Book News Vol. 9 No. 21

BOOK NEWS

An Evening with Louise Penny

New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, A Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.

Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals

Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.

An Evening with David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake, the Vancouver Writers Fest's Artistic Director, and reads from his new novel, The Bone Clocks.

Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12382&type=rentals

Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidmitchell) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.

Bruce Cockburn

Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks about his long-awaited memoir, Rumours of Glory.

Monday, November 10 at 7:30 pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12385&type=rentals

Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/brucecockburn) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.

Alan Doyle

Alan Doyle, singer-songwriter and front man of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, talks about his new memoir, Where I Belong.

Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island)
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12388&type=rentals

Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/alandoyle) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.

FESTIVAL

The 32nd annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts runs from August 14-17, 2014. The festival features established literary stars and exciting, new voices including Angie Abdou, Steven Galloway, Linda Holeman, Heather O’Neill and Miriam Toews and a finale event with spoken word artists Jillian Christmas, Zaccheus Jackson and Brendan McLeod. Complete details at writersfestival.ca.

AWARDS & LISTS

The longlist for the 2014 Man Booker Prize has been announced.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/no-canadians-in-the-running-for-2014-man-booker-prize-1.2715294

Okwiri Oduor, a young Kenyan writer, has won the 2014 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story entitled My Father's Head. The £10,000 Caine Prize is Africa's leading literary award.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/bm/wn/newsworld.php?id=1053915

Predictions are already in for the 2014 Man Booker longlist! Here's The Guardian's take:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jul/22/man-booker-prize-2014-contention

YOUNG READERS

Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Thickety by J.A. White, and A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn, are three young adult novels reviewed in this week's Globe and Mail. Find out why they're "worth a read," here.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/three-young-adult-fiction-books-worth-a-read/article19675381/

And if you're an adult who's been actively following the debate over the "worth" of reading YA fiction (if you're no longer YA yourself), then this piece might be of interest to you: the adult lessons of YA, and why "stories about growth, change, and epiphanies resonate in a different way when you're older."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/the-adult-lessons-of-ya-fiction/372417/

NEWS & FEATURES

Does poetry matter? Can poetry be more relevant? The answer seems to be yes...and no...at least according to American poet David Biespiel!
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/18/does-poetry-matter/poems-hold-the-mysteries-of-the-present-dreams-of-the-future

Never mind worth. Never mind relevance. Is poetry even popular? Irish poet (and 2013 Writers fest author) Paul Muldoon joins the conversation, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/18/does-poetry-matter/is-poetry-popular-whos-counting

It's Ernest Hemingway's 115th birthday! To celebrate, the Huffington Post has created a pretty wonderful GIF that features, unsurprisingly, an old man and the sea! Check it out here:
https://twitter.com/HuffPostBooks/status/491279511976042497/photo/1

What does it mean to be addicted to reading? Zadie Smith has written an ode to "bibliomania, a happy disorder nicely accommodated by this forgiving time of year."
http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Author-Zadie-Smith-What-to-Read-This-Summer

For those of you who share Zadie Smith's affliction, here's some great news: the New Yorker's fiction section has become more accessible! The magazine has unlocked (lifted it paywall on) all stories published since 2007. Here are 25 of the best:
http://longform.org/posts/our-25-favorite-unlocked-new-yorker-articles

What's the place of race in writing workshops? Matthew Salesses discusses Junot Diaz's 'MFA vs. POC,' and his own reactions to topics of race in the classroom.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/07/20/313158511/salesses-writers-workshop-diversity?ft=1&f=1032

Here's an infographic worth checking out: the lengths of famous novels, poems and plays from literary history, organized, systematized, categorized and depicted artistically. How do epic poems ranks? What about stories that can be read in fewer than five minutes?
http://electricliterature.com/infographic-word-counts-of-famous-books/

If you prefer shorter-length reading, then this story about Twitter might be right up your alley. "From #readwomen2014 to #WeNeedDiverseBooks, hashtags are helping to build community in the literary world". Here are the best literary hashtags on Twitter:
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/19/the_best_literary_hashtags_on_twitter/

Speaking of all things digital, Amazon has launched an unlimited e-book service, which it hopes will "encourage readers to obsessively devour books by best-selling authors such as Michael Lewis and Suzanne Collins the way Netflix Inc. users binge-watch House of Cardsand Orange is the New Black."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/amazon-launches-unlimited-e-book-service/article19680674/

