It’s that time of year again, the gift-giving season we all dread/look forward too! Now that I stay at home all day, I have a lot of time to think about what I’m going to get people, and where and when I’m going to get it, so I’ve been thinking about Christmas since the beginning…
So with the onslaught of Fall book awards come the annual procession of literary festivals. Canada is lucky enough to have quite a few of them, although there is always room for more! As you all know, I used to work for Wordfest, so this is a topic near and dear to my heart. I…
I’m curious to see if people care about my reading habits or not, but either way, I’m posting this because I was tagged by another blogger. I’m a techno newb, so I may not be doing this right/tagging people correctly, but thanks to Book Bunny I’m going to attempt it, so here goes! Do you…
I had the good fortune of being a judge for the 2015 Saskatchewan Book Awards that were just handed out this past weekend. I was on the panel that decided the winner of the City of Saskatoon and Public Library of Saskatoon Book Award: Manny’s Memories by Ken and Angela Caron. It’s been awhile since…
I’m a couple days late on this one, but I thought I’d weigh in on this latest piece of exciting book news anyway. Harper Lee, author of the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (published in the 1950s), has announced that she will be releasing her second novel titled Go Set a Watchman in July 2015,…
Last week, Elsie Ohem, who I’ve never met but will be continually grateful to, nominated me for the Liebster Award. I have no idea what this award is, but I’m so honoured to be nominated for ANYTHING that I will gladly participate in this chain-letter type thing that comes along with a nomination. As I…
Last night at the Barley Mill Pub in Eau Claire, I had the pleasure of attending another successful and educational Writers Guild of Alberta event. Recently named University of Calgary writer-in-residence Ian Williams gave a thought-provoking yet still entertaining presentation on writing. Although I don’t consider myself a formal writer, he still gave me some…
I have some observations on the most recent “Writers to Watch” list from CBC Books: Not surprisingly, it is a diverse list in both authors and their publishers. I would expect nothing less from the CBC. I have heard of none of these writers. A few years ago, when I worked in publishing, I’m sure…
I came across this juicy little tidbit while scanning book news from the past few weeks, and I thought you would find this interesting as well. And don’t worry, if you have no idea who Lena Dunham or Chip Kidd is, that really has no bearing on what I found interesting about this article anyway….
BuzzFeed, you have done it again!!! You’ve taken two of my most favourite things-books and cats-and mashed them together to create a wonderful list of literary pun names for cats. Why is this important you may ask? I counter that question with another question-how is this NOT important? I’m not sure if I’m focused on…
I just love the picture above, it’s one of my favourites from the Writers Guild of Alberta Conference because it so honestly depicts how fun the event was to host. The crowd in the background of this photo were enthusiastic, supportive and asked wonderfully insightful questions. The panelists Hilary McMahon, Steven Galloway and Leanne Shirtliffe…
I am forever indebted to my good friend Kayleigh for introducing me to the Calgary Reads Annual Book Sale. How did I not know about this before, and why has it taken me this long to discover it? The sight of walking into a big empty warehouse full of books and book lovers warmed my…