… committed tax fraud, and he was charged in 1598 with hoarding grain in order to resell it during food shortages? Other fun facts about the author: He was an astute real-estate investor. In fact, most of his income came from the renting of his properties. His wife’s name was Anne Hathaway, like the actress in Les Misérables. He was 18 when they married, and she was 26 and pregnant…
Quotation
Continue Reading
Tom Clancy Quotation
“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” – Tom Clancy –
Fiction
Continue Reading
Divergent by Veronica Roth
In the first book in the Divergent Trilogy, Beatrice lives in a future Chicago where people are divided into 5 factions representing the main characteristic of each person: Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (love), Candor (honesty), Dauntless (courage) and Erudite (knowledge). Beatrice has spent her childhood in Abnegation with her family. At the beginning of the book, she has just turned 16, and she must choose which faction she will belong to…
Dan Brown
Continue Reading
The Library of Congress
A year ago, I went to Washington DC for the Easter long week-end. As a book lover, I had no choice but to visit the Library of Congress, and I thought I would share some pictures with you. The Jefferson Building was stunning, with its white marble columns and floor, and its colorful frescoes on the ceiling. The Main Reading Room was also impressive, its domed ceiling soaring 160 feet…
Fiction
Continue Reading
Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
At the beginning of Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason, Bridget has been going out with Mark Darcy for four weeks, and she is getting used to being part of a couple. Enters Rebecca, a beautiful, successful and rich colleague of Mark who is determined to steal Bridget’s boyfriend. Seeking advice from her friends and her self-help books, Bridget becomes convinced that Mark has a lot more in common with…
Esi Edugyan
Continue Reading
Canada Reads 2014 Winner
Congratulations to Joseph Boyden, the Canada Reads 2014 Winner for The Orenda! Canada Reads is an annual competition where 5 personalities defend their favorite book. The debates are broadcast on CBC, and panelists eliminate one book at a time until only one is left. The remaining title is proclaimed the best book of that particular year. The award was initially created in an effort to boost sales of Canadian titles….
Fiction
Continue Reading
Who I’m Not by Ted Staunton
In August 2008, The New Yorker published a true story by David Grann called “The Chameleon” about a twenty-year-old Frenchman, Frédéric Bourdin, who pretended to be a missing teen, Nicholas Barclay, in San Antonio, Texas. Despite Bourdin’s French accent and his lack of resemblance to Nicholas, the teen’s family welcomed him with open arms, raising questions about their involvement in Nicholas’ disappearance. This story inspired Ted Staunton to write Who I’m Not….
Mark Twain
Continue Reading
Mark Twain Quotation
“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” – Mark Twain –
Non-fiction
Continue Reading
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
In 1993, Piper Kerman had just graduated from college when she fell for the wrong girl: Nora was an older woman who was involved in an international drug smuggling ring. Piper started following her girlfriend in her frequent trips, and one day Nora asked her to smuggle a suitcase full of money from the United States to Belgium. When her baggage was almost lost in transit, Piper realized she was…
Ernest Hemingway
Continue Reading
Hemingway’s Documents Found in Cuba Have Been Digitized
In October 2011, I had read an article in Vanity Fair that detailed how Jenny Phillips, the granddaughter of Maxwell Perkins, Hemingway’s editor, orchestrated the rescue of documents stored in the author’s Cuban home, la Finca Vigia. I found it fascinating that there were still papers Hemingway wrote that nobody had seen. On February 10, 2014, a New York Times article announced that these documents have been digitized and are now…