Aug 30, 2010

Banned on BC Ferries

taken from guardian.co.uk

Alexander the Great novel gets bum rap in Canada

Annabel Lyon's novel of Alexander the Great's childhoood banned from BC Ferries bookshops in Canada on grounds that jacket features a naked man on horseback
by Alison Flood 
guardian.co.uk,
Alexander the Great's bare bottom is keeping a highly-praised debut novel off shelves in Canada.

Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean is the story of Alexander's childhood, told through the eyes of his tutor Aristotle. Praised as "a triumph of erudition and story-telling" by The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne and shortlisted for Canada's top literary award, the Giller prize, it was published last year in Canada and is just out in the UK where the Financial Times has admired its "eerie earthiness".
But apparently its jacket – featuring a naked man lying on the back of an equally naked white horse – is offensive to some. Although stores across Canada and the UK are selling the book, Lyons revealed on her blog that British Columbia ferry company BC Ferries is not stocking it "since the trade paperback still features a bare bum on the cover".

BC Ferries said it had told the book's publisher, Random House Canada, that it would carry the book if it featured a "belly band" wrapped around the offending parts "because we're obviously a 'family show' and we've got children in our gift shops". But Random House refused, and the transportation company decided against stocking the title.

"While some people might think it's art or appropriate or whatever, parents of young people might not think it's appropriate for young children to view," BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall told Canadian paper the Province.

Lyon, the author of two previous short story collections, has refused to take the decision to heart. "Oh, BC Ferries. You have one too, you know you do!" she wrote on her blog.

Aug 28, 2010

INHERENT VICE by Thomas Pynchon

taken from the Wall Street Journal


Aug 15, 2010

Great Summer reads for anyone

He was another kind of other.

Here are two fine young adult vampire series and a great summer reads for anyone:

from vampirelibrarian.com

MARKED by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast


Enter the dark, magical world of The House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampires have always existed.  Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a new vampire and is sent off to the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampire.  It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average vampire-in-the-making. She has special powers. To add to her stress she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters (the school’s stuck-up elitist group), is misusing her powers. Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to challenge those that do harm to others.

and from susanhubbard.com

THE SOCIETY OF S by Susan Hubbard


What if everything you knew about your family was a lie?

What if, when the lies began to crack, beneath them lay a truth so dark and deep, yet so compelling, that it pulled you inside?

Ariella Montero is seeking the true identities of her mother and father--and of herself. She's been taught literature, philosophy, science, and history, but she knows almost nothing about the real world and its complexities. Her world is one wherein ghosts and vampires commune with humans; Edgar Allan Poe and Jack Kerouac are role models; and every time a puzzle seems solved, its last piece changes the entire picture.

When the last piece is murder, Ari goes on the road in search of her mother, who disappeared at the time of her birth. The hunt nearly costs Ari her life, and, in finding her mother, she loses her father. But gradually she uncovers the secrets that have kept the family apart, and she begins to come to terms with her own nature and its chances for survival.

Set in upstate New York, England, and the American South, The Society of S explodes stereotypes--of the homeschooled, vampires, monkeys, FBI agents, and academics. In this strange new world, vegetarianism, environmentalism, biomedical research, and the abiity to disappear are options for those who drink blood and face the prospect of eternal life.

A taut, character-driven literary mystery, The Society of S is the future of vampirism, told in a voice that will haunt you-and make you think.
 "One of the really good reads of the year...Any Stephenie Meyers fan would enjoy The Society of S." --Charlaine Harris

 "One of the really good reads of the year...Any Stephenie Meyers fan would enjoy The Society of S." --Charlaine Harris