Shelf Monkey - Corey Redekop

This is a very very funny novel. It has a rapid fire style which never seems to run out of ammunition aimed at best-sellers self-servingly hyped by high profile literary wanna-bes. The narrator is a likable fellow who loves to read and needs work so logically gets himself a job at a bookstore. Sounds rational, sane? Ahh, but there the rub begins. He meets some kindred spirits at the store and begins to make choices that most would consider unwise. If the narrator and the author have anything in common besides a wicked sense of humour Redekop should be firmly locked in a padded cell next to his favourite shelf monkey...although I hope that is not the case as I look forward to reading more of Redekop`s original wackey work.

The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was disappointed to learn that it is not shortlisted for a Giller. Too bad. I think it is definitely better than Anne Michael's obscure Winter's Vault. I guess I just don't like poetry much. I really liked Oryx and Crake so it is no surprise that I enjoyed The Year of the Flood. I found the characters sympathetic and realistic. Atwood's world, though far from utopic, offers more hope than the dystopia of Handmaid's Tale. I have always and probably will always love Atwood. I even like HER poetry....

Good to a Fault - Marina Endicott

I loved this novel!
After having been involved in a car accident, Clara, the protagonist, decides to look after the family of a woman who has been diagnosed with cancer. Unaccustomed to a house full of children, one of whom is an infant, Clara finds herself exhausted, unemployed, and questioning her own motivations. The characters are exceptionally realistically brought to life, the plot, intricately woven, the sentences infused with images which seemingly occur naturally and do not interrupt the flow of the writing. It was so good, I was truly sad to reach the last word.

Asylum - Andre Alexis

Having lived most of my life in Ottawa and having worked during my university years on Parliament Hill, Alexis's local references to familiar places and situations frequently evoked personal memories. I found that the absurd idealism which led to an absurd prison project at an absurd price at the taxpayer's expense while somewhat exaggerated was nonetheless authentically founded on a grain of truth.

Miss Elva - Stephens Gerard Malone

I really enjoyed this novel as it combined great characters and an intriguing plot. Set in Nova Scotia, Miss Elva tells the story of two brothers and two sisters whose lives intertwine in tragic ways. I loved Miss Elva's subtle observations and intricacy of the story. Malone faithfully and unflinchingly paints and accurate portrait of small towns and small minded people.

The Naked Island - Bryna Wasserman

I chose this book because I am a traveller and I had been to many of the places mentioned in the blurb: Indonesia, India, Nepal, Singapore. It is described as a "Gothic travelogue--one woman's journey through a tortured dreamscape of love, possession and ecstatic release." (Sarah Sheard)
Unfortunately, I found this novel to be as self indulgent as the protagonist. I would not recommend this novel to anyone unless they needed kindling.

The Winter Vault - Anne Michaels

With one of my favourite novels, Fugitive Pieces, in mind, I expected to immediately fall in love again with Anne Michael's new novel, The Winter Vault. It was not to be. There were times while reading this book, I actually contemplated not finishing -- I think in my entire life I have only "not finished" a book once -- Cloud Atlas -- which received rave reviews and which I just couldn't get into...oops, I digress.... Anne Michaels's The Winter Vault was a difficult and disturbing read. I liked the images she uses and the idea of the protagonist being a winter vault but this time I found her style very dense and and disjointed (maybe it is deliberate but I found it distracting). Nonetheless, I suspect that if I made a greater effort while reading this novel, I would unearth a richness that I have missed the first time around.