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I absolutely loved reading this month's book, "Triggers"!  Robert J. Sawyer introduces his readers to some amazing science, always keeps us on our toes and we really get to know all the characters. You can read my review of this book in last week's Good Shopper Blog. I also have a book winner to announce at the end of this post!
Born in April of 1960, Canadian Robert J. Sawyer has twenty-one published novels and has won over forty awards, including the Nebula Award and the Aurora Award.  Most of his works contain, not only real life science like the memory research we read about in "Triggers", but also real life locations. Remember CERN  (the European Organization for Nuclear Research located near Geneva, Switzerland) from Flashforward?  I so appreciate that Sawyer often brings Canada into the mix in most of his novels.  If you've read Sawyer's novel "Calculating God" you'll know it focuses on the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto.
I mentioned that Sawyer's famous book, "Flashforward", (which is also a great read!) was turned into a TV show.  Sawyer worked with the writers on the story line and even wrote one of the episodes.  It has been fun to step into another one of Sawyer's books with "Triggers" and I look forward to picking up his next novel.

Time to get ready for our next book. I thought that we would take another big genre turn and try "Life of Pi", by Canadian author Yann Martel.  Did you know that this famous novel was actually rejected by at least five London publishing houses before being picked up by Knopf Canada?  This Man Booker Prize winning novel has been talked about since it was first published in 2001.

The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family, along with their zoo animals, emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra and "Richard Parker", a four hundred and fifty pound Bengal tiger. Soon, the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for two hundred and twenty seven days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional ... but is it more true?

I'm really looking forward to reading this famous story! For now, congratulations to the winner of "Triggers", Catherine Kelly! Let us know what you think! I would love to discuss it with you and find out how you think the people in your life would react.

To win a copy of our next book, "Life of Pi", please answer the question at the end of our review, which will be published on Monday, August 20, 2012. The winner will be announced the following week. Good luck and thanks so much to everyone for participating! Don't forget to Like us at the Buy Canadian First Book Club  on Facebook and share us with your friends!

Have you read "Life of Pi" yet or seen the movie?

:: Images courtesy of Chapters-Indigo and sfwriter.com.