Star Wars Reads Day: October 5th, 2013

The second annual Star Wars Reads Day is fast approaching! On October 5th, 2013, libraries and bookstores across North America will embrace their inner jedi in an all day Star Wars celebration. This international event, hosted by Lucasfilm Ltd., teams up with publishing partners across North America to celebrate literacy with all things Star Wars, featuring some of the best Star Wars authors. Last year, 30 authors and 1,500 costumed volunteers participated in over 1,200 events across North America. 

Participating publishers include:

Abrams                              DK                       Random House Audio

Chronicle Books                  Quirk                   Workman

Dark Horse                         Scholastic             

Del Ray                              Titan Magazines

Bookstores and libraries are invited to host their own Star Wars Reads event. Hosts are encouraged to get excited and promote their event on the Star Wars Reads Facebook page and in their local area. There are downloadable event kits, trivia and activity sheets available here. 

To find an event near you, or to register your own library or bookstore event, click here or visit the Facebook page and may the force be with you! 

Orca Limelights Series

Know any kids who love to entertain and have a passion for the performing arts? Whether they're interested in theatre, dance, or music, be sure to check out Orca's new Limelights series. Each novel focuses on one aspect of performance art, including those I've mentioned, as well as magic, slam poetry, and stand-up comedy.

To learn more about the Orca Limelights series, please visit Orca's website.

Announcing the Finalists for the 2013 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards!

The Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the finalists for this year's Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards. With up to $130,000 in prizes this year, here are the finalists:

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000)

1. Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books)

2. One Year in Coal Harbour by Polly Horvath (Groundwood Books)

3. The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larson by Susin Nielsen (Tundra Books)

4. The Stamp Collector by Jennifer Lanthier, Illustrated by Francois Thisdale (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

5. Virginia Wolf by Kyo Maclear, Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Kids Can Press)

Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse ($30,000)

1. À la recherche du bout du monde by Michael Noel (Éditions Hurtubise)

2. La clé à molette by Élise Gravel (Éditions la courte échelle)

3. Jane, le renard & moi by Fanny Britt, Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Éditions La Pastèque)

4. Minegan, mon village, Poems by Inuit schoolchildren, Illustrated by Rogé (Éditions de la Bagnole)

5. Tu me prends en photo by Marie-Francine Hébert, Illustrated by Jean-Luc Trudel (Éditions Les 400 coups)

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000)

1. Mr. King's Things by Geneviève Côté (Kids Can Press)

2. Mr. Zinger's Hat by Cary Fagan, Illustrated by Dušan Petričić (Tundra Books)

3. The Stamp Collector by Jennifer Lanthier, Illustrated by Francois Thisdale (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

4. Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe by Wallace Edwards (Orca Book Publishers)

5. Virginia Wolf by Kyo Maclear, Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Kids Can Press)

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction ($10,000)

1. Going Up! Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by David Parkins
(Tundra Books)

2. Kate & Pippin: An Unlikely Love Story by Martin Springett, Photographs by Isobel Springett (Puffin Canada)

3. Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books)

4. Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death - The Story of Steven Truscott by Bill Swan (Lorimer)

5. Rescuing the Children: The Story of Kindertransport by Deborah Hodge (Tundra)

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000)
1. A Call to Battle (I Am Canada) by Gillian Chan (Scholastic Canada)
2. The Lynching of Louie Sam by Elizabeth Stewart (Annick Press)
3. Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (Scholastic Canada)
4. Violins of Autumn by Amy McAuley (Walker Publishing Company Inc.)
5. Yesterday's Dead by Pat Bourke (Second Story Press)

John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000)

1. Becoming Holmes by Shane Peacock (Tundra)
2. Breakaway by Michael Betcherman (Razorbill/Penguin Group)
3. Devil's Press by Sigmund Brouwer (Orca Book Publishers)
4. The Lynching of Louie Sam by Elizabeth Stewart (Annick Press)
5. Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure by Kevin Sylvester (Simon & Schuster)

Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000)

1. The Girl with the Borrowed Wings by Rinsai Rossetti (Dial Books)
2. Island of Doom: The Hunchback Assignments IV by Arthur Slade (HarperCollins)
3. Rebel Heart by Moira Young (Doubleday Canada)
4. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (Doubleday Canada)
5. Shadows Cast by Stars by Catherine Knutsson (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

The winners will be announced at the two invite-only galas held in Toronto on October 22, 2013 and Montreal on October 29, 2013. Young readers are encouraged to vote for their favourite book from the shortlisted TD Award titles for the first ever Fan Choice Award, presented by TD and CBC Books. For more information, click here.

