I read a total of 16 books in March – the pages just seemed to fly! Since nearly half of the titles were mysteries, and since mysteries deserve their own ratings without comparison to other literature, I’m dividing up my posts this month. Tomorrow, the mysteries; today, everything else.

I’d love to hear what you think about my choices – and my reactions.

1. DOG BOYby Eva Hornung (Literary Fiction, Award Winner)

Winner of the 2010 Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Award, Dog Boy is a marvel of experience and of emotion. Four-year-old Romochka is abandoned in Moscow at the beginning of winter. Hungry and cold, he follows a feral dog to her lair – and so starts Romochka’s life as a dog. The premise sounds preposterous, but Hornung makes it work. Every time I start thinking that it couldn’t possibly have been as good as I remember, I read my notes – and I believe again.
I can’t understand why this book didn’t win more awards. Hornung has previously published novels as Eva Sallis – she is one author I will be reading more of.

Shannon over at Giraffe Days has written an articulate, passionate review . Sue at Whispering Gums beat us all to it with her review in 2010. All I can add to these two is: READ THIS.
Warnings: a half-dozen uses of that four letter word, and a brief torture scene.
Read this if: you’re breathing. 5+ stars

2. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro (Literary Fiction, Award winner)
This modern day classic, the 1989 Man Booker Prize winner, follows the aging butler Stevens as he takes his first vacation from Darlington Hall after decades of service. His trip is a drive to the English west country that he has never seen. As he travels, we are given a startling perspective on life, through his recollections. There’s not really a lot of “action”, but so much happens.
Ishiguro brilliantly captures Stevens’ ‘restrained’ emotions in a voice that is perfectly pitched to the time and circumstance. The facts are made all that more powerful by the understatement.
Read this if: you love Downton Abbey (here’s Carson, perhaps, 35 years on); or you enjoy elegant and understated prose and character-driven books. 4½ stars

3. *THE HEADMASTER’S WAGER by Vincent Lam (Fiction, Historical Fiction, Canadian author)
Canadian author Vincent Lam is the son of ex-pats Chinese from Vietnam.
This book, set in an ex-pat Chinese community just outside of what was then Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1968, is beautifully written and engaged me from the first page onward. The author skillfully conveyed the tension and uncertainty of living in a country at war, and invaded by hordes of outsiders (French, American, Communist North Vietnamese.) Even the ending of the book, which at first dismayed me, vividly depicted the uncertainty of the situation for those of non-pure Vietnamese origin after the collapse of the South Vietnamese government.
Warnings: a couple of (really, unnecessary) sex scenes
Read this if: you’ve ever wanted to understand just what made the Vietnamese “boat people” desperate enough to flee into certain danger throughout the late 60s and during the 1970s; or you’d like a better understanding of the Vietnam War, from the point of view of South Vietnamese civilians. 4 stars

4. *THE LUCK OF GINGER COFFEY by Brian Moore (Literary Fiction, Vintage, Award Winner, Canadian author)
Another ‘immigrant’ story, this time of the Irishman James Francis “Ginger” Coffey in 1950s Montreal. Ginger really is a loser – the ne’er-do-well who got by on his charm and connections at “home” but who isn’t willing to take a step down and make his way by working hard here. Winner of the 1960 Governor-General’s Award for Fiction, and a Canadian classic, this gives a different look at Montreal than the author’s contemporary Mordecai Richler portrayed.
Read this if: you’ve read some Richler and want to compare and contrast the Irish and the Jewish immigrant experiences; or you’re interested in the twentieth century Irish experience in Canada. 4 stars

5. *JANE AND PRUDENCE by Barbara Pym (Fiction, Vintage, Humour)

Jane (age 41) and Prudence (age 29) have been friends since their days at Oxford , where Jane tutored Prudence. Jane is now married to a clergyman, recently assigned to a country parish, to the delight of Jane’s Victorian-novel-fueled imagination; Prudence is a career woman in London.
As with the others of Pym’s I’ve read, the plot meanders while poking gentle, often sly, fun at church & society, gender roles, and love affairs in 1950s Britain.
At first , I didn’t like this book as much as Excellent Women, for example, because I didn’t like either of the protagonists. But they grew on me and I ended enjoying Jane & Prudence just as much as Some Tame Gazelle. 4 stars
Read this if: you enjoy Angela Thirkell novels; or you like sly mid-century British humour. 4 stars

