Book Clubs / Books And Reading

I must admit, before I wrote this blog, I didn’t know much about book clubs. I’ve never been part of one, or had any interest in joining (though I do have friends and family who participate in book clubs).   I also never really thought about how they came to be, or why. But as it turns out, one of the most interesting things about book clubs is...

Publishing / Business / Books And Reading

With the global pandemic beating what we all hope is a hasty retreat from the news coverage spotlight, global supply-chain problems are now taking up residence as the issue du jour. With the holiday season quickly approaching, terms like “supply-chain bottleneck” and “semi-conductor shortage” are gaining significant cultural currency. And, although buying a PS5 or a brand-new car this year may not be on the table, supply-chain issues...

Language & Editing / Books And Reading

Editing is hard work, and sometimes it's nice to take a break from editing a particularly difficult piece of text and have a bit of fun. I've collected some suggestions for little quizzes, relaxation techniques, and interactive activities for you to help you perk up, recharge, and give your brain a break!    Copy Edit This! Try The New York Times Grammar Quiz The NYT has been offering readers a chance to...

Writing / Writers Support Group / Technology / Books And Reading

Some writers may be able to fill their manuscripts with inspired text without any outside help but, thankfully, in this age of apps and user-friendly software, we writers who need a little help organizing our thoughts have some options. Gone are the days of having to rely on sticky notes and bulletin boards to keep track of the countless structural changes you’ve made to your manuscript. Now, like...

Book Reviews / Books And Reading

March 8 is international Women's Day, and to mark the occasion, we'd like to bring out a blog from our archives: Lesley-Anne's review of Toronto Trailblazers: Women in Canadian Publishing, a book all about the women who changed the face of Canada's publishing and literary scene. We hope you enjoy it! 2021 UPDATE! We congratulate the author and the Press for being on the 2021 Heritage Toronto Book Awards shortlist. Stay tuned....

Book Reviews / Books And Reading

Recently, Beth saw that the University of Toronto Press would be launching a very interesting book in September: Toronto Trailblazers: Women in Canadian Publishing by Ruth Panofsky. She and I were so intrigued, in fact, that we actually contacted the University of Toronto Press to request a copy for review! I was excited to review this book, which covers a topic that has not gotten much focus or recognition...

Publishing / Books And Reading

When I moved to Toronto three years ago to become a part of Canada’s publishing scene, I got a job working at the Anansi Bookshop, and it was surreal. “Anansi publishes very good books” is their slogan, and my time at the bookshop has shown me how and why.      Anansi at a Glance House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. ...

Event / Books And Reading

Whether the instigating factor in a book-banning campaign is religion, sexual expression, “anti-establishment attitudes,” or some other vague concern, books may as well be picked at random for all of the consistency with which campaigns to ban them are approached.   Freedom to Read Week (February 24 to March 2, 2019) continues its 35-year fight against book-banning campaigns by reminding the book-buying public that the censors are still at work, even...

Books And Reading

    The summer is drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean the festivities are over! For booklovers out there, you’ll be happy to know that a number of literary festivals are only beginning to kick into high gear. Check out our list of FREE Toronto festivals you should check out before the summer’s up!  Pivot Reading Series – SEPTEMBER 13 8:00–10:00 PM Tranzac Club Donations are accepted   The Pivot Reading series is...

Books And Reading

As the holiday season moves into full swing, you probably have holiday traditions that you enjoy with your family and friends, or even some traditions that you do just for yourself. Holiday traditions always seem to help you adopt a more festive mood, no matter what life throws your way! One of the most popular holiday traditions is probably watching holiday films – Elf, A Christmas Carol, Scrooged, It’s...

Books And Reading

  The Book and Periodical Council's Freedom to Read Week, beyond simply being an annual event that showcases and remembers banned books, is an excellent time to consider the merits, or lack thereof, of broadly applied censorship. Last week, as we sat in the office doing exactly that, we fell to wondering how many banned or challenged books we had read or might even have on our bookshelves at home....

Books And Reading

The new year is a time for reflection on the past year: what you did, how you grew, and what you learned. It's also a time to reflect on the coming year and what you'd like to achieve. New Year's resolutions are big -- look at any store catalogue in January, and you'll see exercise equipment and accessories and kitchen appliances for making healthy food for sale in...

Books And Reading

  Oscar season might be over, but the many great movies that were nominated are still just as fantastic today as they were before the Oscars happened. If you're one of those people who are serious about Oscar season, you might still be participating in the annual Oscar challenge: watch every single nominee. In case you're still trying to remember just how many movies that is, the total is...

Books And Reading

Triptych: From the Greek adjective meaning "three-fold": tri = three, ptysso = to fold, or ptyx = fold. Usually a panel painting that is divided into three sections and hinged together to be folded shut or displayed open. The middle panel is typically the largest and is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels.    Margaret Atwood (MA) has been a...

Books And Reading

    I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Ruth Hood, who looks back on a long life of editing and library science. I asked her to tell me about some of the highlights of her dual careers.   As with many lovers of language, her attraction to books began at an early age and was nurtured at home. “I was always attracted to books,” Ruth told me. “My...

Books And Reading

    Inside the Big Bookseller In preparation for the upcoming (and costly!) holiday season, I recently picked up a part-time gig at Indigo. After all, I figured, if I'm going to venture back into retail, where I'd spent most of my summers as a teen, I may as well surround myself with what I love most—books!   I've learned a few interesting things about big booksellers during my time at Indigo. One...

Books And Reading

        Ah, reference books! What would we do without them? Whether lined up in neat rows on library shelves or haphazardly stacked on, under, or somewhere near a cluttered desk, they hold glorious promise: more knowledge than we could ever hope to absorb, systematically arranged, and clearly explained.     There are encyclopaedias, thesauruses, almanacs, yearbooks, atlases, chronologies, concordances, and digests. And let's not forget repair manuals, phone directories, and...

Books And Reading

On Wednesday, June 10, I attended the Summer Edition of "45 Books in 45 Minutes" at Ben McNally Books in Toronto. This semi-annual event is a must for those wishing to keep abreast of the latest fiction and non-fiction publications. Advertised as a "quick and informative rundown of the best, or most talked about, books of the season," in 45 minutes Ben McNally and Lynn Thomson provide you...

Books And Reading

Living in downtown Toronto provides no scarcity of opportunities to both observe and participate in performances of middle-classness, or what I’ve come to tongue-in-cheekedly refer to as “class acts. ” So when TEC senior editor Beth proposed that this year TEC once again support The Word On The Street by “friending” an author who would be speaking at the festival, and circulated to our team of editors a list of...

Books And Reading

Ahh, summer: a time to kick back, relax, and enjoy the sunshine (even though here in Toronto, our summer has been…not as hot as we usually prefer). A time when how you relax is up to you—some escape to the cottage every weekend they can, others plan a trip down to an island paradise, taking advantage of the travel off-season. Some people like to check out a new...

Books And Reading

I’m sure this has happened to you, too. You pick up a real page-turner from the bookstore. It’s so good that you can’t put it down until you finish it, not even to eat or sleep. You enjoy reading it so much that you don’t want to finish reading it, because then you won’t get to continue reading it, but you can’t stop. Finally, you reach...