Tony Nourmand, co-owner of The Reel Poster Gallery in London and author of James Bond Movie Posters: The Official 007 Collection, has collected together some remarkable material for his gorgeous new book Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years, and Monique from the So Misguided blog has kindly reviewed the book on YouTube so you can see some of the beautiful pictures for yourself. Monique Trottier and Audrey Hepburn. Two cool people in one place. What more could you ask for?

Watch Monique’s review

Ron Nurwisah of Torontoist.com says, “A man is put into a coma by a falling object. He goes on to receive an 8 million pound settlement and with his newfound wealth obsessively tries to recreate a scene that he may have once witnessed. This is the premise for Tom McCarthy’s Remainder, possibly one of the most imaginative novels to come out of the UK in the last few years.” Read his full interview.

Chris at Spikemagazine.com says, “It’s not often I read an entire novel in one sitting, but I did with Tom McCarthy’s Remainder. Whether that’s a testament to the gravity of my insomnia last night or Tom McCarthy’s novel, I’m not sure, but Remainder certainly didn’t put me to sleep.” Read more.

Keir at KeirWilmut.com says,
“The nice people at Raincoast Books sent me a copy of Remainder, and asked if I’d review it. What remains of a person after a near-fatal trauma? What does it mean to be authentic? These are two of the questions posed by Tom McCarthy’s first novel, Remainder.” Read Keir’s review.

Janelle at Eclectic Closet says,
“Tom McCarthy’s artistic eye is apparent in Remainder, translating into vividly described settings. The setting is as much a character as our nameless narrator. Readers are immersed in the setting which is invoked at such a visceral level that one feels the sunbeam warming one’s skin as the narrator lays in a sunbeam and smell the liver wafting through the ventilation system.” Read Janelle’s review.

Raincoast publicist Dan also had a chance to talk to Tom McCarthy. Here’s his 3-part interview.

ADDITION:
Scotchneat.ca says,
“What I liked most: the little moments of description where the author captures precisely the kind of internal loops that we’ve all experienced, such as when he’s on the way to the airport to pick up a friend and realizes he forgot the flight information.” A quote from the book is included then, “It seems like a quotidien passage to pick, but I think McCarthy has an ear (eye?) for the jetsam of the human mind that reminds me a bit of Don DeLillo. That austere and somehow darkly funny insight of how the mind goes, that we can all recognize in ourselves. All the more alarming when it plays out the way it does. The passages where he describes what rehab is like become the internal workings of his pet projects: break everything down to its constituent parts and then execute them (well, maybe literally, even).” Read Scotchneat.ca’s review.

Johnny over at Drawn.ca and I are in perfect agreement: Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex is perhaps the greatest book we’ve read in a long time.

Here’s the review on Drawn.ca

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich is a book of poems for kids. It’s packed with small rhyming stories and incredible paintings of the monsters the poems are about.

I think the subtitle is one of my favourite parts: Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich (and other stories you’re sure to like, because they’re all about monsters, and some of them are also about food. You like food, don’t you? Well, alright then)

Adam Rex is beyond talented. Check out the review on Drawn.ca and the link to an interview with Adam at Ironic Sans. Although this is a picture book aimed at kids, those of us “kids-at-heart” will die laughing too.

Drawn.ca has reviewed a couple of great books for kids.

The review of Ann and Paul Rand’s kids books (Chronicle) can be found here.

Sparkle and Spin: A Book About Words by Ann Rand and Paul Rand

Little 1 by Ann Rand and Paul Rand

Also on Drawn.ca is a posting about Ingri Von Bergen and her quirky and lovable plush characters, which were featured in a book for preschoolers called Me! Me! ABC by Harriet Ziefert.

Here’s the link to the posting about Ingri.

A couple of weeks ago Raincoast had a draw for advance copies of Avi’s Strange Happenings. Five lucky newsletter subscribers received copies of the book and will offer their reader reviews.

Here are the reviews so far:

“Strange Happenings, by Avi, is a series of modern fairy tales. Is that kid next to you in class who seems to have all the answers as normal as he would like you to think he is? Do you really know what you look like? And what if something were to happen to that guy who has it all? Something to really teach him a lesson. This book has it all. My only complaint was that it didn’t last long enough, I really had to force myself to savour it. This is a great addition to any family’s library. These are stories to read aloud to kids at bedtime, or to read to yourself on a dusky evening with a steaming cup of tea and a cozy blanket.” --Trisha from Vancouver, BC

“I won a copy of this book to review a couple of weeks ago. Before I had a chance to read it, my two pre-teen girls GRABBED it from the envelope and it disappeared for three days! They both absolutely loved the stories in the book and are looking for more!! I found the book (after I had a chance to read it of course!!) to be a very quick, delightful read and it would appeal to many ages. The girls agreed that the cover art was very representational of one of the stories in the book.  Definitely a ‘keeper’!!”
--Tracey from Sherwood Park, Alberta

If you want to win books and write reviews for Raincoast, sign up for one of the Raincoast newsletters.
Visit the sign-up page.

