HSS Book Club Recommendations

The HSS Book Club met for another great session during X Block on Friday, December 10, 2010.  Students discussed some of their favourite books and recommended Rosemarie Boll's *The Second Trial;  Christopher Paolini's *Eragon, *Eldest, *Brisingr; John Green's *Paper Towns and *Looking for Alaska ; Ellen Wittlinger's  *Parrotfish and *Love and Lies ; Robert Jordan's *Towers of Midnight ; Al Gore's Our Choice:  A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis; Clive Cussler's Atlantis Found and Inca Gold; and Dan Brown's *Lost Symbol.
*indicates that it available in Constance Rulka Library

Book Club Meets X Block Friday in Library

The HSS Book Club meets during X Block in the library on Friday, December 10, 2010.
Please be prepared to discuss a book you've recently read, or if you haven't---come anyway,
and join in the discussion.  New members are welcome!

2010 Globe 100: Canadian Fiction (The Globe and Mail)

It's the time of year for major book awards and listings of the best books for 2010. Worth looking at is a feature from The Globe and Mail. Check out the

2010 Globe 100: Canadian Fiction.

As well, there are links to the Globe 100 International Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and Graphica, and Margaret Cannon's Deathly Dozen for 2010.

Go to

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-2010-globe-100-canadian-fiction/article1813220/

Governor General's Literary Awards 2010 Just Announced

The Governor General's Literary Awards 2010 have just been announced.  Here are the winners for English-Language Books:

Boxing the Compass - Richard Greene (Poetry)
Cats' Night Out - Jon Klassen (Children's Literature--Illustration)
Cool Water - Dianne Warren (Fiction)
Afterimage - Robert Chafe (Drama)
Forests - Linda Gaboriau (Translation--French to English)
Lakeland:  Journeys into Soul of Canada - Allan Case (Non-fiction)
Fishtailing - Wendy Phillips (Children's Literature--Text)

For further information go to


http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggla/2010/default.htm

Canada Reads Top 10 Books 2011

CBC Canada Reads has announced the Essential Top 10 Canadian Novels of the Decade.  Canadians selected the novels.  The ten titles " represent... richness and diversity...there are former Canada Reads contenders, an originally self-published novel, a graphic novel, some titles from big publishers and others from smaller presses. There's a humorous book and a heartbreaking one, and everything in between."

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
The Birth House by Ami McKay
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Unless by Carol Shields

For further information on Canada Reads go to
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2010/11/meet-your-canada-reads-top-10.html

Giller (Book) Prize Winner 2010

Johanna Skibsrud has been named the 2010 winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel The Sentimentalists, published by Gaspereau Press.  For further information and a list of nominees go to

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/

HSS Book Club Book Recommendations

The HSS Book Club met on Friday, November 5.  Members discussed books that they had read recently.
Some of the recommended books included

Deadline - Chris Crutcher
In the Garage -  Alma Fullerton
Tricks - Ellen Hopkins
Splinter Cell - Tom Clancy
Halo series - Lee Hammock
Fire Demons - FitzGerald McCurdy
The Second Trial - Rosemarie Boll
Annexed - Sharon Dogar
Lord of the Rings - Tolkien

The club will be meeting again in X Block on Friday, November 19, 2010.

HSS Book Club Meeting on Friday, November 5, 2010

HSS Book Club members will be meeting in the library on Friday, November 5, 2010 in X Block.
Please bring the book you have read and be prepared to speak briefly about the book. Looking forward to seeing you all!  Ms. Firbank and Mr. Chafer

Governor General's Literary Awards 2010

The Governor General's Literary Awards 2010 nominations have just been released.


Check the following link for nominees (with images)

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/news/imagegallery/rp129310231959891415.htm

Giller (Book) Prize 2010 Short List Just Announced

The Short List for the 2010 Giller (Book) Prize has just been released.

The five nominated selections are

David Bergen for his novel The Matter With Morris, Phyllis Bruce Books/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Alexander MacLeod for his short story collection Light Lifting, Biblioasis

Sarah Selecky for her short story collection This Cake is for the Party, Thomas Allen Publishers

Johanna Skibsrud for her novel The Sentimentalists, Gaspereau Press

Kathleen Winter for her novel Annabel, House of Anansi Press

For more detail, visit the Giller web site at

http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/scotiabank-giller-prize-2010-announces-its-short.html

10 Apps for Readers on the Go

Hi,

I recently discovered your blog, and I have become a frequent reader. I recently published an article “10 Apps for Readers on the Go” that dovetails well with your audience. Perhaps you would be interested in sharing with them? Here's the link to the article if you would like to take a quick look for yourself:

http://www.informationtechnologyschools.org/blog/2010/10-apps-for-readers-on-the-go/

Thanks again for the great content, and I hope the article I've linked primes your interest.

