The Savvy Reader

Transform Your Old Clothes and Save

Travel back to the forties when a war-torn Europe was still no excuse to dress shabbily and the one thing you didn′t ration was fashion. In this exclusive reproduction of a genuine archive copy, retro domestic goddess Joanna Chase prescribes ways to avoid fashion faux pas in money-tight scenarios -- whether the cause is a lack of coupons or a credit crunch.  With tips on how to transform the old into new and make the most out of ever last inch of fabric, Sew and Save shows every mother, fashionista, or aspiring DIY-er how to make the most out of the least -- in style.

TO TRANSFORM OLD CLOTHES

If the collar of your dress is worn and greasy, the underarms fluffy and split, the wrists frayed, and yet the skirt is still good, put a new yoke on that dress. Cut the top off just below the underarm, and then cut a new yoke patterned on the one you have just cut off. You’ll need about a yard-and-a-half of material.  Buy a tartan or a dog’s-tooth check or plaid for a plain dress. Try and get a fabric about the same weight as your dress -- a silk top on heavy wool is obviously useless, as the skirt will drag the bodice out of shape. A material of similar weight and texture is easier to handle.

When you have put in the sleeves and joined the small side-seams, put the yoke back on the frock by tacking it straight across the back and front of the dress, keeping it absolutely flat and in a dead-straight line. Then machine-stitch it down about one-sixth of an inch from the edge. Make three or four close lines of machine-stitching each above the other to strengthen the hold of the yoke, and to give it a professional-looking finish.

Waistcoats Give New Life to a Frock

Another way of cheering up a good dress that you may be tired of is to make a couple of waistcoats for it. It takes only a yard of 36-inch material to make a sleeveless waistcoat. Cut it from your basic bodice pattern, making it 22 inches deep at the back and 26 inches deep at the front from top shoulder-line to hem. When you have cut it out, join up the shoulders and the side-seams, and bind the arm-holes, the front, neck-line and hem with braid or coloured tape. You’ll need about 3 ½ yards of this.

Round the corners of the bottom of the bodice pattern at the front before you turn up the hem. A velvet waistcoat looks charming with a plain woolen frock, and will dress it up for special occasions. For morning wear, waistcoats in checks or in a good bold colour look very cheerful and fresh.

Tim Winton wins the Miles Franklin Award

The unstoppable Tim Winton, already a two-time finalist of the Man Booker Prize, has just won the Miles Franklin Award for the fourth time for Breath. Here's a release (plus a video) of his inspiring acceptance speech.

Tim Winton wins the 2009 Miles Franklin Award for his novel Breath.

Four times a winner of the nation's most prestigious prize and the only writer ever to have won four times in his own right, Winton was on his beloved Ningaloo Reef in the north of WA when the announcement was made in Sydney tonight.

"It's been a strong year for Australian novels," said the author. "When you consider that your book is up against work by Richard Flanagan, Helen Garner, Peter Carey and Murray Bail you'd have to be a hell of an optimist to fancy your chances.  I'm stoked, of course, but also mindful that there are terrific writers who will be feeling pretty stiff tonight, because their books are more than good enough to have won. To some extent I feel like the kid who's simply left holding the parcel when the music stops."

Make Your Garden Feed You

In Make your Garden Feed You, a gorgeously reproduced edition of a genuine archive title, horticultural expert E.T. Brown teaches us how to make the most out of our garden while slashing the groceries budget in half. Packed with timeless advice and tips on how to grow anything from berries to tomatoes, prepare an herb bed, and keep birds and bugs away, Make your Garden Feed Youis a must-have handbook for suburbans, city-dwellers, and anyone looking to outgrow the credit crunch.

TO GROW BUMPER ROOT CROPS

The various roots grow well in practically all ordinary soils, but while the soil should be fairly rich it should not be freshly manured. The one exception is in the case of potatoes, and for this crop it is quite in order to apply a good dressing of animal manure or a manure substitute in the autumn. The ground should be quite good enough for carrots, parsnips, and onions, if the rotation of cropping suggested is adopted.

BEETROOTS. – In some households beetroots are eaten as a vegetable; in others the roots are sliced and pickled. Those who like beets boiled and served as a vegetable are advised to make two or three separate sowings from April onwards at intervals of two or three weeks. For pickling beets the whole row should be sown in the first week of May. One ounce of seed is plenty for a 42-ft. row, and the depth of the drill should be 2 in. in light soil or 1 in. in heavy land. Later on the plants should be thinned to 4 in. or 5 in. apart.

