Ever feel like there are certain things in this world you should just know about? What exactly were the dinosaurs? I know Einstein thought of the Theory of Relativity but what the heck is it? How did the world get created? I know Newton was important but what did he do exactly? What are atoms?
I could go on and on with all the questions I have about the universe but instead I just picked up A Short History of Nearly Everything and prepared to get educated. As a writer, I always found math and science boring when I was in school but recently because fascinated by the scientific for whatever reason. This large and lovely book has somewhat satisfied a lot of the curiosity I had. Bill Bryson tries to tackle the history of the world and science efficiently, quickly and make it easy to understand. He succeeds for the most part. Although this is a short history you have to think in terms of context and 500 pages is short considering the age of the world but it’s still a hefty book to get through. Don’t expect to do it in a few days.
Bryson does a great job of making all the information accessible to those of us without a science degree but it’s still a lot to take in at times. This is the type of book you read for a couple of weeks and then put aside for a while to catch up on some fluffy reading. You will go back to it thought because it is so darn interesting.
This edition has added some to Bryson’s original text and also is full of colourful illustrations, diagrams and maps. If you’re a visual learner, this is the book for you. Bryson’s words come alive with the accompanying visuals whereas straight text might just make you dizzy.
We think this is a book everyone should read. You need to have some sort of knowledge about the world you live in to gain some sort of appreciation for it. We’re glad we do now. And it’s also fun to spout off scientific facts at people in random. We’re giving them a break from our incessant grammar-correcting.

While we loved Angela’s Ashes it made up want to curl up and cry and cry and cry. We hadn’t read ‘Tis (which is supposed to be a little more light-hearted) so we pick up Teacher Man with a sort of dread and anticipation. We can safely say, we didn’t cry once during the reading of this but we sure did laugh a lot.
Teacher Man is a continuation of McCourt’s memoirs. He now lives in New York and has received his teaching licence. It’s the story of his various teaching jobs and how he manages to get through them. His methods are often unconventional but he manages to keep his students engaged, which any teacher will tell you is half the battle. He tells them about his childhood in Ireland, working on the docks and his time in the army. He has them write Excuse Notes from Adam and Eve to God and uses recipes like poetry, recited to music.
I can safely say his students were lucky to have him as a teacher and probably remember his fondly even in they don’t know about his huge success with Angela’s Ashes. Full of the same dark humour, wit and great knack with words, Teacher Man is a welcome read after the poignant but frankly depressing Ashes, and is a great read for any teacher, student or McCourt fan.

Now that the cold weather has been upon us for a few months, the golfers out there are starting to go quite batty. If you aren’t one or don’t have one in your life, it’s hard to fully understand the obsession these nut-jobs have with whacking a little ball with a club. It’s a disease, really, so when they haven’t had a chance to hit a course for a long time and the little putting green in the basement isn’t hacking it anymore, they start to lose their sense or reality.
In you will step with these two books that should grant you at least a little peace. The Worst-Case Scenario Handbook: Golf is chock full of tips and ideas for golfers to get them out of sticky situations. This little book is packed with advice for things like how to retrieve a ball lost in the ball washer, retrieve a ball from a gopher hole, how to keep score without a pencil, how to spot a cheat, disarm an irate golfer, start a dead cart, stop a runaway cart or free a cart from a sand trap. How to prevent a club from flying out of your hand and how to retrieve a golf club or golf ball lodged in a tree, how to drive with a putter or putt with a driver, how to survive if you run out of tees, how to treat a sprained ankle, a blister, poison ivy, sunburn, heatstroke or dehydration, how to deal with a brush fire, alligator, snake, rabid animal or an attack by birds, and how to deal with a fashion emergency or recognize a golf addiction.
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Tees Off on Golf has pretty much everything else you’d want to know. Golf’s history, philosophy, courses, players, equipment, fashion and funny stories are all covered in this 320-page book suited for the bathroom or wherever else you need golf-filled entertainment.
That should keep them busy for while. We hope.

We don’t care what gets kids interested in reading as long as they’re reading. So when the big Disney movie The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe came out, we were thrilled to see it spark interest in the rest of this charming series of seven books.
Thanks to the fact that it usually takes a long time to make a movie, oodles of young ones will take to reading to satisfy their curiosity about the rest of the story. The Narnia books have been lauded as classic tales of good vs. evil, Christian stories and old English mythology. Whatever the case may be, they’re good old-fashioned fantast that kids and adults love.
This is a new version of the box set with images from the movie all around the case, which will appeal to the kids who have seen and loved it. Inside are all seven books from the series, each interwoven with the others but still possible to read out of order or on its own. Several characters are a constant through the books but there are also various new ones.
This set has illustrations by Pauline Baynes who was the original illustrator for the series and they add a certain something to the experience. If you have kids or know kids, get them this series to enjoy. If you don’t—do yourself a favour and curl up with these books yourself. Who doesn’t want to be transported away from the hectic life we live to Narnia… at least for a little while?

When you see the stunning book that is Mangoes and Curry Leaves you get confused. Is it a cookbook or is it a coffee table book? This is a glossy hardcover with full colour photography and amazing-looking recipes that any food-lover or travel buff would love.
The book doesn’t just focus on how-to recipes, it teaches the reader about the land these foods come from—the people, their lives and the way they cook. It also talks about the spices, the history and the culture, as well as some religious aspects.
The recipes themselves are delicious. While we obviously haven’t tried them all, we did attempt the Chile Shrimp Stir-Fry which was so yummy, and the Persian-Flavoured Eggs, which were completely unlike anything we’d ever tasted—and we loved them.
This is a serious gift for a serious foodie. It retails for $70 but you can find it at a discount on sites like Amazon.ca. If you’re stuck for a fantastic gift this season, look no further as this beautiful book would make someone on your list very very happy. And maybe they’ll cook for you!

Have someone on your list with a new baby who likes to cook? The Baby’s Table was one of the coolest ideas for a book we’d seen in a little while. It’s chock full of tips on how to feed your baby and making sure they’re getting the nutrition they need. The best part is that it also has over 100 healthy sugar and salt free recipes for babies and toddlers.
The book covers almost everything you could think of in terms of a baby’s diet and eating habits including breastfeeding, formula feeding and weaning your baby, introducing solid foods, assessing food intolerances and allergies, and vitamin supplements.
On top of all that are the recipes. You can make Easy Beef Hash, Brown Rice and Vegetables, Pizza Fruit Shake—you name it, it’s in there. There’s even a recipes for Thanksgiving Dinner! The recipes are easy and there are also sample weekly meal planners to check out.
The best part of it all? The authors are Canadian! What more could you ask for? Well, maybe for the little ones to like brussel sprouts. But don’t hold your breath.

Ever wonder to yourself: “What’s going on with the world these days? Does no one have manners?” Ever let someone in on the highway and expect a wave, only to get nothing. Open a door for someone who just breezes through like the Queen of Sheba? Yup. I think most of us have, and it’s exactly this manners drought that Lynne Truss tackles in her new book.
This is the same woman who brought us Eats, Shoots and Leaves and taught us all about punctuation. So with the same biting wit she analyzes why people are so darn rude nowadays.
Are you still looking for a Christmas present for your grumpy grandma or your cynical sister? Look no further. They’ll get a real kick out of this book where they’ll laugh and frequently lower it and say “That’s so true!” to themselves and anyone who will listen. Truss blames several things for this decline in manners: the internet, television, the mobile phone, parents, "the absence of war, the under-valuing of teachers and. . . the culture of blame." We completely agree.
No, there aren’t any brilliant solutions in this book but it does give people something to think about. And even that would be a great start.