Friday at the Branches: Calling Invisible Women

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray 2012

Fifty-four-year-old Clover Hobart knows that her pediatrician husband, unemployed son and self-centred daughter take her for granted. However, she is shocked when one day she looks in a mirror and discovers not only does she feel invisible – she is invisible. She’s even more shocked when no one in her family even notices! When she spots a notice in the local newspaper saying: "Calling Invisible Women. Downtown Sheraton Wednesday at 10AM. Bring a kleenex" she decides to investigate. She finds there are many other women of a certain age who are also invisible, and they set out to discover why. Along the way, Clover learns that being invisible can actually be a good thing! This witty, touching novel should captivate anyone who has felt invisible or taken for granted. Another charming story from Ray, who wrote her first novel after working as a nurse for 40 years. She’s also the mother of author Ann Patchett. 

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Bossypants

Bossypants by Tina Fey 2011

Written by comedic writer and actress Tina Fey, Bossypants is a Library Journal 2011 Best Books award winner.  Fey’s witty, fast-paced autobiography chronicles her awkward childhood in Pennsylvania to her current success with 30 Rock.  Along this laugh out loud journey, you meet her gay friends from her teenage years, hear of her romantic failures in university, and appreciate her struggles with balancing a career, marriage, and motherhood.

Her self-deprecating anecdotes are genuine and her one-line zingers will leave you laughing on the inside and out – public transit riders have been warned!  Fans of her writing, Saturday Night Live or 30 Rock will enjoy this book.  It would also interest fans of other female comedians, such as Chelsea Handler, or those who grew up in the 1980s.

Also very humorous on audio!

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Woman who went to Bed for a Year

The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend 2012

Sue Townsend, one of England’s finest comic writers, first started me laughing when she wrote about the hilarious struggles of Adrian Mole. In her latest novel we meet Eva Beaver, a dutiful wife of an adulterous husband and mother of autistic adult twins. She has scrubbed and polished, cooked and catered for her brood, never once complaining or thinking of her own needs.  She even ate out of pots while standing up when the family ate, and they never noticed. After finding tomato soup staining a chair which took her 2 years to embroider, she hurls the entire pot of soup on the chair and so begins her self-imposed exile in her bed which she does not leave for a year. This is her time to rebuild and rethink her life.  Her  transformation is at times full of laughter and tinged with sadness as she gently exposes the foibles and pretensions of the throng of characters who rally around her bedside.   

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Drop Dead Healthy

Drop Dead Healthy by A.J.Jacobs 2012

Perfection was the goal of A.J. Jacobs as he pursued his mission for total body health. His quest was to remake his somewhat flawed body from head to toe. For two dedicated years he methodically used his body as an experiment to transform it to optimum health by researching the latest scientific data, consulting the leading health experts, exploring a myriad of diagnostic tests, and even dipping into the realm of some fringe theorists. Told with humour and embarrassing frankness, this amazingly brilliant book makes me want to reach out with enthusiasm for that big bunch of kale, run--not walk--to the gym, and give my cerebellum a workout along the way.

Fiction Pick of the Week: What Alice Forgot

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty 2011

What if you fell and hit your head and lost the last ten years of your life? Well, that’s exactly what happens to Alice Love when she tumbles of the treadmill and then has zero idea why she (who despises gyms!) would be on a treadmill in the first place! Alice believes that she is a 29-year-old newlywed, pregnant with her first child, who just bought her first fixer-upper home with her adoring husband Nick. In reality, Alice is a 39 year old, a soon-to-be divorcee with three kids living the uppity lifestyle she once mocked in her twenties. Every day brings a new twist as Alice struggles to regain her memories as well as reconcile the old Alice she once loved with the new Alice everyone seems to dislike. If you ever have sat back and wondered how your life changed so much without realizing it – this book is for you. It’s fast and funny and often makes you think about the lives we create for ourselves. Liane’s other books are 3 Wishes and The Last Anniversary.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Canterbury Trail

The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou 2011
The Canterbury Trail is a present day tale of a weekend trek to a remote cabin in the Canadian Rockies. With the end of the ski season upon them, three separate groups from the small mining town of Coalton, B.C. head out for one final weekend of skiing in the backcountry. When the redneck snowmobilers, stoned ski bums, hippies, lesbians, urbanite, and the local real estate developer with his pregnant wife all converge on the same cabin, dysfunctional relationships are plentiful, and each is examined from various perspectives. As can be expected from the stereotypes presented in this story, drug use, drinking, profanity, and sexual innuendo are extensive. Despite having 14 characters to follow, and a number of underlying themes to consider, the events that take place over the course of the weekend are somewhat predictable. The abrupt ending, however, was unexpected. This is the second novel written by Angie Abdou, a Canadian author. Her first novel, The Bone Cage, is a Canada Reads 2011 Nominee. For readers who like Miriam Toews and Elizabeth Hay.

