CanadianContent discussion

I have added this section as a way to share upcoming events and talk about authors that we have met. I attended a Yann Martel event last night. Although Life of Pi is not my favourite, i feel that i need to reread it again and finish The High Mountains of Portugal to see if i can really understand after listening to the insights of the author. Here is my blog review: http://ayearofbooksblog.com/2016/04/0...

So excited to hear that 3 of the authors confirmed for the Grimsby Author Series are: Ami McKay, Emma Donahue and Cordelia Strube!

I love author events. They really do give us a better insight and understanding to their books. Yann Martel is a joy to listen to, whether you like his books or not.

I have met Ami McKay and Emma Donoghue but not Cordelia Strube. Emma Donoghue was fabulous!!! You will love her.

Glad to hear! i have avoided Room (struggle a bit reading books with bad things happening to kids such as sarah's key which i did love after avoiding for 2 years) and will have to give it a chance before next fall. I loved The Birth House and read it a long time ago so will have to reread. I look forward to hearing who else will be part of the series

Susan wrote: "Glad to hear! i have avoided Room (struggle a bit reading books with bad things happening to kids such as sarah's key which i did love after avoiding for 2 years) and will have to give it a chance ..."

I loved The Birth House but found Ami a bit under key. I absolutely loved Emma Donoghue's short stories in Astray

I don't think I mentioned that last week I saw Trevor Ferguson AKA John Farrow. He had some super interesting stories to tell.

So fun to meet these authors!! i have not read any of Trevor Ferguson's.

here are links to my authors this week (has been a busy week):

Michael Winter - such an interesting guy: https://ayearofbooksblog.com/2016/04/...

Ian Brown - a hilarious speaker about his experience turning 60: https://ayearofbooksblog.com/2016/04/...

Katherine Govier - https://ayearofbooksblog.com/2016/04/...

@Louise - I was envious of your author event with Joseph Boyden and am excited to have gotten tickets for his event at the Toronto reference library in June. He is joined by Thomas King and another author that slips my mind at the moment.

Susan wrote: "@Louise - I was envious of your author event with Joseph Boyden and am excited to have gotten tickets for his event at the Toronto reference library in June. He is joined by Thomas King and another..."

Oh how exciting!!!! He was also at the Blue Met fest in Montreal in May with Thomas King, which I missed. I'm curious as to who the other author is? I'm sure you'll really enjoy it. Can't wait to read your blog about it :-)

Yes, i am really looking forward to this event. i have not read King yet but have 2 of his books in my TBR pile. The other author is Lee Maracle who I will have to look up.

It sure sounds like you have some great festivals in Montreal!!!

Saleema Nawaz who you have been so lucky to have at your book club was recently in Kitchener which is about an hour away but unfortunately I could not get to it.

Oh I have Lee Maracle on my TBR list!!! Celia's Song. What a treat you are in for. I am just about to start King's Truth and Bright Water for my book club. I've read The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America.

I just read the review of Celia's song and will have to get a copy before I go - you are making my pile even higher!! I am really looking forward to this event. any booked events in your future?

Susan wrote: "I just read the review of Celia's song and will have to get a copy before I go - you are making my pile even higher!! I am really looking forward to this event. any booked events in your future?"

Nothing until October probably. I'm expecting puppies in a few weeks then will be housebound for the rest of the summer. Although I will permit myself one outing to see Shakespeare in the Park with my book club. It's an all female cast of Julius Caesar.

For anyone in the Kingston area: http://www.waterkeeper.ca/events/2016...

Oh I would love to see Michael Winter. Kingston is just 3 hours away but I have a commitment that weekend. Darn it.

Michael Winter did a workshop in Hamilton about adding real life events to writing and was funny and engaging. I got my Minister Without Portfolio signed. I found a copy of Into the Blizzard for 99 cents yesterday and wish I had it signed too...

Susan wrote: "Michael Winter did a workshop in Hamilton about adding real life events to writing and was funny and engaging. I got my Minister Without Portfolio signed. I found a copy of Into the Blizzard for 99..."

I would love to have a LFL but I looked into purchasing one and they are expensive and I'm afraid if I set one up near my office, it would get vandalized in not much time. Plus I'd have to stock it with mostly French books.

BTW, my library just had a book sale where most books were .50 or $1. You might want to look into those for your book shopping as well.

So excited for Friday when Joseph Boyden, Thomas King and Lee Maracle present at the Toronto Reference Library.

One of the Evergreen Awards shortlist authors is coming to a local library also - Plum Johnson who wroteThey Left Us Everything: A Memoir.

It is so much fun to meet the authors!!

Hi everyone - I have to share that last evening with Joseph Boyden, Thomas King and Lee Maracle was amazing!! Here is a link to my blog post: https://ayearofbooksblog.com/2016/06/...

We also found a great book store called BMV Books. I admit that i have sore back after carrying all my Boyden and King books in my back pack and wandering around Toronto yesterday (not to mention the other books I bought along the way) but it was well wroth it!!!!

This might not be the best place to post but I am so excited and have to share that I will be talking about my blog and little free library on the Candy Palmater show on Friday around 1230 at the CBC studios in Toronto!!!!

OMG that is AWESOME Susan!!!!! How exciting. I will have to try to tune it.

That's really exciting news, Susan!! I'll be at work and not able to tune in but it will hopefully be replayed at some other time. Please let us know if it is.

