Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Chat Noir Open Mic


Our first Open Mic Night of the year will be on Feb the 16th 2008. Musicians, poets, story tellers, you are all welcome come out. We will be kicking this off at 6:30pm and going until 10:30pm, we do have limited seating, so come early to get a good seat.

Sunparlour Players


Before anyone asks...no we are not a music store, no we cannot order in CD's for you unless they are book related. Alright so now that we have that out of the way, we do try and carry a small selection of Music that is put out by Local Musicians.
Funny thing...As I am writing this entry, Dennis Van Dine's Father walked into the store and bought a copy of "Hymns for the Happy". We also happened to be playing the Sunparlour Players Album "Hymns fo the Happy" in the store at this time as well. Dennis is in the band.

As you might have guested I am talking about Toronto's "Sunparlour Players". Their Brand of gospel/folk/rockabilly/punk etc seems to be winning over Toronto's indie scene "They've been described as "AC/DC guest starring on Little House on The Prairie" and their blend of guitar, banjo, drums, organ pedals, accordion and so much more converts just about anyone who sees them live...." Sunparlour Players at the Dakota Tavern and yes we have copies of their CD in stock here at the store.

Great Coffee in Northern Ontario


If you are traveling through Northern Ontario and are looking for a great cup of Coffee, or maybe an Espresso or a Cappuccino, then come and Check us out on Google maps! All of our coffees are Fair Trade and Organic!

Canada's oldest bookstore is closing in Halifax

Canada's oldest bookstore will close its doors for good at the end of March.

The Book Room in Halifax opened for business in 1839 and survived two World Wars and the Great Depression, store president Charles Burchell said in a release.

But the retail store couldn't outlast big box bookstores, Burchell said, nor the ease of ordering books online, competition from book selling pharmacies and grocery stores or the pressure to lower prices to reflect a stronger Canadian dollar.

To Read the CBC article:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/01/29/book-store.html

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Morningtide



Moringtide will be in stock for this friday! If we can get enough
people out, we are going to try and have a booster draft tournament the
week after, which would be Sunday Feb 6th. The doors will open at 11:00am. You can pre-register at the store by talking to Paul or email me at pmclaren@gmail.com. Entree fee is $25.00.

Black Flies are Murder

I just got a call from a customer looking for a copy of "Memories Are Murder: A Belle Palmer mystery" By Lou Allin.(Unfortunatly it was currently out of stock but it is on re-order!) It is the last book in the Belle Palmer(Sudbury real estate agent-amateur sleuth)series. Which is sad news, but even worst is that Ms. Allin has also moved to B.C. The good news is Ms. Allin is working on a new series.

We'll miss Allin's Sudbury. She was able to describe the torture of blackfly season, a Northern Ontario sunset and the mouth-watering pickerel waiting for the frying pan so well that you knew she had to have been there.

Memories Are Murder is a well-written mystery and there are four others in the series also worth reading.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Family Literacy Day


Created by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation in 1999, Family Literacy Day® is a national initiative that promotes the importance of reading and learning together as a family. Every year, on January 27, families and communities across Canada celebrate this special day at literacy-themed events coordinated by literacy organizations, schools and libraries.

We will be participating in one of these events which is being held as ESCSM (the french highschool)on Sunday Jan 27 from 10-4.

This is a Family Fun Day for English and French Families to participate in...

There are story tellers, games, story book characters, a book fair, prizes and tons of fun for everyone.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Cold and Ugly

Cold! It's cold again! But they're calling for rain this weekend? How wrong is this?!?!?! How can it go from -40 so-cold-my-parking-brake-froze-on to rain in the space of a week?

In other news have you seen these plush toys The Ugly Dolls? They are the cutest little ugly stuffed toys I have ever seen - we are going to bring some into the store - I don't know what they have to do with books but I just can't help it. SO cute!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Quebecor World files for bankruptcy

We'll be watching this one......

Quebecor World files for bankruptcy


PW Daily's Jim Milliot reports, "Quebecor World, one of North America's largest book printers, has filed for bankruptcy protection in both Canada and the U.S." He adds," The company, based in Montreal but with significant operations in the U.S. as well, has been working for several months to try to raise new capital to improve its balance sheet. The decision to file for bankruptcy came after the company was unable to reach a final agreement on a C$400 million bailout package it had been negotiating with Quebecor Inc., its largest shareholder, and the private equity firm Tricap Partners."

