a Fair Substitute for Heaven
"A plate of apples, an open fire, and 'a jolly goode booke' are a fair substitute for heaven," vowed Barney. "Any one can have the streets of gold. Let's have another whack at Carman."---L.M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Is Hearing an Author Read before Reading their books the same as watching a movie before reading the book...................
I tip my cap at Linwood Barclay today because he really is brilliant and charming and funny and last night he was in a sticky spot the: I’M SIGNING WITH RANKIN spot. This has been a kerfuffle in the past, as well. Author who is offered a spot with Rankin can look at it in two ways: 1.) great exposure with ( what an usher last night told me) was the biggest signing of the festival ( and most usually is) 2.) a lot of sitting by yourself at a table with a bottle of water and a few stragglers who heard you read and hit up the Ben McNally booth.
As I was standing in line waiting for Rankin, I kept looking over at good-natured Linwood and reminding myself exactly how pitch-perfect his reading and chat earlier in the evening were. He was funny, down-to-earth, Canadian, bright, intelligent and though I tend to prefer my hardboiled ( or soft boiled in the way of tea cosy) UK mystery authors, Barclay inspired me to hunt down his fiction.
I stood and shifted my weight and wondered, having read none other than his magnificent Toronto Star columns , would his fiction be the same? Last night’s intro and readings were entertaining and amusing because he emphasized, cajoled and teetered with his prose in a comfortable way that, he: the author, could slip into like an old University hoody.
Would the Linwood Barclay I saw at the Norma Fleck Dance Theatre: the Barclay of great dialogue, nuance, script and humorous undertone, translate to book form?
Is seeing an author live before reading their book the same as watching a movie before reading the book?
Hmmm. Barclay’s a fantastic reader, does that ruin the reading experience if I detach his prose from his presence?
I got to thinking about the good, the bad, and the ugly of IFOA readings during my half a dozen years of attendance.
Rankin is always a hit with the audience because he has this lackadaisical rock-star thing going. Very much like Neil Gaiman, his mere presence asserts an immediate sit-up-in-seat reaction. I had read him long before I saw him and seeing him read again and again just heightens and rounds-out my love for his fiction.
Kenneth Oppel’s reading of Airborn was the most innovative I had ever been to. The kids in the audience were mesmerized as he donned a white lab coat, and used a meter stick to point out the different parts of an airship on an overhead screen. He was the zany scientist: a thorough geek who loved his subject matter and had the kids in awed giggles. When I was midway through Oppel’s Starclimber and felt he was unforgiving in his departure from great adventure story to stodgy: “must round out Matt and Kate relationship” I called this moment to the book’s defense and let Oppel off the hook. Personalized moment=influencing book.
Then you have Michael Crummey who was born to spin a yarn ( and is, as you know, Canada ’s cutest author--- hate to be superficial, but its true) and invites you into a long oral trajectory from St. John’s--- all down-to-earth, clear and engaging like the audience is sitting round a campfire listening to something that strings them along....
And CC Humphreys who knows he is a good reader and uses that confident flair ( and British accent) to present dramatically in a very captivating way.
If we go back to Dickens and Twain we know that an author’s on-stage marketing of their work ( and simultaneously themselves) is not something new. Heck, even Coleridge and Wordsworth were considered celebrities. Had spunky Jane Austen and eruditely unique Charlotte Bronte decided to unlatch their pseudonyms, I have a feeling they would have been wonderfully eloquent in drawing rooms.
Also, I don't usually get my picture taken with authors (read:this is the first time. But, Ian Rankin is a ROCK STAR)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Just Some Shameless Anthony Horowitz Love

