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Our 25th Anniversary - Booklist!
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To celebrate our silver
anniversary, Words Worth Books, has created a list
of the top 25 books over the last 25 years. Staff
defended their picks over pizza and wine (or scotch)
one night at the top secret Word Worth headquarters.
The titles flew fast and furious among staff.
Cheers, Boos and Hisses were so loud that it almost
gave away the secret location. Tricia desperately
wanted Chekhov's plays to make the list as it was
the first book the store EVER sold. She lost! Chuck
hoped for The Seven Laws of Money, as it was the
book that inspired him and Tricia to open the store.
Sadly it is hard to get, so it got bumped. Finally
after hours of arguing, tears, laughs and empty
bottles, Words Worth whittled it down to 25 books
from 200 titles.
So without
further ado & in no particular order - THE LIST: |
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Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling |
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 While readers of all ages have been
enchanted by the Harry Potter series, I feel privileged to have grown up
it. Being the same age as Harry and his Hogwarts friends, and going
through many of the same things that they were experiencing (except
having to save the world) gave me a special connection to the books.
When The Goblet of Fire (my favourite) was released, I remember buying
it with the money I had saved up, and then dividing the days into 8-hour
reading shifts so that my sisters and I could share the book without
killing each other for it. Not that it worked—the Jaws of Life couldn’t
have pried it out of my hands when my turn was over. Millions of others
have felt a similar attraction to Rowling's series. If you haven't read
it by now, don’t worry—it will be on the shelves for centuries to come.
- Laura
PS This is also on the list as our Harry
Potter parties were the most fun to organize and well if we do say so
our selves, pretty legendary! |
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No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod |
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No Great Mischief
was the first book chosen for the One Book One Community yearly program
I helped to start in 2002. At our first meeting, when I schlepped the idea to the libraries and
other bookstores I had a copy of the booked tucked into my presentation.
Why this particular book? MacLeod is a masterful writer and there are
scenes from this Cape Breton novel that are burned into my memory. This
elegiac saga of a Nova Scotia family tied to it's past, but meeting the
modern world on their terms is an utterly absorbing tale. For years,
Canadian writers knew the craft that went into Alistair Macleod's short
stories, and with No Great Mischief he became a favourite of Canadian
readers as well. - Tricia
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Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese |
 Our
sales rep for Random House gave me an advance copy of this book last
Fall. I heard his enthusiasm and took it home over Christmas (2008)
thinking that I would only read the first few chapters over the
holidays. Instead I was sucked into a book that I read in 5 days (560
pages is not an easy task over Xmas with 4 kids). This is an incredible
story of brothers, medicine, Africa, immigration and defining family. I
had the opportunity to have lunch with Abraham Verghese and found him to
be a thoughtful person, just like the main character Miriam. I was
pleased to have him sign my copy, the very same copy that my husband had
to hide from me so I would do the dishes! A must read! - Bronwyn |
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How Boys See Girls by David Gilmour |
 The publication David Gilmour's How Boys See
Girls marked the first time I gave any thought to a novelist as having a
body of work. In one’s youth, it’s natural to try to figure the world
out and find your place in it. Bix, the male lead was a bit older than
me, worldlier, much more daring, and more complete than I was, and in
short I wanted to emulate all of his exploits and I paid particular
attention to the nuances of his worldview. He was essentially, an older
brother, and more importantly a moral relativist. This did me a great
favour as an emerging reader. There’s a curious falsehood specific to
novels and I suspect especially in Canadian literature, that your main
character has to be above all else, uniformly nice. I’ve been a
bookseller for twenty years and I still don’t understand it. Surely it’s
more important for characters in any narrative to be human. David
Gilmour has written great humans for decades; but I’ll always return to
How Boys See Girls as foundation stuff. - David |
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Dangerous
Liaisons by Choderlos De Laclos |
 Reading Dangerous Liaisons in the 1780’s
would have been scandalous and exhilarating; you would blush to read the
private sexual dalliances of noble folk spoken of so openly and even
lecherously. Reading Dangerous Liaisons now is still dashingly romantic
and adventurous. Here you have the collected letters of two very bored
fictional nobles who try to out-scandalize each other with their trysts.
