Gooselane is running a special promotion this week. Each day they are offering one book at a discounted price. Today’s pick is Roadsworth featuring 450 reproductions of this Canadian artist’s work. It’s awesome urban art. Love it.
Watch for savings the rest of this week on:
YOU comma Idiot
The Famished Lover
Miller Brittain
The Black Watch
Beaverbrook: A Shattered Legacy, and
Ganong: A Sweet History of Chocolate
Gooselane is running a special promotion this week. Each day they are offering one book at a discounted price. Today’s pick is Roadsworth featuring 450 reproductions of this Canadian artist’s work. It’s awesome urban art. Love it.
Watch for savings the rest of this week on:
YOU comma Idiot
The Famished Lover
Miller Brittain
The Black Watch
Beaverbrook: A Shattered Legacy, and
Ganong: A Sweet History of Chocolate
Wow! Vancouver is holding a major Canadian poetry conference in October as part of the Vancouver 125 celebrations.
The Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference is a four-day poetry conference, October 19-22, 2011. The focus is new generation of poets, which are defined as poets who published their first book after 1990. The conference is presented in partnership with the Office of the Poet Laureate of the City of Vancouver, The City of Vancouver, Simon Fraser University’s Writing and Publishing Program, The Vancouver International Writers Festival, The Vancouver Public Library and the Listel Hotel.
This is an amazing opportunity to enjoy poetry from poets across North America.
Participants include Griffin Prize winner Christian Bök (Eunoia), Griffin and Governer Governor-General’s Award finalist Ken Babstock (Airstream Land Yacht), Griffin shortlisted poet Suzanne Buffam (The Irrationalist), G-G nominee Evelyn Lau (Oedipal Dreams), and Michael Turner (Hard Core Logo).
We have some non-poet here, but the keynote reading will feature Governor-General’s Award and Griffin Prize winner Don McKay (Strike/Slip); prolific and esteemed U.S. writer Fanny Howe (On the Ground); and fellow American Martin Espada, a Pulitzer Prize finalist (for The Republic of Poetry).
According to a recent Vancouver Sun article, there was a landmark 1963 poetry conference, which brought some U.S. superstars to town. Hm, clearly time for another major poetry event.
The conference will be at SFU Woodward’s in October. The 90-minute sessions will be for readings and discussions.
Plus V125PC coincides with the Vancouver International Writers Festival, which means there will be a lot of literary madness going on in this city.
The Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference will be held Oct. 19-22 http://v125pc.com/
@v125pc
Anna Marie Sewell can add Poet Laureate to her impressive list of artistic accomplishments. The writer of poetry, theatre, stories and songs becomes the City of Edmonton’s fourth Poet Laureate on July 1, 2011.
Her first book of poetry, Fifth World Drum, was nominated for numerous awards including the Stephan G. Stephansson Award. City of Edmonton Book Prize, the Alberta’s Readers’ Choice Award and the ReLit award. The book won critical acclaim across Canada and I’m looking forward to reading it, now that it’s back on my radar.
The National Book Count is running from January 10-16. Ugh, I’m a day behind.
Here’s the Press Release:
Vancouver, January 10, 2011
Canadians like to think we are a nation of readers. This week we’re going to test this cherished belief. We are counting how many books are purchased in stores and checked out from public libraries—both adult and children’s book in French and English. How many books do we buy and borrow on a typical week in January?
For the next seven days (January 10-16) The National Reading Campaign in partnership with BookNet Canada, BookManager, la Société de gestion de la Banque de titres de langue française (BTLF) and The Canadian Urban Libraries Council is going to count the total books sold in Canadian retail outlets or checked out from eighteen major public library systems across Canada.*
Never before have these organizations worked together to tabulate one number for the acquisition of total books in Canada. We estimate we will capture more than 80% of book retail sales and the circulation habits of ten million Canadians. What will the number reveal?
On January 19th on the eve of TD National Reading Summit II: Toward a Nation of Readers we will announce the results. The National Book Count will shed new light on how central reading is in Canadians’ lives today and will serve as a baseline number for Book Counts in years to come and for comparative Book Counts with other countries.
