Mounties and Robbers

Due South is one of the few prime time Canadian series to air on American tv. The cultural differences between Canada and the U.S.  in general, and the Mounties and Chicago police in particular, were a major theme. The Canadian law enforcement officer is politeness personified, while the American is well-armed and cynical.

The tone was gently absurdist. That, and the fact that it bounced all over the schedule,  led to it’s cancellation. Fortunately, though, like so many other under-rated shows, it is available on DVD through our very own PrairieCat.

Especially charming,  was that the star’s vast knowledge of just about everything was attributed to the fact that his grandparents were librarians. You gotta love that.

The Armchair Traveler – Quebec

Louise Penny , a former  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter, steeps her mysteries in the French culture of Quebec. Her Chief Inspector Gamache  series has been compared to Agatha Christie (a small village setting and large cast of characters and  surprise endings) .  In Brutal Telling, Gamache is called in when an unknown dead  body turns up in  local bistro. Penny’s skill is creating a place that is so appealing that  readers want to move there, bringing to life people you want to spend time with and describing meals that make you salivate.

Kathy Reichs works as a medical examiner in Quebec (and North Carolina). Apparently, the tv show Bones was inspired by Reichs’ work and she also works as a producer on the show.

The  heroine of her mysteries is Temperance Brennan, who, coincidentally, is a  forensic anthropologist who works in both Quebec and North Carolina. Monday Mourning is set in Montreal, where Tempe investigates the skeletons found in a pizzeria.  In this installment, her romance with detective Andrew Ryan is not going well, though the French Canadian setting is as magical as ever.

Canadians You Didn’t Know Were Canadian

Everyone knows Dan Ackroyd and Michael J. Fox. And perhaps you knew that Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey were Canadian.

But did you know aboot Eric McCormack, of Will and Grace? And Matthew Perry of Friends? And Victor Garber of Alias?

Our very own Field of Dreams is based on Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, who is, you guessed it, not from Iowa, but from Alberta.

Also…..

The Armchair Traveler – On the Rails in Canada

The Edge by Dick Francis is, as always, about horses, but this time the action takes place in Canada, instead of England.

Head of Security for the British Jockey Club, Tor Kelsey  travels to Canada for the Great Transcontinental Mystery  Race  Train. He works  undercover  as a waiter on the train so he can keep an eye one of the club’s Most Wanted  (an extortionist/horse owner they haven’t been able to catch red-handed,yet).

To add to the intrigue, there is a murder mystery group on the train – no one but Tor and his foe know that there is a real murderer on board.

Another railroad mystery is The Silk Train Murder by Sharon Rowse. A train that rushes silk from Vancouver to the east coast of Canada is the setting for a turn of the century romantic caper. Emily Turner is the liberated heroine who helps John Landsdowne Granville investigate a murder. Granville’s quest takes him to the seedier part of frontier towns (opium dens, brothels and dance halls).

The combination of strict Victorian morals and the rambunctious frontier provide a glimpse into a fascinating period of Canadian history.

YA (Canadian) Spotlight: Little Brother

We’ve been playing a lot of Canadian Spotting in our office as we gear up for the Winter Olympics, so I was gleeful when I came across a list of Canadian Authors which included Cory Doctorow–co-editor of the popular blog BoingBoing and author of several books including the YA bestseller Little Brother.

I will say up front that Little Brother has made me an extremely paranoid little lady. If you ever needed a book to slap you into paying attention to privacy and online security issues, this is it. Little Brother begins when a very technologically savvy high-schooler (aka Hacker) named Marcus skips school with his friends to play their favorite ARG (Alternate Reality Game) when they are interrupted by a bomb blowing up the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Marcus and his friends are picked up by the Department of Homeland Security within minutes of the attack and spend the next several days being interrogated and tortured. Upon his release, Marcus discovers that they are still imprisoning his best friend and have completely stripped San Francisco of personal privacy. So he begins to use those hacking skills the DHS was afraid of in order to create an underground movement to bring down the DHS–actions that soon lead his peers to proclaim him a hero and the American media to declare him a terrorist-supporter.

Check out Cory Doctorow’s website for Little Brother where you can download a free copy of the book and other readers’ remixes (Remixing ain’t just for music anymore, baby!). You’ll also want to mark your calendars for the ICON 35 conference held in Cedar Rapids on Nov. 5-7, 2010 where Doctorow will be the guest of honor!

