3-Day Writing Contest

So you think you can write a novel? How about doing it in three days! The winner gets published by Arsenal Pulp Press.  Last year's winner was Terroryaki! by Jennifer K. Chung.

If you think you have the chops check out the contest details. The 35th contest takes place September 1-3, 2012...good luck!

Wow!

Another home run from Type Books. Staff member Kalpna Patel recreated the cover of Michael Chos' Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes in 3-D. This stunner of a book looks at streets and alley's in downtown Toronto.

Celebrating Children's Book Week

How cool is this! A whole Pintrest page devoted to posters from Children's Book Week everywhere!

Maurice Sendak RIP

Someone on Childlit posted this fabulous cartoon from the New Yorker: Thanks to Mr. Canton for sharing!!!

Lego Meets Moleskine

This year Moleskine partnered with Lego to produce a super cool limited edition Moleskine. To celebrate, Moleskine produced an even super cooler video.

Yale University Card Catalog

This is super fun and will make us all nostalgic...thanks to Maureen from Hamilton Public Library for sending this!

Mad Women

Jane Maas, a real life Peggy Olsen, has written Mad Women:The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond.  This is a truly compelling look at what life was like for women in ad agencies at that time. She thinks that Mad Men is pretty close to life BUT there was more sex + drinking in reality than is depicted on the show! Who knew! There is a fun interview with her on CTV you can watch.

Secret Life Of Money

This is a book everyone could use...and how great is it to have a book for kids on the ins and outs of money. The Secret Life of Money has been published by OWLKids who also produced this super cool video.

My Kind of Poetry

Seen Reading

Julie Wilson aka "the Book Madam" has taken the best parts of her blog Seen Reading into the book Seen Reading. She describes herself as a literary voyeur. Matt Galloway interviewed her about this very unique book and talks about how it is a book about Toronto and its love of reading. The interview starts around the 8 minute mark.

Hana's Suitcase Anniversary

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is also the day that Hana's Suitcase Anniversary Album by Karen Levine will be launched celebrating ten years since it's publication. Hana's Suitcase has had an incredible life...it is the most awarded Canadian children's book in the past 30 years, has been translated into dozens of languages used by the UN in 100's of outposts and made into several films. The CBC did a feature on Hana Ten Years Later. The 10th Anniversary edition includes:
• Commemorative letters from Karen, Fumiko, and George
• Reaction from readers around the world
• Letters and art from children
• Photographs of events and ceremonies
• Scenes from the play adaptation
• Posters from the staging of the play in over ten countries
• Awards and Tributes – lists, emblems, photos, and quotable quotes from juries and the media
• Covers from the international editions
• Images from the documentary film
and much more.

Calling All Authors and Illustrators

The Canadian Children's Book Centre has sent out their call for submissions for authors a illustrators for the TD Canadian Children's Book Week.  The Canadian Children's Book Centre is looking for authors and/or illustrators with new children’s books being released in the fall of 2012 and/or spring 2013 who are interested in touring schools, libraries, bookstores and community centres, outside of their home province, during TD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2013.
The next Book Week tour will run from Saturday, May 4 to Saturday, May 11, 2013. Click here for more information.
The deadline for applications is Friday, May 25, 2012.

Doug Wright Awards 2012

With 5 of the 6 nominations, Drawn & Quarterly has pretty much swept the Doug Wright Award nominations for Best Book.
The list of nominated books is below:
Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton (Drawn and Quarterly)
Lose #3 by Michael Deforge (Koyama Press)
Mid-Life by Joe Ollmann (Drawn and Quarterly)
Paying for It by Chester Brown (Drawn and Quarterly)
Reunion by Pascal Girard for (Drawn and Quarterly)
The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists by Seth (Drawn and Quarterly)
For more information click here.

Hey DIVERGENT fans!! CONTEST ALERT!

The hottest book of the Spring season is going to be INSURGENT by Veronica Roth, follow up to the much acclaimed DIVERGENT. It goes on sale MAY 1st and people have been dying to read it. Advance reading copies for INSURGENT were few and far between, but I've managed to secure a copy for a contest! It's a great prize- not only do you get an ARC of INSURGENT (and the chance to read it before your friends and colleagues), you'll also get an autographed copy of DIVERGENT!