Congratulations finalists! 

Book trailer: Numero

Who knew counting to ten could be a work of art? 

Numero by Marion Bataille will be available October, 2013. Click here to learn more about the book and the artist!

A Room of Their Own: New York Times Style Magazine Looks into 5 Author's Writing Rooms

.

Clean. Cluttered. Silent. Noisy. Every writer has a unique preference to getting their words on the page. New York Times Style Magazine explores the habits of five authors, each with book releases this fall, whose writing rooms play an interesting role in their work. 

Author Edwidge Danticat, for example, surrounds herself with pictures from her past - faces of friends and even strangers - who have touched her life in some way. When inspiration is hard to find, she stares at the faces around her, knowing she is not alone. 

For Jonathan Lethem, the spirit and legacy of his writing room's former occupant guides his words across the page as he aspires to follow in her footsteps. 

For an interesting read for anyone who has ever experienced the bitter taste of writer's block, click here.

Humans of New York

Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton is a forthcoming book from St. Martin's Press that aims to capture the individuality and spirit of the city that never sleeps. The hardbound book, which is inspired by the very popular blog of the same name, boasts 304 pages of full-colour portraits and images of New York's inhabitants. Stanton began the Humans of New York project in the summer of 2010 in an attempt to capture the personalities and individual stories of New Yorkers. Since its launch, the blog has amassed over one million followers and Stanton's photographs have appeared in Vogue.com and TheAtlantic.com.

Humans of New York will be available October 2013. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to check out the Humans of New York blog and Instagram! 

Munro's Books: Celebrating 50 Years of Business

Jim Munro, 83, inside Munro's Books 

This month marks the 50th birthday of Munro's Books, the beloved Victoria-based independent bookstore owned and operated by Jim Munro. Munro's fame began with a vision from Jim himself when he relocated his small bookstore to its current location, a stately building formerly used as a bank. Standing in the vacant 6,000 square feet Jim was reminded of a childhood fantasy, and felt like Louis XIV with his Versailles. 

Perhaps it was this vision, along with the beautiful building itself that found Munro's Books on last month's list of 16 Bookstores You Have to See Before You Die (Buzzfeed). 

While Jim admits there have been challenges as an independent bookstore competing with larger retailers such as Chapters, and more, the increasing demand in digital books, the experience of shopping at Munro's is a unique one. The atmosphere is welcoming and the employees are known to make helpful recommendations. Overall, there is a shared love and respect for the books, one that cannot be found just anywhere. Happy 50th Munro's Books! Here's to 50 more!

The Raincoast Book Club Program

If you would like to start a book club, or if you just need some fresh ideas for your current one, look no further than Raincoast's Book Club program! They've got you covered with monthly adult and kids book recommendations, reading and discussion guides, and monthly giveaways. Book club kits are available for booksellers and librarians, and each kit includes posters, bookmarks, and other fun goodies from Raincoast's publishers. They've even got some delicious recipes on their website to make sure your book club meeting is the place to be! 

For a library/bookstore to sign up, you can email ilovereading@raincoast.com

Click here to learn more about the Raincoast Book Club Program!

Back to School with Owlkids!

Happy first day of school! A Day at School is a delightful book that features three kids and their first, respective days, at day care, kindergarten and 1st grade. To celebrate this book and event ;) Owlkids has created printable bookplates and stickers by Owlkids and never lose your book again!

Click here to download and print your stickers.

The year's top earning authors, according to Forbes

Forbes has published their annual guesses at the top earning-authors, for the 12 months ending June 2013. An interesting side-note; of the 16 authors covered, at least six do not use traditional literary agents (at least for their principal rights). Sadly my name is not on the list :(.

Their list:

E.L. James: $95 million

James Patterson: $91 million
Suzanne Collins: $55 million
Bill O'Reilly: $28 million
Danielle Steel: $26 million
Jeff Kinney: $24 million
Janet Evanovich: $24 million
Nora Roberts: $23 million
Dan Brown: $22 million
Stephen King: $20 million
Dean Koontz: $20 million
John Grisham: $18 million
David Baldacci: $15 million
Rick Riordan: $14 million
J.K. Rowling: $13 million
George R.R. Martin: $12 million

A Grumpy Book by a Grumpy Cat

I love Grumpy Cat! I am clearly the only person who had never heard of this internet phenom. So of course it is now a book and a hilarious one at that!