6. THE LIGHTNING FIELD by Heather Jessup (Literary fiction, Canadian author)
This started out so promisingly. First, the book itself: a soft cover with a heavy-weight dust jacket – quite different. Then, the location and time period: 1950s Malton (a suburb of Toronto). Then the fact that the male protagonist is designing the Avro Arrow, a controversial piece of Canadian history. PLUS – the writing is clear and engaging. But after the build-up to the Avro’s introduction and the female protagonist being hit by lightning, the plot just seems to disintegrate.
Read this if: you’d enjoy learning about the Avro Arrow “incident” (that some, to this day, label a ‘conspiracy’); or you’re from Malton or the surrounding area. 3½ stars

7. THE WARDEN by Anthony Trollope (Fiction, Classic, Humour)

This is the first in the classic Chronicles of Barsetshire series and features befuddled cleric Septimus Harding and a kafuffle over his income. Trollope set his story in his current day, in this case 1855. There is lots of social satire (including a veiled reference to Charles Dickens), biting humour, and pokes at church & state.
I’ll admit this was humourous, but I’m not really into early Victorian times so began to find Trollope’s references boring. I’m glad I read this (my introduction to Trollope) but I’m not in a hurry to read more by him, even though it’s likely that if I did want Victorian literature, he would be near the top of my list.
Read this if: you’re a fan of Victorian literature. 3½ stars

8. *THE BOOK OF AWESOME by Neil Pasricha (Non-fiction)
Based on, or perhaps the basis of, the website 1000 Awesome Things, this book is a collection of short essays proclaiming the joy of the little things in life (the smell of crayons or freshly-cut grass, or getting something with handwriting in the mail).
When my husband saw the title he told me that I’d be gritting my teeth on every page at the misuse of ‘awesome’ (a pet peeve of mine) but I tried to let that go and just appreciate the sentiment of the book.
I borrowed this from the library so I had to read it straight through and, honestly, taken in that way, the book becomes repetitive and even annoying. I much prefer the web-site. (Sorry, Neil!)
Read this if: someone gives it to you as a gift and you can dip into it a few pages at a time, now & then. But, everyone, DO visit the web-site. 3½ stars

9. CHUNG LEE LOVES LOBSTERS by Hugh MacDonald, illustrated by Glen Craig & Perri Craig (Picture Book, Canadian author)

Written by a past Prince Edward Island poet laureate, Chung Lee Loves Lobsters tells the story of Chung Lee who spent his working life on PEI cooking lobsters for tourists and other customers. Now that he’s retired, Chung Lee spends part of each of his monthly pension cheques to buy a live lobster from the restaurant where he used to work. Then he walks down to the beach and releases the lobster into the ocean.
I’m a little perplexed as to the message children will get from this book. Is it wrong to cook lobsters, or not? The people who own the restaurant now are nice people with two small sons; Chung Lee himself did so for decades. I’m still puzzling this one out.
3 stars

*
*
* I read The Headmaster’s Wager for our local book club, The Loquacious Compendium.
* Luck (of Ginger Coffey) is a qualifying word in the Keyword Reading Challenge at Bookmark to Blog.
* Jane and Prudence is the third Barbara Pym that I’ve read, as I keep up with the LibrayThing Virago group read-along for Barbara Pym’s centenary.
* I read The Book of Awesome as this month’s random pick from my TBR wish list spreadsheet of 2,378 items for the Random Reads Challenge hosted by I’m Loving Books.

BOOK DEPOSITORY has free world-wide delivery:

OR: Pick up some bargains at

OR

For Canadian readers:
Dog Boy
The Remains of the Day
The Headmaster’s Wager
The Luck of Ginger Coffey
Jane and Prudence
The Lightning Field
The Warden
The Book of Awesome
Chung Lee Loves Lobsters