<b>January</b>

EVEN THE MOST DEDICATED bookworm can agree that there is ever too much to read and too little time. It is our hope in the rabble book lounge that we can draw your attention to some of the year's offerings, particularly those often overlooked elsewhere, worth sitting down and spending some time with. Some suggestions from January 2006:

For Those Whom God Has Blessed with Fingers âe" Moment by moment, word by word, agile minimalist Ken Sparling creates a novel>>>by Rebecca Silver Slayter >fiction

The Immaculate Conception âe" Gaétan Soucy uses justifiable force in this somewhat sadistic tale, which went on to be longlisted for the 2006 Giller Prize and shortlisted for the 2006 Governor General's Award for translation>>>by Carlyn Zwarenstein >fiction

The Enemy Within âe" Nalini Warriar delivers a detailed tour of the internal landscape of an Indian immigrant in Quebec, struggling to keep her sense of self in a new country>>>by Jenn Watt >fiction

Meet a dump maven, a shut-in and a drifter in Claudia Dey's remarkable play Trout Stanley, size up the world with The Worldwatch Institute's State of the World 2006 and see Michael Moore naked, sort of.

Be enthralled by Kristi-ly Greenâe(TM)s illustrative interpretation of Maggie MacDonaldâe(TM)s Kill the Robot and see preconceptions unveiled in Geraldine Brooksâe(TM) Nine Parts of Desire.