The Arrival by Shaun Tan
A beautifully illustrated graphic novel about a man who leaves home (his wife and daughter are staying behind) to move to a new country. His story is told through fantastic and detailed illustrations without text to show his experiences at seeing new things, new people, and how the kindness of others helped him to settle in, find a home, a new job and ultimately easing the way for his wife and daughter to arrive later on.
Tan’s illustrations accurately show how overwhelming and confusing it can be for an immigrant in a new place. The scale of Tan’s world is large, unfamiliar, the inhabitants unusual and strange. An amazing book for all ages.
The Arrival can be found at Hazelton Public District Library upstairs in the junior graphic novel section.
Reviewed by K. Polhuis
The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell
The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell was one of the most fascinating acting reads in 2021 for me. The dominant question is, “How do humans come to believe that the possible is also permissible?” This is a fascinating look at decision making in WW 11.
Carpet bombing? Precision Targeted Bombing? Incendiary Bombing? How do civilian populations react? Truly compulsive reading. I couldn’t put it down.
Reviewed by Lynn Newbery
The Caliph’s House by Tahir Shah
Travel adventures are some of my favourite tales. They can provide ways to become immersed in different situations and other cultures without actually having to leave home. The Caliph’s House swept me away. It has it all: charm, humour, splendor, squalor, and above all, adventure.
Tahir Shah shares a highly entertaining account of his family’s move from London to Casablanca, where they bought an abandoned and crumbling mansion full of corridors, sitting rooms, verandas, courtyards, terraces and gardens. Embarking on the work needed to make this fabulous ruin habitable opens the door to numerous fascinating experiences.
Reviewed by Anonymous
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny
The best detective novels written in Canada are the work of Louise Penny. She is a compelling writer, creating compelling characters with hidden depths. Detective Inspector Gamache is always looking below the surface of the suspect’s facade. Set in a place called Three Pines in Quebec, all the characters play a part in solving the mystery, and the food descriptions always transport me to this place. Her books make a compelling read, never straight forward but twisting and turning until the guilty one is revealed. Louise Penny captures everyone who reads her novels.
Reviewed by Anonymous
Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger
If you are a Tony Hillerman fan, you will love the mystery books by William Kent Krueger. The 18 books in the series feature Cork O’Connor, a part Irish, part Anishnaabe ex-sheriff who lives in Iron Lake in northern Minnesota. His community borders a reserve and a reclusive shaman counsels him. Read the books in order if you can. The latest, however, released this month and titled “Lightening Strike” features Connor at age 15 and tell the past events of his life that shaped his future. Louise Penny, the famous Canadian mystery writer, has called Krueger “a master story teller”. He has also written three stand alone novels that are terrific stories. All of his books are highly recommended and many have won awards.
Reviewed by Anonymous
EO-N by Dave Mason
This amazing book has won 9 international literary awards in 2021, including ‘Best Historical Fiction’. This is another “can’t put it down” book. From its opening in the present time, when a young boy and his dog exploring on a glacier in southern Norway find a child’s finger bone and a piece of metal from a de Haviland Mosquito flown in WW11, to the ending when an elderly lady displays her hand with its missing little finger, you are caught up in the events of the war: the bombing missions, the medical experiments done on little children, the prisoners of war, the attempts to escape. This book is about the search for family and meaning. This is a thrilling read.
Reviewed by Lynn Newbery
Longmire series by Craig Johnson
This is a series of novels set in fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire. The novels touch on Walt’s personal life- being a widower who still talks about his wife Martha, his headstrong daughter Cady and his friendship with Henry Standing Bear, owner of the Spotted Horse Tavern. And, each novel has a case to solve.
A great introduction to this series is Craig Johnson’s book of short stories Wait for Signs, featuring 12 Longmire stories. The first story in this book will either hook you or release you!
Reviewed by Anonymous
Overstory by Richard Powers
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, 2018
This book is about trees, and how people relate to them, as forests and as individual trees.
Very recent research has discovered that trees communicate with each other, and form communities. They store carbon and breathe out the oxygen that we could not exist without. They affect weather in gentle ways. They make humus, hold riverbanks and hillsides together, and exhale chemicals that have healing properties.
The author urgently wants us to understand that we need them more than they need us, that animal life on earth would not be possible without them, and that a 3000-yer-old California redwood is a living being, not just so many board feet.
He begins by introducing us to a small selection of people whose lives are impacted in different ways by trees, and go on to become involved with forestry politics, and with each other. There is no happy ending.
This is not an easy read; densely written and highly technical in parts, but I think it is a very important book. I would like everyone to read it and think about it.
If you love trees as much as I do, you will love this book.
Reviewed by Maggie Carew
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends. For the past three years (from September to October) they have run the same stand (Succotash Hut) together at DeKnocks World Famous Pumpkin Patch and Autumn Jamboree. This night is their last before college and both Deja and Josiah have some wishes they would like to fulfill, Deja wants to have an adventure on her last night and Josiah wants to finally talk to the girl (The Fudge Shoppe) that he has had a crush on for the past three years. What happens is an epic adventure of delicious food tasting, theme park hazards and a chase around the park for the Fudge Shoppe Girl. It turns out to be a night that both Deja and Josiah will never forget.
This book is a collaboration between two amazing authors in the Young Adult genre, Rainbow Rowell (Carry On, Fangirl), and B.C. author/illustrator Faith Erin Hicks (Friends With Boys).
Rowell’s story was really cute and along with Hicks’ full color illustrations this made Pumpkinheads a must-read graphic romance of the autumnal kind. You can find this book (as well as other titles by these authors) on the teen shelf at the Hazelton Public District Library or read the e-book on Libby (app can be found at the App store or Google Play).
Reviewed by K. Polhuis
State of Terror by Hilary Clinton and Louise Penny
‘State of Terror’ by Hilary Clinton and Louise Penny, is a totally fascinating tale of international terrorism, traitors at the highest level of the American government, and the threat of nuclear bombs detonating in three American cities. The novel focuses on Ellen Adams, Secretary of State, ( a position Hilary Clinton occupied) and her aide and close friend, Betsy. You can’t miss the shots taken at the Trump administration. And for Louise Penny fans there is a trip to Three Pines at the end which includes a short interlude with Gamache. Add to all that an ending that suggests another form of warfare coming our way and you have a novel that is impossible to put down.
Reviewed by Lynn Newber
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens