Happiness(TM) by Will Ferguson

Happiness
Will Ferguson
(Penguin Group Canada, Toronto: 2002)

READ: April 2009

One of my all-time favourite books. I have read it at least three times since first picking it up in 2004 (because I found the giant daisy on the cover was, ironically, pleasing). I hadn't heard of Will Ferguson before, though he has since become one of my favourite authors. I have since bought the book again at least three times, since I kept giving away my own copy to others.

It is a story about self-help books. One day, junior editor Edwin, desperate to show the boss that he is working on something, pulls - not out of his slush pile but literally out of the garbage - a giant, rambling manuscript someone had sent in, claiming it to be The Only Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need. The book and its claims are clearly ludicrous, but the boss gets Edwin to push through and get it published. The book is an instant success...except instead of reading it and moving along to the next trendy thing, people start taking its advice to heart. They quit their jobs, move to communes, start farming sustainably. They quit smoking and drinking, too. But even worse, they stop buying self-help books. Soon, the world's biggest problem is that everyone, everyone is just too darn happy. Except for Edwin.

The first time I read this book, I remember many laugh-out-loud moments. There were a number of chuckles this time around, too. Ferguson is witty and concise, his characters are likeable, and his insight into the human psyche is spot-on as well as amusing.

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
Farley Mowat
ill. Paul Galdone
(Bantam Books, New York: 1984)

First published by Little, Brown in 1957. Two pieces in this book first appeared in magazines - one in the Atlantic Monthly, one in the Saturday Evening Post.

READ: June - July 2008

Who doesn't know and love this book? I read it as a kid, of course, but recently re-read it during my daily commute (as are, indeed, the majority of my books consumed these days). Mowat has a very familiar, conversational, and almost intimate tone in this book, which made me, the reader, feel like he was telling me these stories directly, and I felt so pleased that he was sharing them with me. However, I find it an oddly suspicious coincidence that no sooner had I finished reading this book than Rion had his own skunk encounter. My telling of Rion's misadventure is neither as eloquent nor as entertaining as Mowat's rendition of Mutt and his numerous escapades (and, for that matter, numerous trysts with skunks). Perhaps I am biased toward dogs, but all in all, an enjoyable read.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson
(Anchor Canada (Random House), Toronto?: 2004)

READ: November 2007

I'd been wanting to read this book for months now, and boy, was it worth the wait. In his Short History, Bryson explains everything from the beginnings of life on our planet, to astrophysics, natural disasters, dinosaurs, and Einstein's theory of relativity, in plain, simple language. Well-known as a travel writer, Bryson brings his particular brand of humour to these, and many other questions of scientific import. Entertaining and elucidating, it's one of those books I should have taken notes on while reading. Well-documented, and well-thought out, this is one of the most entertaining and informative reads I've had in a while. My first Bryson book, but definitely not my last.

JPod by Douglas Coupland

JPod
Douglas Coupland
(Bloomsbury, New York: 2006)

Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishers.

READ: September - October 2007

Six video game designer co-workers, whose last names all start with the letter "J" (hence the title), doomed to work forever on the same video game that will never be released.

It sounded vaguely like the premise of Microserfs, but I am pleased to say that the only thing the two books have in common is that the protagonist works in the high-tech world. JPod is so different from Microserfs. It is a book about a surreal, strange world, where morals are constantly shifting and things are never quite what they seem. It just kept getting weirder and weirder and weirder, until finally, partway through, I started wondering where the book was derailing to. Randal, who was also reading it at the same time but was further ahead than me, told me, "Just keep reading. You'll see." It got right back on track and the weirdness somehow all made sense in the end.

CBC Television has made a television series out of JPod, and I'm curious to see how it will work in this format.* I don't know how they will make episodes out of the book, or whether it will just be a spin-off, so to speak, loosely related to the events in the book.

Anyway, I was hooked start to finish. A great read.

* Unfortunately, I don't have cable, so lacking any good bunny-ears, I'm going to just have to wait for it to come out on DVD or something. It starts January 8, 2008 (tomorrow, incidentally).

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Confessions of a Shopaholic
Sophie Kinsella
(Dell Publishing, New York: 2001)

READ: May 2007

I actually have never had any desire to read this book, but I picked it up for $2.00 at a charity sale, so I figured what the heck? It was pretty much the fluff I expected, but once I got into it, it wasn't too bad. The writing was simple, and the story a little contrived (you just know she's gonna get the guy in the end), but it was entertaining and a quick read. I'm not running out to the store to buy any of the other books in the series, however; at least not just yet.

Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada by Will Ferguson

Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada
Will Ferguson
(Alfred A. Knopf Canada, Toronto: 2004)

This edition includes "bonus" material, including a tongue-in-cheek "cheat sheet" for students, "outtakes", various suggested cover designs, and a list of Canada’s "big objects by the side of the road."

READ: May 2007

I've mentioned this before (twice, actually): Will Ferguson is a funny, funny man. And with the intriguing title of this book, which I'd picked up in Canada before leaving for Japan but had made myself wait many months before allowing myself to read it, I was expecting more belly laughs.

And boy, did it deliver! Ferguson spent a few years traveling back and forth, here and there, across Canada, and the result is a series of short stories about strange happenings while on the road. He peppers these humourous stories with a good dose of history - not enough to choke those who always fell asleep during Canadian history class in high school, and just obscure enough to keep those Canadian history keeners (myself included) listening and curious. He goes everywhere: Victoria, B.C., for a poetry slam; Churchill, Man., looking for polar bears; Saguenay-Lac St. Jean, Que., to find a lost kingdom; and even St. Thomas, Ont., just outside London, in search of "Canada". It's always interesting, often funny, and never pedantic. This is the kind of literature I wish we'd read more of in my Canadian literature classes. For starters, I don't think he mentions the name "Susanna Moodie" even once (though I think he does talk a bit about Catherine Parr Trail) - kudos all around right there.

Mightier than the Sword: "My Hero" by Tom Holt

Mightier than the Sword: "My Hero"
Tom Holt
(Orbit, London: 2002)

Mightier than the Sword is Tom Holt's Omnibus 2 which consists of the novels "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?" and "My Hero". "My Hero" first published by Orbit in 1996.

READ: April 2007

I read the other half of Tom Holt's Omnibus 2, Mightier than the Sword, "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?", in March.

Of the three books by Tom Holt that I have now read (the third is Falling Sideways, which I read back in January 2006), I think this one is the weakest. It is funny and entertaining, but it suffered from the same thing Falling Sideways did to some degree: too many characters and too many parallel storylines. Figuring out who everyone is and what their purpose is in the story, is all a bit unnecessarily exhausting. Even when they all come together at the end, it isn't all clear. I think what made "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?" so successful, in my opinion at least, is that it avoided this almost entirely, by having just two sets of characters (Good v. Evil, essentially), rather than a bunch who come together at the climax only. That can be done well, but in this case, it was just a bit too scattered.

That being said, I did enjoy the book. It was an interesting premise: Jane is an author whose fictional characters start to need her help, and then when she tries to help them, it turns out she needs theirs. Fiction becomes reality, and vice-versa.

Mightier than the Sword: "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?" by Tom Holt

Mightier than the Sword: "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?"
Tom Holt
(Orbit, London: 2002)

Mightier than the Sword is Tom Holt's Omnibus 2 which consists of the novels "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?" and "My Hero". "Who's Afraid of Beowulf?" first published by McMillan (London) Limited in 1988.

READ: March 2007

Hildy Frederiksen is just your average archaeologist until the day she accidentally awakens King Hrolf Earthstar and his twelve companions from their centuries-old sleep. King Hrolf is determined to carry on, and finish once and for all, his war against the Sorceror King.

This is only the second book of Tom Holt's that I have read. I quite enjoy his style so far, and plan on reading more (including, of course, the second novel that is included in this book, "My Hero"). He's a bit of an oddball, an interesting mix of scifi-meets-fantasy-meets-humour. Anyway, this book was quite enjoyable; a quick, easy, entertaining read (just over 200 pages), and made me laugh out loud at a number of points.

Why I Hate Canadians by Will Ferguson

Why I Hate Canadians
Will Ferguson
(Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., Vancouver: 1997)

READ: July-September 2006

In this book, Will Ferguson (one of my favourite Canadian authors) takes a mostly-humorous, somewhat-serious look at what it means to be Canadian. Far from being a boring political study, he draws personal anecdotes and other strange stories, in an attempt to examine his own attachment or connection to "Canada" and "Canadianness".

Before continuing with my review, however, I feel obliged to mention, in the interests of full disclosure, that I read this book on the plane to, and immediately after arriving in, Japan, while Will Ferguson wrote this book pretty much immediately following his return to Canada after many years of living and teaching in Japan. That is to say, there might just be some weird alignment of the stars which caused me to enjoy this book. Or it is simply a good book. I still haven't figured out which.

