Mini Book Expo For Bloggers

The Anatomy of Keys [Steven Price]

Poems

Courtesy of Brick Books

 

A tour de force, a book-length poem, embracing a wide variety of poetic and prose forms, to tell the story of Harry Houdini.

Steven Price's Houdini knows better than most the limitations of life, having bent the efforts of a lifetime to transcending them, and having failed. Ah, but his thinking! Or rather Steven Price's thinking with and through him. "Make it muscular and be apparent in it," says Houdini's archivist/advisor, "words are also escapes." So they are in a book with the sinew of Anatomy of Keys. The facts of Houdini's life are here - immigration to America, youth, circus stint, fame, that notorious life-ending punch - but the facts are the spine of a deep and ardent meditation on what is. In poems of astonishing technical virtuosity, Steven Price reads Houdini's world and our own in compellingly original ways.

Swivel-and-snick sputter of a turned handle.
Bald knob bare in the palm. The torpid click
And calm take of springs triggered far within.
I'd set myself to hear it clear again,
That ordinary hinge and creak and drag
Of doors we live with all our days and lose 

The wonder of.

From "XLIV.iv" 

 

About the Author
Steven Price was born and raised in Colwood, BC. His work has appeared in Canadian and American literary journals. He is one of the poets in Breathing Fire 2: Canada's New Poets, edited by Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane. Price graduated from the University of Virginia Writing Program, and currently teaches poetry and writing at the University of Victoria.

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More information

• Author Site: [Link to author's site or blog] 
• Book Site: [link to dedicated site or blog about the book] 
• Extra Info: [ToC, excerpt, sample image] 
• Brick Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 2 copies available This book is CLAIMED
• Paperback: 144 pages 
• Publisher: Brick Books (May 29, 2006) 
• ISBN-10: 1894078519 
• ISBN-13: 978-1894078511

Shipping Worldwide sponsored by Brick Books

Drinkwater [Eric Hopkins]

Courtesy of Crackjaw Publishing

Drinkwater was originally an English word given to someone who abstains from drinking alcohol. As a family name it represents sobriety, dignity and self-control. 

Nineteen-year-old Amber Drinkwater knows that when life presents hardships, a responsible person meets them fairly, with a clear head and the willingness to work. her plans to start a new life in Toronto with her brother Guy are interrupted when their uncle fails to meet them at the train station, but she resolves to abide until he turns up—and when it seems their caretaker is gone for good, she accepts it as an unexpected but timely call to independence and adult responsibility, in spite of her dearth of money or friends in the city. 

The sprawling city of Toronto represents a shining opportunity for Amber to prove herself through an old code of grim endurance and bold resignation, but she will find her simple work ethic is no match for its modern towers, dark streets and disjointed neighbourhoods. Drinkwater is a provocative story that blurs the borders between teenage empowerment and helplessness, between experience and naivety, and between optimism and blind hope. 

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More information

• Extra Info: Excerpt 
• Crackjaw Publishing | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 5 copies available   This book is CLAIMED
• Paperback: 232 pages 
• Publisher: Crackjaw Publishing (August 22, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 097820266X 
• ISBN-13: 978-0978202668

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Mother Superior [Saleema Nawaz]

Mother Superior introduces Saleema Nawaz as a truly bold new voice in fiction. Gorgeous, sensuous prose and edgy, taboo-breaking subject matter combine to create a collection quite unlike anything else being published today. 

A prostitute takes shelter with a group of young anarchists. A sister goes missing, mailing a trail of encoded postcards from destinations across the globe. The daughters of a Montreal bagel-shop owner navigate the tricky terrain of being young, Sikh, and female, one growing larger while the other fades. A woman watches with lust and longing as the object of her affections, her pregnant roommate, is pursued by an unsavory suitor. And a precocious child spies on her adoptive mother, trying to grasp the secret of her mother’s hidden obsession and of her own unexplained origins. 

The seven stories and two novellas in Mother Superior are a heady blend of misfits and mothers, of sisters and complex, mysterious others. Nawaz traces the scars left by family secrets and sings the complex, captivating language of lust and of love. 