Love, Love, Love Sonnets

Short on time?  With just a few minutes you can sneak a little literature into your day with the fourteen-line poems offered by Garrison Keillor in 77 Love Sonnets.  The topics range wider than the title suggests.  And the writings seem to be written off the cuff, not heavily edited, expressing Keillor’s momentary thoughts and takes on places and events.  In “Obama” he conveys his experience as one of the crowd on inauguration day.  In “October” he revels in the security and joys that fiscal security allow.  Among these pages you will discover sonnets that explore each of The Four Loves:  affection, friendship, eros, and charity.

In “Long Career,” Keillor states that “The secret of a long career is simply to not fade….”  This prolific author appears to be taking his own advice by publishing this collection the same year as novels Life Among The Lutherans, Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance, and A Christmas Blizzard.

Hellraisers

Robert Sellers’ Hellraisers: The life and inebriated times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed is a well-written new book chronicling the Bacchanalian excesses of this UK theatre version of the Rat Pack from the cradle to the early grave (except for O’Toole).

However, believe you me, there is no way Frank, Dino, or Sammy could have kept up with these guys.  They must have a different kind of craftsmanship of men across the pond…the kind of guy that can ingest literally 4-5 BOTTLES of high octane spirits per day and still memorize lines and stagger to their stage marks.

To be honest, I may not finish because I can only marvel at their cast iron guts for 50-100 pages.  I’m also starting to get a bit queasy.

City of Thieves by David Benioff

The setting for David Benioff’s City of Thieves is grim and brutal – the siege of Leningrad during World War II – yet there is also light and optimism, even laughter in this book. Lev Benioff, is a naive, 17-year-old is picked up for looting, a sentence punishable by death. Instead of the firing squad, he is thrown together with brash, confident, Red Army soldier Koyla Vaslav (arrested for deserting). They are given a task: find 12 eggs for the general’s daughter’s wedding in five days. If they succeed, they’re free; if not, they’ll be shot.

What follows is the nearly impossible search for fresh eggs in a city that has virtually no food (conservative estimates place the number of Soviet deaths during the siege at 1.7 million, most of whom starved to death) The unlikely pairing develops from forced to begrudging to a true partnership. What these two see, both the cruelty and kindness, is almost unfathomable now in our comfortable, well-fed lives, from the desperate couple resorting to cannibalism (who they barely escape from), to the former call girl that shelters artists and surgeons made homeless by the relentless bombing, to the Nazi commander they must outwit, the book is full of unforgettable characters and heart-stopping tension.

At first, you will want to hate Koyla. He is arrogant and brash and a bit of a braggart. He is also charming and charismatic and at heart, a kind and generous man who does the right thing for others time and again. Lev, who narrates the story, is full of self-doubt and (he believes) weakness, but finds unimaginged courage and strength when he needs it, partly because of Koyla.

Based on Benioff’s grandfather’s memories, this is storytelling at it’s best, the kind of book that stays with you – a story of cruelty, desperation and hardship, but also of kindness, strength, loyalty, love and friendship.

How to be a Geek Goddess

How to be a Geek Goddess“Could someone just tell me what I need to know without trying to convince me that I need the latest gadget, assuming I have all the time in the world to trudge through geek speak, and wasting my time with a lengthy explanation of how it all works?” Christina Tynan-Wood, a female geek, could hear these subliminal pleas for help whenever a friend asked her a question about technology–a question they usually chased with a “I’m sorry to be so clueless (page xviii).” GIRLS! YOU ARE NOT CLUELESS! You had the brains to ask the question, right? Well now Christina has made it easy to find the answer–Ta da! How to be a Geek Goddess: Practical Advice for Using Computers with Smarts and Style.

Finally everything a girl needs to know to feel technologically confident in ONE BOOK! Christina explains what you should know before buying a computer, how to set up wireless, how to organize your desktop, what security software you might need, how to shop online, and so much more! Her writing is fun, conversational, and full of illustrations and screenshots. Only downfall is that the book is very PC-heavy (which she admits up front), so some of the very useful topics, such as installing software, will not apply to Macs. Despite that, How to be a Geek Goddess is must-read for all women who want (or need) to be in control of their technological life. You may also want to check out Christina’s website at www.geekgirlfriends.com.

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A “Feel Good” Novel

If you’re looking for book that will just plain make you feel good, look no further. I’ve just discovered Joyce Stranger, a prolific English author who writes novels about animals. That may sound horribly middle-brow and non-literary, but The Go-Between is surprisingly engaging and unpredictable.

The book focusses on Flyer, a Siamese kitten who loves people. He begins life with one family and ends up with a completely different, though equally loving, owner. Through the force of his personality, determination and will to survive , he influences everyone he meets. He also acts as a catalyst – bringing together neighbors who  create a new sense of community.

If you ever need a recommendation for someone who wants  a good story, with a little romance, and is completely G-rated, here you go.