Arts and Entertainment

Crabby Road: More thoughts on life from Maxine

(Shoebox Greetings Book)

Illustrated by John M. Wagner

This book has no plot and no storyline, but hey, it doesn’t need one. It’s a comic book-- no, not comic, it’s a book full of cartoons about this cranky old woman and her dog. Maxine will make you laugh until you pee your pants. My favourite little example is “‘I hate it when people slip and fall on the ice. I laugh so hard I nearly freeze my lungs.’’ I have noticed that Maxine has a calendar out, and it’s also full of her hilarious sayings. Ifyou like sort-of twisted humor that you have to think about before you get the joke, this book is for you.

-- Jennifer Caseley

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Brother to Shadows (Avonova)

By Andre Norton In this case you can judge a book

easure up. The plot is fast-paced, as these tales go.

-its Cover, provided you take the summary on the back of the ing fellow in leather armour with an automatic weapon in one hand an painst’a backdrop of soldiers, mountains and a repti sthat this is Jofre, a young Shadow (a ninja by another name) who’s been exiled from his clan. The lizard time, and they get into a lot of trouble along the way.

lian alien with a glowing birdcage.

al the two get together to try and unlock the mysteries of As trashy fantasy, this is okay stuff. Andre Norton is a prolific writer of dime-store fantasy novels. Among herg

is Dar, the Beastmaster, who inspired two of the silliest sword-and-sorcery movies of all time. This latest work doesn’

There are lots of interesting aliens (my personal favourites are the inse

wha rent out their hive as locker space), some interstellar psuedo-Commies, and a few fun action sequences. But to get

, and it barely skirts ruining the whole book.

some of her older bodks-at a second-hand bookstore.

--Trent Drake

that Sood clean fun you first have to wade through Norton’s quaint, archaic grammar, which is confusing to say the leas

anadian, I can’t really recommend Brother to Shadows. If you want to read good Andre No

This trashy novel, on the other hand, was excellent. As a connoisseur of trashy novels (can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands?), I would rate this book as one of the best. The story is very well thought-out and well told. Ifyou read carefully and pay closeattention to the plot, you will pick upon the little tidbits the author lays throughout the book (there is one line about halfway through the book that came back to haunt me in the epilogue). Brenda Joyce brings her imagination into this book, which adds a whole new dimension to it. The reader is drawn in and feels pity for poor Sophie the cripple, who is not really acripple but has lived with her mother calling her acripple for most of her life. Along with Sophie’s story of love and finding herself, we see Sophie’s mother’s story and how the actions of her past have hurt her daughter’s chances for a happy future. This book is very inspiring, and I would recommend you read it as soon as you can. My copy has a list of people wanting to borrow it, (after the rave reviews I’ve been giving it) so I would recommend buying your own copy. Enjoy.

-- Jennifer Caseley

igi ce novel set between 1812 and 1814. The main character starts out as a spirited young girl, but becomes a bitter young woman until her true love kidnaps her and turns her into a lean, mean, loving machine. This book starts off slowly but picks up quickly. The writing is good, the plotis great and the characters are wonderful. Definitely a book worthy of the money, especially for romance fans. -- C.A. Schneider

STITT

usan Weldo.

Rayne North is a prim and proper lady when she goes to Confederate-era Nevada to meet the father that abandoned her asa child. There, she is met by her father’s notorious business

partner (and confederate spy) Case O’Malley. The plot is

Everyone’s Guide to Outpa- tiedt Surgery

(Andrews and McMeel) By ames R. Macho, M.D.,

Gre?-Eable A great guide for all who venture into hospitals or clinics for what is some- times referred to as ‘‘day surgery”’ (which for some reason sounds better than ‘‘outpatient surgery’’). It’s a very comprehensive look at simple surgical procedures with diagrams included.

As the title implies, this source book is written in simple, everyday language which even my ten-year-old child enjoys reading.

So, ifyou’ re apprehensive about an upcoming surgical date or are sim- ply a Curious George, this is a fine text to consult.

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Human Form

and

$39.95 price.

/The Body: Photographs of the

(Chronicle Books)

by Willaim A. Ewin This book is a compilation of photo- graphs arranged in 12 chapters, some of which are entitled EROS, Estrange- ment and Mind. The photos found in each section portray these images. The pictures are incredible - some are very old, some are really weird, some are disturbing and some are beautiful. The text describes the photos, how they were made, who made them and how they fit into the section. There is an index in the back, which is wonderful.| 0: If you know the name of a particular photographer, you can find his work rightaway. Thisbook is well worth the

-- Kathy Giesbrecht

vol

ead this book,

modern’ character in the book named q yd he can be found most often on the corn¢

e pages. He explains details that can’ : edin the cartoon. Ifnothing else appea

Stan Mack’s Real Life American

gs in an entertaining way. There is ong |

typical: they hate each other upon first ‘sight, but are! attracted. They quarrel, they part. A tragedy reunites th they live happily ever after. Despite that, this novel reall He doesn’t get her clothes off until at least half-way throv it is interesting. The characters are surprisingly belie you like your stories slightly trashy with intelligence tht this book is for you.

-- Aldera Chisholm

ocre as far as romance novels g0-

s novel is med limited action both in and out of the bedroom. It’s typ meets girl, girl falls in love but doesn’t think boy loves! go their separate ways and then finally meet again and their undying love for one another. There is not m about this novel, ‘cause anyone who reads these thing

the general gist of the story. -- Jennifer Caseley

| (Avon) || By Alexandra Stoddard Th

November 22, 1994