1.) Foyle’s War
2.) Foyle’s War
3.) Alex RIDER ( even the stupid ones near the end and Mickey Roarke in the film!)
4.) The Diamond Bros ( the Falcon’s Malteser! Hello!)
5.) The most atmospheric Shakespearian tale for young readers on the market The Devil and His Boy
6.) Those scary books that people keep sending me ARCs of---what are those called? ---anyways, those are good too…
7.) Foyle’s War
8.) Midsomer Murders (!!)
9.) Groosham Grange!
Oh Groosham Grange you are the funniest thing I have read in ages. I was killing myself on the subway this morning. The word play! The heebee jeebees. The “note to booksellers” ( in this ARC) expressing that this is the most personal of his work because he went to a boarding school at age 8 and was fairly convinced that all of his teachers were monsters.
Funny stuff! From David’s log to the ghastly and grisly conditions imparted to those on the roll ( no parents allowed at this school cast off on an ominous island near Norfolk: lest they can swim; no punishments or penalties; but one vacation day granted a year). This is gold for the grades 4-6 crowd. Coupled with Half Minute Horrors ( a collection of perfect little tales crafted to snatch the imagination of reluctant readers and keep them chilled ), there is a lot of wondrous fright available for the young reader.
I could pinpoint what insane and zany moments would inspire the most giggles from 8-10 year olds. Perhaps the hymn-singing priest who has a heart attack of sheer fright when he hears the words “ Groosham Grange” uttered or Gregor: the hunchback who stepped out of those horrific lab-experiment-frankenstein stories and into this world or the headmaster who cannot see his own reflection in a mirror or the teacher who has nice teeth—which she keeps in a jar on her desk.
This is giddy, terrific fun and I had a hoot reading it.
Anthony Horowitz: you rock my socks. Always have! And on behalf of people dedicated to finding perfect solutions for those reluctant boy readers, you have solved many a problem!
Kids clamor for the Alex Rider series and they should clamor for this too!
Lots of good clamoring to be had!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Dreaming Anastasia or I Dreamed This Anastasia would be a lot better than it was
Courtney and I did one of our book swaps at Word on the Street, I was pleased to steal off with this one. I was in the mood for some Romanovs and I always hanker after enchanting stories about the lost Duchess.
Unfortunately, my appetite was not whet. At all.
Now, you all know my favourite thing to do is gush about books. I love finding books that I can talk non-stop about for days. Advertise. Coddle. Adore.
Every once in awhile, a book comes along that frustrates me. This one did.
I wasn’t in the mood for slipshod writing, convoluted perspectives, wooden dialogue and a heroine who was not so much endearingly vulnerable as not-so-bright.
The book just doesn’t work. I applaud Preble for her renaissance of a subject a lot of YA readers would easily jump on a bandwagon for: the Anastasia legend is embedded in intrigue, mysticism and romance and, with that platform, competent and imaginative writers can spin many a lustrous web.
Unfortunately, this web was tangled. Too tangled.
Anne is a lithe ballerina and typical high school girl who is still grieving the loss of her brother while trying to come to terms with a new and eerie presence at school ( the brooding Ethan: trying so hard to be Edward Cullen it made my eye twitch), midterms, ballet class and dreams about a Russian duchess.
That’s right: the lost Duchess is alive and well and infiltrating Anne’s dreams.
Intermixed with this oft confusing and bordering on sheer ridiculous tale we have infusions of Anastasia’s letters. Now this is not at all the author’s fault, but, in ephemera-gone-bad, Anastasia’s “cursive” is nearly illegible in print and I had to squint ( with reading glasses on) to decipher this code.
Far be it for me to stomp on a first novelist. I know, I KNOW how difficult writing intriguing and different YA can be --- especially when infused with history and I applaud Joy Preble ( a high school teacher, at that) for her creativity.
It just doesn’t work. Perhaps if all of the different patterns had been sewn in a different quilt….
The problem is I read a lot ( hundreds ) of YA books a year and I like finding those that fit into my handful of “DROP EVERYTHING AND READ!”
I ended up looking up from the last page while reading on the subway this morning thinking: “I just don’t have time for this.”
In trying to be original and at the same time appealing to the Twilight-audience, Preble has set out to unravel a gorgeous and illustrious facet of history and, ironically, fashioned herself a cliché.
This doesn't mean I won't try Joy Preble out again in the future: she HAS potential.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sylvanus Now by Donna Morrissey

Labels: Canadian
Friday, October 16, 2009
Imaginary Author Interviews: Stephenie Meyer

Labels: imaginary author interviews
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Imaginary Interviews Series: the Eoin Colfer Edition

Labels: imaginary author interviews
Champions of the World: Michael Crummey on Youtube(!!); imaginary author interview requests



Labels: imaginary author interviews
