Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Independent Publisher Awards were just announced and PGC is happy to find its publishers among the winners!




2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards Outstanding Books of the Year

Winners Include:

Most Outstanding Design
Gold goes to Pictures Showing What Happens on Every Page of Thomas Pynchon’s Novel Gravity’s Rainbow, artwork by Zak Smith
Tin House Books 9780977312795 | $49.95 pb

"Pictures Showing What Happens on Every Page of Thomas Pynchon’s Novel Gravity’s Rainbow is a prodigious work, a feast for the eyes and the intellect, and a fitting homage to one of the greatest novels of our times.”⎯Los Angeles Times

Most Life-Changing
Gold goes to It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, edited by Laura Dawn; photographs by C.B. Smith, Earth Aware Editions 9781932771862 | $30.95 pb

"Hurricane Katrina may have exposed the worst of our cronyism-laden government, but it also brought out the best in the American spirit as captured in these stories and images. Thanks to MoveOn's Hurricane Housing Project, the victims of Katrina found shelter. And thanks to the citizen activism these amazing stories will surely inspire, we can all look forward to a more engaged and hopeful country."—Arianna Huffington, editor HuffingtonPost.com

Freedom Fighter Award
Bronze goes to What Do You See? by Irene Kai
Silver Light Publications |9780974489025 | $18.50 cl

With engaging, provocative, and sometimes erotic images of the human body, What Do You See? asks this question: Do you have the courage to see the truth? This beautifully designed book showcases the inspiring black and white photos, as well as text from four spiritual traditions to encourage self-reflection and abandoning presumptions, and challenge the reader's personal biases.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Julia Golding


Julia Golding, author of Den of Thieves, will be at the Enwave Theatre (231 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON) at 1:30pm, Saturday June 9th as part of BOOKED. Check out event details on the BOOKED! website here.

As a part of Book Expo Canada, Julia will be signing her books on Sunday June 10th 11am-noon at the PGC booth.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Sherman Alexie



Publishers Group Canada will be having an event for Sherman Alexie (author of Flight) with the Toronto Women's Bookstore Friday, June 8th at 7:00pm. It will be a reading, talk, Q&A and signing at the store.
Sherman will also be reading at this year's BOOKED! on Sat, June 9th, 4:30pm.

Blackwater Reviewed in NOW Magazine


Check out the recent review of Blackwater by Howard Goldenthal (of CBC's Fifth Estate) in today's issue of NOW Magazine: www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-05-17/books_reviews2.php.

Monday, May 14, 2007

What Happened This Summer


Paul Yee, author of What Happened This Summer will be in Toronto reading, speaking and doing a Q&A for the Toronto Public Library’s Asian Heritage Month at the Annette Street Branch (145 Annette Street, Toronto ON M6P 1P3) on Wednesday, May 16th at 10:00am.
Paul Yee is the recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Ghost Train and the City of Vancouver Book Award for Saltwater City. He has authored numerous books for young people, including The Jade Necklace and The Bone Collector’s Son. Paul is a leading chronicler of the Chinese immigration experience in Canada.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

PGC Book Reviews - In Print

Books in Canada March 2007 – “Theatre Reviews” including Miss Julie by David French – Talonbooks

Georgia Straight 23/03/07 – Book review of The Breakdown So Far by MAC Farrant – Talonbooks “A resolute anti-materialism runs through the work – or at least a recognition that possessions don’t equal happiness.”

Vancouver Sun 31/03/07 – “Have Guns Will Travel” article featuring Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill – Nation Books + book cover

Vancouver Sun 31/03/07 – “Ted Hughes’ ‘Other Woman’” book review of Lover of Unreason by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev + interior image from book of Wevill “[the authors] display a talent for weaving scrupulous and unflinching journalistic detail into a riveting retelling of Wevill’s life.”

