Teaser Tuesdays #10 - 2015 Giller Prize Edition (Week 3)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Week 3 of my 2015 Giller Prize feature is a teaser from Samuel Archibald's Arvida. Enjoy!

Title: Arvida
Author: Samuel Archibald
Publisher: Biblioasis
Publishing Date: September 29, 2015 (Originally published in September 2014)
Genre: Fiction

Teasers:

In no time at all, women were arriving from the village and the entire peninsula, to be sculpted. This beauty Misaka and I had invented was now walking the streets, given prominence by the spouses' strategically perforated dresses, and the dismayed ugliness of the husbands. (p119)

Here's a quick background on the Giller Prize from their website:

"The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller, who passed away from cancer the year before. The award recognized excellence in Canadian fiction – long format or short stories – and endowed a cash prize annually of $25,000.00, the largest purse for literature in the country."

Anyone have thoughts on who the winner will be on November 10?

Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed

Title: Brave Enough

Author: Cheryl Strayed

Publisher: Knopf

Source: Publisher

Release Date: October 27, 2015

Goodreads Synopsis

Around the world, thousands of people have found inspiration in the words of Cheryl Strayed, who in her three prior books and in her "Dear Sugar" columns has shared the twists and trials of her remarkable life. Her honesty, spirit, and ample supply of tough love have enabled many of us, even in the darkest hours, to somehow put one foot in front of the other--and be brave enough.

This book gathers, each on a single page, more than 100 of Strayed's indelible quotes and thoughts--"mini instruction manuals for the soul" that urge us toward the incredible capacity for love, compassion, forgiveness, and endurance that is within us all.

Be brave enough to break your own heart.
You can't ride to the fair unless you get on the pony.
Keep walking.
Acceptance is a small, quiet room.
Romantic love is not a competitive sport.
Forward is the direction of real life.
Ask yourself: What is the best I can do? And then do that.

Review:
My ARC of Brave Enough was sitting on my night stand for about 3 weeks before I finally read it. The day I decided to pick up the book was a terrible day. My kids were sick the night before, I arrived at my office WITHOUT my laptop and I left my keys at home. Needless to say, that evening I was exhausted. After I put the kids down to bed, I just needed a bit of quiet time and a good book.

Enter Cheryl Strayed...

Brave Enough was not what I expected at all. It is a collection of quotes that will both motivate and inspire you. Each page brings about a sentence or paragraph that will leave you reflecting about your life, your decisions and your relationships. Brave Enough great read for a rainy day and the perfect book to gift to a friend or loved one.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of Brave Enough from Penguin Random House Canada for review. All opinions are my own

Rating: ★★★★★

Teaser Tuesdays #9 - Giller Prize 2015 Edition (Week2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Week 2 of my Giller Prize feature:

Here is book 2 of 5:

Title: Martin John
Author: Anakana Schofield
Publisher: Biblioasis
Publishing Date: September 15, 2015
Genre: Fiction

Teasers:
What Martin John doesn't tell the doctors, doesn't tell mam, doesn't tell a soulful sinner, wouldn't tell you, except for this Meddler letting you know, is his knowledge Baldy Conscience is after him FULL-TIME, OVERTIME, AND DOUBLE TIME. (p127)


Here's a quick background on the Giller Prize from their website:

"The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller, who passed away from cancer the year before. The award recognized excellence in Canadian fiction – long format or short stories – and endowed a cash prize annually of $25,000.00, the largest purse for literature in the country."

Is anyone else planning on reading all of the short list nominees before November 10?

Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise And Fall Of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish & Sean Silcoff

Title: Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise And Fall Of Blackberry

Authors: Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff

Publisher: HarperCollins Canada

Source: Purchased

Release Date: May 26, 2015

Synopsis from HarperCollins Canada website:
It was a classic modern business story: two Canadian entrepreneurs build an iconic brand that would forever change the way we communicate. From its humble beginnings in an office above a bagel store in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry outsmarted the global giants with an addictive smartphone that generated billions of dollars. Its devices were so ubiquitous that even President Barack Obama favoured them above all others. But just as it was emerging as the dominant global player, BlackBerry took a dramatic turn.

