James Patterson Speaks Out

This came out a while back and I have been meaning to post it. James Patterson took out ads in the NYT + Publisher's Weekly encouraging the US government  Click to read his interview in PW + Salon.

It's Coming!!! Ender's Game...the movie

What an amazing cast! We were all very excited to get this trailer. For more inf on the movie and the book you can go to the Tor website.  
OK now back to work...

Sherman Alexie addresses censorship

Love Sherman Alexie!  Here he is on the subject of censorship. 
By the way, my favourite all time movie?  Smoke Signals.  The movie is based on a short story in Sherman Alexie's collection Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.  Check out his most recent collection, Blasphemy.

Customers Say the Darndest Things!

Customer: I’ve forgotten my glasses, could you read the beginning of this book to me to see if I like it?

Customer: What books could I buy to make guests look at my bookshelf and think: ‘Wow, that guy’s intelligent’?

You can check out more of these hilarious conversations at Parade. These are taken from the book (natch!) Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores.

Property

When I was first presented Property: The True Story of a Polygamous Wife at sales conference, I couldn't believe that this was happening in Ontario and I had never heard about it before. Carol Christie has written her life married to the leader of the church and the years of abuse she went through at his and his son’s hands. As a woman who lived in fear and isolation for decades in an alleged cult, she wants the government to shut down the “church” and save those who still live there – including her youngest son. For more information on the movement to STOP polygamy go to www.stoppolygamy.com.

Best Bookstores on CNN!

Author Hilary Davidson, gave a shout out to her fave bookstores on CNN including our own Ben McNally Books and La Maison Anglaise. Here's what she said about Ben's store:

Ben McNally Books: Toronto

If I could give an award for the most beautiful bookstore in North America, this one in Toronto's Financial District would win. With its soaring ceiling, elegant chandeliers, slender columns and leather wing chairs, Ben McNally looks like an idyllic private club for book lovers. Some dedicated bookworms have even tied the knot in the store. Beautiful as it is, the shop's biggest strength is its charming staff, who are adept at sussing out any visitor's interests and recommending what to read next. Seductive as their home base is, they also sponsor readings and events around the city.

To see her other faves go here!

My Favourite PICTURE Book of the Season

It's soooooooo hard to choose but here it is. IN THE TREE HOUSE is set on backdrop of the night of the Eastern Seaboard blackout and is the story of two brothers growing up; one faster than the other. Sara Ellis gave it a starred review in Quill and Quire and had these lovely word's to say...so it's not just me!!!

“In the Tree House by Andrew Larsen demonstrates another potential for the picture book, that of a parallel story enacted in the illustrations (ably provided here by Dušan Petričić). In a few perfect words, Larsen captures the idyllic nature of that summer. The turning point of the story is a blackout. I've never seen a picture book that so perfectly captures the pleasure of such an event. Larsen's text is full of delights, simple sensory details that capture a mood. To these crisply written words, Petričić brings his own rich dimension of narrative and character.”

A Guide to Responsible Digital Reading

One of the arguments for ebooks is that they are more environmentally friendly...I don't think that this is totally accurate. New Society Publishers has put together a Guide to Responsible Digital Reading. For more info click here.

