Favourite books of some St. Joseph staff members  

Ms. Smits
	I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou “Published in 1969.  A powerful true story about the remarkable life of a living legend, scholar and poet, Maya Angelou, who came from a life of poverty, tragedy, and eventually triumph, to overcome adversity and become a true leader and inspiration for us all.  A must read for today and tomorrow, you cannot help but be deeply touched by her superbly told story.”
Mr. Gennaro
	The Dark Knight returns by Frank Miller “”My favourite read (one of …).  Not to be confused with the (equally awesome) movie, the Dark Knight Returns graphic novel was written in 1986.  It is not an exaggeration to say that it revolutionized the Batman character.  The dark, sometimes violent Batman stories of the last 20 years began with this book. “
	The Lord of the Rings  trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein   “I enjoyed how it weaved day-to-day aspects of life into a story of fantasy and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.”
Mr. Febbraro
	The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas [Set in France , this is an adventure story with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, forgiveness and death.  Published in 1844.]
Mr. Cescolini
	1984 by George Orwell  “Awesome.”  [Classic dystopian novel published in 1949.]
Ms. Closs
	The thorn birds by Colleen McCullough [An epic love story set in the Australian outback.]
Mr. Wheeler
	The miracle at speedy motors by Alexander McCall Smith [From the series No. 1 ladies’ detective agency.]
Ms. Neal
	A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini “A great book.” [Focuses on mothers and daughters and friendships between women.]
Mr. Lamarche
	The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger   “I like this book because I enjoy non-fiction and this book reads like a biography.  I like the dark humour of the main character, Holden Caulfield, and the fact that the coming of age story transcends the decade in which it was written. “   [Published in 1951, the novel’s antihero is an icon for teenage rebellion and defiance.]
Ms. Frances
	Maclean’s magazine   “Best periodical – know a little about a lot, i.e. a “Jacques of all trades!”
Mr. DaCosta
	The wealthy barber by David Chilton [The common-sense guide to successful financial planning.]

Ms. Jakab Price
	Like water for chocolate by Laura Esquivel [A tall tale, fairy tale, soap-opera romance, Mexican cookbook, and home-remedy handbook all rolled into one.]
	The twilight collection by Stephanie Meyer [ A love story with bite.]
Mr. Savic
	Farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway “”My recommendation to all you romantics.  The story is about the emotional struggle of two lovers caught within the brutality of WWI.  The tragedy that befalls these two lovers in the end is both sad and memorable.  Enloy!.”

Ms. Gabriele
	The other Boleyn girl by Philippa Gregory “The historical aspects is very cool.” [Two sisters competing for the greatest prize ... the love of a king.]
	Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden “Beautiful” [This story weaves a wonderfully provocative tale of one woman's destiny and the one true love of her life.]

Ms. Orosz Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Mr. Borg Mandela : the authorized biography by Anthony Sampson "One of the many books I read last year."
Ms. Moser   “a few of my faves”
	We are all the same by James Wooten [A story of a boy's courage and a mother's love.]
	The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon [Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbour's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.]
	Three weeks with my brother : a memoir by Nicholas Sparks  and Micah Sparks “the same dude that wrote The Notebook … ahhh the tears!!” [An opportunity for readers to get to know a favorite author as Nicholas reveals the inspirations for his fiction. A must-read for Sparks fans as well as a treat for those who want to find out what makes a family strong.]

Ms. Bindoo Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell [As we enter the world of four-year-old Brian O’Connal, his father the druggist, his Uncle Sean, his mother, and his formidable Scotch grandmother, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book.  As we watch Brian grow up, the prairie, its surprising inhabitants, and the rich variety of small-town characters beome unforgettable.
Mr. Bazinet Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
Mr. Bernasiewicz What’s Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies

Ms. Schramm   “Escaping to fantasy lands is timeless.”
	Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
	The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book and The Green Fairy Book edited by Andrew Lang

Ms. Cunningham Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Ms. Phillips
	Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart “Hilarious, a great satire of the twenty-first century.”
	A Good Year by Peter Mayle … and all the rest of his books about Provence, one of my favourite places “Good wine, good food, paradise?”
	A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson “Tells everything that you ever wanted to know about nearly everything in a very readable format.”
Mr. Grindatto   “The best science fiction were all series – all great stories and Mars and Helmsman have lots of action.”
	The Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov
	The Mars series by E.R. Burroughs
	The Helmsman series by Brian Baldwin

Ms. Theriault Eat, pray, love : one woman’s search for everything  across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert [Gilbert grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery.]
Mr. Panetta Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books.]
Mr. Lepage 100 Love Sonnets : Cien Sonetos de Amor by Pablo Neruda "Every time I read Neruda I have to catch my breath." [A collection of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's poetry.]
Ms. Blondin The prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving “This book has a fantastic example of theme that used to baffle me in English class.  I finally understood the use of it in a literary sense.  Bravo John Irving!” [In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys — best friends — are playing in a Little League baseball game in New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. Owen Meany believes he didn't hit the ball by accident. He believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after 1953 is extraordinary and terrifying. He is Irving's most heartbreaking hero.]