What makes a great book cover? It's been a popular topic of discussion lately, but this might be the most thorough dissemination (and collection of covers) yet!
http://www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2014/07/17/books-on-book-covers/

What is "kidspeak" and why should we take it more seriously? In this piece, Adam Gopnik discusses the mysterious language of twelve-to fourteen-year-olds.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/conscientiousness-kidspeak

As one-hundredth anniversary commemorations continue for the First World War, it's always important to remember the place of literature in that conflict. Here are Katherine Ashenburg's reasons "why literature written out of the First World War is some of the last century's finest writing."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/why-literature-written-out-of-the-first-world-war-is-some-of-the-last-centurys-finest-writing/article19674494/

"So many worthy titles never get a chance to find an audience. What's a conscientious reader to do?" Learn how shelving can save a book's life, here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/how-shelving-can-save-the-life-of-a-book/373164/

BOOKS & WRITERS

Despite the rain we've had these last few days, it looks like beach weather is set to return very soon. Here are five must-read beach novels for your next vacation (mini reviews included). Unsurprisingly, one of them is called The Vacationers!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/18/best-beach-reads-new-books_n_5568424.html

And the lists continue! Here are the 10 best books of the year (so far), as voted by readers of The Guardian newspaper. Reader reviews are included!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jul/21/the-10-best-books-of-the-year-so-far1?CMP=twt_gu

Last Meal at Whole Foods is the name of Saïd Sayrafiezadeh's story in this week's New Yorker. No, it's not a goodbye to health food. Rather, it's about saying farewell to a mother who is living her last days, and just wants a little more broccoli cake.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/28/last-meal-whole-foods

Malcolm Gladwell is also set to make (yet another) appearance in the New Yorker next week. Though the print version hasn't come out yet, you can already check it out online! This time the topic is British spy Kim Philby, and the book, A Spy Among Friends, which details his life.
https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%22A%20Spy%20Among%20Friends%22

Heather O'Neill's new novel, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, "is set in her hometown of Montreal and concerns the lives of brother and sister as they attempt to outgrow their eccentric, distinctive family name." She discusses her new novel, and more, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/i-always-looked-for-advice-from-books-heather-oneill/article19675436/

According to William T. Vollmann, author of Last Stories and Other Stories, "writers can do anything." He works by an assassin's credo: "Nothing is true; all is permissible."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/the-creative-liberation-in-nothing-is-off-limits-all-is-permissible/374481/

Ashley Little's Anatomy of a Girl Gang is a novel which just might follow the same credo. In her case, however, her protagonists are not assassins, but members of a newly formed all-girl gang on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
http://www.geist.com/fact/reviews/girls-in-gangs/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

POETRY READING
John Barton participates in an evening of poetry readings as part of the launch of Steve Noyes' poetry book, small data. John will be reading from his new poetry collection, Polari. Friday, July 25 at 7:30pm, free. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.

POETRY IN THE PARK
A trio of poets will be featured: Janet Kvammen, Lilija Valis and Garry Ward with host, Kyle McKillop. Wednesday July 30, 6:30pm. Queens Park Band Shell, New Westminster. More information at rclas.com/poetry-park.

SOLDIER OF THE HORSE
Author Robert W. Mackay shares personal photos, memories and insights into the Canadian Cavalry Brigade of which his father was a member. Wednesday, July 30 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

POSTAL CODE READINGS
Readings by the Thursdays Writing Collective and guest author Clint Burnham. Thursday, July 31 at 7:00pm, free. Mount Pleasant branch, VPL, 1 Kingsway, Vancouver. More information at thursdayswritingcollective.ca.

Upcoming

SUSAN K. FOREST
Vancouver author reads from her new kidsbook The Indigo Queen. Sunday, August 10 at 2:00pm, free. Please RSVP to http://eepurl.com/XSBz9. Seating is limited! Y'S Books, 4307 Main Street at 27th, Vancouver. More information at ysbookstore.blogspot.ca.

SILVER TOTEM OF SHAME
R.J. Harlick, author of the wilderness-based Meg Harris mystery series, will be discussing and reading from her latest book. Various dates and locations between August 12 and August 16. For more information, visit vpl.ca.

SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.

SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.