Canadian Crime Authors Southwestern Ontario Crime Spree

Author Hilary Davidson

Four Canadian crime authors are joining forces this month to visit libraries in seven Southwestern Ontario towns — Woodstock,Orangeville, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford, Thornbury, and Orillia — for a literary crime spree. The Crime Tour authors are Hilary Davidson, Ian Hamilton, Robert Rotenberg, and Robin Spano. All four are relatively fresh faces on the crime-fiction scene, though they have 15 novels (count them!) published amongst them over the past four years. This is the second time Davidson, Hamilton, and Spano have toured together. In June 2012, they visited a series of libraries in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, from Vancouver to Squamish, with novelist Deryn Collier. Since Collier was unable to travel this year, the trio will bejoined by Toronto-based Rotenberg. “We are all writers who rage on the page,” says Robin Spano. “But we are really friendly in real life. Whether you're an aspiring writer looking for inspiration or you love books and are intrigued by what goes into their creation, we hope you'll come away having learned something.”
The Events: Thursday, May 9,2013, Woodstock, ON, 2pm Woodstock Art Gallery / sponsored by Woodstock Public Library 449 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON, N4S 1C2 519-539-6761 This event is free and open to the public.
Thursday, May 9,2013, Orangeville, ON, 7pm Centre Fellowship 375 Hansen Blvd., Orangeville, ON, L9W 0C2 519-942-9421 Tickets are $10 with proceeds going to the University Women Scholarship Fund.
Friday, May 10, 2013, Cambridge, ON, 9:30am Clemens Mill Library 50 Saginaw Parkway, Cambridge, ON, N1T 1W2 519-740-6294 This event is free and open to the public
Friday, May 10, 2013, Guelph, ON, 1pm Guelph Public Library 100 Norfolk Street, Guelph, ON, N1H 4J6 519-824-6220 This event is free and open to the public.
Friday, May 10, 2013, Brantford, ON, 4:30pm Brantford Public Library 173 Colborne Street, Brantford, ON, N3T 2G8 519-756-2220 This event is free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 11,2013, Thornbury, ON, 1pm L.E. Shore Memorial Library 173 Bruce Street South, Thornbury, ON, N0H 2P0 519-599-3681 This event is free and open to the public.
Sunday, May 12, 2013,Orillia, ON, 1pm “Murder and Mayhem on Mother’s Day at Manticore” Manticore Books 103 Mississauga Street,Orillia, ON, L3V 1V6 705-326-7776 This event is free and open to the public.

BEST POSTER EVER!!!!!!

Vader and Son has been a huge hit everywhere. The sequel Vader's Little Princess has just been released. To commemorate Chronicle has come out with is awesome poster. To download a copy go here!

CBC Bookies!

Now here is a hilarious awards list...
The Overlookie Bookie Award for Most Underrated Canadian Book: Cosmo by Spencer Gordon
The Brangelina Award for Most Attractive Book Cover: The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus
The Ron MacLean Award for Most Hilarious Canadian Book: Up and Down by Terry  Fallis
and drumroll please.....Best Canadian Book: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny...YAY!
For the complete list go here. 

New Lousie Penny!

A couple of years ago I borrowed all of the Inspector Gamache books out of my library and spent the summer reading them. Her last book The Beautiful Mystery was, in my opinion, her best to date. I am very excited that her new book How the Light Gets In has been announced and will be releasing August 27th, 2013. A nice back story about the new book is that Louise approached Leonard Cohen to buy the rights to use the lyric from Anthem for her title. Cohen refused and said she could have it for free. At the time Cohen had started to tour again because his manager had absconded with all his wealth-he needed the money. He is thanked in the acknowledgements. Nice Karma.

Why is this children's book being 'censored' in Canada?

Ken Setterington's new book Branded by the Pink Triangle comes out April 22nd. You can watch Ken discuss with CBC's Hanna Sung the issue of censorship in schools and libraries when his book Mom and Mum are Getting Married came out.
And speaking of censorship here is the ALA's top 10 list of most challenged books for 2012:

1. Captain Underpants series, by Dav Pilkey
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
8. Scary Stories series, by Alvin Schwartz
9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison

 

Sing. Sing A Song!

So Spring is making a slow entry. Maybe this will put a spring in your step! Illustrated by the wonderful Tom Lichtenheld, Sing is a wonderful retelling of that song we all know and love from Sesame Street. Enjoy!

My Favourite Book of the Season!

I received the ARC of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald before I had even heard about it; I loved The Paris Wife and Loving Frank so I was very excited for this as I am a huge Fitzgerald fan. I was not disappointed. Much like Paris Wife and Loving Frank; this is a fictionalized account of Zelda's relationship with Scott but draws heavily on historical research. It has received rave reviews so far including a starred review in Kirkus: "Fowler has given us a lovely, sad and compulsively readable book."—Kirkus Reviews.
I can't wait for the Great Gatsby movie coming this May...our office will be taking a field trip to see it when it opens!

Isabella Star of the Story

Isabella Star of the Story is a totally cute story about Isabella and her love of books. She reads a whole whack of books and becomes the characters from the stories such as Captain Nemo, Alice, Peter Pan and many more. I love that at the back of the book, there is a synopsis of each of the books. Click here for the activity kit. Click here for an activity kit for the book.