Contest rules:

• Contest is open to librarians and teachers in CANADA only
• To enter please send an e-mail to deweydivasinfo@gmail.com with the subject 'Insurgent Contest'. You must provide the full mailing address of your library or school.
• Contest begins today (April 10th) and I'll collect entries until 5pm (EST) on Monday April 16th and notify the winner via e-mail.
• Only one entry per person please. However, I'm running a simultaneous contest on the HarperCollins Canada Library blog HCCLibraryLove (yes, that's right- two identical but separate prizes!), so you may want to enter both contests to increase your chances of winning!
• Odds of winning are dependent on the number of entries, but still MUCH better than winning the 6/49. :)
  

Good luck!-Rosalyn (@rozsteele)
_____________________________________________________

UPDATE- The winners of both contests have been notified, but if you'd like another chance to win, you may want to check out the HarperCollins Canada Facebook page. They are currently giving away THREE ARCs of Insurgent (ends April 22nd)...

Barbara A Genco, "Public Library Power Patrons Are Your Best Customers"

From this year's Tools of Change....some pretty amazing stats.

The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On

Another lovely video about a lovely bookstore...this time featuring the story behind the now iconic "Keep Calm and Carry On Poster".

B*tches in the Bookstore

It's a bit saucy but fun!!!

B*tches in Bookshops (Parody of N*ggas in Paris)

Performed by La Shea Delaney (2nd verse) and Me (1st verse)

Directed, Produced, Written by Moi
Shot and Edited by Eliav Mintz
Song Recorded and Mixed by Stephen Galgano

Read so hard librarians tryin’ ta FINE me­,
They can’t identify me,
Checked in with a pseudonym, so I guess you can say I’m Mark Twaining.
Read so hard, I’m not lazy.
Go on Goodreads, so much rated.
Fountainhead, on my just read, gave it four stars, and then changed it.
Read so hard, I’m literary.
Goosebumps series, TOO SCARY!

Animal Farm, Jane Eyre
Barnes & Nobles, Foursquare it
No TV, I read instead
Got lotsa Bills, but not bread
BURROUGHS , GOLDING, SHAKESPEARE – all dead

Read so hard, got paper cuts
On trains while you're playin’ connect the dots
All these blisters from turning pages
Read so hard, I’m seeing spots

Your Sudoku just can’t compare
Nor Angry Birds cos lookit here
My Little Birds is getting stares
(pause)
This print’s rare.

Read so hard, I memorize, The Illiad... I know lines.
Watch me spit, classic lit, epic poems that don’t rhyme.
War and Peace, piece of cake, read Tolstoy in 3 days.
Straight through, no delays.
Didn’t miss a word. Not one phrase.

Read so hard librarians tryin’ ta fineee me - That shit cray x 3
Read so hard librarians tryin’ ta fineee me – That shit cray x 3

He said Shea can we get married at the Strand
His Friday Reads are bad so he can’t have my hand
You ball so hard, OK you’re bowling
But I read so hard, I’m JK Rowling

That shit cray
Ain’t it, A? What you readin’?
AQ: DeMontaigne.
You use a Kindle? I carry spines.
Supporting bookshops like a bra, Calvin Klein.

Nerdy boy, he’s so slow
Tuesday we started Foucault
He’s still stuck on the intro? He’s a no go.
It’s sad I had to kick him out my house though –
He Mispronounced an author - MARCEL PROUST

Don’t read in the dark
I highlight with markers
While laying in the park
And wearing Warby Parkers
Marriage Plot broke my heart
And it made me read Barthes
I special ordered a
A softcover not hard- HUAH?AHEHA?!

Read so hard libraries tryin’ ta fine me x 2

I am now marking my place
Don’t wanna crease on my page
Don’t let me forget this page
Don’t let me forget this page
I may forget where I left off so I’ll use this little post it…
I hope it doesn’t fall out, I hope that it stays stickie…

I am now marking my place
Don’t wanna crease on my page
Don’t let me forget this page
I got bookmarks at home
But I forgot one for the road
AQ: I got a bookmark I can loan
La Shea: Know how many bookmarks I own?

I am now bookmarking my page x3
DON’T LET ME FORGET THIS PAGE -age-age-age-age-age.

20 Coolest Bookstores in the World

You certainly can't get this experience buying online! My heart literally went boom. Check out all of them from the Vancouver Sun.

CanLit Hunger Games

How much fun is this! To mark the launch of the film, CBC has done their own version of which Canadian fictional character would win the Hunger Games. You can pick from 24 characters from Anne of Green Gables to Hagar Shipley. I went with Inspector Gamache...I have read the entire series this past year and just finished Trick of The Light. Vote away!

Dundurn Teacher's Guides

Dundurn has an amazing array of teacher's guides available online.They cover most of their teen fiction as well as a number of their great Canadian non-fiction. To see the complete list go here. They are free of charge even though it doesn't seem that way on the websites.