Regards,

Liz

Writers' Trust of Canada--Nominees for 10th Annual Writers' Trust Awards 2010

The Writers’ Trust of Canada has announced the finalists for the 10th annual Writers’ Trust Awards. Nominees for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, and the Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, for short fiction, were unveiled this morning at a press conference at Toronto’s Ben McNally Books. Nominees include a Man Booker Prize finalist, dueling brother and sister novelists, a husband and wife team, and – a first for the Writers’ Trust – the author of a graphic memoir.

It's a Book!

You might find amusing the animation from YouTube for Lane Smith's new picture book (for all ages) It's a Book!
Go to
https://www.tinlids.ca/blog/default.aspx

Scroll down the page to find the animation.

World's Most Expensive Book Worth 8 Million

Do you have any idea what the world's most expensive book is?  A copy of the book was sold recently for an estimated 8 million dollars!  Check out the link below for more information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11242275

Of Two Minds About Books (The New York Times)

An interesting article, "Of Two Minds About Books" about the impact of electronic readers on the book publishing industry from The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/technology/02couples.html

Cybermage (Science Fiction Blog)

If you enjoy reading science fiction, check out this great blog titled Cybermage.  It's at
http://www.cybermage.se/
It may be useful in providing you with some ideas about SF authors and books to read.

Man Booker Prize 2010

The long list of nominations for the 2010 Man Book Prize has just been released.
Check out the titles at
http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1427

Share Posts With Friends on Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz

Do you see any posts on the HSSS Readers Blog  that you would like to share with friends and/or colleagues?  You can now share any of the posts using Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz.  Click on the appropriate icon below each post.
Enjoy!

Electronic Reading Devices Are Transforming the Concept of a Book

Take a look at the article "Electronic Reading Devices Are Transforming the Concept of a Book" from the July 18, 2010 issue of the Los Angeles Times:

"Emma Teitgen, 12, thought the chemistry book her teacher recommended would make perfect bedside reading. Perfect because it might help her fall asleep.Then she downloaded The Elements: A Visual Exploration to her iPad. Instead of making her drowsy, it blossomed in her hands. The 118 chemical elements, from hydrogen to ununoctium, came alive in vivid images that could be rotated with a swipe of the finger."
Entire article:


http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/18/business/la-fiw-0718-reading-20100718

Comic Books and Graphic Novels Help Improve Reading Skills

The Canadian Council on Learning released the results of a study this week showing that comic books and graphic novels were instrumental in helping improve reading skills especially for boys.  Check out the entire article from the Vancouver Sun (July 21, 2010) at

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Comics+help+develop+reading+skills/3308875/story.html

SYNC Offers Teens Free Audio Books to Download for the Summer 2010

Looking for books to read during the summer?  Start downloading now!
SYNC (Young Adult Literature Into Your Earphones) is offering two free downloads for each week for both July and August 2010.
Until September 1, 2010 anyone aged 13 and up can download a wide range of books listed below.  The titles are in MP3 format, but are compatible with any digital player or computer.  Two new titles-a current teen favorite and a classic with a similar theme-will be paired each week, offering teens a great way to listen to great literature all summer long.
Head to the SYNC link to download:
http://www.audiobooksync.com/


Here's the schedule of audiobooks available for download.

July 1 - July 7

The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

July 8 - July 14

Over the End Line by Alfred C. Martino

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

July 15 - July 21

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

July 22 - July 28

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

July 29 - August 4

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

August 5 - August 11

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

August 12 - August 18

Beastly by Alex Flinn

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

August 19 - August 25

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

August 26 - September 1

Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The Medium is the Medium: The Power of Books

Recently, book publishers got some good news. Researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books (of their own choosing) to take home at the end of the school year. They did this for three successive years. Check out the results of the study and what it revealed about the power of books.
For the complete article  "The Medium is the Medium" by David Brooks go to the New York Times at

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/opinion/09brooks.html?_r=2&th&emc=th

Teen Read Awards from Indigo Books

Press Release:
Indigo Books & Music Inc. is proud to announce the first-ever Teen Read Awards, a celebration of popular teen fiction as well as the Canadian fans who read and love teen books. At the onset of the awards process, Indigo invited publishers across Canada to submit their nominations for 10 Teen Read Award categories including Best Read, Best Hero, Best Villain and Best Book to Flick. An Indigo panel of teen fiction experts then shortlisted four nominees in each category and starting today until September 12th, 2010, Canadian teens can cast their votes in store and online at www.teenreadawards.ca for their favourite shortlisted books, authors and characters. Until July 25th, 2010, teens can also recommend and vote for their choice of a fifth nominee for each category. Each vote makes them eligible for amazing daily prizes from gift cards and exclusive signed books to time with their favourite authors.

