In Quick Hits, we look through our stacks to bring you books that, when they were published, elicited a lot of reaction and praise. Our selections will include books published this year, last year, or any year. They will be from any genre. The best books are timeless, and they deserve to find readers whenever and wherever.
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Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, by Zarqa Nawaz
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: HarperCollins
What It's About
Zarqa Nawaz has always straddled two cultures. She’s just as likely to be agonizing over which sparkly earrings will “pimp out” her hijab as to be flirting with the Walmart meat manager in a futile attempt to secure halal chicken the day before Eid. “Little Mosque on the Prairie” brought Zarqa’s own laugh-out-loud take on her everyday culture clash to viewers around the world. And now, in Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, she tells the sometimes absurd, sometimes challenging, always funny stories of being Zarqa in a western society. From explaining to the plumber why the toilet must be within sitting arm’s reach of the water tap (hint: it involves a watering can and a Muslim obsession with cleanliness “down there”) to urging the electrician to place an eye-height electrical socket for her father-in-law’s epilepsy-inducing light-up picture of the Kaaba, Zarqa paints a hilarious portrait of growing up in a household where, according to her father, the Quran says it’s okay to eat at McDonald’s—but only if you order the McFish.
What People Say
"Unafraid to push buttons with a feisty, feminist twist, Nawaz cites Nora Efron as her writing spirit guide."—Sarah Berman, The Tyee
"Zarqa’s knack of finding the funny in serious situations will have you laughing out loud."—Chatelaine
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The Odious Child, by Carolyn Black
Genre: Short stories
Publisher: Nightwood Editions
What It's About
What would you do if your child was a furry feral creature or your new love interest a potential serial killer (or worse, a fictitious cliché)? In The Odious Child, Carolyn Black invents her own blend of urban fantasy, crafting a unique storyscape that she populates with a series of mostly nameless figures who are trapped in social roles that they anxiously try to fulfill—and sometimes manage to escape. With a refreshingly clear voice and dark, offbeat sense of humour, Black tempers her incisive examination of contemporary frustration and loneliness with wry optimism and wit.
What People Say
"Carolyn Black's first book is one of the strongest debuts I've ever encountered. ... She writes like no one else I've ever read, like a writer who's standing on the shoulders of nobody, her stories' own foundations are so very solid."—Kerry Clare on her Pickle Me This blog
"There is pure genius present here, I promise you. Carolyn's prose is impeccable, her word choice fitting, her stories strong and orderly and beautifully spare."—Steph VanderMeulen on her Bella's Bookshelves blog
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Cocksure, by Mordecai Richler
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
In the swinging culture of sixties’ London, Canadian Mortimer Griffin is a beleaguered editor adrift in a sea of hypocrisy and deceit. Alone in a world where nobody shares his values but everyone wants the same things, Mortimer must navigate the currents of these changing times. Richler’s eccentric cast of characters include the gorgeous Polly, who conducts her life as though it were a movie, complete with censor-type cuts at all the climactic moments; Rachel Coleman, slinky Black Panther of the boudoir; Star Maker, the narcissistic Hollywood tycoon who has discovered the secret of eternal life; and a precocious group of school children with a taste for the teachings of the Marquis de Sade. Cocksure is a savagely funny satire on television, movies, and the entertainment industry—Richler at his most caustic and wicked best.
What People Say
“Short, sharp, sexy, and witty, it is full of energy and invention .... Exhilarating.”—Margaret Drabble
“Outrageous and irreverent.”—Daily Express (U.K.)
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The Love Monster, by Missy Marston
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Vehicule Press
What It's About
The Love Monster is the tall tale of one woman’s struggle with mid-life issues. The main character, Margaret H. Atwood, has psoriasis, a boring job and a bad attitude. Her cheating husband has left her. And none of her pants fit any more.
Marston takes the reader on a hilarious journey of recovery. Hope comes in the form of a dope-smoking senior citizen, a religious fanatic, a good lawyer and a talking turtle (not to mention Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Warren Zevon, Neil Armstrong and a yogi buried deep underground). And, of course, hope comes in the form of a love-sick alien speaking in the voice of Donald Sutherland.
More than an irreverent joyride, The Love Monster is also a sweet and tender look at the pain and indignity of being an adult human and a sincere exploration of the very few available remedies: art, love, religion, relentless optimism, and alien intervention.
What People Say
To call Marston’s humour wry is barely a start. The twist in her comedy is fuelled by merciless observation, unvarnished glimpses into the human appetite for misery ... As the story gets weirder, it becomes both funnier and unexpectedly moving."—Jim Bartley, Globe and Mail
“You sure have chutzpah!”—Margaret Atwood
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Today I Learned It Was You, by Edward Riche
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: House of Anansi Press
What It's About
When a retired actor who frequents a city park is purported to be transitioning from man to deer, municipal authorities in St. John’s, Newfoundland, find themselves confronted by an exasperatingly difficult problem.
Complications mount as advocates, bureaucrats, police, and local politicians try to corral the situation, which escalates into an even bigger problem after the story blows up on Facebook. Leading the charge is the mayor himself. A former professional hockey player and local hero, Mayor Matt Olford is juggling a number of personal challenges on top of his city’s man-deer problem: his wife has become a born-again Christian and he’s found himself attracted to one of his colleagues at City Hall. When the Prime Minister’s office calls to ask if he’ll run as a Conservative in the next federal election, Mayor Olford finds himself at a crossroads: Surrender his political values or remain as the sole voice of reason on the increasingly ineffective city council?
Hilariously sending up the drama and dysfunction of local politics, overzealous rights activists, and perils of contemporary social media, Today I Learned It Was You is another bitingly brilliant comic novel from one of Canada’s funniest and most astute literary talents.
What People Say
"Outrageous, saucy, and bold—I love this book!—Rick Mercer