Best Books of 2017

December 30, 2017 admin 0

  At best, writing about books is subjective. My favorite book of the year could very well be the one you liked least. And, certainly, vice-versa. So why do we do it? Because people love lists and collections and personal connections. And so here we are. And why not?   [masterslider alias=”ms-159-1-1″]

Sue Grafton Dead at 77

December 29, 2017 Linda L. Richards 0

As far as Sue Grafton’s family is concerned, “the alphabet now ends at Y.” In a message on the author’s Facebook page, Grafton’s daughter, Jamie, posted to let the author’s fans know Grafton has passed away “after a two year battle with cancer.” See was 77. Grafton’s most recent book, Y is for Yesterday, was published last August, a book that the New York Times’ Marilyn Stasio compared favorably with earlier entries in Grafton’s well-loved […]

Non-Fiction: Tribe of Mentors  by Timothy Ferriss

December 20, 2017 admin 0

If you’re like me — and chances are if you’re interested in this book you probably are — then one of your first thoughts will be: “How is this different from Tools of Titans?” Or more to the point: “Which of these two is the must-have? The one I should give as a gift or own?” Tools of Titans was the last book from Ferris, who at that point went by “Tim” but for some […]

According to Gaiman: Books Make Great Gifts

December 20, 2017 admin 0

“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!” ― Neil Gaiman   And while we’re at it, you can see January Magazine’s 2001 interview with the author here. Still shopping? You can see part of our Holiday Gift Guide here.       (c) Can Stock Photo / frenta

Short Story Goes Viral, Brings Debut Author Seven Figure Deal

December 20, 2017 admin 0

“Margot met Robert on a Wednesday night toward the end of her fall semester. She was working behind the concession stand at the artsy movie theatre downtown when he came in and bought a large popcorn and a box of Red Vines.” So begins a short story by Kristen Roupenian that was recently published in the New Yorker and quickly went viral, leading to a seven figure book deal for its new author. “Cat Person” […]

Non-Fiction: The Handover  by Elaine Dewar

December 17, 2017 Linda L. Richards 1

In 2000, Canadian businessman Avie Bennett engineered a deal to wrest “The Canadian Publisher” McClelland and Stewart, out of the protection of Canadian Heritage and into the arms of a foreign national company in the form of then Random House. Though many Canadians would have thought that would create an outcry, it did not. But journalist Elaine Dewar was paying attention. More: she was there. In her well-reviewed but largely ignored 2017 book, The Handover: […]

Cookbooks: Field Roast  by Tommy McDonald

December 16, 2017 Linda L. Richards 0

I first heard about Field Roast about five years ago when a single Vancouver restaurant was bringing it in for their vegan clientele. At the time, the product wasn’t legal in Canada’s the restaurant would basically mule it over the border, taking great risks that resulted in long lines. A growing vegan market couldn’t wait to get their hands (or mouths) on the stuff. Unlike a lot of vegan meat substitutes now on the market, […]

Jim Parsons Options Memoir for For Film Project

December 15, 2017 admin 0

Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) has optioned the rights to the Michael Ausiello memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies. In his heartbreaking, tragicomic memoir, Ausiello told the story of the eleven month span between when his partner, photographer Kit Cowan, got a diagnosis of terminal cancer, and his passing. Interwoven is the story of their meeting, falling in love, and the ups and downs over 14 years. The full story is here.

Biography: Liner Notes  by Loudon Wainwright III

December 12, 2017 admin 0

There is a more than one moment in Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & A Few of My Other Favorite Things (Blue Rider), Loudon Wainwright III’s starkly honest autobiography, that he cuts straight to a place most creative people will understand. “When I’m not thinking of myself as the greatest singer-songwriter who ever lived,” writers Wainwright, “I consider myself to be a talentless fraud.” Frankly, of course, he is […]

Ready Player One  Trailer Drops

December 11, 2017 admin 0

What do you get if you mash Willy Wonka with The Matrix? According to some, you get Ready Player One, the latest from Steven Spielberg, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Ernest Cline, who also worked on the adaptation. From Deadline Hollywood:   Set in a future world where virtual reality is a lot better than the real thing, Ready Player One dazzles with images geared to thrill fans of Hollywood […]