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My Favourite Books of 2012, Nadia Graham
by Dan
Fiction + Science Fiction and Fantasy / December 21, 2012
I seem to have procrastinated this to the last minute, but there were so many good books to choose from in the last year. After some thought, I’ve got three books to recommend from 2012.
Redshirts
John Scalzi
From the Science Fiction shelf, this is a funny and yet ultimately thought-provoking book. When recommending it, I tell people this: “Redshirts. It’s about exactly what you think it’s about and it’s very well done. You should read it, I think you’d enjoy it.”
For those of you who didn’t grow up watching Star Trek instead of Degrassi and Hockey Night, “redshirt” is the term used to refer to the security officers that inevitably died shortly after being introduced in the original Star Trek, usually on an away mission. The security uniform changed colour in the later Treks but the term lives on.
The story itself takes the premise “What if these characters became aware of the pattern?” and runs with it.
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Blue Magic
A.M. Dellamonica
This is a book that crosses a few genres. If I had to categorize it, I would put it on the fantasy shelf but it is in some ways more of a post-apocalypse novel centering on the human condition. This is the second in a series and the characters must deal with the final, world-changing events of the previous book. Magic is spilling into the world, due in no small part to the actions of a trio of friends. This is a book that is as much about the character relationships as it is about the events unfolding. Ordinary people coping with extraordinary circumstances is one of my favourite themes and that’s a large part of why this book is on my list of favourites for 2012. Although, not everybody might agree with the ordinary part for these characters.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland And Led The Revels There
Catherynne M. Valente
Well-written and original, I love this whole series. While technically children’s books, both this and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making have elements that make them worth reading for adults and older children. The language is rich and the world of Fairyland is well built. As with Blue Magic, this book introduces consequences to actions that September (the heroine) took in the previous book and she must cope with the changes her last visit caused.
Nadia, Sales Operations
My Favourite Books of 2012, Jamie Broadhurst
by Jamie
Fiction + Politics / December 18, 2012
Louise Penny’s The Beautiful Mystery has been acclaimed everywhere: “Penny is Canada's best contemporary crime writer, among the best in the world, and one of our best writers, period"—said one reviewer this fall. She and proves it withThe Beautiful Mystery. I won’t spoil the story by giving away the plot, it is mystery after all, but it is special kind of mystery; an extended play on the locked-room genre of detective stories, now moved to a locked monastery in the wilds of Quebec. Yet like all of Penny’s writing, it is the telling emotional details that give The Beautiful Mystery such resonance...
And something that Louise said at the Vancouver Writers’ Festival has stuck with me. When asked a question about technique, Louise answered by explaining the journalist rule of naming the dog – Louise was a CBC journalist for many years before turning to writing fiction. When writing story of a story of something horrible like a child being struck by a car while chasing after their dog, the journalist should try and find out the name of the dog. The detail, far from being trivial, in fact deepens our understanding of motivation, the child ran out not to save a dog, but to save “Rover” or “Goldie”, not just a pet, but someone the child loved. It also brings the reader into the tragedy, beyond the shield of abstraction. The right details lead to greater empathy.
My non-fiction pick has little in common with Louise Penny except that Peter Beinhart in his The Crisis of Zionism has the same eye for the telling moral detail. And I guess the politics of the land west of the Jordan River is like a locked-room mystery, the protagonists cannot leave their confines and the ending is far from certain.
Beinhart, a former editor of one of my favourite magazines,The New Republic, is asavvy publicist for renewed liberal voice in Jewish and Israeli politics. In The Crisis of Zionism he calls for a new ethic of Jewish Power that recognizes the post-1967 reality of Israel as the regional superpower and return to Zionism’s democratic and leftist roots. There is a lot of policy and some (selective) history packed in, but it is the personal anecdote that registers most with me.
In the introduction Beinhart describes a video of a Palestinian man, Fadel Jaber being arrested for stealing water (Settler water usage is five times higher than it is for non-Israelis in the Occupied Territories). As he is being led away his five year old son Khaled rushes up to him crying “Baba, Baba!” Arabic for father. The video (shot by an Israeli peace activists) triggers an emotional connection. Beinhart writes;
“… my son is Khaled’s age. He attends a Jewish school, has an Israeli flag on his wall, and can recount Bible stories testifying to our ancient ties to the land. When he was younger, we thought he would call me Abba, the Hebrew word for father. But he couldn’t say Abba, so he calls me Baba; the name Khaled calls his father.”
