Canada Reads Top 10 picked!

Alright folks they asked us to vote for this years 2010 Canada's Reads books list and they gave us the top 40 and now they have narrowed it down to the top 10!

Now it is up to the five celebrity panelists to choose their book and defend it during the Canada Reads debates in February. Unfortunately we will have to wait until Wednesday, November 24 for the books and panelists to be revealed.


The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

The Birth House by Ami McKay

The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Unless by Carol Shields

Three Wiser's Men and the Mystery of Grace.

In December I posted a link to "DRIVEN Magazine" article on Joseph Boyden;

Driven magazine Dec issue has a great article on Joseph Boyden the author of "Three Day Road" and this years Giller Prize winner for "Through Black Spruce".

In my haste to get the blog post out I totally missed the fact that on page 32 "DRVEN" also featured an exclusive short story by Mr. Boyden, called "Three Wiser's Men"

I wouldn't have known about this tasty tin bit of gritty Canadian Lit if it wasn't for Eric Grant the web editor for DRIVEN magazine,(Thanks Man!!) who saw my posting last month and was kind enough to let me know, thus letting me let you know about it.(You need to read the story!!)

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!!)

Anyways both these guys are great Canadian authors and we being Canadians are lucky to call them our own! If you haven't ready any of Charles's or Joseph's work I would recommend starting with "Born With A Tooth" and "Dreams Underfoot".

Born With A Tooth

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.

Dreams Underfoot

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.

Driven Magazine Featuring Joseph Boyden

Driven magazine Dec issue has a great article on Joseph Boyden the author of "Three Day Road" and this years Giller Prize winner for "Through Black Spruce". If you are like us and cannot find an issue to read, not a problem! Just follow the link below to Driven's website. You should get the current issue of Driven magazine coming up with Joseph on the cover(who cleans up very nicely!! As all of the female staff told me!) Just click on the next page arrows to page 39 and you can read the full article. Check it out! Then go read "Through Black Spruce" if you haven't yet!!

P.S. Thanks Mary!!

http://www.drivenmag.com/theissue





IN OTHER NEWS:

It has been pretty busy here at the store with the Christmas season started, hopefully we will be able to get a chance to get up or top 5 list's for this year, there are also more pictures from our Halloween Party, plus Robert Rotenberg stopped by the store. Robert has a new book called "Old City Hall" that will be out in March. This Fiction Thriller Mystery Detective novel is already starting to get some great buzz! Look for it in the new year!

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

We now have copies of Joseph Boyden's new book "Through Black Spruce" in stock at the Chat Noir Books, drop by to pick your copies I am sure they will be going quickly.

This past spring Jenn and I were grateful to have Joseph in the store where he read from both his books "Three Day road" and "Through Black Spruce". We then ran into Joseph again at Book Expo, where Jenn was greeted with a big hug and I with an advanced readers copy of "Through Black Spruce". It didn't take me long to devour my copy of "Through Black Spruce" and like "Three Day Road"(which rumour has it maybe turned into a major motion picture!!) it has since become one of my most favourite books. Joseph is truly a spinner of tales who creates characters so believable that you cannot wait to turn the page to find out what happens to them next.

From internationally acclaimed author Joseph Boyden comes an astonishingly powerful novel of contemporary aboriginal life, full of the dangers and harsh beauty of both forest and city. When beautiful Suzanne Bird disappears, her sister Annie, a loner and hunter, is compelled to search for her, leaving behind their uncle Will, a man haunted by loss.While Annie travels from Toronto to New York, from modelling studios to A-list parties,Will encounters dire troubles at home. Both eventually come to painful discoveries about the inescapable ties of family. Through Black Spruce is an utterly unforgettable consideration of how we discover who we really are.

"Through Black Spruce is an arresting novel with unexpected twists and turns. It's also an important contribution to the Native literary voice in this country."
—Tomson Highway, author of Kiss of the Fur Queen

“Joseph Boyden achieves a beautiful balance between his characters and nature, between the hardships of contemporary life and their strong connection to the past.”
—Nino Ricci, Author of The Origin of Species and Testament