About the Author

Saleema Nawaz’s fiction has appeared in journals including Prairie Fire, Grain, The New Quarterly, and PRISM international and she is an alumnus of the Writing Studio at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Her novella "The White Dress" took second place in the Malahat Review's novella contest and won the inaugural Robert Kroetsch Award for Best Creative Thesis at the University of Manitoba. "My Three Girls," a story in Mother Superior, will appear in the 2008 McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize Anthology.  Saleema lives in Montreal, where she is at work on her first novel.

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More information

• Extra Info: excerpt
• Freehand Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 2 copies available This book is CLAIMED 
• Paperback: 290 pages 
• Publisher: Freehand Books (September 10, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1551119277 
• ISBN-13: 978-1551119274

Shipping Worldwide sponsored by Freehand Books

McGraw-Hill's Spanish Student Dictionary for your iPod (Ty [Regina M. Qualls, L. Sanchez]

 

(MP3 Disc + Guide)

Courtesy of McGraw Hill

At school, at home, or on the go, this beginner's dictionary gives you what you need quickly and easily. With each entry, you will hear the word in Spanish and in English, with pauses so you can perfect your pronunciation. McGraw-Hill's Spanish Student Dictionary for Your iPod also lets you personalize your learning experience in three ways:

Quick look-up
See and hear 4,000 Spanish to English, English to Spanish entries (some with illustration!).

Essential Vocabulary
Master 800 basic words grouped by 30 common themes.

Customized Learning
Using the iPod playlist feature, you can create your own list of troublesome words, terms to study for next week's exam--the possibilities are endless!

The artwork in this product may cause functionality issues with certain iPod models. We recommend that if you are running McGraw-Hill's Student Dictionary on an iPod Nano (3G) you should install only one version of the dictionary (e.g., only Spanish-English but not English-Spanish). Please refer to the accompanying booklet for detailed installation instructions.

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More information

• McGraw Hill | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 1 copy available    This book is CLAIMED 
• MP3 CD: 8 pages 
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (July 18, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 0071592032 
• ISBN-13: 978-0071592031

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by McGraw Hill

The Black Triangle Abduction [Tammy's Review]

Tammy, over on Mom Knows Everything picked up a copy of The Black Triangle Abduction and started to question if we have company ... out there...

I personally an not sure about the whole alien thing, but there is one part of this book that really made me think. It's where Bill is talking to the Vicar of his church and asking her what she thought about the subject. The Vicar basically said to him that God being all powerful as he is could certainly have created more then just us.

Keep reading Tammy's review...

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More information

• Invisible College Press| Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

• Paperback: 368 pages

• Publisher: Invisible College Press, LLC (November 1, 2005) 

• ISBN-10: 1931468249 
• ISBN-13: 978-1931468244

Schooled [Carmen's Review]

Carmen schools us on not to judge a book by other people's reviews! She read Schooled and left a great review over on her blog, c-alexis

I had read a review about how "Schooled" was just a name-dropper and had no substance. Well, I beg to differ. Sure there was a lot of name dropping, but surely, that was the author's intention. It is the seduction of all those brand names that Anna is hooked on, and even as a reader myself, I could feel that want and need of a better living condition and style.

Keep reading Carmen's review...

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More information 

• Author Site: AnishaLakhani.com 
• Hyperion Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 5, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1401322875 
• ISBN-13: 978-1401322878

Christmas Sucks [Sean's Review]

On the 5 hour drive to Toronto one Christmas, my brother told a 3 hour joke with the punchline being an expletive I choose not to repeat here. I wet myself laughing. Unfortunately Sean, from Fortress of Solitude, didn't laugh as hard at Christmas Sucks:

I found myself thinking, “Alright…I get the joke.”

Keep reading Sean's review...

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More information

• Author Site: www.sucksandthecity.com
• Adams Media | Chapters.ca | Amazon

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages 
• Publisher: Adams Media
• ISBN-10: 1598698125   
• ISBN-13: 978-1598698121 

Shipping within Canada and US sponsored by Adams Media

Rogue Economics [Jamie's review]

Jamie doesn't buy the argument of Rogue Economics, but gosh darn it, that cover wins some style points with me:

 Napoleoni prefaces her book by saying that it isn’t anti-globalization or anti-democracy and that it is just an objective view on the world of “rogue economics”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It is obvious that Napoleoni blames most of the world’s problems on the spread of global commerce, capitalism, and the spread of democracy.