The round variety of beet should be chosen if the soil is shallow; the long variety if of sufficient depth, say, 2 ft. of good soil. The soil should be well worked whichever variety is chosen, and if on the poor side guano, 1 oz. per square yard, should be pricked in the surface just before sowing.

During the active growing period the beets may stand in need of a little stimulating food; 1 oz. of sulphate of iron to the gallon of water should be applied, while four weeks later a little poultry manure should be sprinkled along the sides of the rows and pricked in.

Green Beans with Pears

I’m the first to admit that I’m not the most vegetable-savvy person out there. I don’t know when to buy what, how to prepare half of what’s out there or how to make it tasty delicious without using spoonfuls of cheese. And I was a little wary of a book filled with vegetable ideas , in a “where’s the meat? sort of way. But, I’m officially eating my words and my veggies now, because Sophie Grigson’s aptly named tome is nothing short of a Vegetable Bible. Who knew there were so many easy ways to prepare and enjoy vegetables? Convert, indeed.

--Narvan

THE VEGETABLE BIBLE

Vegetables are no longer confined to the side of your plate. Thanks to a growing access to fresher, juicier, better vegetables, more and more people are finally moving veggies to centre stage.  Bursting with advice on how to buy, prepare and cook both familiar and more unusual varieties, The Vegetable Bible contains over 150 recipes and many more simple ideas for just about every vegetable family out there, including Roots, Shoots and Stems, Brassicas, and Pods and Seeds. Below, author Sophie Grigson shares a few methods of preparing green beans and a luscious recipe for Green Beans with Pears.

Green Beans with Pears

In Germany, it is relatively common to combine fruit and vegetables in one pan, and it’s something we should consider taking up here. We’ve already absorbed sweet and sour red cabbage cooked with apple, but this is simpler, quicker and just as good. If you have slightly under-ripe pears all the better (though not essential), as the natural tartness adds an extra stab of flavor.

HCC News – The Tattletale Edition

Plagiarism, books in outer space, and cheating husbands -- this may just be one of our most scandalous HCC News editions yet. And who doesn’t love a bit of good ol’ gossip? So get comfy, grab a margarita or two, and get ready to surf this week’s stormy waters.

• What would you do if you found out your whole life was a lie? Julie Metz wrote a bestselling book, so the New York Times visited her at home to find out more. For those of you with satellite, watch Julie talk about her ordeal on Good Morning America on July 1st.
• Bibliohistoria says the Doomsday Key was “fast moving, with plenty of action, lots of history and even some science and archaeology as well”  Is it ever any other way with James Rollins?
• Speaking of James, don’t forget to enter our Rollins Contest for a chance to win no less than 8 signed copies of his books. And if you just can’t get enough of him, follow him on Twitter for updates on the upcoming Altar of Eden.
• Who is Mark Twain?, asks Mark Twain. And the Globe & Mail answers.
• Lynn at Canadian Books and Authors says Sam was the character she liked the most in Step Closer. Who do you relate to more? Browse Inside and find out.
• What’s better than a wondrous faerie land in Central Park? An audio version of a wondrous faerie land –- as read by author / voice actor Lesley Livingston. The audio book edition of Wondrous Strange is out this week.
• Roxana Saberi, the American journalist imprisoned in Tehran, is publishing a book. And it promises "a penetrating look into Iranian society and culture."
• Our Sales Director just sent out an email regarding “the situation with Chris Anderson’s book Free.” Where do you draw the line in the digital age? Here’s what Anderson says. 
• Kenneth Oppel's Governor General's Award-winning Airborn has gone into outer space! A Canadian astronaut, Dr. Robert Thirsk, is part of the current crew aboard the Space Station on a six-month mission. Each astronaut is permitted a personal "official flying kit" and part of his kit is a copy of Airborn. Very fitting. Read all about it here (item #10)
• Is love still in the mix for Jon and Kate?
• There’s just something about Vikas Swarup. His new bestseller, Six Suspects, just wowed the New York Times with its zany mix of Bollywood and the game Clue. “Can a novel be any more high-concept than that?”

-- Narvan
 

Oh Canada Day: A Top 10 List

Most of us are going to celebrate Canada Day with a bbq or party of some sort. But is beer all that there is to it? This July 1st, celebrate all things Canadian -- the eclectic food, the natural wonders, the economics, and the fantastic literature: there’s so much to be enjoyed. And you’re sure to find all of that on this top ten list that’s as diverse as its native country.

