Life of Pi the movie

Life of Pi has been a major bestseller since it came out, so the obvious question is, will it be made into a movie?  Turns out, yes, and it will be in 3D.  Quill & Quire wonders, "should we anticipate Morgan Freeman and Ben Stiller and others as talking animals?" 

Click for more info.

World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Prompted by the recent volcanic activity in Iceland, CNN has a new essay by Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us.  From the essay: 

"That extended, gilded moment was as perfect a definition of beauty on Earth as I have known. It remains indelible, even though over the past week, much of what I saw was swept away as Eyjafjallajokull's erupting volcano melted a gaping hole in its ice cap, flooding what lay below." 

Click for the rest of the essay.  

If you missed it, The World Without Us is a surprisingly interesting thought exercise on what would happen if all humans disappeared from the plant, including how quickly plants would take over buildings and how human-built structures would break down.  It's definitely worth listening to if you like pop science.

Plants and audiobooks

It's spring, and that means it's time to get excited about plants again (or sneeze at them, if you prefer).  Why not try listening to an audiobook while you get your lawn and garden cleaned up?

Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief will show you the world of extreme flower obsession--because who knew there was a flower-selling subculture, let alone a sometimes criminal one?
[Click to read more]

Barbara Kingsolver may be better known for her fiction, but her account of moving her family to a farm in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is also compelling.  She focuses on the importance and the pleasure of growing your own food to remind us that food doesn't have to come in cans or plastic bags.

[Click to read more] 

Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser shows us the criminal plant-selling subculture that we did know about.  He explores how marijuana (as well as porn and illegal immigration) forms a substantial, if unsavoury, part of the American economy that affects even mainstream business and government.

[Click to read more]

For the more literary-minded of us, there's Larry's Party by Carol Shields.  Larry is a florist who develops a love for garden mazes, and this CBC Radio adaptation of the novel follows Larry and his family through the everyday progression of life. 

[Click to read more]

Banned books

Ever feel like catching up on some controversial literature?  The Globe and Mail has printed a list of the decade's top 50 banned or challenged books, so you can see what all the fuss is about.  Click here for the full list.  Here are some great audio editions:

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut 

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.  [read more] 

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling 

Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable muggle aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's a wizard, just as his parents were. [read more] 

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares.  [read more] 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 

Veteran actor Michael York gives voice to Aldous Huxley’s famous tale of three citizens of a future world who gradually awaken to its true nature — bleak, homogenized, and drugged-out — and are determined to escape its control.  [read more] 

Where to find even more book news

For those of you who just can't get enough book news, here are some of our favourite sites.  Some of them offer news, some of them offer tools to manage your collection, and all of them are fantastic. 

http://www.bookslut.com/blog 
Bookslut provides a great overview of what's going on in the book world, delivered with a sense of humour. 

http://www.lovereading.co.uk 
Lovereading is a UK-based site, so not all of the books listed will be accessible in Canada, but it offers a unique recommendation tool to help you find new authors based on what you already know you like. 

http://www.bookclubs.ca 
Bookclubs.ca gives you an idea of what other bookclubs around Canada are reading.  It also offers reader's questions to help guide you once you've chosen a book. 

http://www.goodreads.com 
Goodreads allows you to join discussion groups, enter your collection, and find recommendations for new titles.  Categories include "Big Fat Books Worth the Effort" and "The Worst Books of All Time."

Daniel Amen

One of our most popular personal growth authors is Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist who works with high-tech brain images to discover how people can literally change their brains to improve their lives.  Even without brain scans, though, Amen suggests ways that people can dramatically improve their lives through lifestyle and dietary changes. 

Magnificent Mind at Any Age 

It all starts with your brain: how you think, how you feel, how you interact with others, and how well you succeed in realizing your goals and dreams. When your brain works right, so do you. When it’s out of balance, you feel frustrated, or worse. Yet amid all the advice that bombards us daily about how to keep the rest of our body strong and healthy, we hear very little about how to keep the most complex and magnificent organ of all—the human brain—in top working order.  [read more] 

Change Your Brain, Change Your Body 

The key to a better body is a healthy brain. Based on the latest medical research, as well as on Dr. Amen's two decades of clinical practice at the renowned Amen Clinics, "Change Your Brain, Change Your Body" shows you how to take the very best care of your brain.  [read more] 

Making a Good Brain Great  

Making a Good Brain Great gives you the tools you need to optimize your brain power and enrich your health and your life in the process. The principles and exercises in this book, based on years of cutting-edge neuroscience research and the experiences of thousands of people, provide a wealth of practical information to teach you how to achieve the best brain possible. [read more]  

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Following in the footsteps of authors like Mark Haddon (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Canadian author Alan Bradley has created a surprise hit with Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  How he came to publish his first novel is an equally great story.  From Quill and Quire:  

"It took Alan Bradley only 15 pages to convince Doubleday Canada to publish his debut novel, a mystery starring an 11-year-old girl. It had taken him nearly seven decades, however, to get around to writing those 15 pages."  [read more] 

Check it out if you like great mysteries that are focused more on plot and character than on violence.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan - review

The Strain is exactly what you would expect from a collaboration between director Guillermo del Toro and author Chuck Hogan: easy to listen to and a little weird.

A plane full of passengers lands in New York and immediately loses power.  When almost everyone on board is found dead, the Center for Disease Control is called in and Dr. Ephraim Goodweather becomes entangled in a plot involving vampires, a pawn broker/vampire hunter from Harlem, and mysterious plots involving higher echelons of power.

Possibly because of the fact that there are two authors, The Strain reads like an odd mix of action thriller and horror/sci-fi.  The pace is quick, the take on vampires is unusual, and the narration by Ron Perlman is fantastic, all of which make it a fun listen for horror fans (though anyone who doesn't like genre fiction should steer clear).  It's also the first in a trilogy, so it will be interesting to see how the story develops over time.