SLJ Webcast

On March 8th join SLJ as they present OwlKids, North South, Harcourt and Candlewick for a webcast on the season's upcoming titles. To register click here.

49th Shelf and Cool Badges

The Source for all books Canadian has undergone a name change...Canadian Bookshelf is now The 49th Shelf.

They also have super cool badges like the ones on our website you can post on your own blog or site.

From their webste: The 49th Shelf is a one-of-a-kind community for discovering, discussing, and indulging in Canadian books. Fuelled by the largest collection of Canadian books ever assembled, The 49th Shelf makes it easier to find your next great Canadian read.

Think of The 49th Shelf as an interactive, intimate virtual library stocked with Canadian books by authors both world-renowned and up-and-coming, writing in every genre. But not just a library: The 49th Shelf is also a community of avid readers who share the books on the site by making reading lists and book recommendations. On The 49th Shelf, you’ll find books you’ll never forget, meet people whose lists and reviews you’ll admire, and learn more about the authors who intrigue you.

The 49th Shelf is produced by the Association of Canadian Publishers in association with the Canadian Publishers’ Council, and with funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and theOntario Media Development Corporation and a lead sponsorship from Amazon.ca.

Shannen and the Dream for a School

It was wonderful to see on the front page of the Globe this morning that Shannen's dream for a school in  Attawapiskat was finally coming to fruition...Parliment has said that they would take steps to ensure that all first nations children would have the same quality of education as all Canadian children. As mentioned before, Second Story press has published a wonderful book on this story: Shannen and the Dream for a School.

YAY Ian Rankin!

There are over 400,000 books published in the English language every year and that is a number that is not going down. Anyone can publish a book these days...all you need is a laptop + and ISBN...so why bother with a publisher at all? Ian Rankin addresses that very issue in The Bookseller. PS: Just read The Complaints...awesome!

National Book Count

The second Canadian Book Count conducted by the National Reading Campaign has finished and the reports are good!

The study found: 

• 3.4 million books were sold or circulated (or about five books per second)
• 1.15 million print books were sold by retailers, both national chains and more than 260 independent bookstores across Canada
• 111,053 English-language e-books were sold
• 2.1 million print books were borrowed from 28 participating library systems (covering more than 13.7 million people)
• 63,196 e-books were downloaded from the participating library

For more info you can read the brief on CBC.

Learning to Love Airport Lit

There is a fun piece in today's NYT about books and reading on the plane. Dominique Browning talks about the pleasure of reading "low-brow" books on the plane...not junk reading but a nice balance of compelling and stimulating reads. I know I look forward to plane rides, just so I can get five hours of uninterrupted reading!

Go Away! I'm Reading

How cool are these! Blogger Erin Bowman, designed these excellent book covers. They are downloadable and there are there are a bunch to choose from.

25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore

This is a hilarious piece that booksellers and librarians can relate to! My favourite is "If someone comes in and asks where to find the historical fiction, they're not looking for classics, they want the romance section".

Step Backwards in Time

My favourite new YA book for the spring season is called The Night Sky in My Head. It’s reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime because of the unusual perspective of the narrator, which in this case is 14 yr. old Mikey. He’s suffered head trauma in a terrible accident and has a big scar on his head, but he can’t remember what happened. However, since the accident Mikey has acquired the ability to go backwards in time. He’ll walk by a bus shelter, or beside the river, and see visions of particular events that happened there. These visions are clues to a mystery, one that involves Mikey’s absent father, his new friend Ralph and the unusual scar. The suspense builds as pieces of the puzzle start to come together until we finally understand the circumstances surrounding the tragic accident. It’s a gripping story that will challenge YA readers and lead to some interesting discussions.

Now this is my kind of conference!

February 9th - 12th in New York is the Roger Smith Cookbook Conference...imagine a whole three days in NYC talking about cookbooks! The list of panelists is fabulous. There is a whole session on Libraries and Cookbooks: 

Cookbooks in Libraries: Gateways to Food Studies”

Libraries are treasure troves of traditional, digital and human resources not always known to people.  Cookbook authors and other food writers interested in locating historic and cultural contexts for their work will hear about library resources and their many uses.

Chair: Barbara Haber,  Research Librarian and Food Historian

Panelists: Rebecca Federman, New York Public Library; Kathryn Allamong Jacob, Curator of Manuscripts at the Schlesinger Library, Cambridge, MA; Krishnendu Ray, New York University

Quillcast

Quill and Quire, Canada's industry magazine for publishing, has started a series of podcasts in conjunction with The Walrus. This one is Henry Holt's President and Publisher Steve Rubin's keynote address at last years IFOA International Visitor's series. It's well worth a listen.