         It appears that she is attempting to copy the formula of “Freakonomics” but with her own slant on economics. The problem is that she falls woefully short of the bar set by Freakonomics. What makes Freakonomics interesting is that is shows how economics can be used to study and explain all kinds of everyday occurrences. It makes no moral judgment about the subjects under study, it simply explains why things are they way they are from an economics perspective. In contrast, Napoleoni blames the woes of the world on the falling of the Berlin wall and pretends life was much better for everyone before. She doesn’t explain the real economics behind the examples she uses and focuses exclusive on the negative.

         In reality, there is no such thing as “Rogue Economics” anymore than there can be “rogue physics”. Economics is the study of market forces and interactions like physics is the study of physical interactions.  In a vacuum, economics is guided by the simple principle of supply and demand. Governments enforce rules and policies that change the parameters of supply and demand. For example, there may be a demand for a certain drug the government has deemed illegal. By making it illegal, supplying the drug becomes more difficult and prices go up. This is how black markets are created. Governments also have an overall economic policy that guides the market in a certain direction. One could argue that there are rogue economic policies that produce unintended consequences but the underlying economics can always be explained and always conforms to the same rules of supply and demand.

         This book would have been much more interesting had Napoleoni explained the true forces in action when she gave her examples. For example, instead of blaming the fall of the Berlin wall for the increase in the sex trade in Eastern Europe, she could have explained how social norms and laws created a black market for prostitution that was flooded by women from Eastern Europe, who were desperate for money. The increasing supply lowered prices, which increased demand. She should have explained how policies that created the black market were to blame for the problems associated with the sex trade, not the fall of the Berlin wall.

        Overall, this book disappoints because the author doesn’t dig deep enough into the issues to explain the true underlying economic forces at work. Instead, she prefers to apply her own political viewpoint and pin the blame of all the world’s problem on globalization, capitalism and the spread of democracy. Napoleoni also fails to provide any solutions to the problems she presents and neglects to mention any positive outcomes to the spread of globalization and democracy. Surely, the fall of the Berlin wall improved the lives of some people.

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More Information

• Author's Site: Loretta Napoleoni
• Seven Stories Press | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1583228241 
• ISBN-13: 978-1583228241

Mr Darcy Presents his Bride [Jo-Ann's review]

Mr Darcy Presents his Bride still gets a 4/5 from Jo-Ann, although it wasn't a smooth ride:

I enjoyed this sequel to Pride and Prejudice. I did find the writing a bit choppy. There were section I had to reread to ensure that I understood it. Although it is nice to read about favourite characters again there were times that I felt that Helen Halstead had taken the characters on a path very different than I had hope that they would follow.

Keep reading Jo-Ann's review...

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More information

• HelenHalstead.com
• Read an excerpt
• Ulysses Press | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1569755884 
• ISBN-13: 978-1569755884

Hidden Hawaii [Suzie's review]

Suzie dreams of visiting Hidden Hawaii habitats again: 

Ever since my husband and I went to Hawaii in 2002 for our honeymoon, we’ve longed to return. This book was a cost-effective way to travel to this beautiful place mentally, if not physically. We do plan on returning to the islands some day in the near future so this book was also a way to get some tips for next time.

While I have not yet read the book cover-to-cover, I have read big chunks – most notably the section on Maui (where we want to go next), and bits about Oahu and the Big Island (where we went). The parts I read were very well-written and Riegert seems very knowledgeable about where to stay, what to see, and the local culture. You really get a feel for Hawaii through Riegert’s descriptions.

In particular, in the Lahaina, Maui, I was interested to learn about the Banyan tree, the largest in the US and among the oldest on the islands. Its roots extend almost an acre! I think that would be something to see. In the same area, the hidden Olowalu Beaches with their white sand, coral reef, sea turtles and Maui diamonds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maui_Diamonds), sound like a great place to spend some time relaxing. The restaurant Warren and Annabelle’s, also in Lahaina, has a ghost, singing waitstaff, and a magic show! Not your typical evening out for dinner.

