05:00

Proof Of The Illuminati gets a review by Samia that Seth Payson would have appreciated:

Proof Of The Illuminati was originally written in 1802. This non-fiction tale of the Illuminati is exciting to read with many well-known people involved. After each chapter ended I was left wondering what would happen next. It is written well and makes you wonder if what you are reading and watching and your beliefs weren't influenced by the Illuminati. This book will make you look at this world in another perspective.

It all started with Mary Francis Arouet, born in 1694, who we all know as the philosopher Voltaire. He planned to overthrow religion by mixing philosophy with impiety. Since it took twelve disciples to form Christianity, he decided he would try to overthrow Christianity all by himself. However, he soon discovered that one person wasn't enough.

Voltaire recruited some conspirators to help him with the job. He would tell his fellow conspirators "...hurl the Javelin, but hide your hand." (34) Voltaire wrote many books and encouraged anti-Christian writings that made the reader question their belief by trying to show that "...the strongest proof of the existence of a God is contradicted by daily experiments." (36)
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Samia's review...

More information

Extra Info:
Invisible College Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1931468141
ISBN-13: 978-1931468145

The Wood Engraver's Alphabet [avisannschild's review]

2009-02-25T18:17:03-05:00

avisannschild carves out a different review than she expected for The Wood Engraver's Alphabet:

I’m embarrassed to admit that I misunderstood the blurb about this book on Mini Book Expo, so I was very surprised to realize this book contains no words past the three-page introduction, other than the names of the 26 plants illustrated.

Although I am, in some small way, a “student of the complexities of nature’s creations,”* as I have studied herbology, my main interest is in wild medicinal plants, so I wasn’t familiar with many of the plants illustrated here. And I don’t really know anything about wood engraving. Disclaimers aside, this is a beautiful book: I love the texture of the book’s cover (which I can’t help stroking every time I pick it up), and the woodcuts themselves are intricate and lovely. A few of them seem too small to do justice to the details of the engravings, but for the most part I felt like I could spend hours gazing at each of them, marvelling at Brender à Brandis’s skill and meditating on each plant.

*According to the blurb on the back of this book, “This collection is intended both for the student of the complexities of nature’s creations and the patron of the intricate art of wood engraving.”

Keep reading avisannschild's review...

More information

Extra Info: Excerpt
Porcupine's Quill | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0889843112
ISBN-13: 978-0889843110

Becoming My Mother's Daughter [Bonnie's review]

2009-02-25T17:57:35-05:00

Becoming My Mother's Daughter has Bonnie thinking of her own matrilineal experiences:

This is a moving and touching memoir of three generations of Jewish women originally from Budapest, Hungary. The main focus of the book is on the ties between mothers and daughters and how they survive, grow and change during times of trauma and stress. Erica, the narrator of the book (the author) tells most of her story from the viewpoint of herself as a young child during the Nazi Invasion of Hungary. She writes of events that shape and form relationships and experiences of her grandmother, mother and sisters.

Keep reading Bonnie's review...

More information

Wilfrid Laurier University Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1554580307
ISBN-13: 978-1554580309

Drawing Dragons [Tammy's review]

2009-02-25T17:43:52-05:00

It seems as if Mom Knows Everything Tammy has a new babysitter in Drawing Dragons:

My daughter has not put this book down since she got it. For Christmas she got some new art supplies and headed right off to draw some more dragons.
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Tammy's review...

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Sandra Staple's Canadian Dragon Fantasy Art
Sandra Staple's Chapters Community Page
Ulysses Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 1569756414
ISBN-13: 978-1569756416

Drinkwater [Tamara's review]

2009-02-19T23:38:56-05:00

Drinkwater catches Tamara's attention and keeps it:

Obtained through Mini Book Expo I picked this book because it was set in Toronto. I am a real home-grown girl.
Throughout the book the reason for Amber and Guy to be their own is just hinted at. Suddenly they are alone without parents and nobody is really that invested in helping and providing for them. Somehow they must muddle through the preparations for their life and live it without a safety net and nowhere is this more evident than when they arrive in Toronto and their uncle is supposed to be collecting them from Union Station but he never shows up.
They have no place to go and nobody to call in Toronto to help them. I think that Amber thought she could provide for the two of them but in reality a couple of teens on their own without a lot of money and their luggage in tow become lost like so much dross blowing around the city.
They are unable to even find basic accommodation for themselves and spend days eating nothing more than carbs at local donut and coffee places.
* 4 stars *

Keep reading Tamara's review...

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Extra Info: Excerpt
Crackjaw Publishing | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 097820266X
ISBN-13: 978-0978202668

Something Drastic [Jonita's review]

2009-02-17T21:08:58-05:00

Isn't anyone else curious about the significance of the garden gnomes and the strangely bolded letters on this drastically colourful cover for Something Drastic?! If there is a reason, Jonita is not letting on:

When we first meet Lenore it is January 6th, and her live-in boyfriend of 8 years has just left her on Boxing Day. She writes letters to him at the post office box address that he left her so that she could forward on his mail, and she does not understand why he has left her. Things were good between the two of them, or so she thought, and when she gets home from the Boxing Day sales she simply finds that he is gone. He's left her a note; he's not happy with the "Status Quo" and has moved to Florida to work for the tourist industry. Lenore finds out in February that he did manage to steal over $3,000 from her, as he was kind enough to make charges to her credit card and run up her phone bill before he left.
* 5 stars *

Keep reading Jonita's review...

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Goose Lane | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0864921713
ISBN-13: 978-0864921710

The Race for Perfect [alphanitrate's review]

2009-02-16T12:53:29-05:00

The Race for Perfect isn't over, and alphanitrate weighs in on the progress:

I recommend this book to lovers of design and computers, and to general geekdom.

From the early "Luggables" (computers that came in their own suitcase, with an attachable monitor that you set up when you arrived) to the Apple Air™ and even the BlackBerry™, Steve Hamm takes us through the 40 years of development of portable computers.

The Race for Perfect shows the processes that go into laptop design.
The considerations of the user:
• mouse (going from trackball, to tracking stick, to the touchpad)
• keyboard (style, shape, feel)
• screens
• weight

The book also covers the development of the ThinkPad X300, the newest and greatest laptop on the market today.
* 3 stars *

More information

McGraw Hill | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0071606106
ISBN-13: 978-0071606103

Fit to Succeed: Make Health and Wellness Your Competitive Advantage [Ross H.'s review]

2009-02-16T12:32:24-05:00

Fit to Succeed gets Ross H.'s vote for change in the workplace:

In a vein not unlike Daniel Quinn's Ishmael series, Steve Heussner has created a modern fable that teaches us new morals for an ever-evolving corporate world. Falling from the same tree as the "green revolution," Heussner's take on corporate social responsibility through improving health and well-being within the workforce matures perfectly with the current state of health care in the United States, and the election of Barack Obama as a a clear statement by the population of America that change is needed. Although presented in a simple manner, Fit to Succeed could be the model that corporate America looks to for guidance.

Rather than use statistics and numbers, Heussner has succeeded in producing a quick, riveting story that CEOs, and CFOs could read in one evening and still have enough time to call a meeting for the following morning. It warns but doesn't scare, makes sense without being patronizing; it's a serious look at the attitudes of employees and employers, and the correlation between healthy lifestyles and productivity. I would recommend this book to any employee or employer who isn't happy with their health or HMO, as a catalyst for change in their work environments. In fact, once I was finished I passed it directly to my nearest Management Consultant.
* 4 stars *

More information

Highspot | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
ISBN-10: 0981452728
ISBN-13: 978-0981452722