Until the Vicomte de Valmont attempts to seduce the most pious society
lady and finds his heart pulled in ways he’s never known, and his viper
competitor, the Marquise de Merteuil, seeks her revenge. For a ravishing
novel of seduction, Dangerous Liaisons bares a lot of heart. - Mandy |
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Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware |
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 During my first year working at Words Worth I was lucky enough to hear
Chris Ware speak at an event in Toronto. He was the humblest most
thoughtful of speakers. I was already a fan of his book but after the
talk I was positively obsessed, and so when we created our Comic
Book/Graphic Novel section ‘Jimmy Corrigan’ was the first book that went
into it and has been a staple ever since. An upsetting story to be sure
but one of the most thoughtfully constructed and subtly told tales that
I have ever read. Every line that Chris Ware draws and every word that
he writes is absolute perfection. -
Chris
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I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith |
 I am not a reader who usually rereads
novels. With one exception: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I adore
this novel and the novel’s heroine, Cassandra Mortmain, because I truly
want to live in this novel! It is a book that I read again and again. A
couple of years ago the publisher repackaged this book and sold it as a
YA novel. On the front cover blurb J.K. Rowling enthusiastically
trumpets: "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever
met." And she’s spot on. Cassandra Mortmain lives in a an old
dilapidated castle in the English countryside with her father, a writer
struggling with writer’s block, her wacky part-time nudist/nature
child/artiste stepmother and her sister Rose. Pick this up. Read it.
Give it to a friend. - Erica |
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A River Runs Through It by Norm Maclean |
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 A
River Runs Through…my life. This is one book that I have collected
several editions of. I first read it on a canoeing trip some 30 years
ago. I identified with the narrator – the older brother with a
ne’er-do-well sibling and a clergy father. I savored every sentence, and
recently read Maclean’s letters about how long it took to write. I am
still haunted by the story of a family who cannot find a way to help
their brother and son. The critic Alfred Kazin writes, "There are
passages here of physical rapture in the presence of unsullied primitive
America that are as beautiful as anything in Hemmingway or Theroux
-
Chuck |
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Austerlitz by W.G. Sebold |
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 There are many (perhaps too many) novels
that probe the horrors of WW2 in Europe. W.B. Sebold’s Austerlitz is
the best in this crowded field. A man who escaped on a Kinder transport
in 1939 and was raised by a Welsh minister and his wife, now journeys
back to the German world he left behind a half-century earlier.
In addition to a wholly compelling narrative, the book also bears
witness to a Europe that no longer exists. Austerlitz includes snapshots in the text, making this feel like a real
journal. - Chuck |
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by
Robert Pirsig |
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 Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has
been in print since is came out in 1974, and it continues to find an
audience.
Indeed the book is very likely selling better now than it ever has. Robert Pirsig traces the
history of philosophy while narrating a motorbike journey across America
with his son. I gained respect for all things mechanical as well as for
the differences between classical and romantic thought. - Chuck |
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The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys |
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 The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys is a story of British women on the
home front in WW2 whose job was to cultivate every square inch of land.
Gwen Davis is a plain, preternaturally shy woman whose interest and
knowledge of flora and fauna comes to the fore when she finds a plot of
land on the estate where she’s overseeing the agricultural work. She
quickly deduces that it was at some point tended by an especially
knowledgeable horticulturist and Humphreys explores with remarkable
clarity themes of love, loss and life during wartime. Canada has a rich
literary link to both world wars, but Helen Humphreys covers Britain of
the 1940’s better than most and her lyricism and deft hand makes for a
devastating and beautiful work. In all the author events that Words
Worth has hosted, I will always remember Helen reading from the Lost
Garden for the finish in the Waterloo Stage Theatre. As she stopped, the
full room was absolutely dead quiet. It felt like time stopped and the
room collectively needed to emerge from what they had just witnessed.
I’ve never seen anything like that happen at an author reading before or
since. - David
PS We awarded The Lost Garden our first Words Worthy Award! |
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Le Petit Prince by Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry |
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 On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les
yeux.
(It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. The essential is
invisible to the eye.)
So much insight in such a little book! The wisdom and childish innocence
of the Little Prince has elighted readers for decades, making Saint-Exupéry's
novella one of the best-selling books of all time. Full of caricatures
of human personalities and observations of the world of adults, this
book is amusing and eye-opening for both adults and children. I have
read it several times since my first introduction to it in high school
French class, and each time I discover new layers and pieces of wisdom.
