Three Faves for the Weekend

In the last couple weeks, I've had a run at new books by three favourites of mine; Lionel Shriver, Lauren Davis, and Jonathan Tropper.

And while they're vastly different books, (Tropper is always a hoot, Shriver seldom is and Lauren has written a book unlike anything she's ever done) they are all chiefly populated by resolutely nasty, miserable peevish people. This plays demonstrably against type because the blockbuster driven mechanisms of the current publishing industry are so dominant now that the hunt is on for ever more plucky, likable leads solving their problems by force of will, or with luck, stumbling across a benevolent outside force that does it for them. That was most often the way, as the big revenue producing book at the company often paid the bills so said company could publish the "marquis" title, even if the marquis title only sold around awards time. There's nothing wrong with that, and never was; but there's a good deal more pressure now for a manuscript to have a ready audience before the birth and a certain mindset at the production level can't help but come from that. I often wonder if the overwhelming need for narrative pleasantries is a particularly bookish trait, as network TV in recent years has gone in the other direction entirely. No one would confuse the Bluths, Walter White or most of the cast of the Wire as finishing school grads or debutantes.

The sheer breadth (thankfully) of books on offer still means that one can always find diamonds in the rough as it were. The mercurial folks at Coach House Press were smart enough last year to bring forth Tamara Berger's Maidenhead back when everyone and their mother (grandmother?) was reading Fifty Shades of Grey and they've followed it up with a re-release of her earlier works in one volume, Little Cat.

While Fifty Shades cashed in like nothing before it as entirely sanctified, if very poorly written pornography, Tamara Berger just works, period.

All this is just to suggest that the good stuff is out there, and it's refreshing to hang out with the misanthropes from time to time.

-- Dave

  

Curiouser and Curiouser...

A curiosity has been observed by several booksellers I've been speaking to of late.  It seems regular and occasional customers alike, when asking simply, "how's business?" expect to hear doom and gloom on a more immediate scale relative to years past.  There seems to be a more pronounced catch in the question as though it's almost impolite to ask, or that it has to be whispered to lessen the discomfort sure to come. There are many things that make running any small business a challenge, but the advent of the e-book is now seen to foretell for bookstores, if not the proverbial fat lady singing, at least a generously proportioned person clearing their throat.

Bookstores are going through interesting times, as are music, film, television and anything coming up against a hazily defined new digital age.  It seems that all the old ways of delivering entertainment must adapt or die, but once that phrase is haughtily delivered on echo chambers everywhere, there seems little left to be said.

The news from BookNet Canada, the national organization that among other things, crunches industry numbers suggests that ebooks, rather than taking over-have plateaued. Indeed, the numbers seem to be falling back from their highs on January of 2012.

"Digital sales peaked at an estimated 17.6 per cent of the book market in the first quarter of 2012 before sinking to 12.9 per cent in the last quarter of the year," said the Globe and Mail last week.

None of this is to suggest that ebooks are a fad, or that sunnier days are ahead for bookstores, publishers, etc., but it's refreshing to see real numbers suggesting that just maybe, we're not all done for quite yet.

This brings me to the good people of Hard Case Crime who, after years of bringing back the pulp novel, have scored Stephen King's new book Joyland, out today. This is notable insofar as this is King's second book with the upstart press, but it's also only available as a paperback.

Just like the good old days.

-- Dave

Mandy is a Superstar!

This was in the Record today:

There may not be a better place for a book lover from Waterloo Region. On Nov. 25, Mandy Brouse, a bookseller at Words Worth Books in Waterloo, will be at the Governor General’s Literary Awards ceremony in Ottawa, surrounded by authors, publishers, and Gov. Gen. David Johnston. Brouse received the invitation — which is only extended to 150 people — in an envelope with gold writing, and Rideau Hall as the return address.

 

“The first thing I thought was, “Oh my gosh, how am I going to get there, and what am I going to wear?’ ” Brouse said.

The Governor General’s Literary Awards — organized by the Canada Council for the Arts — are the most prestigious literary honour in the country after the Giller Prize. This year’s winners, who were announced Tuesday, include Regina’s Dianne Warren, who won the fiction prize for her debut novel Cool Water.

Brouse said she isn’t sure why she was invited to the awards gala, but thinks it might be because Johnston — the former longtime president of the University of Waterloo — used to regularly buy books from Words Worth. Aside from travel and wardrobe, Brouse said she has to make sure she’s read all the books nominated for the prize before the ceremony.

“I’m really excited about the authors that are going,” she said. “I’ve already contacted the authors that I love from the list and said, ‘I hope I see you that night.’ ” Brouse admitted she could be slightly star struck rubbing shoulders with big literary names, but it’s Johnston she is most excited to meet.