Beinhart goes to say he is working for world where Zionism means place of refuge for his older relatives of the Diaspora who want to know an Israeli state is waiting should they need it and at the same time a Zionism that can allow for dignity and a meaningful state to a Palestinian man whose son calls out using the same term of address as Beinhart’s boy. A simple word choice and the hard choices of Middle Eastern politics won’t be solved by personal word associations alone; Abba and Baba, but it is a start.
Abba is also used in the New Testament and as the historian Diarmaid MacCulloch observed few years ago (in one of my favourite books of 2010); the use of Abba has a more intimate tone than we think; more like “dad” than “Father”. Abba is used three times to refer to God in the Gospels including Jesus at Gethsemane. It hints at a different sensibility than we understand today when we think of patristic religion, a world of dads not Fathers.
Sometimes real understanding comes from the small details.
Jamie Broadhurst, VP Marketing
My Favourite Books of 2012, Dan Wagstaff
by Dan
December 17, 2012
I'm actually getting pretty used to the idea that very few people like the same books that I do. I like to say my taste is unique, but when it comes down to it maybe I'm just odd!
Needless to say, the books I love are so rarely the ones that sell in vast quantities and I've all but given up recommending personal favourites to my colleagues.
I did, however, make an exception this year for a collection of stories by English novelist Edward St. Aubyn, which I raved about for like a maniac for 12 solid months (just ask our reps!).
Edward St. Aubyn's semi-autobiographical novels about the dysfunctional Patrick Melrose are quite well known in the UK. Never Mind, was first published in 1992. The fourth, Mother's Milk, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2006. But St. Aubyn's novels, horrifying and comic in turn, were presumed to be altogether too British for Canadian and American tastes. You had to really hunt them down if you wanted to read them on this side of the Atlantic.
Fortunately, all FIVE of St. Aubyn's Patrick Melrose novels were finally released properly in the US and Canada in January this year.
The Patrick Melrose Novels collects the first four stories — Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope and Mother's Milk — into one thick paperback (a bargain at $23.00!) and the fifth, concluding volume, At Last, (published in the UK in 2011), is now also available in paperback — just in time for Christmas.
If you like your prose surgical, your humour black, and your heroes alcoholic, I can't recommend these books enough (and Alice Sebold agrees with me!).
It is hard to pick a favourite comic book of the year, but I really enjoyed Guy Delisle's latest travelogue Jerusalem. I had the pleasure of meeting Guy at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival this year and witnessed his deadpan humour firsthand. As a dad, I can't wait to see his new book A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting in the new year...
I also had the pleasure of meeting Tom Gauld at TCAF. Goliath, Tom's latest graphic novel, is a charming and funny retelling of the familiar bibilical story and well-worth picking up. Tom has a new collection of literary comic strips out in January called You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, which I'm very excited about. If you liked Hark! A Vagrant, I think it might be a book for you...
Also recommended (although sadly overlooked in my opinion) is Baby's in Black by German cartoonist Arne Bellstorf. It's beautifully drawn and, although the story will be familiar to a lot of people from the movie Backbeat, it is lovingly told. It would be a perfect for a teenage Beatles fan.
Lastly, we had several photography books that really caught my eye this year. Balthazar Korab: Architect of Photography is a must for anyone who loves midcentury-modern style and beautiful pictures — it's the perfect book to adorn your Noguchi coffee table.
Instant: The Story of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos and The Disappearance of Darkness: Photography at the End of the Analog Era by Robert Burley are companion books in a way. Both are about the changing face of photography and the replacement of film technology with digital.
Instant details the Apple-like innovation and inventiveness behind the creation of Polaroid and the company's subsequent decline with the rise digital cameras. Likewise, Robert Burley's photographs in The Disappearance of Darkness capture the rapid end of the once-thriving analogue film industry around the world. Burley's photographs of the Kodak plant in Toronto and it's eventual demolition are particularly compelling, if not the cheeriest images for Christmas!