The winners will be revealed on September 25th at an awards ceremony in Toronto and will feature a fun, eclectic mix of presenters including authors, celebrity teens and musical acts who will surely bring the fandemonium for teen reading to a fever pitch.

For more information on the first-ever Indigo Teen Read Awards visit

http://www.teenreadawards.ca/

2009/2010 Stellar Book Award Winner Just Announced!

The 2009/2010 Stellar Book Award Winner is Choices by Deborah Lynn Jacobs.
Choices is available in our library.

The nominees for the 2010/2011 awards have also been announced and the titles are
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
The Apprentice’s Masterpiece by Melanie Little
The Lit Report by Sarah H. Harvey
Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen
Gotcha! By Shelley Hrdlitschka
Chanda’s Wars by Allan Stratton
Tales from Cooks Cove: One For Sorrow by Mary C. Sheppard
Getting the Girl by Susan Juby
Alexandria of Africa by Eric Walters
My Mother is a French Fry and Further Proof of my Fuzzed Up Life by Colleen Sydor
Gravity Journal by Gail Sidonie Sobalt
Lockdown by Diane Tullson

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer June 5, 2010

Stephenie Meyer's novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner will be available in book stores on June 5, 2010 and then will be available free online at http://breetanner.com/ on June 7, 2010. The novella is about the experiences of the minor Eclipse character Bree Tanner, who becomes one of Victoria's many newborn vampires.  Of particular interest to Twilight fans, the movie Eclipse will be released on June 30, 2010.

Arthur Ellis Award: Crime Writers of Canada 2010

Barbara Haworth-Attard's novel Haunted has been selected as young adult winner for this year's Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada. For winners in other categories go to the Crime Writers of Canada website at http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwcNew/index.html

Haunted is available in the library. Here's a review of the novel from the Toronto Star:
“Creepiness and dread build forcibly as this spooky tale of predation and murder builds toward its moments of revelation. Its post-war setting gives richness to Dee's intuitions of the dead in a world that is suffering many losses. Haworth-Attard folds into her ghost story the tale of a girl's coming of age in a period of social and political change: Dee's midwife Gran can look forward to her insightful granddaughter training to become not a nurse, but a doctor. A satisfying read.”

Teen Reading Club

If you are interested in joining the Teen Reading Club over the summer check out all the details at TeenRC -- www.teenrc.ca
"TeenRC provides teens with opportunities to read books, post their reviews, participate in online chats, discuss books with peers from all over Canada, and win prizes for the reviews they submit." Teen RC is in its sixth year, and now has over 3000 teens participating year-round.
This year's theme is "Get Into Character".

BC Book Prize Winners for 2010

For the winners of this year's BC Book Prize go to
http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2010

Pemberton author Carrie Mac won the Sheila A. Egoff Prize for The Gryphon Project.

The book, as well as others by Carrie Mac, is available in the library.

Synopsis:
Phoenix envies her brother Gryphon. The daredevil and sports hero has all of his recons left: three more chances at life. But she is left with only one, and learns that her beloved brother is responsible for one of her deaths. When Gryphon himself has an accident, the governing body Chrysalis refuses to recon him, deeming his death to be a suicide. His friends’ code of silence makes it difficult to find out what happened, but Phoenix is determined to unravel the mystery and save her brother. Carrie Mac is the author of nine novels including Charmed, Crush, the Triskelia series and Pain & Wastings. Her novel The Beckoners won the Arthur Ellis YA Award, is a CLA Honour book, and has been optioned for film. She was raised in small-town British Columbia and now lives in Vancouver. More

Author Lawrence Hill Appearing at Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Center in Whistler, May 8, 2010

 Lawrence Hill is appearing at the Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Center at 4584 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, B.C. on May 8, 2010.  He will be giving a reading and a question and answer session will follow.  Information regarding tickets can be found at The Vicious Circle (Whistler Writers Group),

Hill, of course, is the author of The Book of Negroes, winner of numerous literary prizes, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book.  For those of your interested in reading the books it available in the library.

Check Out Shelfari for Newest Books at Constance Rulka Library

Check out Shelfari on the Library Web Site at
www.hsslibrary.com or on the HSSS Reader's Blog at http://hsssreadersblog.blogspot.com
for the latest new books in the library.
New books are added frequently during the school year.    Colin 

2010 Pulitzer Prize Just Announced

The Pulitzer Prize has been awarded by Columbia University since 1917.  The awards are chosen by a board of jurors for Journalism, Biography and Autobiography, History and Fiction.