A couple of weeks ago Raincoast had a draw for advance copies of Avi’s Strange Happenings. Five lucky newsletter subscribers received copies of the book and will offer their reader reviews. The first review arrived today.

“Strange Happenings, by Avi, is a series of modern fairy tales. Is that kid next to you in class who seems to have all the answers as normal as he would like you to think he is? Do you really  know what you look like? And what if something were to happen to that guy who has it all? Something to really teach him a lesson. This book has it all. My only complaint was that it didn’t last long enough, I really had to force myself to savour it. This is a great addition to any family’s library. These are stories to read aloud to kids at bedtime, or to read to yourself on a dusky evening with a steaming cup of tea and a cozy blanket.” --Trisha from Vancouver

If you want to win books and write reviews for Raincoast, sign up for one of the Raincoast newsletters.
Visit the sign-up page.

Bookstore Girl at Cantstopreading recently posted about a couple of Raincoast-distributed titles:

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer

Here’s an excerpt of her review of Goose Girl by Shannon Hale: “I picked it up when I read Leila (from Bookshelves of Doom)’s excitement over a new book by Hale being published ... It is apparently based on a Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale, though I don’t think I ever heard this particular story. It’s the story of Ani, who is not a very good Crown Princess, though she does have a rather uncanny ability to speak with animals. Mostly birds, as they are the most talkative animals. Ani’s mother arranges to have her married off to the neighbouring country’s prince, in order to prevent war, and that’s when things start to go wrong. Ani does arrive in the new country, though not with her escort, and not as a princess. She has to make a living, and so becomes a goose girl. Eventually Ani learns of the plots of the imposter who has taken her place. And she must find the courage to stand up to her and make herself known. Although there were a few predictable bits in this book, they were predictable in the same way that all fairy tales are. Obviously there’s going to be a happy ending, but how else would you want it? I would definitely highly recommend this, and I can’t wait to get started on Hale’s newest book, Princess Academy.”

I haven’t read Goose Girl yet, but now I’m interested. I have, however, read Marie, Dancing and loved it.

Here’s what Bookstore Girl has to say about Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer: “... for the most part, quite the accomplishment. I say this because Meyer takes us into the slums of Paris, circa 1870, and yet, keeps things clean enough for a 10 year old. Marie and her sisters are all ballet dancers, which, it turns out, is not really all that glamorous an occupation. Their mother is an absinthe addict, and the only bright spot in Marie’s days are the times she models for the artist Edgar Degas. I also enjoyed the ending, which, while not sad, was not the perfect happy ending of many children’s books.

For more book reviews, check out Bookstore Girl at Cantstopreading.blogspot.com.

Have you reviewed any Raincoast books on your site? Do you have a book-focused blog? Let me know. I’d like to link to you.

Nancy from North Saanich (Victoria), BC has kindly allowed Raincoast to reproduce her letter regarding the 5th edition of the Canadian Traveller’s Diary.

Nancy had this to say:

“I just want to let you know how much I appreciate the Travel Diary.  I just purchased my third copy and was delighted to do so.  I have bought them as gifts and recommended them to others who are also happy with them.

“I was told by a bookstore last year that you had stopped printing the diary.  As we are planning a trip this spring, I began shopping around for another journal that would meet my now, high standards.  I searched the internet and found nothing even close.  I looked in a few other places as well and last weekend, stopped at Tanner’s Books in Sidney to see what they had.  I could not believe it when they produced edition 5 of your diary.

“I love the Canadianess of them; the radio Canada listings, the Canadian embassies, the Canada Direct phone numbers.  I love the paperback and plastic cover, the packing lists, the time zone map, the do-it-yourself calendar (better than the pre-printed ones that became out of date), the perforated note paper, everything. 

“In future editions, you might consider reducing the pages for rolls of film and travelers cheques as not many use them anymore.

“A couple of lines to enter the phone number to call if you lose your credit card would be useful, perhaps under the generic title of ‘other emergency numbers’ or something similar.

“Thank you, thank you for a most useable travel tool."

Thank you Nancy. Raincoast welcomes feedback and reader reviews of all its publications. If you would like your book review posted on this site, email your review to or post a comment on this blog.