Though he makes many sweeping generalizations about the whole mess we like to call "Canada", I found him to be, more often that not, fairly on the mark. Through his political musings and wanderings, Ferguson attempts to pin down why Canadians are what they are (what makes us tick) and also what personally keeps him going as a Canadian. In particular, I had a hearty laugh at his exposure of the Canadian Dream (success without risk) and the three Great Themes (keeping the Americans out, keeping the French in, and trying to get the Natives to somehow disappear).

Sometimes funny, often tongue-in-cheek, while it doesn't provide as many belly laughs as the other books I have read by him, I'd recommend this if you're into books about Us.

The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth

The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan
Alan Booth
(Viking; Penguin, Toronto: 1986)

READ: March-May 2006

Alan Booth's two books (the other is Looking for the Lost, which I have not read yet but is on my shelf awaiting) are largely heralded as the two best travel books about Japan. I had heard this a few times, and then after Will Ferguson went on and on about him, I figured I had to find his books. One Chapters order later, they arrived.

I took my time reading this book, mainly because it was so delicious. Booth moved to Japan in 1970, and in 1977, he set out from the northern tip of Hokkaido and walked all the way across Japan, all the way south to the southernmost tip of "mainland" Japan, Cape Sata on the south shore of Kyushu Island. It was over 2,000 miles (as the title suggests). He tells poignant and often funny stories of the people he meets, of people who follow him slowly in their cars in the rain because they can't understand why he refused their offer of a lift, of people he chats with about life, death, and WWII in little pubs in small towns. It is a touching portrait of Japan.

It was also interesting to compare Booth's Japan to Ferguson's, since Booth took his cross-Japan trek in the late 1970s while Ferguson was there, post-crash, in the mid-90s.

A wonderful, well-written book that I'd recommend to anyone with an interest either in Japan itself, or just in armchair travel in general.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Lynne Truss
(Gotham Books, New York: 2004)

First published in U.K. in 2003 by Profile Books.

READ: March 2006

Hee. Another funny book. I was given it as a present back in 2004 immediately before I left for Southeast Asia, but hadn't gotten around to reading it. By March of this year, plans were firmly underway to head to Japan for a year (or some) to teach English, so I figured it was time to figure out punctuation.

I've always been a bit of a punctuation stickler. Not always in my own writing (I do tend to drag things on and on), but when editing others' work. Plus in grade 8, my English teacher, Mr. Waddington (who, strangely, had been my French teacher the year before, but that's another story entirely), told me I overused commas. I'm not sure you can actually overuse commas - usually the problem is underuse, no? - but there you have it.

Anyway, this book hasn't helped really in terms of making me a better English teacher, but it was an excellent book nonetheless. It is quite funny. It's certainly not a how-to book. Truss doesn't really tell you when a comma is appropriate, but she can sure show many examples of inappropriateness. And the poor apostrophe! That's the one that drives me batty. It's so simple to use, yet so rarely used right. I can forgive things like "1970's" (shouldn't be an apostrophe), but "Orange's for sale" is only right if there is one thing for sale and it happens to be called Orange. And "it's" versus "its" - the easiest rule in the entire grammar book - let's just not go there.

Yes, the hype that surrounded its publication was worth it. It's a good book and quite enjoyable.

Hitching Rides With Buddha: Travels In Search Of Japan by Will Ferguson

Hitching Rides With Buddha: Travels In Search Of Japan
Will Ferguson
(Knopf Canada, Toronto: 2005)

Originally published in abridged form in the U.K. as Hokkaido Highway Blues by Soho Press in 2001.

READ: February 2006

Will Ferguson is one of my new favourite authors, and he's Canadian to boot! I actually haven't read much by him, but what I have read, I have enjoyed immensely. I spent a thoroughly enjoyable few days on Bali and Lombok in Indonesia two years ago, reading his book Happiness (TM). I really need to re-read it solely so that I may have the pleasure of reviewing it on this site.

Anyway, I digress. I'd been waiting for Hitching Rides With Buddha to come out in paperback, when I received it as a Christmas present from my parents who knew I was thinking of coming out to Japan later this year. And man oh man, is it ever funny. If you know anything at all about Japan, or don't know much at all but are interested in learning a bit, this book is for you. Taking Alan Booth's 2000-mile walk across Japan as inspiration, Ferguson, who taught English on Kyushu in the south end of Japan for about 5 years in the early to mid-1990s, set out to hitchhike clear across Japan. He is witty, he is insightful, and I promise he will make you laugh and laugh and laugh. I drove Randal crazy while I was reading this book as I kept laughing out loud every page or two. He couldn't understand it...until he went to read it himself a few months later. Then it was his turn.