Dan Wagstaff, Online Marketing Manager
My Favourite Books of 2012, Megan Radford
by Megan
December 14, 2012
As one of Raincoast’s newbies, I’d seen staff picks of the year before, and felt excited to contribute a balanced, even view of those estimable books of stalwart repute that had caught my fancy in the year bygone.
And then I started working here… luxuriating in a constant, neverending parade of book lust akin to a daily sugar rush. THE COVERS! LOOK AT THOSE ENDPAPERS! THE BLADS! MY GOD, THE BLADS! Keep the drool from the pages, old chap, play it cool Radford, play it cool… THAT’S MY FAVOURITE BISAC CODE EVER!
My immediate response to “pick your favourite book” was to scoff like a surly teen. Pick ONE book? Like, surely you jest.There were spreadsheets, longlists, shortlists, and a drumroll.
But I digress…
Here are the books of 2012 that I just can’t get enough of:
Shadow & Bone
Leigh Bardugo
The fantasy/pseudo dystopian element of this book was so completely captivating, the world so unique, and the plot turns so surprising, I stayed up for two nights (weeknights—don’t tell my boss) into the wee hours just to finish it. The setting and the details are so rich, you feel the bite of cold in the harsh Siberian wastelands as you read. Add one rockin’ female protagonist to the mix, some magical creatures, and an epic quest to defeat evil, and oh yes, it’s gonna be good.
With the sequel out in June, I’m not sure how I’ll contain my excitement in the meantime (warning: risk of spontaneous excited squeals/shouts).
It’s A Tiger!
David LaRochelle and illustrated by Jeremy Tankard
It’s just a picture book *scoff scoff*. I’m not really afraid of those slithering snakes… or those mischievious monkeys… or that terrifying tiger!
Eeps!
The illustrations are gorgeous, the story delightful. This book is bright, fun, and the tiger bears an uncanny resemblance to my own charming feline (though she is likely more apt to chomp my head than a ferocious jungle beast). This is a book that begs to be read aloud. And I wasn’t scared, I swear! I’ll just go on to the next book and let my heart rate return to normal.
Piggy Bunny
Rachel Vail and illustrated by Jeremy Tankard
If you need me to explain why a piglet who wants to be a bunny is fantastic in every which way, then perhaps you’d best skip to the next selection. Oh, and the piggy hates salad, despite trying several times to swallow it down. How great is that?!
Reading this took me back to those wonderful days as a kid, when your central concerns were picking your nose without getting caught, deciding which teddy bear to snuggle, and reading a wonderful book for the pure, unfiltered giggle factor.
Cinder
Marissa Meyer
Selecting this title is a struggle (and kind of cheating), as I’m fighting the urge to toss my computer against the wall and abandon finishing this to retreat to the last 10 pages of this book, which has gripped me from the start.
The story is set far in the future, in a time of cyborgs, androids, and lunar colonies. There is a thin overlay of the classic Cinderella story, but this book ventures deeper, calling into question what it means to be human: a percentage of biology (51% human, 49% robot)? An emotional makeup? An ethical framework? In a world where the androids seem more human than our homosapien chums, it’s largely up to the reader to decide.
Now it’s time to scoot on out of here and read!
Megan Radford, Sales & Marketing Assistant
My Favourite Books of 2012, Sandy Cooper
by Dan
December 13, 2012
My favorite read off the list this past Fall was Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks. It intrigued me from the beginning, because when I was a child I had two imaginary friends. I think the idea is original, a hard thing to be these days. Seeing the life of a small boy through the eyes of his own special imaginary friend is a unique place to observe this child’s life from.
A friend who is watchful and caring, but is also scared of dying (being unneeded and forgotten and therefore no longer imagined). There are very funny, touching and suspenseful moments throughout the book. I couldn’t put it down and when I passed the reading copy along to a teacher friend of mine…well…let’s just say the value of this particular ARC has been maxed out.
