Bingeworthy TV: Kim's Convenience

When I find something that makes me smile, I just want to share it with everyone. This means that I've told pretty much every friend and family member I have about how great Kim's Convenience is.

Kim's Convenience is a Canadian comedy series focused on the Kim family and the convenience store that they own and live above. And yes, it is based on a real Toronto convenience store that you can visit in real life (a possible road trip I have really considered).

Mr. and Mrs. Kim immigrated to Canada from South Korea and are often referred to by the Korean terms Appa (dad) and Umma/Eomma (mom). Janet, their youngest child, lives at home while attending art school and working part-time in the store. Jung, their oldest, left home as a teenager after clashing with his parents and the law. He's since turned his life around and works at a local car rental, but is still estranged from his father.

There's plenty of inter-generational and intercultural conflict and confusion to explore, and the series does so with care and humor. The series also allows its characters to grow and change from episode to episode, which gives an overall lighthearted show depth.

~Sarah, adult services

Bingeworthy TV: Lost Girl

If you've read much ancient folklore, you might remember what a succubus is and why Lost Girl is not a show you'd want to watch with children. For those who are less familiar, a succubus is a feminine creature that gains power through absorbing sexual energy (the masculine equivalent is an incubus). While Lost Girl does include frank discussions of sex and sexuality, the actual sex scenes are fairly PG-13. This Canadian series aired on SyFy in the U.S., not HBO or Cinemax, so if you're comfortable with Outlander or Game of Thrones, you should be safe with Lost Girl.

Lost Girl falls squarely in the realm of Urban Fantasy where each week (or over the course of the season) our main characters face off against supernatural or paranormal dangers and mysteries. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural. This show is a great mix of adventure, romance, and humor that keeps even high stakes stories from losing the fun.

Bo is our main character. She was raised by adoptive human parents and raised to believe she too is a regular human being until she discovers accidentally that she has the ability to kill through kissing or other sexual behavior by draining her partner of their vital energy. She spends years on the run, until she saves a young woman from a serial rapist and the local police (who also happen to belong to the local Light Fae Court) find her.

Bo decides to stop running and learn more about who she is and where she comes from. She takes up work as a private investigator of sorts. The young (human) woman she saved, Kenzi, has a troubled past of her own, but decides that she's going to stick with Bo. The friendship between Kenzi and Bo is probably my favorite part of the entire show. The inevitable love triangles that develop around a succubus are also entertaining, but nothing beats a best friend.

~Sarah, Adult Services

Staff Review: Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Barkskins, the new, multi-generational epic by Annie Proulx, won't be for everyone. For one thing, it's over 700 pages long and covers over 300 years of history, specifically the history of the de-nuding of the American landscape by woodchoppers (or barkskins) large and small, individual and corporate. Yes, it's a lengthy tale of the destruction of the great North American forests -- not exactly the feel-good read of the year. At the same time, it's brimming with vitality: lovely, lively writing; gorgeous descriptions of nature; wild and colorful characters. I loved it.

Barkskins opens with the 1697 arrival in New France (now Canada) of indentured servants Charles Duquet and René Sel, both indebted to the same boorish master. The two men quickly part, one dutifully working off his indenture and the other escaping into the woods before losing any more teeth to his master's crude dentistry pliers.

The novel proceeds to tell Duquet's and Sel's stories, following each man's line of descent through multiple generations. Start to finish, they all make their livings from the trees of the vast northern woods, widely considered to be inexhaustible.

René Sel marries into the Mi'kmaq tribe of Nova Scotia and through his line we see the fate of America's indigeneous people as white immigrant families flood into the new country, extirpating the wildlife and appropriating all the land, relentlessly chopping, burning, and laying waste to the woods exactly as they had done in the countries they fled. Think The Lorax writ large. Charles Duquet, he of the bad teeth, founds a timber dynasty, amassing enormous wealth and passing on his rapacious greed to his offspring.

Proulx's characters are rarely two-dimensional, never all good or all bad. A number are even quite sympathetic, and plenty of the rascals come to highly undesirable ends.