It all begins this week. About the National Reading Campaign
In 2008 a group of concerned librarians, parent activists, authors, booksellers, teachers, publishers and corporate leaders came together with a common goal—developing a national reading strategy for Canada and Quebec.~ Out of this initiative the TD National Reading Summits were born. Summit I was held in Toronto in 2009, Summit II will be in Montreal and Summit III is planned for Vancouver.~ For more information on the program, speakers, accommodations or information on last year’s summit visit http://www.nationalreadingcampaign.ca
*The combined aggregators will reach an estimated 80% of the total retail market and The Canadian Urban Libraries Council will track circulation figures for the public libraries in Halifax, Gatineau, Brampton, Burlington, Hamilton, Kitchener, Markham, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Whitby, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Burnaby, Greater Victoria, Richmond, Surrey and The Vancouver Island Regional Library system.
My artist friend Rachael Ashe (who does the awesome altered books) is participating in Vancouver’s Eastside Culture Crawl from Friday, November 26 to Sunday, November 28!
The Eastside Culture Crawl is an annual free 3-day visual arts event that involves more than 10,000 people visiting over 375 artists in their studios. The studios are all in the Eastside, the area bounded by Main Street, Victoria Drive, First Avenue to the waterfront.
Please come visit Rachael’s Studio and buy some beautiful artwork. It’s her first year in the Eastside Culture Crawl.
Although the altered books are my favourite, they may not be yours. That’s ok! Rachael also does wonder collages and metal prints. There will also be a large-scale paper craft tree and the series of encyclopedias most recently on display at the Container Art show at the PNE.
FYI: There is no live broadcast of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony. It starts at 6 pm PST this Friday night, and runs 2 hours and 8 minutes. If you’re interested, good luck.
CTV and NBC intend to package it and transmit it in the early afternoon Saturday (check your listings).
As for watching the Games, CTV plans to only broadcast the sledge hockey games that include a Canadian team live, and is only carrying a total of 25 English hours of about 200 hours available, most of it in nightly 90-minute packages. For those of you who tried to watch NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, the Paralympic coverage will be even worst. NBC plans a total of 20 hours, some of it weeks after the events are held.
For diligent, internet-bound viewers, you can watch the Opening Ceremony live. The International Paralympic Committee has a web broadcast site that will carry it (and most of the Games competitions) live.
Constance Kellough
Constance Kellough is the president of Namaste Publishing, the publisher that brought us Eckhart Tolle. In her book The Leap, she proposes that consciousness is a reality anyone can enter at any time. The key is stillness, not silence. The Leap promises to help you stay present with the physical realm in a profoundly deep way. As the Zen masters say: Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
“This is a book of crystalline vibration…The Leap assists humanity to purposefully, passionately and compassionately support our leap into a new reality.” Ann, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
I’ll make the draw on December 16 and promptly mail you the calendar. I have 2 calendars to give away, 1 for the Twitter followers and 1 for the Facebook fans. So yes, you could get more than one chance to win.
The 2010 Reading Is Sexy Calendar promotes literacy and raises funds to help kids and adults with dyslexia. Proceeds go to the Canadian Branch of The International Dyslexia Association.
Our goal is to promote literacy and raise funds to support those with dyslexia.
What was the impetus behind the idea?
Back in the spring, Ian Martin (http://www.twitter.com/IanAMartin) was starting up his publishing house, Atomic Fez Publishing, and was trying to goad me into saying “Reading Is Sexy” as often as possible on twitter. This sparked the idea for doing a “Reading Is Sexy” calendar promoting literacy.
Initially the calendar was supposed to be shot “calendar girl” style, like the one Bryne Pen did on Salt Spring to raise funds and awareness for The Land Conservancy. Alas not all our models understood what I meant by that, so it will likely be our theme for next year.
We chose the International Association of Dyslexia as our charity because they interact with Emme online (@onbida) and Emme is dyslexic. That said, she is one of the lucky kids who had access to help, so she has never treated her dyslexia as a crutch, but rather as her secret superpower. It is why she looks at the world in a different way, is not limited to typical rules dictating how things work, and has approached life with perseverance, hard work and problem solving.