The Value of the Independent Bookstore

On Q this week, Jian Ghomeshi's Q debate was on the value of the independent bookstore. His panelists were Slate magazine's Farhad Manjoo and Type Books co-owner Joanne Saul. The debate is quite good...but I know which side I'm on! It is at the beginning of the show...about 5 minutes in: date January 31st. Another good piece on this topic is Richard Russo's op ed piece in the NYT.
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Connecting with Struggling Readers: Resources, Tips and Advice to Engage and Inspire

Join Orca Book Publishers on January 31st for a cool webinar on reluctant readers. Orca publishes the extremely successful Soundings series for teen reluctant readers...with over a million in print they sure know what they are talking about! Check it out.

OLA Super Conference-HarperCollins Author Signings

So, who is excited about OLA Super Conference next week? I know I am! It's always a great chance to catch up with people that we don't see often and to hear about new & upcoming books. The Deweys aren't doing a session this year, but I'll definitely have a list of my newest picks at my booth, which I'd love to share!


Part of the fun of the OLA show is meeting some of your favourite authors, so I thought I'd help with your conference planning by giving you the heads up about the authors who will be signing at the HarperCollins booth (#731/733).


Thursday February 2nd:

10-10:45 a.m: Vicki Grant- Signing copies of Betsy Wickwire’s Dirty Secret

11 a.m. -12 p.m.: Gail Vaz-Oxlade- Signing copies of It’s Your Money: Becoming a Woman of Independent Means
2-3pm: Kenneth Oppel- Signing copies of ‘This Dark Endeavour’

Friday Feb 3

10-11am: Allan Stratton - Signing copies of ‘The Grave Robber’s Apprentice’

1-2pm: Frank Viva- signing copies of ‘Along a Long Road’


If you have a moment, you might also want to check out the new HarperCollins Library Love Tumblr blog where I've posted a picture of one of the giveaways we'll have at our booth...

Hope to see you at OLA next week!

-Rosalyn

Teenage Girls Who Made a Difference

This is a cool list of "teenage girls who made a difference" that George Stroumboulopoulos posted on his show last week.

There were 5 girls named:
1. Shannen Koostachin
2. Anne Frank
3. Mary Shelley
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (!)
5. Joan of Arc
Second Story Press published Shannen's story last year in Shannen and the Dream for a School. Shannen lived in Attawapiskat and brought national and international attention to the horrible conditions in which they were being educated. Tragically Shannen was killed in a car crash in 2010 and did not live to see the impact she has made in bringing this story to the attention of the Canadian government.

The Joy of Books

This enchanting video is taking the internet by storm. Yay Type Books!!!

Globe and Mail Book Club

The Globe and Mail has started their very first book club. They have selected 10 books and are asking readers to vote on which should should be their first book. Click here to cast your vote!

The Beguiling

The Beguiling is touted as one of the best Comic Bookstores in the world. Many libraries and schools use  the Beguiling as their source for all things graphic novelesque. The Comics Reported sat down with Peter Birkemoe for an in depth interview about his shop and the method behind it. This Fall they opened Little Island Comics just around the corner from their original store; a kids oriented comic store. He gives a shout out to Toronto Public Library and their support of TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival). For the full interview click here.

Pantone Colour of the Year

This year Chronicle release Pantone: The 20th Century in Color.  Pantone has announced their 2012 colour of the year... Tangerine  Tango ! Happy New Year!

PW's Best Kids Books of the Year

The end of the year is filled with lists. PW's has a great kid's list...with many Dewey picks on it! Check it out.

Merry Christmas!

This picture has been sent to me by a few friends...enjoy!

Moleskine Star Wars

This Fall, Moleskine came out with Star Wars limited editions of their notebooks. Check out this fun video. They have announced the limited edition for next season: LEGO!!!

How to Write (Bad) Copy

Thanks again to  Maureen at HPL who sent one of the funniest pieces I have read in a long time. It's a guide to writing flap copy from Daniel Menaker, the Editor of Grin and Tonic. I have decided to adapt Daniel's advice for my Dewey presentations so watch out while I talk about my "enthralling," "gritty," "original," "remarkable," "magical," "ground-breaking," "arresting," "dazzling," "heartbreaking," "compelling," "devastating," and "captivating" books.

