the Book Brothel

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 364 pages, 2008

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: I love reading books set in India and Africa and this met the latter requirement.

Synopsis: In this collection of five short stories (though I’d make the argument that two of them approach novella length), each story focuses on children in a different African country. In one, two siblings might be sold into slavery by their uncle, in another a Muslim boy tries to fake Christianity in order to survive a dangerous bus ride across the border, in another a young boy watches his sister as she aims to turn prostitution into a way to capture the riches of white men. In all of the stories there’s a terrible but hopeful struggle for survival and even a quest for something better on a continent where life is often brutal and short.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 295 pages, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: The plot sounded intriguing.

Synopsis: Shanika Ann Jenkins is proudly African-American - and born fair, blonde and blue-eyed, thanks to what her grandmother calls ‘marrying well.’ When she’s turned down for a dream job in New York City because she’s not black enough, she decides to pass for white - it’s not her fault what people assume, is it? But soon enough everything spirals out of control, and she’s no longer sure who she is - or even who she wants to be.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 441 pages, 2004

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I picked this up at the used bookstore because I figured anything about the 1960s tends to be interesting, and if a man could write entire (and popular) books on things like salt and cod fish, it was a good bet.

Synopsis: In 1968, everything changed - everywhere. Kurlansky examines how revolutions, both personal and political, occurred all over the world, in an odd mix of isolation and an explosion of media that made rebelling students in Germany feel a connection to protesting students in the U.S. or Czechoslovakia. While the 1960s may be better remembered for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, all of this was born of the politics and the revolutions that Kurlansky expertly explores in this book.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 239 pages, 2006

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: From first-flip I could tell this book had a huge ‘wow’ factor.

Synopsis: What do women in their 20s and 30s think about themselves? How do they view the world? How is life different for them than it was for their mothers and grandmothers? How does the place they live impact all of their opinions? Imagining Ourselves is a diverse collection of essays, poems, and artwork from young women all across the globe which attempts to answer these questions and many more.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 376 pages, 2005

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: Like most people, there are always things I’m putting off doing ‘until I know enough to do it right.’

Synopsis: Has there ever been something you wanted to do - eating sushi, getting a massage, going to a foreign country - but you pushed the idea aside for fear of looking stupid? McCutcheon has assembled a group of women that are experts in their fields to play big sister and talk you through ten areas of life (entertaining; health & fitness; spirits & sustenance; dating; travel; work; the great outdoors; art & culture; fashion; money) where you might want a little help.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in trade), 364 pages, 2005

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I had no idea until I saw this book that Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym, so curiosity made me pick up Girl Sleuth to see who was behind a series I often read when I was younger.

Synopsis: While the name ‘Carolyn Keene’ is synonymous with mysteries and Nancy Drew to millions of people, females especially, there is no Carolyn Keene, and there never was. Instead, journey with Rehak into the worlds of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Mildred Wirt Benson, the women that began writing the smash hit series seventy-five years ago. Through careful guidance, fiery competition, and exuberant-if-not-fantastic writing, these women molded Nancy Drew not just into a detective, but a cultural icon that symbolized female independence to generation after generation of young readers.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in trade), 296 pages, 2004

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: It caught my eye on amazon.ca’s best of 2004 list.

Synopsis: Experts are experts because they’re smarter than the average random crowd walking down the street, right? Maybe not. Surowiecki sets out to prove that as long as certain conditions are met, group decisions and actions can average out to a better choice than ones even experts can come up with. From Google to traffic jams to taxes, Surowiecki demonstrates time and time again that society could be much better if we’d drop the idea of the solitary genius and instead consider everyone’s input.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 314 pages, 2004

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I noticed this one while browsing

href="http://www.amazon.ca">Amazon’s best-of lists for 2004. I am far too acquainted

with the night myself, so of course I had to hear from a fellow night owl.

Synopsis: Dewdney serves as the tour guide through a typical 12-hour night, in

which he touches on what people are likely to be doing at a given hour; creatures of the

night; myths, stories and music inspired by the darkness of night; as well as a broad range

of other night-related topics.

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Chris Turner" />

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 466 pages, 2004

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: The Simpsons? Best. Show. Ever.

Synopsis: Simpson addicts unite: Turner looks at how a seemingly simple cartoon

has impacted so much on our society - how it stays relevent by reflecting our flaws and

triumphs back at us to mock us, make us laugh, and even to prod us into change. Everything

from characters to plots to mass merchandising gets analyzed in relation to the our modern

lifestyles and priorities.

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover (available in trade), 147 pages, 2004

Rating: 7/10

Reason for Reading: It was featured in Time Magazine, and since the author is from Toronto, I thought it might be worth checking out.

Synopsis: A collection of seven short stories that trace the formative years of Mark Berman (and his family), who immigrated to Canada from Russia when he was six years old. The Bermans must try to earn a living in a new culture, in a country they don’t yet understand, while Mark faces growing up - not so much as an outsider, but as someone deeply enclosed in his Russian-Jewish roots, whether he’d like to be or not.

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