Who is Emme?
Emme is the girl next door. You know the one. She was the Tomboy who always out climbed the boys to reach the most precarious limits of the tree in the yard. The one who you just gave the ball or the puck to on the soccer field or hockey rink for fear of her side tackle or crosscheck. The one who loved making mud pies, but wouldn’t be caught dead at a tea party. You know the one. The one whose Mom couldn’t watch what she was up to for fear that she’d have a heart attack. That girl. The one whose friends you didn’t mess with, not because she was manipulative, but because she hated injustices and wasn’t afraid to say so. Just ask the boy next door. Maybe he’ll pull out the photo of the black eye he was sporting the day he was a ring bearer.
We’ll Emme’s all grown up now and she’s no longer “Leo the Late Bloomer.” A homosexual drama teacher has taught her how to put on makeup. Somewhere along the lines she lost her fear that her bum is too big and she wears fitted clothes now. And, if wonders will ever cease, she actually likes to put on a party dress, minus the runners and hockey jacket.
So in essence, Emme represents that secret hidden voice in many of us women—the things that go through the heads of our mothers, girlfriends and ourselves—the only difference is that she says these things aloud, and rather then be embarrassed about these thoughts or insecurities she screams them aloud for all the world to hear.
And yes, she’s a total character and given her tomboy past finds it totally hilarious that she is now seen as Vancouver’s / Canada’s gal-about-town and go to girl on all that is hot and sexy in this lovely world of ours.
And if you’d like your calendar signed by the men and women of “Reading Is Sexy”, please come out to the Launch Party and Literary Celebration on Thursday.
Local: Gudrun Wine & Cheese Bistro (150-3500 Moncton Street, Steveston, BC) Date: Thursday December 3, 2009 Time: 7 pm until late
Stop by for author readings, calendar signings by the models, and the auctioning of some of Robert Shaer’s photos from the shoot. Plus Gudrun goodies, wine and beer will be on sale.
1. Ossuaries by Dionne Brand (poetry)
“Dionne Brand’s mesmerizing new collection of poems is about human zoos; bones, culture, the fabric of our times.”
Brand is awesome, I’m sure to love this one.
2. Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen (poetry)
“Leonard Cohen’s classic book of contemporary psalms is repackaged. As lovely as the first publication 25 years ago.”
It’s a beautiful package.
3. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built: Book 10 by Alexander Mccall Smith
“The 10th Precious Ramotswe novel is as adorable as the first.”
Precious is precious. I love this series.
4. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
“Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this bestselling tale of a family haunted by the past - and perhaps more - has received ecstatic reviews around the world: Waters is exceptional!”
I really, really liked Fingersmith and have been meaning to read more Sarah Waters. This is it!
5. Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health by Rick Smith
“How the toxic soup of our lives is killing us.”
Do I need a book to tell me this? No, but it would be interesting to know how to better navigate the world.
6. Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail
“Good food grown in small spaces.”
I have herbs on the balcony and am ready for more.
7. Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
“A heart-in-mouth conspiracy novel about the fragility of social identity, the corruption at the heart of big busunderbelly of the everyday city.”
A dark, twisted book with quirks that are sure to be my style.
8. The Waterproof Bible by Andrew Kaufman
“Kaufman can’t be missed.” All My Friends Are Superheroes is a brilliant book. I must read this one.
9. Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
“Angels are big this year. A book to watch.”
Monique’s prediction: angels, oil an religion. We’ll be as fascinated by these things in 2010 as we were by vampires in 2009.
10. The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag: A novel by Alan Bradley
“Flavia is back.”
For Sweetness at the bottom of the pie, this young detective is by to thrill me with her fascination of poisons.
11. Dahanu Road: A novel by Anosh Irani
“Anosh is dark humored but one of my favs.”
Gawd, I love him.
12. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
“Taxidermy!” Life of Pi guy gets every stranger with taxidermy in this novel. Yes, please.
13. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath
“Nobody likes change but a wet baby—and even then.”
From Made to Stick comes Switch. I won’t switch. I’ll stick.
14. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
“The internationally bestselling true story of the remarkable ten-year-old Yemeni girl who dared to defy her country’s most archaic traditions byfighting for a divorce.”