Ajax-Pickering News 11/04/07 – “Luxury SUV Shoppers Want Comfort and Performance” article featuring Kelley Blue Book

Clipper Weekly (Beausejour) 18/04/07 – “Proper Washing and Waxing Adds Value to Your Vehicle” article featuring Kelley Blue Book

Mississauga News 18/04/07 – “Kelley Blue Book Posts US Resale Values for Every New Vehicle on KBB.com” article featuring Kelley Blue Book

Nanaimo News Bulletin 19/04/07 – “Special Occasions Top Reason for Car Washing” article featuring Kelley Blue Book

Toronto Star 21/04/07 – “Celebrity Chef’s New Ways with Ontario Lamb” article featuring Who’s Coming for Dinner by Jeffrey Suddaby – Stovetop Publishing + colour author photo

Globe and Mail 21/04/07 – “Books in Brief” book reviews featuring A Woman of Uncertain Character by Clancy Sigal – Carroll & Graf “…Sigal’s raucous coming-of-age memoir…”

Globe and Mail 21/04/07 – “Watch” article featuring Rick Steves’ Europe – Avalon Travel

Calgary Herald 21/04/07 – “Guide to World’s Woman-Worldly Places of Adventure” article featuring 100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Griest – Travellers’ Tales “The only thing hotter than the travel checklist, seemingly, is chick travel…”

Winnipeg Free Press 22/04/07 – Book review of The Emotional Lives of Animals by Marc Bekoff – New World Library + colour cover image “Beckoff maintains a warm and caring tone throughout… This book is about emotions that, while borrowing the language of science, appeals in large part to the readers emotions.”

Victoria Times-Colonist 22/04/07 – “Yesteryear’s Cutting Edge Looks Tarnished Now” article featuring The Playboy Interviews: Larger Than Life by Stephen Randall and Editors of Playboy – M Press “…what remarkably candid snapshots of some of the world’s most famous people over the last half century this collection constitutes.”

Toronto Star 22/04/07 – Book review of Pink Icing and Other Stories by Pamela Mordecai – Insomniac Press “If you ever get the chance, I would highly recommend attending a reading by Toronto poet and story writer Pamela Mordecai…. The first pleasure of Mordecai’s story collection, Pink Icing, is how naturally and accurately this voice transfers to prose and the printed page…. Her subjects are diverse, her storytelling immediate – especially in her use of vibrant, dynamic language that superbly articulates an irrepressible Jamaican spirit.”

Chronicle Herald 23/04/07 – “Warming up to Climate Change” article featuring The Ten Minute Activist by The Mission Collective – Nation Books + colour cover image “…delightfully engaging book…”

Chatham Daily News 24/04/07 – “Auto Sales Down” article featuring Kelley Blue Book

Metro Edmonton 24/04/07
Metro Ottawa 24/04/07
Metro Calgary 24/04/07
Metro Toronto 24/04/07
– “Top Three in Books” book review of The Ten Minute Activist by The Mission Collective – Nation Books + colour cover image “The Mission Collective, a group of five writers and activists who live in the United States, have come together to reveal more than 100 easy ways to take back our planet. This book is not just about ways to help the environment – though they do mention planting a garden and car-pooling. What they also do is reveal truths about banks, oil companies, multi-national organizations, slave labour and power generating companies and what we can do to fight back.”

Toronto Sun 24/04/07 – “In the Long Run” article featuring Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer – Carroll & Graf + author interview + photo from book + colour author photo (taken in front of House on Parliament)
http://blog.canoe.ca/run/2007/04/25/kathrine_switzer_interview

Red Deer Advocate 25/04/07 –“Next on Your Ipod: Music to Give Birth To” article featuring Birth: The Surprising History of How We are Born by Tina Cassidy – Grove Atlantic + interview with author

Toronto Sun 26/04/07 – “In the Long Run” article featuring Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer – Carroll & Graf – including extra blurbs and quotes from interview that didn’t make it into the above article
http://blog.canoe.ca/run/2007/04/26/more_from_switzer_interview

National Post 26/04/07 – “Gender Bender” article featuring Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer – Carroll & Graf + lengthy author interview

Alberni Valley Times 26/04/07 – “Did You Know” article featuring Kelley Blue Book