If you're into American history -- natural history, Native American history, the history of the timber industry, the settling of North America, the French and Indian Wars --  just to name a few areas, this may well be the book for you. Characters roam the globe as well, travelling to China, New Zealand, Europe, and other vividly-wrought locales. The novel is extremely well-researched and very well- written. It's a lively and rollicking tale, and, in parts, very funny. A live-wire herself, Proulx peppers the book with forceful, intelligent women. And as a added bonus, just by reading it, you'll compile an extensive list of the many graphic and gruesome ways people met untimely ends in the good old days.

~Ann, Adult Services

Staff Review: Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick

I have this thing for Benedict Arnold. I've been fascinated by him for years, primarily because of his amazing and heroic slog to Quebec through the wilderness of Maine and Canada at the start of the Revolutionary War (you can read all about that difficult and dangerous journey in Through a Howling Wilderness by Thomas Desjardin). By the time Arnold finally reached Quebec, his force of 1,100 troops had been reduced to 600 starving men.

Back then Arnold was well on his way to becoming the brightest star in the American military firmament, a reputation he continued to build with brilliant feats throughout the first battles of the war. I just hate that after amassing all that well-earned glory, he wound up committing treason. His name is now synonymous with "dirty, rotten scoundrel," the worst in U.S. history.

The highly-readable popular historian Nathaniel Philbrick tackles Arnold's tragic trajectory from "American Hannibal" to despicable traitor in his new book, Valiant Ambition. Philbrick juxtaposes Arnold's career with that of his commander, George Washington, who, unlike Arnold, made quite a few tactical mistakes and bad judgment calls in his early days as leader of the Continental army, but over the course of the war grew into a brilliant leader of the highest character. Arnold's character, on the other hand, had its flaws.

While Philbrick can't redeem Benedict Arnold, Valiant Ambition does help us to understand (and maybe even sympathize with) his eventual treason by relating how shabbily Arnold was treated by the Continental Congress and by other politicians and military leaders seeking their own advantage at his expense. Arnold poured his own fortune into the American cause and was never compensated by Congress. He was passed over repeatedly for promotion. He was seriously wounded twice in the service of his country, while many, many others sacrificed nothing, seemed indifferent to the outcome of the war, and were more concerned with grandstanding, profiteering, and personal advancement. Readers soon learn that there's a whole lot more to our founding story than we learn in school and much of it is pretty unsavory.

Ironically, Arnold's loss of faith in the integrity of the American effort and his ultimate act of treason united the country, forcing people to shake off their lethargy and take note of the fact that the greatest threats to the nation were likely to come not from without but from within. It might even be said that had Arnold not committed treason, we might well have lost the Revolutionary War.

~ Ann, Adult Services 

Staff Review: Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

As soon as I started this book I knew I was going to care about these characters. I was drawn into their story immediately, and while it left me with many questions, I enjoyed the ride.

Journeys are an integral part of this story.  Etta, Otto and Russell have known each other since their teens.  While they each have their own journey, they intersect in many ways.  Otto and Russell grow up like brothers, Etta and Otto get married after mainly getting to know each other through letters while Otto is away at war, and Russell buys the farm next to theirs and spends 50 years quietly in love with Etta. The story jumps back and forth between the beginning of these relationships and the present so most of the in between years are left blank.  You are given small insights into the lives of the main characters but so much is left up to the reader's imagination.

The book opens with Otto reading a note from 83 year old Etta telling him that she is off to visit the ocean--she has never seen the water and feels compelled to make this sojourn on her own.  She tells Otto she will return if she can remember.  From that point on you never know for sure what Etta's reality is.  Otto and Russell each cope in their own way with Etta's leaving and this is where I started having questions. Why does Otto decide not to look for Etta and instead spend his sleepless nights creating a papier-mâché menagerie and what does it represent? Why is Russell always waiting for deer--is his waiting representative of something else? Russell does track Etta down, but gives up on bringing her home and goes instead to the north to study deer and caribou.  Does he feel like Etta has released him in some way?