Losing the Signal is the riveting, never-before-told story of one of the most spectacular technological upsets of the 21st century. Unlike Enron, which was undone by its executives' illegal activities, or Lehman Brothers, which collapsed as part of a larger global banking crisis, BlackBerry's rise and fall is a modern-day tale of the unrelenting speed of success and failure. It is a thrilling account of how two mismatched CEOs outsmarted more-powerful competitors with a combination of innovation and sharp-elbowed tactics; and how, once on top of the world, they lost their way. The company responded too slowly to competitors' innovations, and when it finally made its move, it stumbled with delayed, poorly designed and unpopular smartphones. A little more than a decade after Research In Motion introduced the BlackBerry, it is now struggling to survive. Its share of the US phone market fell from 50 per cent in 2009 to about one percent in 2013, showing just how aggressive, fast and unforgiving today's global business market can be.

Mini Review:

Confessions of a CrackBerry Addict:

• I've slept with one under my pillow / at my bedside for 3+ years. 
• I've tripped while racing to see why my red light is blinking.
• My right thumb is extremely limber from years of trackwheel and trackball use.
• My husband proposed to me on BBM, and freaked out when he saw an "R" but got no response after an hour... (This didn't happen to me, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened somewhere in the world...)

Losing the Signal provides an intimate and behind the scenes look at how BlackBerry helped shape the mobile device industry and was eventually left in its dust. The book is extremely well researched and I highly recommend it to readers who are interested in Canadian business or the telecom industry. 

Disclaimer:  Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer

Rating: ★★★★★

Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family by Anne-Marie Slaughter

Title: Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family

Author: Anne-Marie Slaughter

Publisher: Random House Canada

Source: Publisher

Release Date: September 29, 2015

Review:
Anne-Marie Slaughter landed her dream job as the director of policy planning at the U.S. State Department under Hillary Clinton. She served in this role for two years as she took time away from her career as a professor at Princeton. In 2011, she took resigned from the State Department to return home and bring balance back to her life. Slaughter brings together a collection her past experiences, media and literary sources to bring forward her thoughts, beliefs and hopes to guide us to improved equality in the workforce for all people - not just women.

Being a mother of two young children with a demanding career has often left me looking to books and articles online to help my husband and I along the way. Many of these provide some of the same basic tips which rarely ever worked for our family's situation. Thankfully, the wonderful folks at Random House Canada came to the rescue with an ARC of this gem.

Unfinished Business is the best work-life balance book I've read, EVER. Slaughter provides clear and concise examples for all people in various stages of their lives. There is a chapter and set of actionable steps for everyone. Her learnings from her own family life, books/articles she's read and those around her are compiled into this book for all to see.

I would recommend this book in a heart beat to anyone no matter what stage of you're life you're in. Whether you have kids or not will not make a difference when reading this book. For single folk and young couples, it can help you start off your careers with an open mind, and for young families in similar situations to mine, it will remind you that you're not alone.

Anne-Marie Slaughter hit a home run with this book! If anyone else has read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments box below.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family from Random House Canada for review. All opinions are my own

Rating: ★★★★★

Teaser Tuesdays #8 - Giller Prize 2015 Edition (Week 1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

For the next 5 weeks, I wanted to highlight the five books that have been shortlisted for the 2015 Giller Prize. Here's a quick background on the Giller Prize from their website:

"The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller, who passed away from cancer the year before. The award recognized excellence in Canadian fiction – long format or short stories – and endowed a cash prize annually of $25,000.00, the largest purse for literature in the country."

