Fruit: A Novel About A Boy and His Nipples by Brian Francis is a heartfelt tale about 13-year-old Peter Paddington, who is overweight, gay, and unpopular. When his nipples poke out and start talking to him—with brutally honest opinions—he tries to shut them up by covering them with tape every morning. Unfortunately, his nipples seem to be the least of his problems. He’s going into high school, he’s very overweight, self-conscious about his body, and is uncertain about his sexuality.

What do you get when you cross the Virgin Mary with Brooke Shields, add a trash-talking beauty queen wannabe and throw in a couple of talking nipples? One of the most laugh-out-loud books you’ll read all year.

Peter Paddington is 13, overweight, the subject of his classmates’ ridicule, and the victim of too many bad movie-of-the-week storylines. When Peter’s nipples begin speaking to him one day and inform him of their diabolical plan to expose his secret desires to the world, Peter finds himself cornered in a world that seems to have no tolerance for difference.

Peter’s only solace is “The Bedtime Movies” — perfect-world fantasies that lull him to sleep every night. But when the lines between Peter’s fantasy world and his reality begin to blur, no one is safe from the depths of Peter’s imagination — especially Peter himself.

From the publisher, ECW Press

Brian Francis writes with honesty, humour and intelligence. He taps into the pre-teen mind and immediately brings you back to your own socially outcast years. It’s difficult to be Peter Paddington, and you really sympathize with him, even if you can’t relate.

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I was shocked as most people to find out that Essex County by Jeff Lemire, a graphic novel, made the Canada Reads list this year. Canada Reads has strict criteria — no short stories, no poetry, fiction only. I was worried that it wouldn’t have a level playing field during Canada Reads (and I was right) but those opinions aside…

To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have picked up Essex County if it wasn’t for Canada Reads — which is the whole point, exposing new readers to new books. It’s not that I don’t like graphic novels, it’s just that I probably wouldn’t have been aware of it, as they aren’t normally in my radar. That being said, I did enjoy the book.

Where does a young boy turn when his whole world suddenly disappears? What could change two brothers from an unstoppable team into a pair of bitterly estranged loners? How does the work of one middle-aged nurse reveal the scars of an entire community, and can anything heal the wounds caused by a century of deception?

Set in an imaginary version of Jeff Lemire’s hometown, Essex County is an intimate study of an eccentric farming community, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation. With the lush, expressive inking of a cartoonist at the height of his powers, Lemire draws us in and sets us free.

From the publisher, Top Shelf Comix

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I was having difficulty putting my thoughts and feelings into words when it comes to Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards. It’s a darkly depressing book but weaves a tale that really makes you feel compassionate towards the characters, even if you want to hate them.

As a boy, Sydney Henderson thinks he has killed Connie Devlin when he pushes him from a roof for stealing his sandwich. He vows to God he will never again harm another if Connie survives. Connie walks away, laughing, and Sydney embarks upon a life of self-immolating goodness.

In spite of having educated himself with such classics as Tolstoy and Marcus Aurelius, he is not taken seriously enough to enter university because of his background of dire poverty and abuse, which leads everyone to expect the worst of him. His saintly generosity of spirit is treated with suspicion and contempt, especially when he manages to win the love of beautiful Elly.

Unwilling to harm another in thought or deed, or to defend himself against false accusations, he is exploited and tormented by others in this rural community, and finally implicated in the death of a 19-year-old boy.

Lyle Henderson knows his father is innocent, but is angry that the family has been ridiculed for years, and that his mother and sister suffer for it. He feels betrayed by his father’s passivity in the face of one blow after another, and unable to accept his belief in long-term salvation.

Unlike his father, he cannot believe that evil will be punished in the end. While his father turns the other cheek, Lyle decides the right way is in fighting, and embarks on a morally empty life of stealing, drinking and violence.

From the publisher, Anchor Canada (a division of Random House)

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I will admit I was a bit apprehensive about this book initially because I am not well-versed in politics — nor do I want to be.

However, Terry Fallis managed to make the political observations, proceedings, and commentary manageable enough for the regular reader. And I must say, I did enjoy his wry humour.

A burnt-out politcal aide quits just before an election — but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock — an engineering professor who will do anything, anything, to avoid teaching English to engineers — to let his name stand in the election. No need to campaign, certain to lose, and so on.

Then a great scandal blows away his opponent, and to their horror, Angus is elected. He decides to see what good an honest M.P. who doesn’t care about being re-elected can do in Parliament. The results are hilarious — and with chess, a hovercraft, and the love of a good woman thrown in, this very funny book has something for everyone.

From the publisher, McClelland & Stewart*

I have to say that I really enjoyed the main characters, Daniel and Angus, but I felt like Angus’ diary entries were a cheeky way of getting his point of view across. I can see how this may have worked as a podcast (see footnote) if you’re using different voices, but in print it seems a bit off. However, once I got into the book and characters, it stopped bothering me.

My favourite part was when Daniel saw his girlfriend having relations with their boss and regressed into Parliamentary Procedure terminology to describe the scene. I’ve been in groups twice now where it’s been either read out loud or passed around on an smartphone. If you want to listen to it, check out the Best Laid Plans podcast (Prologue, about 16min 19sec) — so worth it!

While I don’t particularly follow politics, these three ideas really seemed to sum up why I don’t like politics:

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I absolutely fell in love with The Birth House and couldn’t put the book down. I pretty much read it in just two sittings. Dora is a fantastic character with honest opinions, flaws, and wisdom beyond her years.

The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of Rares. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing. Dora becomes Miss B.’s apprentice, and together they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labours, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives.

Filled with details as compelling as they are surprising, The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to have control of their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.

From the publisher, Vintage Canada

The part that I find most interested about The Birth House, is the story about how it came to be. Ami McKay moved to Scots Bay in Nova Scotia and found out that their home was lived in by a former midwife, Rebecca Steele. Ami began researching midwifery and Scots Bay, and all about living in a rather isolated community in the WWI era.

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