Under Heaven - Heavenly Initiative

I don't usually blog about press releases, but this week the Penguin Group's very cool Ebay.com charity auction initiative caught my eye. A much awaited new Guy Gavriel Kay book was launched on line earlier this month, with one lucky winner bidding just over $500 for the first copy of this new novel Under Heaven. Matching contributions were made by both the publisher and author. The total proceeds $1570 go to the Indigo Books and Music Love of Reading Fund, which supports high needs elementary school literacy programs across Canada. The winner was identified as Neil Negandhi of Toronto, a fan of the author, but with this much press and this much money raised for charity everyone involved won. Negandhi ended up with the first book off the presses, authenticated by publisher as the first copy and autographed by the author. This is truly an excellent example of combining social media, new media, philanthropy and publicity. It is no secret that publishers have been struggling with economy and ebooks and multiple other stressors that impact the industry. Earlier this month Penguin Group Canada also launched a web site http://www.guygavrielkay.ca/ dedicated to Guy Gavriel Kay's works. In addition there is now a Twitter and Facebook account along with downloadable artwork and posters. While other companies might be struggling to find their footing in this brave new digital world Penguin Group Canada clearly already has a leg up on the competition. Gavriel Kay's novel is on sale in Canada this week. Penguin Group Canada was founded in 1974.

Thriftymomma doesn't receive compensation for her opinions or review.

Still Alice

Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a lovely, bittersweet, insightful l look, at the devastating diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Alice Howland, an accomplished Harvard professor, is barely 50 when she starts to realize her brain is beginnning to fail her. Forgetfulness is becoming an issue. She often is at a loss for words and occasionally becomes lost at work on the campus near the university where she teaches. She loses her place in a telephone conversation with her grown children often and simply isn't as sharp as she once was. These small blips require further investigation and so she reluctantly and, with disbelief, consults her doctor. The diagnosis, while shocking, isn't completely a surprise as Alice seems to know in her gut that something is wrong long before it is given a name. Early-onset Alzheimer's. She keeps the diagnosis to herself for far too long, until she is no longer able. When she shares the devastating news with family, they react in their own ways, each one revealing different facets of the disease. To Alice's oldest daughter it is particularly frightening as she becomes pregnant and worries the genes might be passed to her twins. Projecting into the future she also worries she may someday be a burden to her own children if she develops symptoms. Youngest child Lydia, the artistic actress, surprisingly rises to the challenge as caregiver of her mother. Their bond is strengthened by the mother's vulnerability. Lydia chooses not to have the testing that would reveal her future health. Her brother Tom carries survivor guilt of sorts when it is revealed that he should not get Alzheimer's. Her husband, John, a brilliant doctor, hides his feelings and refuses to believe his wife may someday be unable to remember his name. He is a secondary character at best in this story and he is sometimes unlikeable as the heartbroken husband struggling to decide if he can manage his feelings while unable, at times, to see the essence of Alice beneath the deterioration. John chooses work as a refuge from his homebound formerly vibrant wife. "If I am in lab, I don't have to watch you sticking Post-it notes on all the cabinets and doors. I can't just stay home and watch you get worse. It kills me." can't take it Alice. The impact on Alice's family is dealt with nicely here in this novel, as each of Alice's children struggle to decide if they will be tested for genetic markers that will tell them whether they may develop the same terrible disease. But it is Alice's story that clearly dominates the novel and her character we feel for all throughout her sad journey. While this is a fictional story, Genova, who has a PHD in neuroscience from Harvard University, is an expert on the details of this disease, and I loved that I learned so much about the inner workings of the brain from this book. This book has all of the elements of a good story and has won a few accolades along the way including the 2008 Bronte prize and yet I felt the writing lacked sophistication and style. This is a great story and it is nicely written and I would recommend it to almost anyone, but the writing is simply good, not great.  

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova is published by Simon and Schuster, New York 2007
The Mass Market edition was $10.99 in Canada.
thriftymommastips rating $$$$ out of $$$$$.

Thriftymommastips did not receive any compensation for this review

Admit One: My Life in Film

Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James is one of the funniest, easiest, reads I've been sent in a long time. I wasn't prepared for how witty this book is and after reading the cover blurb assumed Admit One would be a sad memoir of a poor youth raised in Croydon, South London. Memoir as a genre can be self indulgent and frankly I have read far too many that fall into the let's blame my parents for every sad thing that ever happened to me category. This story however is not one of those point the finger maudlin tales. From start to finish this is a catchy, witty saga of a young lad who seeks solace at the movies and in fact tells his life story as it relates to major movies that came out during specific times of his life. It is a simple device _ this echoing of life's stories through other media, such as film, books, art. And yet when used effectively it is a lovely way to frame a story and it can propel plot along nicely. Admit One starts with an open letter prologue to Steven Seagal which made me chuckle. James begins to list the top 10 films of his youth and then goes on to note that readers will notice no Steven Seagal movies on the list, with good reason. I enjoyed everything about this book. Its deadpan humour was a perfect pick me up for this reader during a long dreary winter in Canada. There's even an adoption subtheme that made me like the book even more as it is revealed that James' mother was adopted and then goes on later in life to adopt a pair of girls. As some of my readers know I am an adoption advocate, frequent speaker and writer about adoption. Chapter One starts with The Disney version of Jungle Book 1967 and it is clear that a young boy's reverence for film will feed his imagination and shape his destiny early on. The author's musings on films and directors/animators tweaked a nostalgia in me that was unexpected and a welcome reminder of days gone by and also major films  and television shows/ rituals that shaped my own childhood. In my own family as a youngster we would gather around the TV on Sunday nights without fail to watch Walt Disney's weekly family movie. James knows these are the things that bind us, often strangely even more than life's big events, the small weekly rituals with emotional resonance long preserved into tiny gems hidden within longterm memory. Remarkably this memoir ends up carrying us to Hollywood and the older James stumbles through a series of humourous missteps as an extra, eventually landing himself a part on the blockbuster hit Titanic. I thoroughly enjoyed this one as a light, entertaining read.

Admit One: My Life in Film, by Emmett James, Fizzypop Productions, 2010. 2nd edition. $19.95 hardcover. (A very good price)

The first edition was published in 2007, by Wheatmark Books in Arizona
thriftymommastips rating $$$$ out of $$$$$
Thriftymomma was no compensated for this review but instead received a free copy of the book for review.