End Zones and Border Wars

by Ed Willes

I'll start off by mentioning the fact that I'm not a big football fan.  At all.  That said, I am interested in Canadian culture and things that are meaningful to us as a nation.  After all, the Grey Cup (the Canadian Football League's bug prize) is, along with the Stanley Cup, featured in the Canadian passport.  So it is with interest that I read this, a book about an attempt to export a uniquely Canadian sport to a new market. For a brief time in the 1990s, the CFL attempted to expand the league by adding teams in the US.  It didn't work.  Hilariously.

A team based in Las Vegas practiced in a parking garage and featured a signer who sang O Canada to the melody of O Christmas Tree.  A team in Memphis had the players sleep in a barn.  The team in Baltimore had three different names, including the brilliant "CFLers".

It didn't last.

Even if you don't much care for football, the story of the CFL's expansion into the US is worth a look if only to see how different we really are from our neighbours to the south.

Fragile Things

By Neil Gaiman

Here is a collection of short stories and poems by award winning author, Neil Gaiman. This book is filled with some fun and quick reads. I found this book after Neil Gaiman showed up on my YouTube feed reading one of his stories. I was drawn in by the fact that the author wrote in so many different styles within this one book. Gaiman has a wonderful sense of humour and has a way of creating a whole and complete story in just a few pages. Gaiman ensures that readers have an understanding of all of the characters simply by ensuring the characters are relatable. One story in particular that really hooked me is  “How to talk to Girls at Parties,” an interesting tale of two friends. Our main character and his friend Vic are typical highschool boys obsesed with girls and hooking up. Vic has found out about a party and the two head off to crash it. Unfortunatally Vic does not know the exact address. The two head in the general direction and when they hear party sounds coming from a house in the right neighbourhood they feel they must have the right party, or do they. The party is filled with friendly, pretty girls and the two feel they have hit the jackpot. Alcohol is flowing and conversation is going well but readers will soon realize that the boys may have wandered into the wrong party.

If you are looking for something a little different, some variety in your reading, then I recommend you pick up FragileThings today.

 

Blood Work, a take of medicine and murder in the Scientific Revolution

By Holly Tucker

Here is a dark little bit of human history. In Blood Work the facts about bloodletting and vivisection are brought to life. Holly Tucker brings the world of medicine practices in the 1600's to light. You might be asking yourself why did I pick up this book to begin with? Well I had just read Megan Shepherd's "The Madman's Daughter" and I was curious to know about real medical practices of the past, in particular blood transfusions and vivisection. Blood Work tells the facts about early blood transfusions, blood letting, vivisection and more. This educational look at the evolution of medical science sheds light on a time when anyone could call themselves a doctor, where morality and experimentation still haunt the medical science community to this day.

The Blade Itself

by Joe Abercrombie

There are plenty of epic fantasy series out there, but this is one of the best I've ever read. Set in a world with magic, magic is nevertheless set aside for handy swords and shields and pure brute strength.  As is often the case, there are no real "good guys". There are people who are trying not to be bad, but only because they are tired of killing and being hunted in revenge.

The leads are varied, and seemingly unrelated: You have the tired barbarian Logen Ninefingers, who is tired of all the killing he's done only to create more enemies.  There's Glokta the Inquisitor, a torturer who has lost all compassion for having been tortured himself.  Finally, there's the young nobleman Jezal who wants nothing more than wine, women, and song plus a little fencing in between.

How does a mysterious old wizard tie it all together?

Joe Abercrombie is a British author who comes at it from a pretty fresh approach. No fancy dialogue in this one: when people are angry or frustrated they talk pretty much like you or me, but maybe with a little more colourful language.

This is the first in a trilogy, plus there are 3 more set in the same world with some recurring characters.

Tell

Tell

by Frances Itani

Deseronto, Ontario in 1919 is a town coming to terms with its past.  World War I is over and the boys are coming home.  Hopeful, yes.   But Kenan, once an outgoing and happy young man has been disfigured in the war.  His suffering is obvious and goes far deeper than physical scars.   He and his wife Tress must rediscover each other as both have lost their carefree pre-war selves. 

Maggie and Am, Kenan and Tress’s aunt and uncle, have secret scars of their own – scars which are consuming them.  Maggie tries to find a way out with music as she trains to be the solo soprano in the upcoming New Year’s Eve concert.  

Throughout the story there is the happy presence of the ice rink, erected every winter on the lake.  This is a place that has seen much joy for the two couples, and the place where the men try to release some of the pain that they are not given leave to express.

Despite the sadness, there is also friendship, family, love and loyalty.  Everything in the novel culminates in a joyous burst of song at the concert.  At this point, the characters must choose new paths.

Itani is a subtle writer who builds her characters carefully.  Readers come to genuinely care about them.  As in her novel Requiem, Itani has a clear sense of history that is revealed through character and plot.   This is a beautiful novel about secrets kept and revealed, and the hope that comes at the end of war.

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

by Patrick Weekes

I'm perfectly happy to admit that I'm a gamer, so when I see that a whole series of books are based on a series that I enjoyed, I'll give it a go.  Dragon Age is a fantasy series set in a world very much like medieval Europe (as many fantasy series are), with French, British, Italian, and even Ottoman equivalents.  The world is full of magic, creatures, magical creatures, and religious and political intrigue. The books stand alone from the game series pretty well: they exist more to expand on the world's history and lore rather than just give more of the same that you'd find in the games, so you don't need to play the games to understand what's happening (though it helps).

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire is the story of the empress of Orlais.  They are a dominant empire, though still under threat from both internal rebellion from the underclass of elves, who are treated no better than slaves, and from external threats, a blight of demons set to overrun the world.  To make things worse, the court intrigue is particularly dangerous and complicated: Empress Celene's rule is threatened even more by her power-hungry rival Gaspard and by her devotion to her secret elven mistress.

There are several books in the run, but this one isn't directly tied to the others.

Face Off

Edited David Baldacci

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your favourite mystery detectives met and worked together? Well this collection of short stories gives readers a chance to see into a world where thriller and mystery writers come together along with their most popular characters. Face Off is a collection of stories where in two authors collaborate. The authors have taken some of their most famous characters and brought them together to create a short, thrilling tale. Edited by David Baldacci this collection of short stories features such authors as Lee Child, Heather Graham, Michael Connelly and even R.L. Stine. Readers get to see into a world where characters like Jack Reacher meet up with Nick Heller and work together. For those that love short fiction and a good thriller this is a wonderful read.