Our Top Five Books For March

Athena McKenzie | March 12th, 2014

Whether your March includes taking the family on spring break, babysitting the grandkids while they’re off school, or continuing to hibernate until the first signs of spring, it should include some time for reading. Consider one of these new titles hitting the shelves this month. From Canadian fiction, to strategies to retire somewhere warm, to a revealing look at our caffeinated culture, there are plenty of options for your own March break.

Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us by Murray Carpenter

The most popular drug in America is a white powder — no, not the powder that Rob Ford supposedly snorted in the bathroom of a local brewpub. Got your attention? Caffeine in its most essential state is a powder and this new title reveals little-known truths about this addictive, largely unregulated drug found in coffee, energy drinks, teas, colas, chocolate, and even pain relievers — from its mood boosting powers, to improving athletic performance and its role in promoting surprising health problems like obesity and anxiety,

Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson

When the body of a disgraced college lecturer is found on an abandoned railway line, British Detective Chief Inspector Banks suspects the victim’s radical student activism forty years ago could be connected to his death — as ¬ the detective knows well, some grudges are never forgotten or forgiven.

Devotees of the Inspector Banks series and newcomers to the detective alike will relish this tale of mystery and murder that takes Banks’ hunt for the killer back to the early 1970s.

The Age by Nancy Lee

A compelling coming of age story set in Vancouver in 1984 as Soviet warships swarm the Atlantic, The Age tells the story of Gerry: a troubled teenager confronted by her mother’s newest relationship, confusion about her father’s abandonment, and anxieties about a looming nuclear incident. When Gerry gets involved with a group of radicals planning a subversive and violent protest at the city’s upcoming peace march and her close relationships start to unravel, Gerry finds herself escaping into a post-nuclear dystopia of her own creation. Alternating between her real and fantasy life alternate, a collision of events and consequences forces life or death decisions in both worlds.

Sibley Guide To Birds, Second Edition by David Allen Sibley

Keeping your eyes peeled for the first harbingers of spring? When Sibley’s Guide to Birds was published in 2000, it was hailed as the finest guide to North American birds and became the standard by which natural history guides are measured. This highly anticipated second edition builds on the original offering massively expanded and updated information, new paintings, new and rare species, and a new, elegant design. Improvements and updates include larger illustrations for better detail, expanded text on habitat information and voice description for every species and more tips on finding birds in the field, and more than 700 updated maps of ranges, showing winter, summer, year-round, migration, and rare ranges.

RELATED: Exotic Places to Retire

The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget by Suzan Haskins, Dan Prescher

If this winter doesn’t have you reaching for this book to figure out how you can retire somewhere much more tropical, then the tagline of ‘How to Live Well on $25,000 a Year’ might seal the deal. The authors have been writing about living overseas for 12 years and the premise of their book is simple: Enjoy a happier, healthier, more fulfilling retirement than you could possibly afford in the U.S. or Canada by finding the right overseas retirement haven. These strategies apply just as well to younger people and people with families who are looking for ways to improve their quality of life while at the same time lowering their cost of living and includes solutions for the challenges of continuing to work and earn money abroad.