“I’m excited to get some face time with David Johnston,” she said. “I think he just really supported independent, local bookstores.” Brouse is bringing along a signed and personalized copy of the One Book, One Community selection this year, Best Laid Plans, by Terry Fallis, for Johnston.

She plans to post photos and blog about her experience at the awards on the Woods Worth Books blog at www.wordsworthbooks.com.

“It’ll be great because it will be people from publishing, writers and all different types of people,” Brouse said. “I’m sure we’ll just talk about books all night.”

Words Worth Eating with Nan Forler & Peter Etril Snyder

Our Words Worth Eating event series are some of our favourite events to organize and partake in.

We love working with Nick and Nat at Uptown 21. The food is always incredible and the atmosphere is so much fun. We celebrated the release of Winterberries and Apple Blossoms on October 12th with Nan Forler and Peter Etril Snyder. If these pictures whet your appetite, then call the restaurant to reserve seating. We are doing the event all over again on November 23rd! You can reach Uptown 21 at 519-883-1100. There are only a handful of seats left.

Copies of Winterberries & Apple Blossoms on display. Each ticket includes a copy of the book.

The first course - an amazing salad that gave one patron "an out-of-this-world-experience"!

Acclaimed children's author, Nan Forler with illustrator and celebrated painter, Peter Etril Snyder.

Pumpkin soup with pickled beet garnish - delicious!

Everyone enjoying the food and company.

Main course of pork shanks, warm potato salad and Nick's award-winning sauerkraut. The menu was inspired by the traditional Mennonite culture depicted in the book.

And the grande finale: Apple pie and Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. Nick froze summer strawberries and rhubarb back in June in preparation for this event. The desserts were from recipes included in Winterberries and Apple Blossoms.

Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff

I picked up Cleopatra: A Life, mostly inspired by the Globe and Mail review, but also because I have a deep deep love for Liz Taylor's depiction of the Queen in the classic 1963 film. Stacy Schiff, in her new biography of the Queen, references Taylor's "limpid lilac eyes", and says that the image of Cleoptara has been overwhelmed by Hollywood's imagining (Crazy, huh? What an accusation). Specifically Schiff speaks about our traditional view of Cleopatra as a sexy, seducing man-eater. Her book, which is as much a telling of the time and about the political figures around her as it is about it's main subject, renders this woman as intellectually and politically saavy. But also a lover of the land she ruled. And compared to her family line, a breath of fresh air as a monarch. During her reign, Egypt saw a time of economic prosperity not seen in generations; Cleopatra managed the details of her land's commerce on a day-to-day basis very well. She lived and partied lavishly, but never raped her land for it's resources. Instead she was shrewd, as in most aspects of her life, and reaped the benefits.

What director Joseph Mankiewicz absolutely had right about the Queen is her deep love of lavish displays. She wore jewelry everywhere, pearls in her hair, and perfumed every part of her body as well as anything she sat on or touched. But all of the opulence also politically advantaged her. Cleopatra dressed symbolically because she knew her people respected a truly mysterious symbol. She became synonymous with the image of Isis into her adulthood, sitting next to her son, who would then be seen as the god Horus. I'm pretty sure she won over both Caesar and Anthony with her charm mostly, but also with the suggestion that she might actually be a half-god. She also claimed descent from Alexander the Great, and both men had a mancrush on this early conquerer. Both men also aspired secretly (or not so subtley) to godhood, so Cleopatra spoke to a few of their political desires.

There is not a lot of source material about the Queen and I truly enjoyed the depiction's from Cicero. His juvenile vindicitveness is hilarious and possibly mostly to blame for the Queen's notoriety, "Cicero was accustomed to being the most articulate person in the room. It was annoying that Cleopatra shared his sardonic wit. And was it really necessary for her to act regally?" Schiff asserts that even during her time, Cleopatra was the victim of gossip which eventually overwhelmed any actual truth about the woman.

But even without much source material on Cleopatra particularly, I was amazed by Schiff's ability to create this woman's life in vivid colours. The part about Cleopatra stealing herself into her own palace in a sack, hoping to speak with Caesar directly (her brother was poisoning his ear against her) was riveting. Schiff gives all this background history about Caesar explaining exactly why the leader would have been so impressed with her political deftness and bravery. Actually the whole book more or less reads like fiction, without fabricating any details. Schiff is a fabulous biographer and writer.

Although I have to admit that when I finished it, I was up for a Liz Taylor/Cleopatra rewatch!

Cleopatra: A Life Stacy Schiff Little, Brown and Company 2010 $33.99