Here is book 1 of 5:

Title: Outline
Author: Rachel Cusk
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publishing Date: September 1, 2015 (Originally published on September 2, 2014)
Genre: Fiction

Teasers:
The intangible became solid, the visionary was embodied, the private became public. (p82)

I said his image reminded me of a scene from an opera I liked - in fact I had found a recording of it in Clelia's apartment - called The Cunning Little Vixen, in which a fox is aught by a hunter and kept in a farmyard wtih the other animals. (p161)

Is anyone else planning on reading all of the Giller Prize nominees?

The Devil You Know: A Novel by Elisabeth de Mariaffi

Title: The Devil You Know: A Novel

Author: Elisabeth de Mariaffi

Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: eBook

Source: Purchased

Release Date: February 3, 2015

Synopsis from publisher's website:
The year is 1993. First-year reporter Evie Jones is haunted by the unsolved 1982 murder of her best friend, Lianne Gagnon, back when the girls were both eleven. The suspected killer, a repeat offender named Robert Cameron, was never apprehended. Now twenty-two and living alone for the first time, Evie is obsessively drawn to researching the real story of who killed Lianne. She leans on childhood friend David Patton for help, but every clue they uncover seems to lead to an unimaginable conclusion. As she gets closer and closer to the truth, Evie becomes convinced that the killer is still at large--and that he’s coming back for her.

In the wake of Paul Bernardo’s arrest for a double murder, and a case of identity theft that seems to point to Robert Cameron himself, Evie is stalked by a strange man who stands out on her fire escape night after night, watching her every move. Has her anxiety simply taken over? Or can Evie somehow be drawing the killer closer to herself? Only a harrowing last visit to see David’s father, Graham, provides the answer Evie has been so desperate to find--the trail that leads from Patton to Cameron to eleven-year-old Lianne, and ultimately to Evie herself.

Review:
I came across The Devil You Know when I was creating my list of books for Reading Bingo. This book would have covered the "Thriller/Mystery written by a Canadian author" square. It has been sitting in my Kindle TBR list for a few months now and the chance to finally read it came up. What drew me to this book was its mention of the Paul Bernardo case. I grew up and lived in Scarborough most of my life. So, the stories and news that the Bernardo case left in its wake popped up in several conversations over the years. It was interesting to see how the stories of Bernardo could have affected the mindset of the journalists and media working on his case. From this book we get to see how Evie is affected by the news and sleepless nights.

There were many instances in this book that had me looking over my shoulder. The creep factor in these scenes are very high. There are many occurrences where Evie, the book's main character is alone and her mind often wanders leading her to believe that there is someone in the room with her. Whether she's working late at her office, down in the paper archives or at home after a long day she is constantly feeling like she's being watched.

The Devil You Know was a great thriller and mystery novel. It is very dark and anyone who has trouble reading about issues surrounding violence, specifically against women, may have trouble reading this. Though none of the details are graphic, the creep factor in a few of the scenes is enough to get some readers on edge. For me, this book would have propelled to a 5 star novel if the story did not drag as much. I found a couple of the chapters to be filled with some details that could have been cut out and helped move the story along quicker.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy Canadian literature and mystery novels. The book has tons of local Toronto and St. Catharines details that residents and visitors can appreciate.

Rating: ★★★★★

Lost and Found: A Novel by Brooke Davis

Title: Lost and Found: A Novel

Author: Brooke Davis

Publisher: Penguin Canada

Source: Purchased

Release Date: February 3, 2015

Publisher's website synopsis:
Millie Bird, seven-years old and ever hopeful, always wears red gumboots to match her curly hair. Her struggling mother, grieving the death of Millie’s father, leaves her in the big ladies’ underwear department of a local store and never returns.

Agatha Pantha, eighty-two, has not left her house – or spoken to another human being – since she was widowed seven years ago. She fills the silences by yelling at passersby, watching loud static on the TV and maintaining a strict daily schedule.

Karl the Touch Typist, eighty-seven, once used his fingers to type out love notes on his wife's skin. Now that she’s gone, he types his words out into the air as he speaks. Karl’s been committed to nursing home but in a moment of clarity and joy, he escapes. Now he’s on the lam. Brought together in strange circumstances, the three will embark upon a road trip across Western Australia to find Millie’s mum. Along the way, Karl wants to find out how to be a man again; Agatha just wants everything to go back to how it was.Together, they will discover that old age is not the same as death, that the young can be wise, and that letting yourself feel sad once in a while just might be the key to a happy life.