Sandy Cooper, Sales Director
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My Favourite Books of 2012, Jim Allan
by Dan
December 13, 2012
From peckish to ravenous; this was my experience with the spectrum of hunger. But it wasn't until I read Herta Müller's The Hunger Angel that I came to appreciate hunger's full dimension. Here in the postwar Russian labour camp, the hunger angel drains the life force and commandeers the senses of the beleaguered inhabitants while the monotony of their work is tempered by their survival mantra—one shovel of coal = a gram of bread. Yes this is a bleak novel. But Müller, the winner of both the Nobel Prize and the Impac Dublin award, has infused the despair with an unflinching poetic realism. Not a novel to be read in front of the fireplace, nibbling at nuts and sipping at scotch; but a novel to be savoured slowly on a fast day.
Jim Allan, Data Analyst
My Favourite Books of 2012, Alisha Whitley
by Alisha
December 12, 2012
Typography Sketchbooks
Edited by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico
I have come to the realization that I am a full-fledged typography nerd. Seriously. My laptop’s font book is excessively large... and filled with typefaces that serve absolutely no purpose in an everyday context, but are just so pretty. This book has been one of my go-to ‘I feel like being creative on this lazy Sunday, but can’t actually illustrate fonts, so I’m going to admire them instead’ pieces since I received it as a birthday present this year (that lucky giver was subject to a great deal of squealing and jumping up and down – I seriously need to control myself when given made-for-me gifts). Safe to say, this is the perfect gift for anyone who creates typefaces, or simply adores them.
Alisha Whitley, Marketing Coordinator
My Favourite Books of 2012, Danielle Johnson
by Danielle
Excerpts + Food & Drink / December 12, 2012
Being a publicist here at Raincoast I feel blessed (and sometimes overwhelmed) to have so many books cross my desk throughout the year. But when asked to choose my faves I had to really sit here and think about it. I could have come up with plenty, but here's just a couple.
Roots by chef/author Diane Morgan.
I had the pleasure to tour with Diane while she was in Vancouver this Fall. She's an extremely knowlegable chef who had taught me and others that we can make pesto out of the tops of carrots. Who knew?!? Also, you can get almost every root listed at your local grocer. This book is filled with awesome recipes and beautiful photos. Perfect for anyone who wants to.....um, well just perfect for anyone!
CARROT TOP PESTO
MAKES ABOUT ⅔ CUP/165 ML
I almost always buy fresh carrots with their feathery green tops attached. In the past, I would invariably cut the tops off and send them to the compost bin. Honestly, it never occurred to me that they were edible. But the tops of other root vegetables are edible, so why wouldn’t carrot tops be edible, too? One day I blanched the leaves, puréed them with a little olive oil, and then used the purée as a gorgeous green accent sauce for fish, much in the same way I use basil oil. My next idea was to make pesto, trading out the basil for carrot tops, which proved an amazing alternative. This recipe is an absolute keeper, and it’s satisfying to make use of the whole plant. I serve this as a dip with crudités, and often add a dollop on top of bruschetta that has been smeared with fresh goat cheese. It’s also perfect simply tossed with pasta.
1 cup/20 g lightly packed carrot leaves (stems removed)
6 tbsp/90 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove
1/4 tsp kosher or fine sea salt
3 tbsp pine nuts, toasted (see Cook’s Note)
1/4 cup/30 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano
In a food processor, combine the carrot leaves, oil, garlic, and salt and process until finely minced. Add the pine nuts and pulse until finely chopped. Add the Parmesan and pulse just until combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
COOK’S NOTE
Toasting pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds brings out their flavor. Spread the nuts or seeds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, place in a preheated 350˚F/180˚C/gas 4 oven and toast until fragrant and lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the nut or seed. Alternatively, nuts and seeds can be browned in a microwave. Spread in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high power, stopping to stir once or twice, until fragrant and lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Watch them closely so they don’t burn.
I'm a geek when it comes to this show. When Chronicle Books came out with the companion this fall I was super-stoked. I initially got involved with the show when a colleague of mine lent us the DVD's. One episode after the next we were sitting at the edge of our seats waiting to see what was about to happen. I'm not going to talk about it too much for fear of spoiling the plot, but I would recommend watching it and getting the book so you can get a better understanding of who everyone is and how the show was made. I can admit it gets a tiny bit confusing figuring what character belongs to which house so this book is the perfect companion. Can't wait till season 4 in the Spring!
I only wish the pages came perforated so I can take them out and
hang them on my walls just like a giddy schoolgirl.