This story just seems unbelievable!
15. Boom! by Mark Haddon (young adult)
“I’ll have whatever Mark’s having. Love his work.”
Positioned for young adults, I think this will be a killer hit with adults too.
The New York-based Shen Yun is coming to Vancouver at the end of March. The show is an amazing revival of China’s five-millennial-old artistic traditions that thrived before decades of suppression by the Chinese communist state. It is presented by two non-profit local organizations, NTDTV and Falun Dafa Association.
The winner of this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize, the most coveted Canadian fiction award, was announced last night in Toronto. And the winner is ... Linden MacIntyre.
The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre is a story of crimes and cover-up in a Cape Breton Catholic church.
“The Bishop’s Man centres on a sensitive topic - the sexual abuses perpetrated by Catholic priests on the innocent children in their care. Father Duncan, the first person narrator, has been his bishop’s dutiful enforcer, employed to check the excesses of priests and, crucially, to suppress the evidence. But as events veer out of control, he is forced into painful self-knowledge as family, community and friendship are torn apart under the strain of suspicion, obsession and guilt. A brave novel, conceived and written with impressive delicacy and understanding.”
Price wars typically hurt the retailers involved, and often times their suppliers, especially if the cost cutting is shared by the two parties. The Amazon and Wal-Mart recent decision to deeply discount a key group of titles just seems like a race to the bottom. What are they really trying to achieve with this? The suggestion in the New Yorker article is that deeply discounting a select group of things brings people to the store, and then you can sell them more stuff once they’re there. This has been the Wal-Mart model for years. Appear to be “the lowest price is the law” (on a lot of things) and you get people there for the discount, but once they’re there, they aren’t going to price compare, they’ll just purchase the non-discounted products as well.
What the two companies appear to be fighting over is a selection of bestsellers, but James Surowiecki argues that it’s really customers.
So you might wonder why Wal-Mart recently decided to start its own price war, taking on Amazon in the online book market. Wal-Mart began by marking down the prices of ten best-sellers—including the new Stephen King and the upcoming Sarah Palin—to ten bucks. When Amazon, predictably, matched that price, Wal-Mart went to nine dollars, and, when Amazon matched again, Wal-Mart went to $8.99, at which point Amazon rested. (Target, too, jumped in, leading Wal-Mart to drop to $8.98.) Since wholesale book prices are traditionally around fifty per cent off the cover price, and these books are now marked down sixty per cent or more, Amazon and Wal-Mart are surely losing money every time they sell one of the discounted titles. The more they sell, the less they make. That doesn’t sound like good business.
Not good business, if you’re involved in selling books and you’re not Amazon or Wal-Mart. For the two behemoths, they’re only taking a hit on about 10 titles and the impact on revenue is minimal, if they can bring in other sales. The price war is also worth the publicity. Wal-Mart certainly wasn’t top of mind yesterday but I’m thinking about them today. (Nasty thoughts, but thoughts nonetheless.)
Plain Words, Uncommon Sense A blog on books, writing, tap dancing, technology, and the other amusements of Monique Sherrett (or Monique Trottier in unmarried form).
Monique Sherrett lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada and is a litblogger, among other things. Find out more ...
"So misguided." A comment often uttered in my eclectic salon.
Contact
Send me book galleys, ARCs or review copies. Contact me at monique at somisguided dot com Contact me at Boxcar Marketing
Gooselane is running a special promotion this week. Each day they are offering one book at a discounted price. Today’s pick is Roadsworth featuring 450 reproductions of this Canadian artist’s work. It’s awesome urban art. Love it.
Anna Marie Sewell can add Poet Laureate to her impressive list of artistic accomplishments. The writer of poetry, theatre, stories and songs becomes the City of Edmonton’s fourth Poet Laureate on July 1, 2011.
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The New York-based Shen Yun is coming to Vancouver at the end of March. The show is an amazing revival of China’s five-millennial-old artistic traditions that thrived before decades of suppression by the Chinese communist state. It is presented by two non-profit local organizations, NTDTV and Falun Dafa Association.
