Jenn and I are back and ready for a new year of books, books and more books...and few cups of coffee as well.
Speaking of new books, here is one to look out for "
Old City Hall" by Robert Rotenberg!! Before Christmas we mentions that Robert Rotenberg had stopped by the store. Robert actually stumbled upon us while visiting the area doing research for his new book, which he was kind enough to read me a small sample of. It is really kind of cool to have an author stumble into your book store but then to have him read to you from his work in progress that's special...
(I notice my hair is kind of wild here, the left over of my pho Mohawk from Halloween.)
Robert Rotenberg is one of Torontos top lawyers, defending, as he likes to say, everything from murder to shoplifting. He lives in Toronto with his wife, a television producer at CBC News; their three children; and their little dog, Fudge.
Old City Hall opens with a bang, or perhaps a stab: Canada's leading radio show host, Kevin Brace, comes to the door of his luxury condominium with his hands covered in blood and tells the newspaper delivery man: 'I killed her.'The 'her' in question is his young wife, whose body lies in the bathtub of their suite, a knife wound through the sternum.
So, if he killed her, where's the mystery? That's the question asked by the detectives plowing through what should be an open and- shut case. Even Kevin's defense attorney doesn't know what really happened, because he refuses to talk to her or to anyone else after muttering those incriminating words. With the discovery that the victim was actually a self-destructive alcoholic, and the appearance of strange fingerprints in the Brace apartment, the mystery gets more complex just as it should be getting simpler.
Robert Rotenberg claims and celebrates the city of Toronto as a character as exciting and vital as the Dickensian ensemble populating the story. Douglas Preston rejoices that Rotenberg's 'Toronto settings make this most multicultural city in North America come alive.' Elmore Leonard has Florida; John Lescroart, San Francisco; Robert Parker, Boston; Scott Turow, Chicago; George Pelecanos, D.C. And now, in Old City Hall, Rotenberg creates in modern-day Toronto a canvas as diverse and surprising as the city itself.
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On another note, I am just checking my email and
Charles de Lint's(one of my Favourite Canadian authors) has sent out a new Newsletter with a reminder about Andrew Vachss' virtual book store event tomorrow night (well tonight Wednesday, Jan 14th. I am just getting to some of my email today). You can get more information about it at www.vachss.com.
TERMINAL
After years of carefully working the edges, a blood-commitment forces Burke's return to his former career: "violence-for-money."
Claw, once the shot-caller of a white supremacist prison gang is free . . . and terminally ill--he desperately needs a pile of cash to bet on a long-shot cure. He tells Burke about a punk who once purchased protection from him, a man who claims to know the truth behind a "cold case, " the unsolved rape-murder of a thirteen-year-old girl. The killers are all weathly men today, ideal blackmail marks. But wealth is power, and the informant needs Claw's protection again. Burke decides to roll the dice. A win would give Burke the two things he lives for: Money and Revenge. A loss would turn "terminal" from a diagnosis into a certainly, and not just for Claw.
Author BioAndrew Vachss is a lawyer who represents children and youths exclusively. His many novels include the Burke series and two collections of short stories. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, The New York Times, among other publications. He divides his time between his native New York City and the Pacific Northwest.
This online author event is sort of new with the net being able to handle live video streams. Another Canadian author Margaret Atwood is credited with inventing this new fad but with a twist. Atwood had a robot hand called the LongPen invented for her, so she coud "attend" book signings all over the world without having to leave the comfort of her home. Combined with a remotely via video feed and robo-hand, that signs the books at the actually bookstore. Now some of you are asking will this replace the traditional book signing tour? Probabley not but the net is opening up a lot new marketing ideas for bookstores and authors!
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Anyways back to
Charles De Lint who has a new adult novel coming out in March called
"The Mystery of Grace"!!
Three years after his last major adult novel, Charles de Lint returns with a new tale of magic, loss, and redemption, his first book set in the Southwest. Centered on a remarkable female protagonist and entirely self-contained, this is a modern contemporary fantasy as invented band pioneered by de Lint himself. Altagracia—her friends call her Grace—has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder; she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg; and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that'll never wash out.
Grace works at Sanchez Motor Works, customizing hot rods. A few blocks around her small apartment building is all her world—from the grocery store where she buys beans, tamales and cigarettes to the library, the little record shop, and the Solona Music Hall. Which is where she meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.
Grace and John fall for one another, and that would be wonderful, except that they're both haunted by unfinished business. Before their relationship can be resolved, they're both going to have to learn things they don't know about the world of the living and the world beyond. About why it's necessary to let some things go.