Of course, these are just a sampling of the things you can find in Hidden Hawaii. Each area of each island has its own section with sights, lodging, dining, shopping, nightlife, and beaches and parks. There is so much in this book, you’d have to go to Hawaii for several months to do and see it all. Oh wouldn’t that be fun?

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More information

• Ulysses Press | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1569756163 
• ISBN-13: 978-1569756164

Kenny & the Dragon [Tony DiTerlizzi]

Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Canada

What do you do when your new best buddy has been designated a scourge by the community and marked for imminent extermination? Just ask Kenny Rabbit. When the simple folks in the sleepy little village of Roundbrook catch wind that there's a dragon running loose in the countryside, they get the wrong idea and the stage is set for a fight to the death. So it's up to Kenny to give his neighbors front-row seats to one of the best-known battles in history -- the legendary showdown between St. George and the dragon -- without losing a friend in the fray. 

About the Author
Tony DiTerlizzi is the author and illustrator of Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure as well as the Zena Sutherland Award-winning Ted. In 2003 his brilliantly cinematic version of Mary Howitt's classic, The Spider and the Fly, received stellar reviews, earned Tony his second Zena Sutherland Award, and was honored as a Caldecott Honor Book. His most recent picture book is G Is for One Gzonk! He and his wife, Angela, reside with their pug, Goblin, in Amherst, Massachusetts. They have no sprites. They know better. Visit Tony on the World Wide Web at 

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More information

• Author Site:
• Tony DiTerlizzi
• Blog - Imaginopolis Blog
• Extra Info:
• See an Excerpt 
• Read an Excerpt 
• Guides pdf 01
• Bonus Material - Screensaver  - Wallpaper 
• podcast interview with Tony DiTerlizzi
• Simon & Schuster Canada | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 1 copy available  This book is CLAIMED
• Reading level: Ages 9-12
• Hardcover: 160 pages 
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (August 5, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1416939776 
• ISBN-13: 978-1416939771

Shipping within Canada sponsored by Simon & Schuster Canada

Drive [John's review]

John read Drive and enjoyed the trip: 

Like cars? Hate cars? Read Drive by Tim Falconer.

Keep reading John's review...

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More information

• Author Site: http://www.timfalconer.com/
• Penguin Group Canada | Chapters.ca | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 0670065692 
• ISBN-13: 978-0670065691

Atheist Universe [Ann's review]

Heathen Ann has found a shiny new god buffer in Atheist Universe:

In an atheist universe, there wouldn't be religious folk proselytizing in my direction, or haranguing me to discuss God when I go out for a walk in my neighbourhood. But they do, and there are.

David Mills has written a little handbook that, while it may not convert religious folk, gave me enough ammunition to convince them that I am a lost cause.

Keep reading Ann's review...

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More information 

• Author's Sites:
  • David Mills Site
  • David on Facebook
  • David on MySpace
• Book Excerpt  (PDF)
• Ulysses Press | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1569755671 
• ISBN-13: 978-1569755679

Wieland [Riva's review]

It appears that Riva thought she was sent Boringland instead of Wieland, giving it a mere 1.5 stars:

I really didn't like this book. At first, I thought it was because of the style of writing. This book was written in 1798, and it is a little difficult to get used to some of the conventions of that time period. But that wasn't it. Even excusing the writing style, I didn't like this book.

Keep reading Riva's review...

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More information

• Read a sample
• Invisible College Press | Chapters.ca  |  Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 1931468028 
• ISBN-13: 978-1931468022

 

McGraw-Hill's French Student Dictionary for Your iPod [Marie's review]

Marie's review shows McGraw-Hill's Student Dictionary for Your iPod isn't very user-friendly:

I'm glad it was a review copy, and I know I'm going to use it, but I don't think I would have paid money for it.

Keep reading Marie's review...

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More information

• McGraw Hill | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 0071591982 
• ISBN-13: 978-0071591980

The Secret Laws of Attraction [Chris' Review]

After a getting stood up on a date, my father put down his paper and looked at me with a level eye and said: "If you're looking for it, you won't find it." Truer words have never been spoken at 2am at last call. Chris, from The Toff, is just as coy with his review of The Secret Laws of Attraction:

Is this just another self-help book that purports to provide the secret to happiness? Well, I am not going to answer that definitively here....