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: Heads You Lose

Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz 2011

In her first novel since the Spellman Files mysteries, Lisa Lutz teams up with her ex-boyfriend, editor-poet David Hayward. The concept - write alternating chapters without a pre-determined storyline or the ability to change what was written. The result – a fun, fast read that will leave a smile on your face. The antics of the main characters and their supporting cast are in competition for laughs with the flippant notes written back and forth between Lutz and Hayward.

In this comical tale, pot growing siblings Lacey and Paul, share a house - in a small town that Lacey cannot wait to leave - but little else. When a headless body, identified as Lacey’s ex-fiancé, shows up in their yard the amateur sleuthing begins – so does the climbing body count! If you like Janet Evanovich, you will enjoy Lisa Lutz.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: My Boyfriend Wrote a Book about Me

My Boyfriend Wrote a Book about Me by Hilary Winston 2011

Hilary Winston had a boyfriend, and when they broke up, he wrote a book. The book was supposed to be fiction; however, she discovered when she picked the book up in a bookstore one day that it most definitely was not completely fiction. In fact very intimate details of their love life were published there for the world to see, not to mention the fact that he refers to her as his fat-a@$ed girlfriend! Hilary, a writer herself on the sitcom Community and formerly on the series My Name is Earl, decided to get even with said boyfriend by writing a book of her own, and her book would be decidedly non-fiction.

This book made me laugh out loud--it also made me blush. Hilary gives a no-holds-barred account of her life as a single woman in Hollywood in all its glory-- and shame. Crazy cat lady or swinging single? You will have to decide for yourself! Fans of Sex in the City or the movie Bridesmaids might enjoy this honest, hilarious memoir.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: 101 Places Not to See Before You Die

101 Places Not To See Before You Die by Catherine Price  2010

If you spend time in the library or a bookstore, you will have seen a wide variety of books telling you where to go, what to read, what to eat, what movies to watch, what wines to taste all before you die.  Author Catherine Price was tired of so many books telling her what to do with her precious spare time that she decided to write a book telling you what not to bother seeing or doing.

Her writing style is funny and quick, sometimes silly, and reads like a blog. It is a nice light read if you need a book that you can put down and pick up later without having to refresh your memory. It would be a great book for trivia lovers.

So you can read this book and save yourself time by not going to Time’s Square on New Year’s Eve, or the Beijing Museum of Tap Water, or on an overnight stay in a Korean Temple.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Heidegger and a Hippo Walk through those Pearly Gates

Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through those Pearly Gates : using philosophy (and jokes) to explore Life, Death, The Afterlife and everything in between by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein 2009

From the authors of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar comes yet another philosophical quest, or jest rather. With majors in philosophy from Harvard, the authors know their subject area, but their real skill lies in employing jokes, cartoons, and light-hearted dialogue to illuminate various thinkers’  (and some comics’) approach to the big, heavy question that confronts us all- our own mortality. 

Recognizing that “humour allows us to express our fears about death while defusing anxiety”, the authors succinctly deliver the in-a-nutshell version – from the Ancient Greeks to the 20^th Century  existentialists. An accompanying index  and notes round out the simple but profound offering.  For anyone who claims they can’t understand philosophy.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Wicked Appetite

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich 2010

Lorelei King reads the first in the series of the “Seven Deadly Sins” in which Evanovich brings back the hunky and unmentionable Diesel from the Stephanie Plum Novels. This time Diesel is paired with pastry chef Elizabeth Tucker whose character is reminiscent of the infamous bounty hunter Plum. Set in Salem, Massachusetts, this duo has to track down the gluttonous stone of power before Wulf (Gerwulf Grimoire) gets his hands on it. Sure to please Evanvovich fans who like her fun romps and simple writing style. Familiar and new eccentric characters make this tale different but similar to her more famous series.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson 2010

If you enjoy stories full of eccentric characters set in a cosy English village, then this debut novel by Helen Simonson is for you. Widower Major Pettigrew lives a quiet life valuing proper English things like honour, duty, decorum and a properly brewed cup of tea. His settled world becomes upset when he realizes he has certain feelings for Mrs. Ali, the local Pakistani shopkeeper, herself a widow.

Can village society, including the Major's spoiled yuppie son and Mrs. Ali's religious zealot nephew, accept this developing romance? This modern day comedy of manners is witty, very humourous and has an unforgettable character in Major Ernest Pettigrew.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Choral Society

Choral Society
by Prue Leith 2009

Choral Society by Prue Leith is a light hearted tale of three women in mid life bonded by their interest in choir singing and in finding love, or at the very least, finding themselves in the pursuit. The author has published twelve cookbooks in Britain and her knowledge and interest of food comes through the character of Lucy, who has lost her husband and her job as a food journalist. At choir practice she meets Joanna, an accomplished businesswoman who has trouble singing in a group, and Rebecca who, fresh from a divorce, just wants to meet someone male. Three very different women with different life experiences help each other find fulfilment. It ends with the three investing in a summer rental home in Cornwall where all three can contribute unique skills, but the moral support they give each other goes far beyond this project. Written with humour and wisdom, one reviewer called it "Sophie Kinsella for grownups".