Chief Inspector Gamache is at it again!

"Another bravura performance from an author who has reinvented the village mystery as profoundly as Dashiell Hammett transformed the detective novel." — Booklist

How the Light Gets In, the ninth installment of the Chief Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny, comes out at the end of August — just in time for Labour Day reading! It's been getting great reviews so far, including reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist.

Great Bear Books by Orca

"Stretching along the BC coast from Vancouver Island’s northern tip to the Alaska panhandle, the Great Bear Rainforest represents 25 percent of the world’s remaining ancient coastal temperate rainforests. Home to more than 230 species of birds and 68 species of mammals, it’s the largest intact temperate rainforest left anywhere on Earth. Thousand-year-old giant red cedars tower 30 stories over a tangle of vibrant forest life below.

Biodiversity refers to the variation in organisms in a given area. It’s often used by scientists as a measure of the health of a given ecosystem. Often compared to the Amazon, the Great Bear Rainforest is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. This intricate coastline is home to thousands of species. If you stretched it out, it would cover more than twenty-five thousand kilometers!

But even though the Great Bear Rainforest is healthy now, that doesn’t mean it’s not at risk. Scientists have discovered dangerous toxins in the bodies of animals from the Great Bear Rainforest. These chemicals drift on air and ocean currents from other countries, eventually establishing permanence within the food chain of this threatened landscape. And if the buildup of toxic chemicals wasn’t enough to worry about, there’s also the systemic threat of the annual grizzly bear trophy hunt. When hunters kill the largest, most beautiful bears in the rainforest, they’re removing what are often the fittest individuals from the population. Over time, this selective pressure on the grizzly population can have devastating effects."

Click here to learn more about Orca's ERAC approved Great Bear Books series, including The Salmon Bears, The Sea Wolves, and The Great Bear Sea. 

FAN EXPO IS ALMOST HERE!

August 22nd is when the games begin! The info graphic from PW shows that the Toronto show is the third biggest in North America. For a full list of what's happening check out the Fan Expo Website.

Literary Hotels

The Hobbit Motel

If you're looking to go on a nice little getaway, CBC Books did a great feature on 5 hotel destinations that would thrill any book lover. The one featured above is my favourite of the bunch: The Hobbit Motel. It's located in Otorohanga, New Zealand, and it can accommodate up to 6 human-sized people. Since hobbits love to eat, each hotel room comes equipped with a kitchen. I don't know any J.R.R. Tolkien fan that wouldn't want to hole up (see what I did there?) at this Lord of the Rings-themed motel.

Other hotels on the list include the possibly haunted hotel that inspired Stephen King's The Shining, a romantic inn with rooms named after famous literary couples, and a hotel whose rooms are organized by the Dewey Decimal system!

Click here to view the full list on CBC Books.

The Written Nerd

As a bonafide bibliophile I am not only drawn to books, but to all things bookish. Cue The Written Nerd, an awesome Etsy store with library inspired accessories. Emma, the seller, is a librarian who ingeniously uses old library catalog cards (remember those?) to create wonderful Dewey Decimal jewelry, hair pins, cuff links, bookmarks, and more! The charm bracelet (pictured above) is one of my favourites, but she has lots of bookish items that would make any book nerd happy. She also includes the original vintage catalog card with your purchase, so you can see which book you're wearing! Thanks to the folks at Wasaga Public Library for showing me these!

Check out The Written Nerd here!

Booksellers continue to face challenges, while book sales are on the rise

The following is an excerpt from an interesting article by Peter Osnos in The Atlantic:

"With all the upheaval in bookselling over the past decade -- the surge in online ordering, the multiple challenges faced by brick and mortar booksellers, and the squabbles over e-book pricing -- you would think the book industry was in crisis. But sales figures suggest otherwise. Increasingly, this churning appears to be an integral feature of a steady process of transformation in the digital age. 

The Association of American Publishers released 2012 sales figures, showing a substantial increase in overall totals. Sorting out the numbers (there is additional data on the AAP website), the net gain was 7.4 percent over the previous year, which amounts to an additional $451 million in revenue, reaching $6.533 billion. The extraordinary popularity of the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy, published by Random House's Vintage division, and the Hunger Games series from Scholastic were major contributors to the boost. While there is a popular notion that book sales are being fundamentally undermined by competition from other forms of information and entertainment pouring forth from digital devices, these figures show this is simply not the case."

Click here for the full article.

