A Thanksgiving Note from Biblioasis

Well we at the Bibliomanse have lots to be thankful for as we head into the holiday weekend. Our authors have been very warmly received by Sara Guest and the team at Wordstock, who created a memorable festival once more for three of our authors; by the Real Vancouver Writers Series, who I daresay worked their buns off to support the amazing and energetic joint event we held on Monday, and who brought the talents of Rahat Kurd and Jordan Abel to the mix; by Simone and the wonderful crew at Pages on Kensington, who hosted what I hear was a VERY lively Q&A following the reading on Wednesday; and to David Worsley at Words Worth Books, who spoke so movingly last night about the trade, about independents, and about what Biblioasis means to him as a bookseller. It was a treat to be involved in all four projects.

And as if that wasn't cause enough to celebrate, I got home last night to this. What a piece! Anakana Schofield, I think Alberta's in love. For information about AK's StarFest and Wordfest appearances you can read Mr. Hingston's entirely charming profile, or visit our events page—and what's more, if it's more of Mr. Hingston you're in the mood for, you could even consider these. He's coming to Toronto care of Freehand Books.

As we go into the long weekend—and especially as we're about to launch a busy week of events—we'd like to sign off by offering our heartfelt thanks to ALL of you. So! Here's a toast to all the authors, bedraggled by bus disasters and early morning flights; to the booksellers, still braving the indifference of the world; to the festival and reading series organizers, who give our authors lever and room enough to stand; to the journalists and editors, championing deserving books as often as they're able, and often on their own time for no money; to our friends and family members, because Lord knows they deserve it and more and more; and to all the distributors, reps, printers, librarians, scholars, shippers, truck drivers and shih tzus, who flat-out make this crazy game possible.

We know you're all giving more time than you've got. We love you for it.

Very best thanksgiving wishes from the Bibliomanse.

Hoo hoo! (Or, The National Post reviews Traymore)

A phrase to join the ranks of "the rain in Spain" and
"Montcalm threw the battle."

Afternoon, folks, and happy Friday. This just in courtesy of Michael Hingston and The National Post:

One of the great joys of fiction is watching a novel set up a problem that only it has the tools to solve. With long novels, that problem also tends to involve a balancing act of the reader’s time invested vs. the stimulation received. But a novel as long and cyclical as Norm Sibum’s The Traymore Rooms wears its problem on its sleeve even more pointedly: It asks, “How little territory can I possibly cover over 600 pages?” And that comes with a built-in dare to the reader: “How long can I trick you into sticking with me?”
Fortunately, Sibum, a seasoned poet, has enough control of his craft to make even asking those questions part of the fun.

"This is Sibum’s debut novel," Hingston observes, "and it isn’t so much a dip of his toe into the world of fiction as a cannonball off a third-storey hotel balcony. You’ve got to admire his chutzpah."

Well we sure did. For the rest of the review, and to see why Hingston's convinced this may be the most beguiling book of  2013, click here.