Pulitzer Prize for History
Lord of Finance:  The Bankers Who Broke the World - Liaquat Ahamed

Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction
The Dead Hand:  The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and It's Dangerous Legacy - David E. Hoffman

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Versed - Rae Armantrout

Pulitzer Prize for Biography
The First Tycoon:  The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt - T. J. Stiles

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 
Tinkers - Paul Harding

Go to
http://www.pulitzer.org
for further details.     Colin

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

I recently read and very much enjoyed the book Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver.  Kingsolver is keeny socially and environmentally conscious; she weaves this awareness smoothly into much of her writing, and Animal Dreams is no exception.  It is about a woman who finds herself returning to her small hometown to take care of her aging father, only to realize that her perceptions and even memories, of the town and her own past are not what she thought.  Part love story, part family drama, Kingsolver brings her characters to life in a world that is slowly realizing the consequences of its actions, both past and present.  Sara

National Poetry Month in Canada (April 2010)

April is National Poetry Month.  This year's theme is Climate Changes.
To find out more go to
http://www.youngpoets.ca/
The library has just purchased three of the nominated poetry titles for this year's BC Book Prize--the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.  They are Automaton Biographies (Larissa Lai), Red Nest (Gillian Jerome), and The Fly in Autumn (David Zieroth). Colin

B.C. Book Awards Nominees 2010

The finalists have been announced for the 2010 B.C. Book Awards. Go to
http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2010
for a list of those nominated.  The winners for each of the categories will be announced on April 24, 2010.

Of particular interest are those titles nominated for the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize:
Counting on Hope - Sylvia Olsen
The Gryphon Project - Carrie Mac
Inferno - Robin Stevenson
Return to Bone Tree Hill - Kristin Butcher
The Ship of Lost Souls - Rachelle Delaney

The library has The Gryphon Project and has just purchased  Inferno and Return to Bone Tree Hill.  You might want to check these out.   Colin

New Easybib Features

Many of you are familiar with EasyBib as you use it to create bibliographies or Works Cited (MLA), for your research projects.
The library now subscribes to the service which means that there are many new features. With EasyBib you are able to create bibliographies in MLA, APA, or Chicago formats. Students can create an account where their bibliographies are saved. Once they are saved, you can go back and edit them if necessary. The service now is able to create a footnote or a parenthetical citation (in-text citation)for any of the citations you create.
Take a look at the tutorial at
http://www.easybib.com/help/intro
This is really helpful in getting you started and pointing out major features available.
More later...

Electronic Book Readers

In the last six months I've purchased two Sony Readers. A good example of compulsive buying. Do I really need them? The first was the Reader Pocket Edition which lets you access up to 350 books from anywhere. It has a 5 inch screen and is very easy to read even in direct sunlight. I was surprised though that it doesn't light up at night, so you have to have an external power source to read. You can purchase books from the Sony Reader Store, but also can download free public domain titles from Google Books, and there are over one million. The Sony Store has many new releases, but it doesn't contain too many previously released books which is somewhat of a disappointment. The positive is that prices for books are 40 to 60% cheaper than purchasing the printed edition.
Recently, I purchased the Sony Reader Touch Edition. One of the advantages with this edition is you can not only download 350 books, but it has memory expansion card slots so many more books can be downloaded. Quite the little library one can carry around on a device that is thinner, smaller, and lighter than most magazines. This one has a 6 inch touchscreen and with a stylus one can highlight text and write in annotations. Again, you need an external light to read in the dark although with this model they've attached one of those little reading lights you can buy in bookstores.
They, despite some limitations, are cool to use and it's easy to download books. But I didn't mention that neither Reader has colour print or visuals. At $199.00 and $299.00 How come? Maybe someone can explain that one. Economics?
Will I stop reading print books? No way. First of all, content is limited with the Readers. No where near everything in print can be purchased electronically. And like all electronic devices, when was the last time I charged it up on the computer's USB. Like my cell phone, I forget sometimes and, alas, nothing to read.
Will I continue to use my Sony Readers? Absolutely.
And while I have been playing away with my two Readers, I notice that Sony now has a Daily Edition Reader on the market. A 7 inch screen and you can download books (and daily newspapers) wirelessly.
I think I'll hold off on that one for awhile.
Anyone in the school is welcome to take a look at my Sony Readers.
Has anyone had a chance to look at Amazon's Kindle which is now available in Canada? It would be interesting to make some comparisons.

New Books Coming Soon

New Books Coming Soon

Welcome to HSSS Reader's Blog

Well, here we go again.  These programs can be frustrating when only peer support is offered.  I have no explanation for losing the Publish Post buttom.  We shall see how this goes.
In any case, please share your thoughts and feelings about books read, your favourite authors, or any topics relating to literacy.  Let's get some discussion going.