Ms. Dei-Rocini  The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Mr. Agostini  Armchair General “Actions speak louder than words.” [Armchair General is a bi-monthly publication that puts the reader in the center of military history and strategy.]
Mr. Falzata Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Ms. Cipriano
	Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling “All seven!”
	The Red Tent by Anita Diamante
Mr. McDowell  Wicked by Gregory MaGuire [In Maguire's Oz, Elphaba, better known as the Wicked Witch of the West, is not wicked; nor is she a formally schooled witch. Instead, she's an insecure, unfortunately green Munchkinlander who's willing to take radical steps to unseat the tyrannical Wizard of Oz. She suffered a tumultuous childhood (spent with an alcoholic mother and a minister father) and eye-opening school years (when she befriends her roommate, Glinda). This book is for readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy.]
Ms. Izquierdo
	Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
	Blindness by Jose Saramago
Ms. Ruffell “Some of these books were read over twenty years ago and yet they have left quite an impression on me.”
	Fall on your knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
	Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
	Mayfair Witches series by Ann rice
	The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
	Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Mr. Simeone
	The Salamandra Glass by A.W. Mykel
	The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Ms. Pereira  Left to Tell : Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee libagiza
Mr. Lesniewski  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens “It serves as a constant reminder that true happiness comes from doing the work of God.”
Ms. Jonker  Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett [Set in 12th-century England, the narrative concerns the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. The ambitions of three men merge, conflict and collide through 40 years of social and political upheaval as internal church politics affect the progress of the cathedral and the fortunes of the protagonists.]
Ms. Secko   What the Body Remembers by Shenna Singh Baldwin [In a novel set in 1937 India, the second younger wife of a Sikh landowner enters her marriage thinking the first wife--who was never able to bear children--will treat her kindly, but their relationship quickly grows complicated.]
Mr. Romero
	The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka The story is pretty short actually, and the plot is simple.  But The Metamorphosis is open to a wide range of interpretations, there's said to be 100+ interpretations.  Most obvious are themes relating to society's treatment of those who are different.  Other themes include the loneliness of being cut off and the desperate and unrealistic hopes that such isolation brings.  Some also feel the book deals with the absurdity of human existence.  About 65 pages worth reading.
	Ficciones (Fictions) by Jorges Luis Borges   All of Borges' great themes -- time, infinitude, mirrors, libraries, memory, language, but also duels, honour, and fate -- can be found here.  Borges is a master at combining fiction with reality.  the seventeen short tales provide an excellent introduction and survey of his work.  I highly recommend it (and not because he was Argentinean).
Mr. Mohamed  Purification of the Heart : signs, symptoms and cures of spiritual diseases of the heart translated by Hamzah Yusuf
Mr. Vasile
	Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
	In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
	The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Ms. Scalise  The Stand by Stephen King
Ms. Dellamea
	In Another Place, Not Here by Dionne Brand “Poetically haunting.”
	Ana Historic by Daphne Marlatt “Cleverly post-post-modern … transcends our understanding of history/herstory.”
Ms. Aziz  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella “Has the power to make me laugh every single time I read it, and by the way, the whole series is great.” From the book: “all people are suckers for a sale, even rich people.”
Ms. Jacques  L’Etranger by Albert Camus “Even existentialists recognize irony.”
Mr. Gentile Empire of Debt : the Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis by Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggan

Mrs. Rogers-Wardle A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle “One of my all-time favourites.” [Conversing in a mausoleum with the dead, an eccentric recluse is tugged back into the world by a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift—the final chance for his own happiness. When challenged by a faithless wife and aided by a talking raven, the lives of the living and the dead may be renewed by courage and passion, but only if not belatedly. Told with an elegiac wisdom, this delightful tale of magic and otherworldly love is a timeless work of fantasy imbued with hope and wonder.]
Mr. Marcellino
	The Godfather by Mario Puzo “Family, power, crime … a brilliant masterpiece”
	1984 by George Orwell  “Nightmarish view of what could be.”
	“--And he Built a Crooked House—“  by Robert Heinlein “Are we all in some type of cube?” [A sci-fi short story about a mathematically-inclined architect named Quintus Teal who has what he thinks is a brilliant idea to save on real estate costs by building a house shaped like the unfolded net of a tesseract.  This story can be found in The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein.]
Mrs. Attanasio  Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss “Why … because it is a book for the young and old, because it is a book for living life with perspective, and because it has math in it!”
	“And will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! (98 and ¾ per cent guaranteed.)”
[The last book written and illustrated by children's author Dr. Seuss, published in 1990.   The book concerns life and its challenges.]
Father Kennedy
	The Bible “Great archetypal stories.”
	The Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot “Beautiful Christian symbols.” (It took Eliot seven years to write this fifty-page poem.)
Ms. Pianta
	God Underneath by Edward Lawrence Beck “Memoirs of a Catholic priest.”
	Forgotten Among the Lilies : Learning to Love Beyond our Fears by Ronald Rolheiser [Forgotten Among the Lilies shows that there is a better way to find contentment and joy.  Only by trusting in God’s grace and providence, Rolheiser argues, can we move beyond our obsessions and rejoice in what we have and who we are.]
Mr. Kalat  The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon “Wake up sailor, you don’t want to die.”  [A weather balloon carrying military information apparently crashes in Switzerland and Bellamy of US Intelligence is despatched to locate the witnesses and swear them to secrecy. However, on his arrival he discovers that the truth is far more terrifying.]

