The long weekend is here and I bet I know what's on your mind: cottages, patios and BBQs. I myself am planning to pull out the BBQ this weekend for the first time this season. Can't wait! And you can be sure that one of the cookbooks at my side will be Gastro Grilling because you can't go wrong with Ted Reader. This new cookbook from the BBQ king isn't about grilling steaks the boring way. It's about grilling food of the highest quality with "fun and passion," as Ted puts it. In his intro, he says, "I'm a fat kid in a candy shop, only the candy shop is a circle of hot smoking and crackling grills." And with Gastro Grilling he's bringing that candy shop to you. If "Fire-Roasted Oysters with Crawfish Bacon BBQ Butter" and "Grilled Squid with Grilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Radichio & Caper Balsamic Sauce" sound deliciously appealing to you, give this cookbook a try this long weekend. And if you love beer along with your BBQ (who doesn't), make sure to check out Ted's cookbook from last year, Beerlicious -- for more info and to check out a video of Ted and I in his BBQ ... Read more

The Miracles of Ordinary MenAmanda LeducFiction INTERVIEW: Listen to my chat with Amanda Leduc about her debut novel, her own beliefs and her thoughts on the necessity of doubt. You can listen to the interview here. SYNOPSIS: Sam, an English teacher, wakes up one morning with wings growing out of his back. Only several people can see the wings, including his childhood priest. Sam turns to him for help – what do the wings mean? Why did this happen to him when he doesn’t even believe in God? Lilah, meanwhile, struggles with figuring out her life. When she finally comes back home after spending months adrift in Europe and Asia, she wastes her days away working as a secretary and trying to save a brother who has turned to homelessness as a way of life. She ends up in a sadomasochistic relationship with her boss because, at least, it makes her feel something. All the characters begin to question God, His message, their destinies. Not even the priest has any answers. MY THOUGHTS: Amanda Leduc brings up fascinating questions about faith and destiny. And she doesn’t provide answers because the point is, she says, that there will and ... Read more

Drunk MomJowita BydlowskaMemoir INTERVIEW: Listen to my chat with Jowita about her memoir and her battle with alcoholism. She talks about how she felt the day her revealing book was released, and how she hopes her son will take it when he’s older. You can listen to the podcast here. THE BOOK: When Jowita Bydlowska’s son was born, she celebrated by throwing back a glass of champagne. That moment marked her relapse into alcoholism, three years after she had given up drinking. Drunk Mom is Jowita’s account of the months following her son’s birth and her relapse, as she tried to quit, failed, and tried again. During those first months as a new mom, Jowita became an expert in math (at least, she hoped she was getting the numbers right). Every other day, she would calculate when she could breastfeed her newborn son, based on how much she had to drink and when. For the 14 or so hours the alcohol was still in her system, she would turn to baby formula to feed her son.  She knew that she had become a “drunk mom,” endangering her child every time she passed out with her son in the ... Read more

Full Count: Four Decades of Blue Jays BaseballJeff BlairNon-fiction INTERVIEW: Listen to my chat with Jeff Blair about his book and about those Jays. THE BOOK: Forty years ago, a new sports franchise was born in the city that bleeds blue and white – the Toronto Blue Jays. Back in the ‘80s, the Jays were a dream team with a “dream owner,” Peter Hardy. Jeff Blair, a columnist with The Globe & Mail,  explains that Toronto executives at the time knew how to do things differently and how to make this city a destination for players. Then came two years in Jays’ history that every fans remembers – the ’92 and ’93 World Series wins. Twenty years later, the Blue Jays have inspired excitement among fans again. (Or at least they had before the 2013 season started.) In the meantime, the team had gone through lean times, shifting from the “the Cadillac of franchises” to one hanging out on the sidelines. Blair goes through 40 years of Blue Jays history with a focus on the Rogers years. He talks about what the team did right when it was on top, and how it all went wrong until the ... Read more

The Blind Man’s GardenNadeem AslamFiction SYNOPSIS: When young Jeo is frightened by a story being told to him, his father Rohan asks, “But have you ever heard a story in which the evil person triumphs at the end?” He thinks and responds, “No… but before they lose, they harm the good people. That is what I am afraid of.” That fear becomes reality when Jeo is older. It’s post 9/11. The U.S. attacks Afghanistan, trying to drive out the Taliban. Jeo decides he can’t sit around in his Pakistani village while the war rages on next door. His foster brother, Mikal, decides he can’ t let Jeo go alone. So the two best friends head straight for Afghanistan. They don’t want to fight, they want to help care for wounded civilians. But their good intentions are taken advantage of, and they soon find themselves in the middle of the conflict. This is a story of a family’s losses in a time of war. Not only is the West clashing with Islam, but so are differing beliefs within Islam itself. MY THOUGHTS: There is such raw emotion in this book. In the midst of violence and cruelty, Nadeem Aslam ... Read more