Monniblog

Driving the BC Book Prizes On Tour’s Vancouver Island leg

monnibo — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:00:21 +0000

On Sunday I got back from a week on the road up and down Vancouver Island with two authors shortlisted for The BC Book Prizes—Anne Fleming, author of a book of short stories entitled Gay Dwarves of America, and Alan Woo, children’s author of Maggie’s Chopsticks. Each year the BC Book Prizes sends finalist authors on tour visiting schools, libraries, and bookstores throughout the province. The tour is supported by sponsors and completely free for any locations we visit. In each community we aim to visit one high school, one elementary school, and hold a public evening event. From April Continue Reading »

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44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith (book review)

monnibo — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:33:38 +0000

Many great authors got their start writing serialized fiction for the newspaper, notably Charles Dickens for The Pickwick Papers. The difficulty with serial fiction is that the author has to keep the attention of readers so they will return for further installments without alienating readers who pick up the newspaper or magazine without having read the portions that came before. Following this tradition and inspired by Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, author Alexander McCall Smith wrote 110 episodic bites of fiction for The Scotsman newspaper. These were the beginning of The Scotland Street series, which is about to wrap Continue Reading »

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Multiple Months of Mailbox Mondays

monnibo — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:25:33 +0000

You already know I have a problem. My TBR Pile would crush me to death if it fell over. And it seems that 2013 isn’t helping the pile… Armchair Books in Whistler: Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley Inside by Alix Ohlin SFU bookstore (some sale items): A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon The Woefield Poulty Collective by Susan Juby The Plight House by Jason Hrivnak Making Waves: Reading BC and Pacific Northwest Literature Trans.Can.Lit: Resituating the Study of Canadian Literature The Canadian Press Stylebook The Canadian Press Caps & Spelling BMV Bookstore in Toronto: Griffin & Continue Reading »

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Divergent by Veronica Roth (book review)

monnibo — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:45:28 +0000

Divergent by Veronica Roth is the first book in a new dystopian series. You’re probably thinking that this concept has already been done to death, but Roth’s approach and premise is really entertaining. The second title, Insurgent, is already out and the movie (no surprise there) is already in pre-production. In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Teenagers in each faction take personality and aptitude tests to attempt to predict which faction Continue Reading »

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Are you wearing a Pink Shirt today?

monnibo — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:25:25 +0000

Today is Anti-Bullying Day 2013, celebrated on the last Wednesday in February here in Canada. It is also called “Pink Shirt Day” as a symbol to stand against bullying. Started in 2007, the first event was organized by two young men in Nova Scotia who arranged a “sea of pink” after Grade 9 student was harassed for wearing a pink polo shirt. The activism gained a lot of media attention and Canada now raises awareness to abolish bullying. Vancouver slam-poet Shane Koyczan—best known internationally for his performance during the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics—has recorded an incredibly powerful Continue Reading »

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Freedom to Read Week 2013

monnibo — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 06:12:46 +0000

“There are worse crimes than burning books,” said Russian poet Joseph Brodsky. “One of them is not reading them.” One of the things I’m a huge advocate for is Literacy, with a capital L. And Freedom to Read Week embodies not only literacy, but Democracy too. February 25 – March 2, 2013 is Freedom To Read Week 2013. As the Freedom to Read Week website states: “Freedom to read can never be taken for granted. Even in Canada, a free country by world standards, books and magazines are banned at the border. Schools and libraries are regularly asked to remove Continue Reading »

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Bedtime Story by Robert J. Wiersema (book review)

monnibo — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 03:17:25 +0000

I’ve been meaning to read Bedtime Story since hearing the author, Robert J. Wiersema, at The Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival in 2010 with Kathleen Winter and Emma Donoghue. Bedtime Story, tells two tales concurrently: the first of a recluse-writer and father, the second of the book his son becomes (literally) absorbed in. It was interesting to have a male’s perspective, as it is rare to have fatherhood on display in a novel. I loved the parallel between the characters in the book and Wiersema himself, who also has a son of a similar age and (of course) is Continue Reading »

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Celebrating Love in Literature with 49th Shelf

monnibo — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:04:12 +0000

In celebration of Hallmark Day Valentine’s Day, 49th Shelf is crowd-sourcing a list of Books that Feel The Love. They write, “we are highlighting a list of books that celebrate love in whichever way you define it—hot, passionate, blinding love; heartbreaking, desperate, unrequited love; love that simply makes your heart beat a little faster.” Some obvious love stories come to mind such as the collection of short stories, Desire in Seven Voices by Lorna Crozier, but to me, I prefer more unconventional stories of love, bonding, and trust. Here are a few (with links to my reviews): Gargoyle by Andrew Continue Reading »

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Tidbits from the Canadian Publishing World

monnibo — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:06:13 +0000

As a student of communication/publishing/journalism/media as well as a freelance writer, editor, and designer, I like to keep myself informed about the Canadian publishing industry. However, sometimes I feel like I’m treading rapidly just to stay afloat in all the news. So I figured others may feel that way too. Or perhaps they want to know more about CanLit but don’t know where to look. Or don’t have time to wade through all the publishing news. Or this, or that, or whatever, or et cetera. Anyway, without further adieu, here are some recent(ish) news stories from the world of Canadian Continue Reading »

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Bits and Bobs about Books

monnibo — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:21:19 +0000

Well-known author Ann Pachett has decided to open a bookstore, and offered to sign copies of her book purchased through the new website. Interesting case study or tidbit. Although I quit Twitter, this is an interesting concept: BookRx, an online experiment which analyses your tweets, hashtags, and keywords to recommend books for you. Reading the Tools of Change newsletter, they mentioned Book Book Goose. It’s less ‘recommendation’ and more ‘random’, but it’s fun to see what comes up. I was in Toronto in January and we had an evening/private event at the Toronto Reference Library. They have a Sherlock Holmes Continue Reading »