Hollywood Left and Right

This fascinating book describes how movie stars have influenced American politics. Each chapter is focuses on a different movie star beginning with one of the first stars, Charlie Chaplin. He used his fame to promote socialist views and this got him into trouble with the US government.
Jane Fonda was nicknamed “Hanoi Jane” after a disastrous trip to Vietnam to protest the war. She was also involved in many other causes and was a mentor for several younger celebrity activists like Sarah Jessica Parker. The chapter about Harry Belafonte describes his deep involvement with the Civil Rights movement and his close friendship with Martin Luther King Jr.
Hollywood Left and Right also includes chapters on Arnold Schwarznegger, Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston, Ronald Regan and George Murphy, Edward G. Robinson and Louis B. Mayer.

HarperCollinsCanada Author Events This Weekend Across Canada

Friday November 25:


Helen Humphreys, author of The Reinvention of Love, will be reading at The Lorenzo Reading series from 7-9pm in Saint John, NB. Details here.


Robin Sharma, author of The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, will be speaking at Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge, ON. Details here.


Saturday November 26:

Vicki Grant, author of Betsy Wickwire’s Dirty Secret, will be signing copies of her book at the Chapters in the Bayers Lake Power Centre from 12-1pm in Halifax, NS.

Kenneth Oppel, author of This Dark Endeavor, will be signing copies of his book at Chapters Brampton at 2pm in Brampton, ON. Details here.

Sunday November 27:

Jennifer McLagan, author of Odd Bits, will be discussing her book at Books to Cooks at 5pm in Vancouver, BC. Details here.

Arlene Dickinson, author of Persuasion, will be singing copies of her book at Indigo Burlington at 2pm in Burlington, ON. Details here.

Canada Reads Finalists

The five finalists have been chosen for Canada Reads.
The Game by Ken Dryden
On A Cold Road by Dave Bidini
Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre
The Tiger by John Vaillant
There is a good piece from the writer's POV on how Canada Reads has effected them. Click here to listen to Terry Fallis; last year's winner of Canada Reads.

Canada Reads

CBC’s annual battle of the books, devoted for the first time this year to works of non-fiction, has named the titles in its 2012 Canada Reads: True Stories Top 10 list. Two of the titles are Dewey Picks...Louis Riel + The Tiger! Click here for more details.

They are:
Louis Riel by Chester Brown
The Tiger by John Vaillant
The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown
Cockeyed by Ryan Knighton
The Game by Ken Dryden
On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini
Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan
Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire
Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre

The Castrato and His Wife

This book tells the story of Giusto Tenducci, an Italian opera singer and castrato, who was wildly famous in the mid-1700s. He sang for Marie Antoinette and was friends with some of the leading composers of the time, including Bach and Mozart, who composed music specifically for Tenducci. He spent most of his adult life living and performing in England, but for a short time lived in Ireland.
In Ireland he was hired to tutor a very talented young woman, Dorothea Maunsell, who was from a rich and influential Protestant family. The two became very close and eventually eloped, causing a huge scandal. First of all, Tenducci was fifteen years older than Dorothea, he was a castrato, and he was also Catholic. Her family was outraged.
Dorothea’s father hired soldiers to chase the pair and Tenducci was thrown in prison twice, but eventually they made their way to England where they lived happily for five or six years. Then the spirited Dorothea eloped with another man.
The Castrato and His Wife is much more than a biography. It tells the story of a group of men, the castrati, who lived unusual lives at the edges of society. It’s also a fascinating look at the history of opera.

Celebrating Canada's Independent Bookstores!

I love my indie bookstore...Book City on the Danforth. The staff is fantastic and I always come out with a whack of great stuff to read. They are big supporters of the community and my paty of the city would be greatly lessend without them. Today is Independents' Day so go and shop at your local bookstore. The CBA website has more details on Why Independents Matter.

"Long before I was a novelist, I was an independent bookseller, working at Toronto's Bakka Books--and ever since, I've made a point of supporting independents whenever I can; they are the heart and soul of the Canadian book trade, the people who are in it for the love of good books. There's nowhere I'd rather spend an afternoon than browsing in one of Canada's many find independent bookstores." - Robert J. Sawyer

                   Think Independent     Read Independent      Buy Independent

Three Cheers for Beer!

The Oxford Companion to Beer is an A-Z guide that features more than 1,100 entries and 140 images. From barley and hops to local pub customs, it touches on every aspect of making and enjoying beer. There are several Canadian contributors and a four page section about beer in Canada. There are also entries about Labatts and Molsons, which happens to be the oldest brewery in North America. Surprisingly, the top selling beer in Canada is Budweiser and not Molson Canadian, which was knocked out of the top spot in 2004. The largest brewery that is still Canadian owned is Moosehead, but it only has about 3% of the market. One of the very first brewers in Canada was a woman named Marie Rollet, who grew up in France and immigrated in 1617, eventually brewing beer for the small community of New France.