Review:
I had heard and read so many great (and not so great) reviews about Lost and Found since it was released in February. The synopsis alone caught my attention from the get-go. It is a story about an unlikely trio who find themselves travelling across Australia together in an attempt to reunite Millie and her mother. The story is a bit strange and the scenarios are very unlikely, but to really enjoy Agatha, Millie and Karl's story, you just have to go with the flow and tag along for the ride.

The characters get themselves into predicaments that will make you laugh, cringe and maybe even cry. This range of emotion that is elicited while reading Lost and Found is what makes it such a fantastic book. Agatha Pantha is a character I won't soon forget. Her mannerisms and upfront nature are hilarious. She also has a softer side that is shown the closer she gets to Karl and Millie. She is definitely on my list of favourite characters of all time.

I opened this book wholeheartedly and was a different person after I closed it. Brook Davis' debut novel has landed a spot on my favourites shelf. It's currently sitting next to my copy of The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion because of its blue cover, Australian setting and quirky characters.

Rating: ★★★★★

Teaser Tuesdays #7

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here's a peek at this week's book:

Title: Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise And Fall Of Blackberry
Authors: Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Publishing Date: May 26, 2015
Genre: Non-Fiction, Business

BlackBerry's first users weren't typically early adopters - gearheads who routinely rushed out to experiment with any new technology. (p.73)

A company that was at war with itself and, in some quarters, overly enamoured with an aging product line, was about to address critics with one of its biggest product gambles ever. (p.192)

Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

Title: Where The Found Her

Author: Kimberly McCreight

Publisher: Harper
Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Release Date: April 14, 2015

Synopsis:

An idyllic suburban town.

A devastating discovery.

Shocking revelations that will change three lives forever.

At the end of a long winter in well-to-do Ridgedale, New Jersey, the body of a newborn is found in the woods fringing the campus of the town's prestigious university. No one knows the identity of the baby, what ended her very short life, or how she came to be found among the fallen leaves. But for the residents of Ridgedale, there is no shortage of opinions.
When freelance journalist and recent Ridgedale transplant Molly Sanderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the disturbing news for the Ridgedale Reader—the town's local paper—she has good reason to hesitate. A severe depression followed the loss of her own baby, and this assignment could unearth memories she has tried hard to bury. But the disturbing history Molly uncovers is not her own. Her investigation reveals a decades-old trail of dark secrets hiding behind Ridgedale's white picket fences.

Told from the perspectives of three Ridgedale women, Kimberly McCreight's taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth behind the tragedy, revealing that these women have far more in common than they could ever have imagined: that the very worst crimes are committed against those we love. And that—sooner or later—the past catches up to all of us.

Review:
I first heard about Kimberly McCreight's Where They Found Her when it was featured on the 50 Book Pledge website. I bought it few weeks later and it collected dust in my TBR pile for 3 more months. When it eventually made its way to the top, I was hooked. I engulfed the entire book in one night.

Where They Found Her is a nail biting mystery surrounding a death that leads Molly Sanderson down a path of uncovering years of secrets in her small town. It is an unpredictable story filled with dark twists and turns. I was able to connect with most of the characters in the book with the exception of Barbara. I found her character a bit out of place and quite annoying.

Overall, I found Where They Found Her to be a gripping story that entertained me from beginning to end. Unlike most mystery novels, I didn't try to solve this one right out of the gates. I enjoyed the ride which allowed me to appreciate the intricacies in the story lines and indulge in each of the characters' deep dark secrets.

If you're looking for a new thriller to read, I would definitely recommend giving Where They Found her a go. Readers who enjoyed Girl on the Train will find this book familiar in both its writing style and its ability to keep you at the edge of your seat.

Rating: ★★★★★