And it's not just a book for Japanophiles. While the action is obviously set in Japan and most of Ferguson's comments are targeted toward Japanese and foreigners in Japan, many of these comments also translate to a larger picture of human nature generally. I'm sure I often say on this blog that "this book is an entertaining read", but this time I really, really mean it. I can't recommend this book enough.

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Small Gods
Terry Pratchett
(HarperPrism, London: 1992)

READ: January 2006

So while I was going through my mini sci-fi/fantasy reading binge, I added this book to the list (yes, same bookshelf). The only other Terry Pratchett I have read is Good Omens, which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. And I am, oddly enough, constantly getting the two books confused. But Small Gods is a good book, though not laugh-out-loud funny like Good Omens. It takes place in a time when the various small gods have been largely forgotten in favour of a few large, very important gods. One of these, Om, unfortunately has somehow gotten trapped in the body of a very small tortoise, and he must convince his chosen disciple, Brutha, and the people of his land that he is in fact the god Om and must be obeyed. There are, of course, neighbouring lands with competing gods, and most worrying of all, the Quisition, a thinly-veiled version of the Spanish Inquisition. Hilarity ensues. Read it.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Douglas Adams
(Pan Books Ltd, London: 1988)

READ: January 2006

Another book sitting on Randal's shelf that he recommended I read. I was forewarned that it was not as good a book as the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, but it's not bad. It had some loose bits that I didn't really follow, but on the whole, it was a good read. But, of course, if you ever had to choose one or the other, Hitchhikers Guide takes the prize all the way. And that's all I have to say about that!

Falling Sideways by Tom Holt

Falling Sideways
Tom Holt
(Orbit (Time Warner Books), London: 2002)

READ: January 2006

This is a funny, funny book. It had been sitting on Randal's bookshelf for a while and when I finally asked him about it, he said, "Yeah, it's good. Read it. You'll like it." And he was right.

Basically, if you have read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, you know the world is run by mice, right? Wrong! Frogs are actually in charge of the whole shebang. Or perhaps humans are actually frogs who think they are human. Or the frogs are human but think they are frogs. Anyway, something like that. There are also numerous clones involved in the various shenanigans, too, for good measure.

It gets bogged down at a few points, and once or twice I lost track of the storyline almost entirely (as you might have guessed from the previous paragraph), but it really is an entertaining read, and a short, breezy one at that.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Good Omens
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
(Ballantine Books, New York: 1991)

READ: November 2005

I have read this book twice now and both times it has proven laugh-out-loud FUNNY. It involves a demon and an angel who have gotten all too comfortable with their lives on Earth, a witch named Anathema, the coming Apocalypse, an 11-year-old boy who is supposed to be the Anti-Christ but turns out not to be, and another 11-year-old boy who turns out to be said Anti-Christ despite no one realizing he was (is). Confused? Read the book!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl
Illustrated by Quentin Blake
(Puffin Books, New York: 1998)

First published in 1964.

READ: July 2005

A children's classic, of course. If you have not read this book, you must do so. The recent movie with Johnny Depp is not, in any way, a substitute. While the storytelling is not always the most subtle in tone, kids love this story and adults get a kick out of it too, as bad children end up where we only wish we could send them in real life, and the good kid comes out, for once, ahead of the others.

From the back of the book:
Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Buket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

Microserfs
by Douglas Coupland
(HarpersCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto: 1995)

READ: February 2005

I first tried to read Microserfs sometime during my undergrad in 1996 or 1997, and just couldn't do it. I am an on-again, off-again Douglas Coupland fan (Generation X and Life After God were great, Girlfriend in a Coma bit the big one), and just couldn't get into Microserfs way back when. And now, I have no idea why. It's a fabulous book. I couldn't read it fast enough. And when I was done, I felt emotionally drained but oh-so-happy to have made it through. So worth it.

Microserfs is the story of Dan, a programmer at, yup you guessed it, Microsoft. It takes place in the mid-1990s (1996 or so?) during the heyday of Internet and computer applications development (the first boom). And his computer nerd friends, of course. They don't do a whole lot...well, if you consider developing new products and trying to find their identities and whole raison d'être, is not "a whole lot". It's a remarkable well-written story that is an early foray into exploring the blurred line between narrative and technology (at the risk of sounding somewhat academic). And the ending had me in tears (but happy ones).

I gave this to my brother, who is also somewhat of a computer geek, two years ago for Christmas and he thought it was fantastic. So there.