The story actually develops a sort of dreamy quality as Etta travels over thousands of miles on foot and runs into a talking coyote named James who joins her as a kind of spirit guide and protector. As her dementia increases and she slips in and out of reality Etta comes to depend on James to remind her of who she is.  By the end of the story the writing changes into very short passages of just a paragraph or a couple of sentences per page rotating between each character. At times it seems like Etta and Otto have merged into each others dreams and minds until they almost become one.

When all was said and done I thought to myself, "What the heck?"  I liked it so much, but felt like I needed to talk to someone else who had read it.  In stepped my sister and we had a quick book discussion and came to the conclusion that the author wanted the book to be ambiguous and open to interpretation. Together we were able to answer some of our questions. I think this would be a great book club book, but if you are a reader who wants things tied up in a nice package and with a clear ending, then Etta and Otto and Russell and James might not be your cup of tea.

~Michelle, Circulation

See the world, one murder at a time

Summer was made for vacations and road trips, but if, like me, you can't find the time to get away, you might enjoy exploring new lands in the pages of a good book! We've put together a list of international mysteries from every corner of the globe for you to enjoy. All titles link to the print edition, but several are available as audiobooks or eBooks too. If the list is overwhelming, be sure to stop by the Recommendations Desk on the 1st floor to pick up an International Mysteries bookmark!

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Turkey
Hotel Bosphorus by Esmahan Aykol

Israel

The Missing File by D.A. Mishani

Iraq
The Wreckage by Michael Robotham
Egypt
The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal
Saudi Arabia
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

Botswana

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Kenya

Nairobi Heat by Mukoma Wa Ngugi

Ghana

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

Nigeria

Treachery in the Yard by Adimchinma Ibe

South Africa

Random Violence by Jassy Mackenzie

The October Killings by Wessel Ebersohn  

India

Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall

Japan

Villain by Suichi Yoshida

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

North Korea

A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church

Laos

The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill

Singapore

A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

Australia

Kittyhawk Down by Garry Disher

Blood Junction by Caroline Carver

Canada

Still Life by Louise Penny

Mexico

Mexico City Noir by Various

Brazil

Hotel Brasil by Frei Betto

Sweden

Sun Storm by Asa Larsson 

Misterioso by Arne Dahl

Iceland

Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

Norway

Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Denmark

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis 

France

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black

Germany

Kismet by Jakob Arjouni

A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell

March Violets by Philip Kerr

Slovakia

Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin

Greece

The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi

Italy

Temporary Perfections by Gianrico Carofiglio

Northern Ireland

Mr. Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom 

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

My first exposure to Kate Beaton's work was through a friend who posted a wonderfully funny strip about Shakespeare's King Lear on Facebook. After spending an inordinate amount of time clicking through her website (Hark! A Vagrant) and laughing to the point of stomach cramps, I was hooked. How could I not love a webcomic that has its own index!

Hark! A Vagrant is a collection of strips previously published on Beaton's website, plus author commentary and a handful of previously unseen strips. Mixing both the historical and the contemporary, Beaton's deceptively simple illustrations cast an erudite and witty eye on history, literature and pop culture. I will admit to needing to look up more than a few of the historical characters and events that appear in this collection (especially those that had to do with Canadian history), but one needn't be a history expert to enjoy the sheer silliness of the characters' expressions and one-liners. Beaton also lampoons Nancy Drew, Aquaman, 1980s business women and her younger self, to name a few more modern targets, and the collection includes some singularly hilarious non sequitur strips to boot.

Beaton previously self-published a collection of her web comics that appeared between 2007 and 2009, Never Learn Anything From History, (which are also included in this collection) and contributed to the Marvel comic anthology Strange Tales II. She also won the 2011 Harvey Award for Best Online Comics Work and her collection was named as one of the best works of fiction in 2011 by Time Magazine.

I'm certainly not an expert on graphic novels, but Beaton's work has risen to the top of my list of favorites. Anyone that can make me interested in Canadian history is certainly a talented person! Pick this book up for a laugh, and you'll probably learn something on the way. I'll leave you with one of my favorites, about (what else?) Canada Day.

Happy reading, eh!

- Allison, Adult Services