The Mystery of Grace is a hardcover. The cover art for the "The Mystery of Grace" was created by the very talented and amazing artist
John Jude Palenca.
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Thanks to my parents(We love you guys!! Best Christmas Present Ever!!) Jenn and I spent New Years in the Dominican!! My Sister and her Boyfriend and my parents came along as well and a great amount of fun and relaxation was had by all.
We didn't spent all of out time lounging around the pool or the beach! We did get out and explored the area!
Here we have sugar cane fields! Pretty.
On one of our tours we went were brought to a Fair trade family run farm, Called Maria's Place. You guessed it run by Maria's family. Here they grow and sell coca beans, vanilla, cinnamon, honey(well they don't grow honey but they do have honey bees) and COFFEE!
This is Maria's husband, who is roast coca beans and coffee beans in this photo.
Trust Dreams.
The Bishop's Man
Medicine Road
Under the Dome: A (Big Ass)Novel 
Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music . . . from Hank Snow to The Band
So I just finished reading the "The Mystery of Grace" by Charles De Lint, which will be out March 17, 2009. I tried to finish it last night... but I it was just to late! So I brought it into work to finish. What can I say it was the end of the book, and I wasn't going to wait all day to find out how it ends. I do work in a bookstore... and reading is part of my job. Plus I only had 12 pages left to read, though I didn't realized that last night...anyways.
If your just discovering Charles De Lints work you might want to know that doesn't just write urban fantasy but also has some fantastic horror novels done under the Samuel M. Key pseudonym. His novel Savha is also a great sci-fi read and De Lint has also written some young adult works as well as children books.
In December I posted a link to "DRIVEN Magazine" article on Joseph Boyden;
Speaking of amazing Canadian Lit, last week I phoned in a request for an advanced reading copy of Charles de Lint's new novel "The Mystery of Grace". Yesterday it came in(Thanks Paula!!) and of course when I got home I started reading it and I must say it is amazing! The only thing I will give away is if you read "Promises to Keep" you'll enjoy "The Mystery of Grace". Also the main character Grace could be a grown up version of T.J. from de Lint's book "Little (grrl) Lost".(Which I think every library and high school should have a copy of!!) 
Almost a decade after its original publication, award winner and Governor General Literary Award nominee Joseph Boyden's classic book of short stories is finally being reissued. Born With A Tooth, Boyden's debut work of fiction, is a collection of thirteen beautifully written stories about aboriginal life in Ontario. They are stories of love, unexpected triumph, and a passionate belief in dreams. They are also stories of anger and longing, of struggling to adapt, of searching but remaining unfulfilled. The collection includes 'Bearwalker', a story that introduces a character who appears again in Boyden's novel Three Day Road. By taking on a new voice in each story, Joseph Boyden explores aboriginal stereotypes and traditions in a most unexpected way. Whether told by a woman trying to forget her past or by a drunken man trying to preserve his culture, each story paints an unforgettable and varied image of modern aboriginal culture in Ontario. An extraordinary first book, Born With A Tooth reveals why Joseph Boyden is a writer worth reading.
Welcome to Newford. . . . Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song. Like Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale and John Crowley's Little, Big, Dreams Underfoot is a must-read book not only for fans of urban fantasy but for all who seek magic in everyday life.
Old City Hall opens with a bang, or perhaps a stab: Canada's leading radio show host, Kevin Brace, comes to the door of his luxury condominium with his hands covered in blood and tells the newspaper delivery man: 'I killed her.'The 'her' in question is his young wife, whose body lies in the bathtub of their suite, a knife wound through the sternum.
Robert Rotenberg claims and celebrates the city of Toronto as a character as exciting and vital as the Dickensian ensemble populating the story. Douglas Preston rejoices that Rotenberg's 'Toronto settings make this most multicultural city in North America come alive.' Elmore Leonard has Florida; John Lescroart, San Francisco; Robert Parker, Boston; Scott Turow, Chicago; George Pelecanos, D.C. And now, in Old City Hall, Rotenberg creates in modern-day Toronto a canvas as diverse and surprising as the city itself. 
Three years after his last major adult novel, Charles de Lint returns with a new tale of magic, loss, and redemption, his first book set in the Southwest. Centered on a remarkable female protagonist and entirely self-contained, this is a modern contemporary fantasy as invented band pioneered by de Lint himself. Altagracia—her friends call her Grace—has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder; she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg; and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that'll never wash out.
On one of our tours we went were brought to a Fair trade family run farm, Called Maria's Place. You guessed it run by Maria's family. Here they grow and sell coca beans, vanilla, cinnamon, honey(well they don't grow honey but they do have honey bees) and COFFEE!