Who Owns Canada Now by Diane Francis
Twenty years ago, Diane Francis’ Controlling Interest shocked the nation by revealing that all the wealth in Canada was divided between just a few families. Now, the National Post editor-at-large returns to show that, in spite of what the mainstream media would like us to believe, the opposite is true: fee trade and tough legislation have allowed for a broad cast of Canadian leaders offering new and diverse policies. Based on extensive interviews and analysis,Who Owns Canada Now is a guidebook to the transformation of wealth and power in Canada.

Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill
With over one quarter million copies sold, Lawrence Hill has already captured Canadian readers, critics and just about every award committee with the epic Book of Negroes. Now, discover the book that came before it. Any Known Blood follows five generations of an African-Canadian-American family, as it slips from the slave trade of 19th-century Virginia to the modern suburbs of Ontario. Elegant wry and witty, this is an engrossing tale about one man’s attempt to find himself through those who came before him.

Grizzlyville by Jake MacDonald
In some Vancouver suburbs and Northern Ontario towns, grizzly bears are as common as raccoons. In Churchill, Manitoba, they’re a tourist attraction. While some experts argue that these animals should be left alone, others believe that responsible hunting would serve both the bears and the people. In this readable, fascinating and often frightening account, Jake MacDonald draws on personal experience -- his own as well as those of others -- to narrate the place that bears occupy in our life, and the place that we occupy in theirs. 

Clara Callan by Richard Wright
Enter the wildly unpredictable world of Clara Callan. Clara is a spinsterish school teacher from small town Ontario with dreams of a bigger future. Her sister Nora is a flighty and beautiful ingénue who travels to New York and hits the big time as a radio soap opera star. Told through diary entries and letters, Wright’s logic-defying sense of the female inner thought earned him the Governor General’s Award, the Giller Prize, and the Trillium Book award, to name just a few.

Darkness at the Stroke of Noon by Dennis Richard Murphy
Aware of far more too much dirt than tolerable, RCMP Sergeant Booker Kennison is quickly exiled to Yellowknife. When a series of freak accidents claim the lives of two archeologists in remote Victory Island, he is dispatched to investigate in the cold wilderness. But winter’s grip and the 24-hour darkness are closing in fast and Kennison must solve two mysteries before time and light run out. Listen to the book’s exclusive radio drama here.

10 Books for Gay Pride Week

With cities around the world celebrating Gay Pride Week (the Toronto one is now in full swing), there’s no better time than now to enjoy some of our favorite gay and lesbian literature. And our new intern Kristin Campbell has come up with the just perfect list. 

10 Books for Gay Pride Week

From the England to the San Francisco Bay -- whether it’s navigating your own course through adversity, recovering personal histories, or embracing new identities, living life on your own terms is always something to celebrate.

Slammerkin  by Emma Donoghue
You know that old Mother Goose rhyme, “For want of a nail, the Kingdom was lost”?  For young Mary Saunders, it’s more about ribbons and virtue. Born into respectable squalor in 1760s London, Mary lusts after the finer things in life, and wants nothing more than to acquire luxurious trappings that might relieve the dire straights she was born to, or at least disguise them. The splendour and deception of clothing bring Mary to the brink of disaster -- Slammerkin is both a brilliant evocation of another era and a timeless tale of the rage of adolescence.

The Piano Man's Daughter by Timothy Findley
Charlie Kilworth wants to understand his own history. As he navigates through the scattered events of his mother Lily’s tempestuous life, he begins to chart the map of his own becoming:  will the fears and anxieties of his family limit his course, or will they inspire him in ways he never imagined? In a gently-told tale of the careful negotiations of who we are and who we might become, The Piano Man’s Daughter is a tale of lives reclaimed and of lessons passed on, by one of Canada’s greatest storytellers.

Stephen Fry in America by Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry’s journey across a country that has long fascinated him brought him into contact with people, customs, icons and landmarks both strange and perfectly ordinary. Local eccentricities can be national treasures, as the incomparable Stephen Fry unpacks and examines a nation that truly is the sum of its peculiar parts. 

Galilee by Clive Barker
Clive Barker has been hailed as one of the greatest horror writers of his genereation by everyone from Stephen King to Quentin Tarantino. His latest novel uncovers the terrible secrets of the wealthy and influential Geary clan. An intense and all-consuming feud with the mystical Barbarossa family simmers beneath fragile surfaces, and is brought to the forefront when Galilee, prodigal prince of the Barbarossa clan, meets Rachel, the young bride of Mitchell Geary, thus shaking a seemingly invincible family to its core.