Ms. Rodrigues Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy  “An oldie but a goodie.” [Count Leo Tolstoy’s classic romantic novel, Anna Karenina, paints an unforgettable portrait of two people who lose themselves in the throes of a love so powerful that it comes to dominate their very existences, changing forever their friendships, families and futures.]
Mr. Kenny   A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens “My favourite book.” [After an unjust imprisonment for 18 years, Dr. Alexander Manette finally reunites with his daughter Lucie. Shortly after, trouble rears its head again. The two must testify against a young Frenchman falsely charged with treason. The plot becomes full of twists and turns in Charles Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities.]
Mr. Lepage
	Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt “The best book about hockey ever written.” [The book that hockey fans have been waiting for: the definitive, unauthorized account of the man many say was the greatest player the game has ever seen.The legend of Bobby Orr is one of the most enduring in sport. Even those who have never played the game of hockey know that the myth surrounding Canada’s great pastime originates in places like Bobby Orr’s Parry Sound.]
	The Shining by Stephen King  “The scariest book anyone will read.”   [This is a classic example of Stephen King's brilliant creativity. The Overlook Hotel and its winter caretakers, Jack Torrence and his family, keep you turning page after page, your pulse racing as the plot unravels.]
	The stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende “Beautiful.”  [The eponymous heroine of Eva Luna returns as the narrator of 23 tales, sumptuous marriages of Chilean writer Allende's earthy characters and her celestial version of magical realism. Although other figures from that novel also reappear, this collection is in no sense a sequel: indeed, each piece here can stand alone. Allende's people are warm-blooded, original, memorable.]
	Inspecting the vaults by Eric McCormack  “A wonderful step into the grotesque, bizarre, chilling and super weird.” [These stories are chilling, beyond chilling, they are captivating, they grab you by the back of the skull and won't let go until you have come to their inevitable conclusion and looked into the abyss of humanity. all twenty tales are epic. all twenty tales will cut you to the bone. and all twenty should be read.]
Ms. Kiss
	Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie “Kept me guessing to the very end.” [This novel, written in 1927, is considered the best and most successful of the early mysteries. It met with no small outrage when it appeared, as it uses a plot device many readers thought "unfair." There is a full complement of characters populating the cozy English village of King's Abbot, and, of course, the redoubtable Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. A classic of the genre.]
	Birth House  by Ami McKay “Interesting, easy read.” [Dora Rare is the first girl in five generations born to the Rare family who live in a small Nova Scotia fishing village. Set in the years before World War I, this down-to-earth novel relates the life story of a most unusual woman. In her youth, Dora apprentices to Miss Babineau, an aged Acadian midwife known for her storytelling and herbal acumen. She is also considered something of a witch by those locals most desperate to embrace modernity. The arrival in the village of Dr. Gilbert Thomas, a doctor of obstetrics, sets up the major conflict of the novel as the haughty and presumptuous newcomer quickly denigrates the use of midwives by the local women. McKay has caught the voice of rural Nova Scotia with uncanny clarity.]
Ms. Soares
	Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermino Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.]
	She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb [Delve into the extraordinary world of 13-year-old Dolores Price. In She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb has created a comical and bittersweet heroine who tries to come of age in the sixties, when hippies and pot are the last thing on poor Dolores' mind. No, 13-year-old Dolores has to contend with a mentally-ill mother, an abusive father and the fact that she was raped in a dog pound by a local DJ. She spends her "glorious" teenaged years eating and eating in front of the TV. When she reaches the weight of 257 pounds as a young woman, life still holds misery - but Dolores isn't going to give up that easily. She's determined to give herself one more chance to find herself and her place in the world.]
Ms. Treiber Voyage of the Northern Magic by Diane Stuemer “If you enjoy travel, this book will touch your heart as you read dying mother Diane Stuemer’s account of her family’s four-year voyage around the world.  With nothing but a few afternoon’s sailing experience on the Ottawa River, she embarks with three young children to fulfill her husband’s desire to sail around the world.  They battle oceans and pirates, make lasting friendships, and return home as seasoned sailors and true humanitarians.”