The Great American Novel

PW recently conducted a poll to determine what is the Great American Novel and To Kill a Mockingbird was given the title. Probably not a total surprise; it is one of my top two favourite books...the other is A Prayer for Owen Meany in case you were wondering;). 

Some of their observations from the poll were:
1. We included 60 books in the field, and the last four to tally one single vote were: Sister Carrie, The Naked and the Dead, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and The Known World.
2. At least in our prediction, The Catcher in the Rye would’ve ranked quite high, but it was only able to get 2% of the vote.
3. The most popular beat is Kerouac: On the Road outpaced his contemporary Burroughs’s Naked Lunch, and received 77 total votes.
4. The big success story? The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which received considerably more votes than The Catcher and the Rye, Gone with the Wind, Fahrenheit 451, and Slaughterhouse-Five, despite having fewer ratings on Goodreads (see #7 below). Translation: readers of Kavalier & Clay really, really like it.
5. The case can be made for The New Literary Canon to include Kavalier & Clay (2000), Infinite Jest (1996), and Beloved (1987)–they were the only books written in the last 30 years to secure more than 2% of the vote.
6. While Hemingway and Faulkner are two of the first names that come up in the great American writers discussion, their reputations–by the indication of this poll–are not built on one book alone (like Harper Lee), but rather on the cumulative influence of the entire body of their work. The Sun Also Rises and The Sound and the Fury each only secured 1% of the vote.
7. Were the books that received the most votes also the most read? Here are the number of ratings the top seven books have on Goodreads:
To Kill a Mockingbird: 1,356,936
The Great Gatsby: 1,077,481
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: 677,916
The Grapes of Wrath: 256,087
Moby-Dick: 249,884 
Gone with the Wind: 436,591

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: 86,148
The book with the fewest ratings on Goodreads? That would be Play It as It Lays (7,246).
8. What books did we get submitted in the “Other” field? Lonesome Dove was the most voted for. Call It Sleep got a number of write-ins. Some wanted East of Eden to be Steinbeck’s entry over The Grapes of Wrath. Also, a lot of Ayn Rand. A vote for “the constitution.” A vote for “I reject your use of the definite article ‘the’. No single novel fits the bill.” A vote for “all of the above.”

So Misguided

So Misguided is a super fun book blog by my friend Monique Sherrett. She covers book news, technology and tap dancing! She runs a company called Boxcar Marketing that does internet marketing and web strategy Boxcar has a VERY cool and helpful newsletter (one of the few I read). I really love her her 1 Minute Marketing Tips.

Paper is NOT Dead

LOVE IT!

Marissa Meyer!

Ok so it's not the best picture but still worth sharing. Marissa Meyer , author of Cinder and Scarlet was in town recently to promote her book. One of the booksellers, (who had been Marissa's Pen Pal for ten years but had never met her until now), made this awesome sweatshirt for Marissa's first visit to T-dot.

The School For Good and Evil - A Spellbinding New Middle Grade Novel

One of my picks for Spring/Summer is a funny, completely engaging debut middle grade novel from Soman Chainani called The School For Good and Evil. For those who love fairy tales re-imagined, this is a must read! 

Two best friends live in a village in the middle of an endless forest where all the children in town read fairy tales voraciously. Every four years, two children are snatched from the village by a School Master- one taken to a school for good, one to a school for evil. Those who survive graduate into fairy tales. 

The lovely Sophie is certain she is a princess and is desperate to be the one taken so she can win the prince of her dreams. Her friend Agatha, is plain and lives in a graveyard. She suspects that those who are taken meet with a foul end, so she tries to save Sophie from the School Master. Her plan backfires as both girls are taken. But the story REALLY begins when Agatha is deposited at the School for Good and Sophie at the School for Evil. As Sophie juggles her 'Uglification' and 'How to Train Your Henchmen' homework with plots to get into the school she thinks she belongs in, Agatha plots to find a way to get both girls home. But first, there are balls to attend, boys hearts to win, mysteries to solve, and magical curses to thwart!

The School For Good and Evil is funny, inventive and has a good (but not preachy) message about the beauty inside and the power of friendship.    

If you aren't intrigued already, I bet you will be after checking out the book trailer below!

 

-Rosalyn

Libraries of the Future

You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, which collects many of Tom Gauld’s cartoons for The Guardian, is out in April. LOVE IT!