Alberni Valley Times 27/04/07 – “MP3s Ushered into Birthing Rooms” article featuring Birth: The Surprising History of How We are Born by Tina Cassidy – Grove Atlantic + interview with author

Halifax Daily News 28/04/07
– “Wave to Cyclists on the Tour de France” article featuring 100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Griest – Travellers’ Tales “The only thing hotter than the travel checklist, seemingly, is chick travel.”
Windsor Star 28/04/07 – “See Famed Bike Race for Yourself Travel” article featuring 100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Griest – Travellers’ Tales “The only thing hotter than the travel checklist, seemingly, is chick travel.”

Vancouver Sun 28/04/07 – “European Food, Arts, Sports, on Tap for Culture Vultures” article featuring 100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Griest – Travellers’ Tales “The only thing hotter than the travel checklist, seemingly, is chick travel.”

National Post 28/04/07 – Book review of Pigeons by Andrew Blechman – Grove Atlantic + interview with author and photo of author in Boston with pigeons

Chronicle Journal 29/04/07 – “Understanding Self-worth” article featuring The Boy from the Sun by Duncan Weller – Simply Read Books + large cover image “…a simple but important story that will appeal to small children, but can also be enjoyed by adults who read it aloud.”

Winnipeg Free Press 29/04/07 – Book review of Remembering Tomorrow by Michael Albert – Seven Stories Press + colour cover image

Calgary Herald 29/04/07 – “Urgency Drives Collection” article featuring A Few Words Will Do by Lionel Kearns – Talonbooks “Lionel Kearns has a powerful mastery of English, so much that many poems call to be read a second time – immediately – just to savour that turning moment, for the words on which the poems hinges.”

Calgary Herald 29/04/07 –Teenager’s Holocaust Diary Heart-Wrenching & Poignant” article featuring The Diary of Petr Ginz by Petr Ginz and Chava Pressburger – Grove Atlantic “One word describes The Diary of Petr Ginz: heartbreaking…. Petr’s minimalist journal is that of a boy writing his way to his own doom. He seems not to have posterity in mind, but kept a log of daily life because he had an observant bent of mind and journal keeping is how that mind expressed itself…. The seed blooms anew now that his diary has been found.”
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/booksandthearts/story.html?id=d68b7adf-a3fa-433e-a8ab-03079f8b811c

Chronicle Herald 30/04/07 –“Critters Have Feelings Too” article featuring The Emotional Lives of Animals by Marc Bekoff – New World Library + colour cover image “Bekoff reminds us that humans are indeed animals so it should seem beyond question that other animals have emotions.” http://www.herald.ns.ca/Books/832334.html

Canadian Family Magazine May 2007 – “Smarty Pants: Brilliant Family-tested Books, Music, DVDs, and Games for Every Kid in the House” article on page 79 including Awake to Nap by Nikki McClure – Sasquatch (listed as “family-tested”) + colour A–B book spread “It appeals to Sienna, and it’s sturdy for little hands. Even her three-year-old brother loves it.”

Canadian Gardening Magazine June 2007 – “Clippings” book review of Timber Presss Pocket Guide to Ground Covers by Davis MacKenzie – Timber Press + colour cover image“…comprehensive guide to ground covers…such a useful reference.”

Friday, May 4, 2007

Philosophical Wizardry


Harry Potter has put a spell on millions of readers, and they all want to find out more about the deeper meaning of his adventures. In Harry Potter and Philosophy, 17 experts in the field of philosophy unlock some of Hogwarts' secret panels, uncovering surprising insights that are enlightening both for wizards and for the most discerning muggles. Individual chapters look at such topics as life revealed in the Mirror of Erised; the ethics of magic; Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, and the relation of the mind to the brain; and the character of Hermione as a case of "sublimated feminism." Also examined in this witty collection are how Aristotle would have run a school for wizards; whether the Potter stories undermine religion and morality; how to tell good people from evil ones through the characters in these novels; and what dementors and boggarts can teach readers about happiness, fear, and the soul.