Keep reading Chris' review...

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More information

• Author Site: LifeCoach.com
• Book Site: secretlawsofattraction.com   
• Extra Info:    
• McGraw Hill | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 239 pages 
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 12, 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 0071543759 
• ISBN-13: 978-0071543750

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by McGraw Hill

Toyota Culture [Joshua's Review]

Joshua, over on Associated Content, felt that the book Toyota Culture could have used more time on the assembly line:

Toyota Culture would have benefited from more discussion of some of the tougher issues Toyota faced during their transition to the United States, such as trade issues and unionization. Less than three pages of the nearly 600 are spent discussing their approach to the union.

Keep reading Joshua's review...

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More information 

• McGraw Hill | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages 
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 20, 2007) 
• ISBN-10: 0071492178 
• ISBN-13: 978-0071492171

Shipping within Canada & US sponsored by McGraw Hill

Porn for Women [Sean's review]

What's Porn for Women is lame for Sean:

[The] idea of an image of a man vacuuming with a “humorous” caption beside him is about as disagreeable (not to mention unfunny) as a poster of a cat dangling from a clothesline with the obnoxious “Hang in there, baby!” sprawled across him.

Keep reading Sean's review...

 

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More information

• Book Site: Porn for Women
  • site: www.wannasnuggle.com
  • blog: http://www.wannasnuggle.com/index/blog/
  • Pornometer Quiz
• Chronicle Books | Raincoast Books |Chapters.ca| Amazon.com
• ISBN-10: 0811855511 
• ISBN-13: 978-0811855518

Devil May Care [Sean's review]

Devil May Care doesn't quite take the liberties it should, says Sean:

Yet it is evident that this “sameness with a difference,” like the Bond films, is the essence of what makes the Bond novels great (and the films, also).  But, as Fleming himself would often stray from his own established formula, Faulks seems trapped by it.

Keep reading Sean's review...

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More information

• Randomhouse.ca | Chapters.ca  |  Amazon.com 
• Sebastian Faulks on Inheriting the James Bond Mantle from Ian Fleming (on Amazon.com)
• ISBN-10: 0385524285 
• ISBN-13: 978-0385524285

Pathologies [Susan Olding]

Courtesy of Freehand Books

“In simple terms, pathology is the scientific study of the way things go wrong.” 

In these fifteen searingly honest personal essays, debut author Susan Olding takes us on an unforgettable journey into the complex heart of being human. 

Each essay dissects an aspect of Olding’s life experience—from her vexed relationship with her father to her tricky dealings with her female peers; from her work as a counsellor and teacher to her persistent desire, despite struggles with infertility, to have children of her own. In a suite of essays forming the emotional climax of the book, Olding bravely recounts the adoption of her daughter, Maia, from an orphanage in China, and tells us the story of Maia’s difficult adaptation to the unfamiliar state of being loved.

Written with as much lyricism, detail, and artfulness as the best short stories, the essays in Pathologies provide all the pleasures of fiction combined with the enrichment derived from the careful presentation of fact. Susan Olding is indisputably one of Canada’s finest new writers, one who has taken the challenging, much-underused form of the literary essay and made it her own.

About the Author

Susan Olding was recently named one of The New Quarterly’s “Most Loved Living Writers” alongside authors including Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro. Her poetry and prose have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies across Canada and the United States. She has been a finalist for a National Magazine Award, two Western Magazine Awards, and a CBC Literary Award; she is also a two-time winner of the Event Creative Non-fiction Contest and a winner of the Prairie Fire Non-fiction Contest. Born in Toronto, Susan Olding currently lives with her family in Kingston, Ontario, where she works at the Queen’s University Writing Centre.

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More information

• Author Site: www.susanolding.com
• Freehand Books | Chapters.ca  | Amazon.com

Product Details

• 2 copies available This book is CLAIMED
• Perfect Paperback: 272 pages 
• Publisher: FreeHand Books; 1st edition (September 2008) 
• ISBN-10: 1551119307 
• ISBN-13: 978-1551119304

Shipping Worldwide sponsored by Freehand Books