Great Reads: Just for Fun
Great Reads is a series of posts featuring recent books that are highly recommended by Toronto Public Library staff.
These quirky and engaging reads may not solve the world’s problems, but they might take your mind off them for a little while.
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Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman A quirky tale steeped in magical realism, this Canadian novel follows Angie Weird, as she races against the clock to gather her far-flung siblings in time for their grandmother’s death so that she can lift the blessings-turned-curses from the five of them. |
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Carsick by John Waters Join trash culture icon, John Waters, on a sweet and funny ride as he hitchhikes across America. Creepy moustache aside, he is a charming, curious and compassionate travelling companion. Regular Print |
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Delicious by Ruth Reichel Billie Berlin, secret baker extraordinaire, accepts her first writing job at Delicious, a food magazine in New York City and tries to overcome the pain of her past. Reichel was editor of Gourmet magazine. Regular Print |
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How about Never – Is Never Good for You?: My Life in Cartoons by Robert Mankoff The cartoon editor for The New Yorker describes his life as as young cartoonist trying to get published, as well as his observations on how the choice of cartoons printed in the magazine has been a reflection of the shift in editors’ styles over the years. Along the way, he share scores of the magazine’s best cartoons. |
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Love Bomb by Lisa Zeidner An unidentified guest in a wedding dress and gas mask, armed with a rifle and bomb crashes a wedding. Lisa Zeidner’s audacious novel begins as a hostage drama and blossoms into a far-reaching tale about the infinite varieties of passion and heartbreak. |
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Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan A fun romp about books, puzzles, secret societies and the clash of old and new, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is sure to delight the young and old alike. Regular Print |
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Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley Ambitious chef Katie is about to turn 30 and seems stuck in a rut when a punkish house spirit offers her the chance to turn back time and correct her old mistakes. Not content with simply repairing her life, she tries to hone it to perfection. But, erasing your mistakes instead of learning from them has its own set of consequences. This is the latest graphic novel from the creator of Scott Pilgrim. |
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Spoiled Brats: Stories by Simon Rich The first-world problems and preoccupations of millennials are skewered in this breezy selection of humourous short stories. |
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Sweetness #9 by Stephan Eirik Clark When flavour chemist David Leveraux lands a job conducting animal testing for a new sweetener, he becomes concerned about its effects on lab animals. Despite his reservations, Sweetness #9 is released and the American public adore it. As people consume mass quantities of the sweetener, David’s guilt grows when he connects Sweetness #9 to learning disabilities and health problems. A delicious combination of social satire and corporate thriller. |
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Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple Seattle is the locale for Bernadette Fox, an agoraphobic, revolutionary architect devoted to daughter Bee and her Microsoft guru husband, but less beloved by neighbors. When she disappears before an impending trip to Antarctica, Bee sets out to find her. Regular Print |
Other Posts in the Great Reads series:
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