Danielle Johnson, Senior Publicist
My Favourite Books of 2012, Chelsea Newcombe
by Chelsea
December 12, 2012
With 2012 coming to a close, it's fun to reflect back on all of the excellent books that I encountered at Raincoast in the past twelve months. Usually I can't remember what I had for breakfast, but for some reason my memories of books tend to stick around. I suppose it could be because I'm surrounded by books all day long. Hard life, isn't it?
As for my favourite books of 2012, I chose something for kids, teens, and grown-ups:
Gulf Islands Alphabet
Bronwyn Preece, illustrated by Alex Walton
I’ve been lucky enough to spend time on a few of the Gulf Islands and thought I knew quite a bit about the area, but this beautiful picture book taught me that there is still much more to discover. The illustrations truly reflect how diverse and picturesque the islands are, and make me want to start planning my next trip!
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
While you could easily say that Shadow and Bone is similar to Harry Potter (since teens are sent off to magic school) or The Hunger Games (since a solitary heroine must overturn the evil forces that threaten her society), it is also a unique story that reads differently than either of those popular series and is just as enjoyable. Without giving too much away, this is for fans of conflicted characters and darker fantasy.
Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book
Jake Godby and Sean Vahey
My ice cream maker is the size of a large mixing bowl, is at least 25 years old, and the most complicated mechanism is a hand crank. Apparently that’s all you need to make delicious homemade ice cream in about 40 minutes with help from the Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book! Every recipe that I’ve tried has come out delicious, from the standard (Tahitian Vanilla) to the extreme (Balsamic Caramel) and the in-between (Honey Thyme). Plus, homemade ice cream is the ultimate way to cap off a dinner party; no need to tell anyone how easy it was to make.
Chelsea, Sales Associate
My Favourite Books of 2012, Larisa Sviridova
by Dan
December 10, 2012
As long as I can remember, I was always interested in other people's life stories. There is something almost mystical in being able to learn who was the woman that inspired a famous writer/artist/composer or what psychological childhood trauma formed the personality of a cruel dictator. Not only famous people have something to say. You can find magic in everyday life of ordinary people. While reading memoirs you can be hit by the fact that your own experience might not be completely unique, you are not alone, you are not lonely.
My favourite memoir of 2012 was Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer published by Picador. Don't judge too fast—this is not the book about yoga, or not only about yoga. You don't have to be a yogee or even know anything about it—you will still enjoy the book. At some point of author's life yoga helps her look inside herself, realize who she actually was and get strength to tell us about what she found out. Every time introducing a new yoga posture she tells us a new story. A story of her mother and other women in early 70th, of relationship between children and divorced parents, of different approaches to family, job and parenting, of struggles to find a healthy balance between all that. Is yoga able to help find the balance? The answer is “yes”.
There is another biography book I want to tell you about – Teresa Rhyne’s Dog Lived (and So Will I) from Sourcebooks. First Teresa’s beloved dog, the spoiled and cheerful beagle Seamus and then the author herself are being diagnosed with cancer. They need a lot of temper and courage to go through all pain and frustration caused by this deadly disease. With a great sense of humour Teresa tells us what cancer patients need from us healthy people, and what we should probably avoid in our striving for being supportive. Teresa also explains what her dog means to her and what she is ready to sacrifice for her pet. Do you also wonder why some people are ready to spend thousands of dollars for their dogs when others prefer expensive cars, vacations and exclusive club memberships? Read the book!
Every morning I drive my kid to school, then I head to the office and back home after work. I spend hours in traffic as many other people do. Does the fact that I can't read while driving mean I must listen to endless annoying advertising on the radio all the time? Not at all! Thanks to a smart person, who invented audiobooks, whose name is unknown to me (I say thank you every time I push the "on" button on the player.) Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, a great collection of short stories written by Etgar Keret, had been accompanying me in audio format a few weeks this summer. Unlike two previous books of my choice, this is nothing close to biography. The world of Keret’s stories is fantastic and ordinary at the same time, partly absurd and partly ironic. In his stories you will meet characters from your childhood lies, catch a golden fish and struggle for a right wish again and again, talk to animals, and despite all your life experience, deeply believe in a power of wish.
Street lights, please stay red, I have another story to listen to.
Larissa, Data Specialist