If you’re a last-minute shopper like me – hey, there’s plenty of time – at least four days left – you’re probably starting to think about your gift list.
So in the spirit of the season, here are two suggestions. One is fiction, the other is not, but both are great stories that aim for the heights – and I happen to be friends with the authors (and in one case the publisher too).
Everest High Expectations – by Patrick Morrow and Sharon Wood is something different, a coffee tablet book, as publisher Frank Edwards describes it. It’s designed for the iPad and even without the images, the exciting and harrowing stories of scaling Mount Everest are enough to keep you scrolling through. But supplementing the text are numerous intense, beautiful and dramatic photos of the adventures. And with a touch, you can expand them to full-screen for a closer look. There are also slide shows and videos taken on the mountain. It’s a unique integration of multimedia and text. Experience the landscape in landscape to fully appreciate the experience.
Up and Down by Terry Fallis is his third humorous novel and takes us on a slightly different path than his first two books, which were set in Ottawa. It’s an insider’s look at the PR industry, large agencies and how stories are created, developed and spread. The plot centres around David Stewart, who’s just left a government job to move over to the ‘dark side’, in this case global PR. There, Stewart melds his knowledge and love of space travel, his ingenuity and some good old fashioned savvy to take us on a rollicking ride up and down (and maybe up again). Terry also has a knack for tying into the zeitgeist. I realize the book is made up but I could swear I was at some of the meetings he describes. It’s a funny and sharp satire of the corporate world of PR.
What are you reading this holiday season? I’d like to add a few more titles to my gift list.