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6524144.html?nid=2286&source=link&rid=

Monday, January 14, 2008

New Board Game for Us



We got a copy of "Zombies" the board game to try out. It was a ton of fun. The premise is pretty simple. The players are people trapped in a town full of zombies. The first player to make it to the heliport or kill 25 zombies wins. One of the things we really liked about it is the fact that the game board is actually made up of tiles that get placed randomly each game so the board isn't the same each time you play. "Combat" is decided by rolling a die - 4 and over and you win but there are modifiers "bullets" that you can use to up your roll. You draw event cards that allow you to do or get things or make it difficult for other players.

We are going to start stocking this game for sale in the store as soon as we can get some more stock in. It's a great game on it's own but if you like Zombie movies it's completely tongue in cheek funny too!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Books and Film

It is still snowing.... Ugh!

In other news, I just found out that William Gibson has another book that is destine for colloid production... I guess it all digital now...

Anyway two of Gibson's short stories were previously
made into movies, 'Johnny Mnemonic' (1995), directed by RobertoLongo and starring Keanu Reeves and Dina Meyer, and 'New Rose Hotel' (1998), directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Willem Dafoe and Christopher Walken.

There are now two more books slated for production "His bestseller novel that
was first published in 1984, Neuromancer, is being brought to the big screen by indie producer Peter Hoffman. The project will get a $70 million budget with JosephKahn currently set to direct."* And "Peter Weir (Master & Commander, The Truman Show, Dead Poets
Society) has signed on to direct and the movie is currently listed as his next project after “War Magician”. Writer DavidArata (Brokedown Palace, Spy Game) has been hired on to do the screenplay. Interesting that this is also Gibson’s first book that takes place in the present
day."**


*firstshowing.net
** filmjunk.com

Raincoast Books is shutting down its publishing arm

From The Canadian Press
Jan 9/07

VANCOUVER - Book publishing is a tough business at the best of times, but as the loonie remains about par with the U.S. dollar, Canadian publishers need to find new ways to reach their market, says Carolyn Wood, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers.

Wood estimated the industry has historically operated on a three to four per cent profit margin.

"It's not really what you'd call a licence to print money. People by and large are in the business for reasons other than material gain," Wood said Wednesday in an interview.

"They like to make a profit, they pay their bills like everyone else, but like people in all cultural industries and arts sectors its generally not mostly about the money."

However as the Canadian dollar has risen over the past year, publishers have been squeezed.

"Canadian book publishers, more and more in the last 10 years have become exporters and like all exporters they suffer when the U.S. dollar drops," Wood said.

One of Canada's best known publishers, Raincoast Book's, the Canadian distributor and co-publisher of the Harry Potter franchise announced this week it would be shutting down its publishing arm.

The Vancouver-based company cited the rise of the Canadian dollar compared with the U.S. dollar as a key factor in its decision to make this spring's publication of 15 books its last.

However, Raincoast will maintain its core business as a book distributor. Helped by the windfall from Harry Potter, Raincoast was able to build a world-class logistics system.

Key to Raincoast's success has been its ability to partner with travel guide giant Lonely Planet, U.S. publisher Chronicle Books and Bloomsbury PLC.

"What's happened at Raincoast is one outcome of many factors that affect all Canadian publishers and each publisher responds differently because they have different business objectives," Wood said.

Canadian book publishers and sellers have faced sharp criticism in recent months as the Canadian dollar has traded near par with the U.S. currency, while the Canadian price printed on many books remained higher than the U.S. price.

Wood said a direct comparison isn't fair.

"People think because the dollars are equal and because they're called a dollar, prices should be the same in Canada and the U.S., but they are different markets in all respects."

She pointed to the higher cost of operating in Canada as one of the reasons.

"Our population is so spread out, so it costs more to service the market, it costs more to ship and you're shipping books to fewer people across by and large longer distances.

However Wood wasn't ringing any alarm bells for the Canadian book publishing industry.

"I challenge anyone to find businesses that do more with less," she said.

Holy Snow Batman!

It is snowing! With any luck that means we might have the chance to enjoy some winter sports this year after all. With all that rain it wasn't looking great out there! Snowshoes here we come.

With all that snow out there it makes for great evening reading weather too! The new gardening books will be starting to arrive over the next few weeks - perfect to curl up at home and plan this spring's plantings!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

We made it!

Sorry about the lack of posts over Christmas - as you can imagine it was a little busy around here. However - we have survived another crazy shopping season without major mental breakdowns or the need for bail.

Now that the dust has settled - Our top 10 sellers for December:

1) Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
2) Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson
3) The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
4) You: Staying Young - Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz.
5) Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
6) Smoothwater Cookbook - Smoothwater Outfitters
7) Old Farmers Almanac
8) Discovering Wild Temiskaming - Murray and Vicky Muir
9) Cage Call - Charlie Angus
10) Hunter - Dan Bilodeau