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Middle-Aged Spread

Middle-Aged Spread: Moving to the Country at 50 by Sonia Day 2009

Sonia Day and her husband loved to spend weekends driving through the countryside outside of Toronto to enjoy the beauty, peace and solitude, far from the hustle and bustle of the city. One day they came across a charming old house on the outskirts of a small town. Even though it looked a little tired, they immediately fell in love with it. The idea of picking up and moving to the country seemed romantic and simplistic; getting back to nature and living a purer life.

Thus begins the humorous memoir of Sonia Day. They bought the house without much examination. I think it is safe to say that they fell in love the idea of moving to the country not realizing the work that would be involved. They have a simplistic vision that gets interrupted with a rude awakening of the repairs that will need to be done. They have a lot of work to do inside which starts with encouraging the wildlife to live outside.

This is a great story to read when you are looking for something funny, something light, at times something to make you laugh out loud. A must read for anyone fantasizing about moving out of the city. Sonia Day is the Canadian author of The Plant Doctor and The Urban Garden Indoors.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Family Planning

Family Planning
by Karan Mahajan 2008

I could feel the experiential quality of Mahajan’s depiction of the sweltering, chaotic, frenetic capital city of India. The same energy whips through his characters. Contradiction thrives, chaos rules, and the modern blends with the ancient with a logic and singular Indian-ness all of its own. The quirks and comedy of globalization shape the story of the Urban Affairs Minister, Rakesh Ahuja, his American stint with his first wife, his “switched,” perpetually pregnant wife and their thirteen children. His sexual appetite finds a parallel in his teen son’s own raging hormones. Arjun’s main focus is form a rock band to impress a girl and to distance himself from his family. Mahajan’s indulgent debut novel and satire jabs at Indian-style democracy, random politics, corrupt officials, hybrid English, pop-culture, the nation’s obsession with its TV soaps, and the sometimes simplistic American attempts to understand a nation that can neither be neatly boxed nor labeled. This giggle-quick read is astute, authentic and absurd!

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: 8 Men and a Duck

8 Men and a Duck by Nick Thorpe 2002

Could a reed boat built using ancient technology and sailed by 8 amateurs really make the 2,500 mile journey from Chile to Easter Island? That is the premise of journalist Nick Thorpe’s real-life story detailing his unbelievable luck in joining the crew on this “improbable voyage” and the amusing adventures they experience. Captain Phil Buck is entranced with the idea of completing this excursion and confirming Thor Heyerdahl’s theories that Easter Island could have been settled by South Americans. Thorpe shows himself to be the relatively paranoid and danger conscious but peace-making crewmember. He relates numerous anecdotes about the expedition including both exciting and terrifying storms, and engrossing tales relating the minor grumblings and major antics that can ensue from a mundane life of sailing on a small vessel carrying 8 adult men for 44 days.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Plum Spooky

Plum Spooky: A Stephanie Plum between the numbers series by Janet Evanovich 2009

This series, intended to satisfy those waiting for the next numbered mystery to come out, is sure to also delight those that like a bit of romance and enjoyed the author’s earlier romantic titles. The author introduces us to a new character Diesel, an attractive man with extraordinary powers that Stephanie has a hard time resisting. This is one of four titles in the series published. Each of the titles have the same great characters that are in the original numbered mystery series, contain humourous storylines and the romantic tension between Stephanie and Diesel is exhilarating. Another title in this series is slated to be released in January and if you like the character Diesel, the author is planning to launch a new series centered just on him. For a real treat, check out the audio version of this title which is read brilliantly by Lorelei King.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: The BlackBerry Diaries

The BlackBerry Diaries: adventures in modern motherhood by Kathy Buckworth 2009

Canadian author Kathy Buckworth describes life as a "modern mother" and how one goes about juggling motherhood in today's world of modern technology, in particular her BlackBerry Smart Phone (BBSM), which she nicknames Seamus. A mother herself to 4 children, Kathy brings to light many amusing ways that the BlackBerry and a young child are remarkably similar. The book is written like blog entries with tags for each chapter. Young moms would probably particularly enjoy this one - it's very funny; you will definitely relate to the situations Kathy finds herself in with her BBSM and her children; and it's a quick and easy read for those of you who are operating on a lack of sleep (because of either your children or your BlackBerry!).

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Biting the Wax Tadpole

Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confessions of a Language Fanatic by Elizabeth Little 2007

This is a hilarious look at some of the many languages of the world in all of their weird and wonderful glory. A self-confessed language fanatic, Elizabeth Little describes how her obsession began in her high school Latin class. It gave ‘travel’ a whole new meaning for her—not everyone can go world traveling, but everyone can go “word traveling”! She found that grammar can be fascinating, etymology is like a mini history lesson for each word, and perfect pronunciation is definitely more important for some languages than for others. Little’s references to bad translations are especially funny. The title, ‘biting the wax tadpole’, is the literal translation of the phonetic characters used to spell Coca Cola in Chinese… If you like books that take a closer look at how we use (or don’t use) words, this one will teach you a thing or two, and get you laughing at the same time!