The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Narrated by a fifteen-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions.

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour's dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. As Christopher tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, the narrative draws readers into the workings of Christopher's mind.

And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon's choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotions. The effect is dazzling, making for one of the freshest debut in years: a comedy, a tearjerker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

$17.95 at Chapters, Coles and HMV. According to Ms Rockett, it's 25% off at HMV so try there first. Not sure about Costco... if anyone knows, post it here.

Have the book read for the November 9th meeting!

Recommendations

Very enjoyable meeting today. If it's any indication of the caliber of meetings to come, I think we are going to have a great year in the book club.

So, with "Catching Fire" behind us, and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" looming in the not-too-distant future, we are looking for thriller/horror recommendations to fill the space between.

Please post your recommendations here. (To post a recommendation, click on the comments link below). Hopefully, it doesn't still say O Comments. If it does, be the first to respond. Remember the immortal words of Ms. Rockett - "Blogs are cool!" For those who could not attend the meeting, she said this today with a Steve Urkel snort while pushing back her glasses...

The triangle...

Although I chose to avoid the whole Team Edward vs Team Jacob debate (opting for Team Vomit), I want to start another thread to see what the group thinks - Peeta or Gale? Does Katniss deserve Peeta? Will she end up with Gale, or will she end up with no one, or even dead?

Sorry RL, but I thought a 'lovey dovey' focussed question might get this crowd talking.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Talk soon.

Dave "Go Team Haymitch!" Lynch

Discussing 'Catching Fire'

Use this discussion thread to share your thoughts and opinions on the novel; what you liked, didn't like, would have liked to see, what you found interesting, what you related to, who you related to... and on it goes.

Suzanne Collins Interview

Suzanne Collins recently did a Borders interview in which she discusses the Hunger Games trilogy. While the interview contains some spoilers, part one has no real spoiler, and discusses how she came up with the idea for The Hunger Games. I haven't watched beyond part one yet; waiting until I finish the book. See part one of the interview here.

Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins will be the first selection of the club this year. Get it at Costco or Chapters for just over 12 bucks, or let Miss Rockett know if you'd like her to pick it up. If you need a copy of The Hunger Games, let myself or Miss Rockett know.

Beginning the blog....

This post is, essentially, a test. It is our hope that the O'Donel Book Club, begun in the 2008-2009 school year, will expand this year, taking on new members, more great books, and a variety of forums of discussion. There will likely be several kinks that need to be worked out, but hopefully by mid-October we will be using this blog to comment, question and debate a variety of issues. New members are always welcome. We'll talk soon!