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
A single word, ‘friend’, can mean a thousand things, and a single mysterious document can unravel entire lives. Emma Donoghue’s enthralling exploration of scandalous divorce in Victorian London breathes life into real events torn from nineteenth-century headlines. Mired in the circumstances of a private matter turned public spectacle that threatens to ruin them, Emily “Fido” Faithfull and her old friend Helen Codrington must each negotiate consequences which ripple ever outward.  

Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy

The star of MTV’s #1 rated show, The Hills, Lauren Conrad has plenty of firsthand knowledge about growing up in the limelight. In L.A. Candy, the first of a deliciously scandalous three-part series, nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts moves to L.A. and unexpectedly becomes the star of a reality T.V. show. With fame comes wealth, hot clothes and even hotter love interests -- but soon, Jane realizes everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be. A fast-paced, honest and entertaining fictional account of what it’s like to come of age in Hollywood while starring in a hot reality series, L.A. Candy is the perfect treat to kick off your summer.

Always Look on the Closet Floor First

Jane Roberts leaned against her dresser, studying the way her white silk nightie looked against her sun-kissed skin. Her loose blond curls cascaded softly over her shoulders as she pretended not to be interested in the guy in her bed.

“Come over here -- or am I going to have to come get you?”

Jane smiled mischievously at the ground, then raised her face to him, staring into his chocolate brown eyes. She slinked back to the bed, slid onto the white silk sheets, and nestled next to him.

“Janie, you’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. I’m so in love with you, it’s crazy,” he said, gazing into her eyes.

“Really, Caleb?” Jane smiled, and reached for him . . . . . . and woke up to find herself lying next to some strange, sweaty guy. Some strange, sweaty, half-naked guy. He smelled like bad cologne and armpits and pot.

He rolled over sleepily in her direction. “Cassandra?” Jane yanked the sheet (not silk) around herself as she sat up -- which was not entirely necessary, since she was wearing her favorite faded baby blue Gap jammies that covered . . . well, everything.

“Who the hell are you?” she yelled.

Oprah And I Love The Same Book

Our publisher sent around a note this week calling attention to the fact that Oprah's O Magazine has counted down the "25 Books You Can't Put Down, a 2009 Summer Reading List" and arrived at the conclusion that Colum McCann's excellent Let the Great World Spin belongs at number one.

You can read an excerpt from the book on their site, Browse Inside even more on ours, and print off a reading group guide for your bookclub (because it's an AMAZING bookclub book). On top of all that, they've also provided a cute bookmark to download. It's an easy summer shopping list...

So, I wonder if Oprah wants to sit down for a cup of tea and listen to me gush about the book?

HCC News: The Music, Movies and Lauren Conrad Edition

The summer movie season is upon us, and I've succumbed to many afternoons in a theatre over the past few weeks (and no, I'm not about to say exactly what I went to see, that would be too embarrassing). For now let's look at some bookish news that follows the themes of music, movies and Lauren Conrad:

The premiere of Natasha and Other Stories's author David Bezmozgis's first feature film, Victoria Day, takes place this weekend. Box office counts for Canadian films so if you're in town (Toronto or Vancouver; AMC Yonge/Dundas, Grand Sheppard; Fifth Avenue, check listings for exact titles), make sure to show your support.

Crooner, songwriter extraordinare and bestselling author Dan Hill will be on Bravo tonight to talk about I Am My Father's Son and his upcoming album as a part of a father's day special.

If you haven't already seen it, the chilling trailer for the adaptation of Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island is online.What's your verdict? The best yet for Scorsese and DiCaprio?

Yesterday @sarahw tweeted about Lapham's Quarterly featuring a reading of On The Road by James Franco. But does it compare to our audio book excerpt with Matt Dillon? You decide.

Did you see the fantastic feature on Guillermo del Toro in this weekend's Globe?

Last but certainly not least, Lauren Conrad's novel, L.A. Candy released this week, and the book's already landed on the Amazon top 100 and the coverage has been amazing (she did a day of media in Toronto last month). In addition to ETalk, Entertainment Tonight Canada, and The Hills: The After Show (all aired yesterday), other features include: a one-on-one for TeenFlare.com, interviews in the Toronto Star, the National Post, Metro, and Hello! magazine, with much, much more to come.