It is one of my all-time favourite books, and a true work of art. -
Laura
PS This title has inspired many of our previous staff, one person even
has tattoos from the book! |
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How I Spent My Summer Holiday by W.O.Mitchell |
W.O. Mitchell was the first author to read for a Words Worth Books
audience in 1984. Several people squeezed into the children’s department
of the Waterloo Public Library to hear him. Prior to that Chuck and I
took him to
dinner at the newly opened “Spirits Restaurant” at the Seagram Museum.
W.O. was blown away by how beautiful a space it was and said if we ever
wanted him to read there he would come back gladly. This started our
reading series at the Museum which was a great partnership into the mid
1990’s. Mitchell himself was a great character and his book had us at
times aching with laughter. - Tricia |
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Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden |
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 Joseph
Boyden read from Three Day Road at a Spring event in 2005. I didn't know
much about the book or about Joseph, so I wasn't planning to pay much
attention. As Joseph started to read not only did I lean forward in my
seat (or pew rather, it was at Knox Church) so that I could drink in
more of Joseph's words and wonderful voice, but everyone else did too.
This is the only reading I have ever been to where the whole audience
had their chins almost touching the person in front of them so
captivated where they an author. I got up and picked up a copy of the
book immediately from the book table to make sure that I could get one
signed. I went home that night and stayed up until 2am reading Three Day
Road. - Bronwyn
PS This was also another One Book One Community choice. |
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The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart |
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This is a beautiful love story set in the
backdrop of Vimy ridge in France and Waterloo county.
The Stone Carvers follows the paths of immigrants, labourers, and
dreamers. Vivid, dark, redemptive, this is a novel of great beauty and
power and was first published in 2001. The title was also chosen as a
One Book One Community pick. Years ago Words Worth Books hosted an event
with Timothy Findley and Jane Urquhart way back in 1986. One my favorite
parts of organizing our events is paring established authors with new
ones. It's fitting that much of Stone Carvers is set very nearby, as we
at Words Worth have been fans of hers for many years and feel a sort of
kinship with her She is able to write in many forms, has published
poetry short fiction, critical work and several wonderful novels.-
Tricia |
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Mercy Among the Children by David Adams
Richards |
 Mercy Among the Children opens with Sydney
Henderson, a young New Brunswick boy who pushes a friend, Connie off a
roof, and as he lays motionless on the ground Sydney promises to God
that he will never raise a hand against another if Connie lives. Connie
gets up, laughs and walks away, leading Sydney on the path of
righteousness and passivity, whatever the circumstance. He is well
schooled but ridiculed in the rough environs of his youth and when he’s
wrongly implicated in the death of teenage boy, his refusal to defend
himself brings suspicion and further scorn on the family. The actions of
the father most heavily on Lyle, the son whose beliefs run counter to
his fathers. Lyle has no time for piety and embraces his role as
defender of the family before lashing out at all around him. All of
David Adams Richards’ work feels larger than it is, and the recitation
of plot and character doesn’t come close to doing it justice. In
choosing Mercy Among the Children as a Words Worth Books top 25 of all
time, I’m suggesting nothing less than it will endure for a hundred
years. - David |
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The
Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver |
 Back
in 2002 EVERYONE was reading this book. I resisted because I try to read
titles that no one else has - this way I can recommend an unknown gem to
customers. And it also had an Oprah Book club sticker on it, and I have
had some issues with her choices in the past. However, when I was going
to backpack around West Africa, my parents gave me a copy to read on the
plane (24 hours of planes and stopovers). Did I sleep? Not at all!
Instead I devoured The Poisonwood Bible. Once I arrived at the airport
in Ghana, I continued to read the book through customs and even outside
told taxi drivers to "leave me alone - I just needed to finish this
chapter!". I have since reread and reread this novel countless times. -
Bronwyn |
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Traveling Mercies by Annie Lamott |
 Travelling
Mercies is shelved in our Christianity section as it Annie Lamott 's
journey to faith and a church. If you are not a church go-er or even if
you have no leanings towards Christianity, please give it a try anyways.
Annie's writing is hilarious, beautiful and full of her hard-learned
wisdom. I repeat passages from this book at least once a week on finding
patience and faith. My favorite chapter is the journey of her hair. -
Bronwyn |
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Cold Comfort Farm |
 Written in 1932, C.C.F. is
apparently a parody of the “loam and lovechild” genre of historical
novel. The heroine, Flora Poste is orphaned and is looking for relatives
to live with. She settles on the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm in
rural Sussex, England. They take her in calling her “Robert Poste’s
child” and referring to some sort of debt owed to her departed father.
