Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Packing for Mars

Packing for Mars: the curious science of life in the void by Mary Roach 2010

As you read this, the Curiosity rover is travelling towards Mars, and is expected to arrive next August. If there were humans aboard, things would be even more complex. Our bodies are not designed for weightlessness, or extra gravitational forces. We need to bring our air along with us. We may not get along with one another if we’re confined in close quarters for too long. Using extensive interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, scientists and NASA officials, science writer Mary Roach has a written a gossipy history of space flight, while describing the anticipated problems of future space flight.

Selected for San Francisco's 'One City One Book'

Fiction Pick of the Week: Gods of Greenwich

The Gods of Greenwich, by Norb Vonnegut 2011

Vonnegut follows his debut novel, Top Producer, with another financial thriller about Wall Street's hedge fund industry. In 2007, Jimmy Cusack, an honest money manager, finds himself in trouble after his hedge fund collapses thanks to the pullout of his biggest investor. He takes a job with Leeser Capital, run by the shady Cy Leeser, whose investment strategies have always been far from transparent. Cusack's misgivings grow as losses begin inexplicably mounting at Leeser amid rumours about the company's involvement in an Icelandic bank and a hedge strategy based on life insurance claims. This is an enjoyable murder mystery too, written with a quick wit and a keen knowledge of the financial industry!

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Honeymoon in Tehran

Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni 2009

Born and raised in the United States, Moaveni is the daughter of two Iranian immigrants. Throughout her reporting career, she has repeatedly travelled to Iran to explain its politics and religion to the outside world. In this book, Moaveni has opted to begin a family and marry an Iranian man. She must decide if Iran, with all its beauty, culture, and extended family, is the place in which she can live out her dreams. This book focuses heavily on the details of Moaveni’s daily life and her point of view as she encounters a repressive regime that is increasingly omnipresent and omnipotent. It is a moving portrait of a beloved country struggling to retain its culture and character.

Read-alike: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Fiction Pick of the Week: A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman

A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman by Margaret Drabble 2011

To the many fans and followers of Margaret Drabble this collection of short stories is pure pleasure.

These 14 tales venture into the past four decades of her writing career to explore the complex psyche of independent women as they reveal their love affairs, their shattered marriages, their class origins, and their jobs. Her dry British humour is part of the joy of reading this collection. The stories showcase Drabble’s keen literary talent and present her complete short fiction for the first time in one volume. This may be the last new fiction we will read from the 72-year-old Dame Margaret Drabble as she retired from writing in 2009 to prevent as she says “repeating myself without knowing it which is what old people do endlessly.” These stories are a fitting end to a brilliant career.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers by Craig Childs 2010

In this book, Craig Childs puts the reader into the middle of an ethical dilemma: Is it better for archeologists to preserve the history they find around the world, or should they leave it to the land and the people it belongs to? While no easy answers are found, Childs takes the reader on an adventure through the seedy underbelly of archeology through to its most noble aspirations. We see how museums get caught up in a world of subterfuge, what happens when history is taken from the place it originates, and how people can be the heroes and villains of history at the same time. The author is most familiar with digs in the Southwest United States, but does take touch upon both major archeological events and major cultural institutions.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Scared Stiff

Scared Stiff by Annelise Ryan 2010

This light cozy mystery is the second book of the Mattie Winston mystery series written by an ER nurse. Typically following the pattern of “cozies”, this crime fiction is set in an intimate small-town community where everyone knows everyone. The book has a cast of quirky characters, forensic details, and a very likable lead character in the wry Mattie.

Mattie a nurse-turned-coroner is back on the dating scene (she caught her surgeon husband cheating in the first book of the series) but is relieved to be rescued from a boring date when she is called to check out the latest murder in town. Shannon, a waitress cum part-time model is found dead on a front yard littered with fake bodies and blood, all part of a gory Halloween display gone bad. Shannon’s husband is the obvious suspect, but Mattie is determined to dig deeper to find the real killer.

Readers who enjoy Janet Evonovich’s sassy heroine Stephanie Plum will find a kindred soul in the wry and humourous Mattie Winston. An enjoyable no-pressure fun read, the next in the series is Working Stiff.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Saving Max

Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten 2010

Attorney Danielle Parkman knows that her teenage son Max is having mental health issues that seem to be getting worse. She places him in the Maitland Institute which is a renowned psychiatric facility in Des Moines. Once Max is admitted to Maitland, his behaviour becomes very violent and he is accused of murdering a fellow patient, Jonas.

Appeal factors of this book are a fast-paced plot with lots of twists and turns. There are many subplots going on in the story that keep up the interest of the reader. The courtroom setting and writing style are similar to John Grisham. A very good thriller for this debut author.

For your consideration: Graphic descriptions of child abuse and the mindset of a serial killer.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Hanging Shed

The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris 2011

Douglas Brodie, a former officer in the British 51^st Highland Division, is contacted by an old school friend, Hugh Donovan, to save him from the gallows. Donovan has been convicted for the rape and murder of a young boy. Donovan claims he is innocent but the mountain of evidence against him makes his claim questionable. Brodie only has 14 days to clear his friend before he is hung for the crime.

A fast-paced plot, a bunch of tough IRA gangsters, and a pretty blond Scottish advocate make for a thrilling read. Fans of Ian Rankin won’t be disappointed in this action-packed tale.

For your consideration: sexual content and many violent scenes

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Sweater Quest

Sweater Quest: my year of knitting dangerously by Adrienne Martini 2011

Can knitting generate philosophical discussions? Adrienne Martini certainly thinks so. Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously, is a quirky romp through her adventures of knitting a Mary Tudor sweater designed by the reclusive knitter Alice Starmore. This project is Martini’s holy grail and she interviews some of the best known knitters in the United States and Canada to discuss the deeper questions of knitting such as, who owns a piece of work – the knitter or the pattern maker? Is knitting done for the pleasure of knitting itself, or the final product? And, can knitting save your sanity? This is a cozy, leisurely read written for knitters or knitter wannabes.

Read-alikes: The Knitting Diaries by Debbie Macomber

Fiction Pick of the Week: Joy for Beginners

Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister 2011

The friendship between six women – all in different situations – began when Sara moved in with her newborn twins. To help the young mother, a “holding circle” is formed. When Kate announces that she has cancer, the friends’ focus shifts. Months later, at a celebratory dinner, a healthy Kate announces that she is going white water rafting. Kate challenges each do something that frightens them. The catch - Kate gets to pick their task.

Even though they seem simple, Kate knows that each woman will struggle confronting her deepest fear. This moving, character-driven novel will make you laugh, cry, and smile. Each lyrical chapter chronicles the women’s lives, how they met and how they conquer their personal challenges. Fans of Maeve Binchy and Rosamunde Pilcher will enjoy Bauermeister’s heart-warming stand-alone follow-up to The School of Essential Ingredients.