An Interview with Sandra Djwa

Sandra Djwa was interviewed by Michael Enright on CBC's Sunday Edition to discuss her new book, Journey With No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page. This is the first biography of Page, a twentieth-century Canadian poet and artist.

The following is an excerpt of the book's description from publisher McGill-Queen's University Press:

"Journey with No Maps reads like a novel, drawing on the poet's voice from interviews, diaries, letters, and writings as well as the voices of her contemporaries. With the vividness of a work of fiction and the thoroughness of scholarly dedication, Djwa illustrates the complexities of Page's private experience while also documenting her public emergence as an internationally known poet. It is both the captivating story of a remarkable woman and a major contribution to the study of Canada's literary and artistic history."

Click here to watch her interview, which begins at 1:30:45.

ABC of Toronto Contest!

Kids Can Press has partnered with CN Tower and CityPass for an amazing Toronto-themed Toronto Star Wonderlist contest! In celebration of Kids Can Press' new book, ABC of Toronto, Wonderlist is going to help a lucky winner experience this wonderful city with two adult and two children's CityPasses! These passes would give the lucky winner access to popular Toronto attractions such as Casa Loma, Royal Ontario Museum, CN Tower, Ontario Science Centre, and Toronto Zoo. The winner will also get the entire Per-Henrik Gürth library of "Canada Concepts" books, including the brand-spankin' new ABC of Toronto. That's eight hardcover books! 

This prize pack has an approximate value of $500. Click here to enter the giveaway. (Contest closes July 31, 2013 at 9 a.m. EST.)

To learn more about Per-Henrik Gürth's "Canada Concepts" books, visit the Kids Can Press website.

If You Want to See a Whale

... And who wouldn't?

An Interview with Marissa Meyer!

TheMagazine.ca recently did an interview with Marissa Meyer, best-selling author of the Lunar Chronicles series. In the interview she discusses what readers should expect from her upcoming books, which of her characters she's most like, moving out of the sci-fi genre, and possible Lunar Chronicles movies! Really fun and interesting interview, and it seems like she has a lot of surprises in store for her readers!


Check out the full interview here!

Bookaboo!

We're really excited for the Canadian launch of Bookaboo, a fun new TV program on Kids' CBC that's already seen great success in the UK and won multiple awards.

The eponymous main character is a rock star pup (a drummer, to be specific!) who "needs a story a day or he just can't play." Each episode features a celebrity guest that reads children's books with Bookaboo, and the episode ends with the superstar pup playing an epic drum solo! Some of the great titles being featured on the TV show are Scaredy Squirrel, Stanley's Party, Toads on Toast, and My Thinkamajink.    

CBC is launching Bookaboo during CBC Kids Days on July 17 and 18. Mélanie Watt, author of the popular Scaredy Squirrel books, will be in attendance to read Scaredy Squirrel with Bookaboo. Word on the street is that Scaredy will make an appearance, too!

Bookaboo will air daily on the CBC at 10 am.

Funeeeeee!

For more literary pets check out the Epic Reads blog.

Eleanor & Park

It's great to see Eleanor & Park getting so much love lately! Rainbow Rowell's book about first love is definitely adored around these parts, and it seems like The Toronto Star feels the same way! Here's their review:

"This may well turn out to be the best-written teen romance of 2013. Rowell alternates between the perspectives of Eleanor, whose flamboyant hair, large figure and weird clothes make her the butt of bullies at her new school, and Park, who finds himself first sharing his comics with her (X-men; Watchmen) and then his music (the Smiths; Joy Division) — this is 1986, after all. Rowell writes of the breath-taking, cautious, astonished moments of adolescent romance with lucid, poetic intensity; at the same time, she evokes the threat of domestic violence with a bite that deepens the teens’ ultimate triumph. Highly recommended."

E&P is, indeed, a very well done romance. Rowell takes the reader on a journey as these two misfit teens experience the awkwardness, confusion, and INTENSE FEELINGS that come with falling in love for the first time, and it does this without being too sexy or saccharine, as many YA novels tend to be. It is really written quite wonderfully and let's just say that many tears were shed whilst reading this book. Many, many tears.

Heather Reisman, CEO of Chapters Indigo, has also joined the E&P love-fest by including it as one of her 2013 Top Summer Reads for Teens! Pretty amazing.

So ... You should probably read it.