The Starkadders are crazy: each one living out his or her own particular
self-induced torment under watchful, dictatorial eye of the old Aunt Ada
Doom, who runs the farm and “has seen something nasty in the woodshed”
and never been the same since. Flora becomes the voice of reason and the
positive force for change this madhouse. Cold Comfort Farm is a
revelation. Women’s novels of the time were usually variations on three
themes: domesticity; melodrama and sentiment. Sure, C.C.F. has all of these
things but they are written with tongue firmly in cheek. Bravo Ms.
Gibbons! - Erica |
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A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving |
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 John Irving read for us in 1989 from A Prayer for Owen Meany, which is
one of the most memorable events Words Worth has ever hosted. People were
laughing and crying all through the audience. It was easy to visualize
the Christmas pageant with its “flying” angels – John was reading from
the pulpit of First United Church. Owen Meany loses his mother at age 11
and takes religion VERY seriously, with comic and sometimes tragic
results - Chuck
PS Former staff member, Janet Hoops said this about John Irving's
reading; "Irving is a marvelous reader because he changes his voice -
his voice goes up when Owen Meany comes in. It's really amusing." |
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Richard III by Shakespeare |
 Hamlet Prince of Denmark doesn’t hold a candle to the consummate
impotent anti-hero, Richard III. As an ugly hunchback and a
child-killer, it’s to Shakespeare’s credit that you end up feeling sorry
for this King by the end of the play. He’s just so futile. Ambition is
his only motivation, he’s plagued by fear and paranoia on his entire
journey to the top, and he’s a bit of a soliloquy whiner, but Richard
III is tops when it comes to a super villain that you just want to hug.
But you don’t because he’d stab you in the back. There is also a lot of
great intrigue in Richard III, some adventure, and funny moments. It’s
my favourite of the bard’s plays. - Mandy |
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Full Catastrophe Living by John Kabat-Zinn |
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn didn’t obviously invent the idea of mindfulness, but he
knows how to describe its techniques in a deeply resonant way. Full
Catastrophe Living begins with the insight that after bodily pain comes
mental pain; that to compound pain further, we make up stories about it,
fueling more pain in our bodies. Kabat-Zinn proposes that we deconstruct
our mind’s habitual over thinking just to be fully with the moment,
whatever it brings. In this way you leave room for a less restrictive
experience. With pain comes contraction and recoil. Ease your mind and
you’ll ease your pain. FCL has great insights for sufferers of stress,
pain and illness—so for everyone. - Mandy
PS We were lucky to host
John Kabat-Zinn at an event with St.Jerome's that was one of our
highlights of Winter '05 and one of our biggest events ever. |
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Skim by Mariko Tamaki |
 Beautiful, haunting, with a methodic pace, Skim has the gravity of a
full novel. Jillian Tamaki’s artwork is impeccable, telling the story of
Skim in all of the details. Kimberley “Skim” is a chubby outcast who is
in love with her supply teacher, Ms. Archer, the only one who seems to
see right into Kim. While Kim is falling in love for the first time, her
classmates are grieving in strange ways for a fellow student who killed
himself. Skim is a one of a kind story about a girl coming-of-age, about
grief and friendship and about first love. It’s not just me, Skim won
the 2009 Doug Wright Award for Best Book and Best Illustrated Children’s
Book from the New York Times. - Mandy |
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In the skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje |
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 In the skin of a Lion
by Michael Ondaatje is as powerful a novel now as it was when
first published in 1987. I still hold my breath when I think of the
construction of Toronto’s Bloor Street Viaduct, the nun swept off the
bridge by the strong winds, and the construction worker below who
catches her. Only Ondaatje can paint so strong a picture that it has
stayed with me all these years, and it says a lot that almost any of his
novels are routinely called favourites by equal numbers of his fans.
He is a writer still at the top of him game. - Tricia
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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood |
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 Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
is one of the most iconic novels to ever come from Canada, and perhaps
for that reason alone, it belongs on this list. One wonders how
many young writers Margaret Atwood gave voice to simply by carving out a
place for herself when there were very few Canadian writers able to
support themselves. The Handmaid's Tale still
gives me shivers especially when, after it was published she claimed
that anything we read in the book was actually happening somewhere in
the world. This was certainly before my own awareness of problems with
female oppression in Afghanistan. It is as relevant today as it was when
it first appeared in 1985. - Tricia |
