Research shows that most of the books we read are the result of one thing: someone we know, trust, and/or admire tells us it's great. That's why we're starting our new series, The Recommend. Every two weeks, we'll reach out to people—readers, writers, reviewers, bloggers, and others—whose taste we respect and ask them to tell us about a book they'd recommend to a good friend ... and why.
This week we're pleased to present the picks of Trevor Cole, author of Practical Jean; Farzana Doctor, author of Six Metres of Pavement; Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother; Rolli, cartoonist and author of God's Autobio; and Mark Leslie Lefebvre, bookseller and author of Spooky Sudbury.
*****
Trevor Cole picks The Golden Mean, by Annabel Lyon: "Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this novel is the audacity and self-confidence Lyon displayed in even attempting it. Imagine daring to represent the mind of one of civilization’s greatest thinkers, as he writes about its greatest warrior. I shake my head in awe at that, and at her success. Her Aristotle is entirely believable, grounded by her obviously vast research, but also her understanding of human nature. He is immensely wise, yes, but also at times rash or prone to hubris. And Lyon manages to bring alive the intimate and at times brutal details of life in ancient Greece with such resonance and empathy, it’s as if an archeologist has shoved his hand deep into the rubble of a dig site and discovered a beating heart."
In 2011, Trevor Cole's Practical Jean won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and was shortlisted for the Writer's Trust Fiction Prize. His two other novels, Norman Bray in the Performance of His Life and The Fearsome Particles, were shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award. In 2013, Trevor won the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for a writer in mid-career, and his journalism has won nine National Magazine Awards. He’s also the creator of www.AuthorsAloud.com, an archive of audio readings by Canadian authors and poets. He can be found on Twitter @trevor_cole.
Farzana Doctor picks The Wondrous Woo, by Carrianne Leung: "The Wondrous Woo is an original, quirky, and honest first novel set in 80s' Scarborough. It’s a story about Miramar Woo, whose father dies, bequeathing her siblings amazing superpowers but leaving her only with her grief. Leung deftly blends magical realism, Kung Fu, and heartbreak in this endearing coming-of-age tale about finding love, family, and one's own extraordinary gifts."
Farzana Doctor’s first novel, Stealing Nasreen, received critical acclaim upon its release in 2007. Her second book, Six Metres of Pavement, was named one of Now Magazine’s Top Ten Books of 2011. It also won the Lambda Literary and Rainbow Awards (2012) and was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. She is currently working on her third novel, and can be found on Twitter @farzanadoctor.
Cory Doctorow picks Madeline Ashby's Vn: "I'm an immense fan of Ashby's work and vN did not disappoint. The novel is set in a medium-term future where a race of self-replicating robots ("von Neumanns" or vNs for short) have been engineered to act as servile helpmeets by an apocalyptic Christian cult that wanted to leave behind a kind of relief mission for the unbelievers and heretics who'd be left behind by the Rapture. The vNs are engineered with a 'failsafe' so that they cannot harm humans or allow humans to be harmed. The failsafe turns vNs into pathetic servants, sex-slaves, and whipping-posts. A nascent robots' rights movement has legitimized marriage between humans and robots, but these relationships are fraught by their vast power-divide. This is a fantastic adventure that carries a sly philosophical payload about power and privilege, gender and race."
Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist, and blogger. He's the co-editor of Boing Boing and the author of the bestselling Little Brother. His latest young adult novel is Homeland; his latest novel for adults is The Rapture of the Nerds. He can be found on Twitter @doctorow.
Rolli picks A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder, by James De Mille: “I suppose the one downside of hipsters monopolizing the world of book criticism is that terrific books like A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder, published to acclaim over a century ago, would today go unnoticed. There’s nothing trendy, nothing remotely Canadian, I’m afraid, about this utopian sea tale—only rich imagination, genuine emotion, and brilliant writing. If you care more about great books than the right books, you owe it to yourself to check Manuscript out.”
Rolli is the author of God’s Autobio, Plum Stuff, the new children’s story collection Dr. Franklin’s Staticy Cat and Other Unbelievable Tales, and four forthcoming titles. His cartoons appear regularly in Reader’s Digest and other popular outlets. Visit his website www.rollistuff.com and follow his epic tweets @rolliwrites.
Mark Leslie Lefebvre picks Andrew Pyper's The Guardians: "While you can pick up pretty much any of Andrew Pyper's novels and be guaranteed a thrilling and thought-provoking read, The Guardians struck some very personal chords with me. Set in small-town Ontario, and involving a group of forty-something men coming together after the death of a high school chum they haven't seen in years, I was immediately drawn in to the tale and found myself walking with the men through the small town, living the uncomfortable relationship of all those unspoken thoughts that exist in the carefully scripted "maleness" that dominates the bond between male friends. And if that wasn't intriguing enough, Pyper throws in the Thurman House, an old, abandoned home not unlike that creepy old "haunted house" we all remember from our childhoods. The shadows grow and the tension tightens masterfully as the men are drawn back to the house and the secrets it holds. If you want to see how Norman Rockwell might paint a scene out of a Stephen King novel, this would be a good place to start."
Mark Leslie Lefebvre works as Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations for Kobo where he heads up Kobo Writing Life, a portal allowing indie authors and small publishers to publish their work directly into Kobo's global catalog. He sometimes drops "Lefebvre" and writes non-fiction paranormal explorations and Twilight Zone-style fiction. His latest book is Spooky Sudbury: True Tales of the Eerie & Unexplained and his first novel I, Death is coming this summer. Mark is currently finishing Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries, due out this fall. He's on Twitter @MarkLeslie.
Check out The Recommend: Ep. 1 and The Recommend: Ep. 2!