Share Your Travel Story, Win a Trip of a Lifetime

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

Photo via Lonely Planet

Share your travel story with Lonely Planet for a chance to win a trip to Italy! The catch? You can only use 140 characters or less.
The deadline to enter is August 15th, 2013

Here are some pretty amazing entries they've received so far:

TIPTOEING PAST ONE HIPPO LATE AT NIGHT ONLY TO TURN AND SEE ANOTHER ONE MUNCHING AWAY ON GRASS RIGHT BY MY TENT.

UGANDA,

2011.

FINDING LONG LOST FAMILY MEMBERS IN THE ALLEYWAYS OF A SMALL VILLAGE.

CHINA,

2012.

HOLDING MY LOVERS HAND WATCHING A GLACIER CALVE WHILE SEA OTTERS FLOAT NEARBY.

ALASKA, USA,

2013.

I LOST MY MIND. FOUND IT IN ITALY. DANCING THE MAMBO IN A PERUGIA PIAZZA UNDER A FULL MOON. AIR FILLED WITH GARLIC AND OLIVE OIL.

ITALY,

1993.

LEARNING QUICKLY THAT IT'S SMART TO TIP THE SNAKE CHARMER.

TANGIER,

1995.

Check out the contest (and entries) here!

Just how large is Penguin Random House?

With the completion of the Penguin and Random House merger on July 1, 2013, Penguin Random House is now the largest publisher in the world. But just how large has Penguin Random House become? According to this post by Melville House, the projected annual revenue for this publishing giant will exceed the GDP of several countries in the world. Yes, Penguin Random House is projected to make more money per year than entire countries, including Guyana and Greenland. Click here for the full article.

Children's Book Panel: Must-Reads for Summer 2013

School's out! Luckily, Michele Landsberg and Ken Setterington have compiled a list of great books for young readers to get lost in over the hot summer months. And who's to say adults can't enjoy them, too?

Here are just some of their picks:

In the Tree House by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Dusan Petricic
Nocturne: Dream Recipes by Isol
Windblown by Edouard Manceau
My Neighbor is a Dog by Isabel Minhos Martins, illustrated by Madalena Matoso

Click here to view the full list and listen to the podcast.

The Joe Shuster Awards

The nominees for the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards are in! The Joe Shuster Awards acknowledge the best in Canadian comics, graphic novels, and webcomics. This year they've nominated two awesome graphic novels by Kids Can Press for the Dragon Award, which recognizes comics for young readers.

Cat's Cradle Volume 1: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux

Three Thieves Volume 3: The Captive Prince by Scott Chantler

(Scott Chantler was also nominated for "Best Cartoonist")

Click here for the full list of nominees! The winners will be announced on August 25, 3013.

The Writing Life

Canadian writer George Fetherling has recently published The Writing Life: Journals, 1975-2005 (McGill-Queen's University Press). The book is a selection of his daily journal entries spanning 30 years, taking him from Toronto to Vancouver, and it features notable Canadian cultural figures such as Margaret Atwood and Marshall McLuhan. According to MQUP, The Writing Life "provides a compelling portrait of the last three decades of Canadian cultural life."

In a recent article by The National Post, George Fetherling revisits his old Toronto neighbourhood and talks about the cultural zeitgeist of 1970s Toronto. Click here to read the full article.

On Censorship and Book Burning

Shortly after the release of his bestselling novel The Book of Negroes, award-winning author Lawrence Hill received an unexpected email from a man in Amsterdam. The email was quite short, but its message packed a punch: This man planned to burn Hill's novel for using the word 'negro' in its title.

In his latest book Dear Sir, Intend to Burn Your Book: An Anatomy of Book Burning, Hill discusses his experience with censorship and provides an account of censorship in literature and the history of book burning. If you're interested in learning more, The Ottawa Citizen has published an abridged excerpt from Hill's book, which can be found here. He also did a wonderful interview with CBC's Jian Giomeshi, which you can listen to here (the interview begins at 0:05:45).

Nerd Spotting

Have you ever tried to catch a nerd? There are many different kinds and they can be quite elusive. They run amok online, but disguise themselves as regular folk on the street. Luckily, the experts at BookNet Canada have put together this handy infographic for amateur Nerd Spotters:

Fierce Reads Tour Hits Toronto!

 The Fierce Read Tours has one stop in Canada on June 19th. Gennifer Albin, author of Crewel will be at Indigo-Yorkdale along with Leigh Bardugo, Jessica Brody, Emmy Laybourne, Anna Banks. To learn more about the tour, you can go to their Facebook Page

Hilarious Game of Thrones Placements

Courtesy of Vancouver's Black Bond Books!