I will be on the Candy Palmater show and she seems to post all of her interviews on the website. They had asked me to go last week, monday or tuesday and I could not due to work commitments but was sad to see that I missed Joseph Boyden in studio on Tuesday!!

Susan wrote: "I will be on the Candy Palmater show and she seems to post all of her interviews on the website. They had asked me to go last week, monday or tuesday and I could not due to work commitments but was..."

Oh man I'd be stabbing myself in the eye had I missed an opportunity to meet Joseph Boyden in studio. Hope you meet someone equally great tomorrow.

Wow, Susan, what fun about tomorrow on the Candy show! :) I will be listening for sure!!! But doesn't her show start at 1:00?? I'll just listen to her whole show to make sure I catch you. :) Enjoy!

@Louise - yes, would have loved to have seen him again!!!

@Allison - you are right, i need to be there at 1230 so not sure exactly what time i will be on. Thanks for your support!!! I am hoping i can post a link later.

Here is the link everyone, apparently i have touched a nerve on another site by posting about the interview which I struggle with since both my blog (which was only touched on and not identified) and little free libraries are both non-profit all the way and are geared to increase a love of reading.

Candy was amazing - she made me feel at ease in the studio and it was very much like having a casual conversation about books!! Thanks to everyone for your support and all our conversations about books which only feeds my appetite to read more!!

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/candy/the-can...

What a great interview. Ignore those control freaks in the CBC group. They like to rain on people's parades. All you have been doing is promoting a love of books and a love of reading. If they can't see that, well....they need to remove whatever is up their butts, hahaha.

Agreed....ignore them. I've stopped commenting there because one never knows what will be considered a "step on the toes". Whether the comment is towards me or another reader, it is discouraging. I used to be an active participant. I'd still like to be but am held back by the negativity of the moderators. However, it seems to be changing a bit lately. We'll see.
Susan, great interview! How exciting to have had this experience.

I have often felt as you do Petra but decided that I like the other members so I'm still commenting on their posts. I ignore the moderators. I don't think anything has changed either, except that the previously nastier moderator of the two is getting the other one to do her dirty work behind the scenes. They both remain control freaks.

Ah.....that's the part I thought might be changing......that one was stepping back a bit.
I am still following many threads. Perhaps one day I will start commenting again. I do enjoy the comments of the members.

thanks for all for your support and kind feedback on the Candy Show interview - it was a fantastic experience and leaves me wanting to share more about books and the experience!!

I too enjoy many on the CBC site and appreciate all the book wisdom and great suggestions for my TBR pile but have struggled with the moderation.

I am hoping that more will join this site and have some of the discussion that is not allowed over there like our LFL trail and author events. I think I will make a general trail as well!!

I just got back from meeting Plum Johnson and will post more a bit later - it was interesting to hear her talk about They Left Us Everything: A Memoir

The only Author i've met is Diana Gabaldon though she's not Canadian. I do adore her "Outlander" series, though!

I know this thread will make me sad. I love author events and try to go to as many as I can but we don't get many (any?) Canadian authors visiting New Orleans on their book tours. :-)

But @Susan - you have Joseph Boyden living there - one of my favourite authors!!!!

This is true. I heard Boyden interviewed on local radio when The Orenda was released in the U.S. (it was after he'd won Canada Reads, so it was funny hearing the host try to explain how important that was). It's weird but fun to see him shelved in the "locals" section at indie bookstores here. Maybe one day I'll get to see him at an author's event in New Orleans. :-)

Author events have been my "treat" and time out this year. I am posting a link to those that I have been lucky enough to meet: https://ayearofbooksblog.com/book-sig...

I think Joseph Boyden is amongst my favourites!

The schedule is out for the Hudson Storyfest (Hudson, QC) in October.

http://www.greenwood-centre-hudson.or...

This year's invited authors are:

Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Terry Fallis
Saleema Nawaz
John Farrow a.k.a. Trevor Ferguson
Heather O'Neill
Marina Endicott
Gwynne Dyer
Guy Vanderhaeghe

I discovered today that Moose Jaw is hosting their Saskatchewan Festival of Words next weekend and have many wonderful guest authors, including Anakana Schofield, Nino Ricci, Tracey Lindberg as well as non-fiction author Jodi Mitic who wrote Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper. Oh how I would love to attend, their schedule looks chalked full! Here's the link:

http://www.festivalofwords.com/summer...

Wanda wrote: "I discovered today that Moose Jaw is hosting their Saskatchewan Festival of Words next weekend and have many wonderful guest authors, including Anakana Schofield, [author:Nino Ricc..."

That sounds fabulous! I havent met any of those authors.

@Louise and Wanda - these are great lineups!!

Gail Anderson-Dargatz is on the Grimsby list this year as well.

@Louise - I have seen Terry Fallis twice who is an interesting speaker although i have to say I prefer listening to his satirical stories as podcasts over reading them. I think you have already had a book club with O'Neill but she will be interesting to see!

@Wanda - I saw Nino Ricci also and he really made me think about whether I can like a story and dislike the main character (i really struggled with Sleep. I would really like to meet Lindberg too!!

The Grimsby Line up this year is:
Monday, Sept 26, 2016 - Emma Donoghue & Steven Price
Monday, Oct 24, 2016 - Gail Anderson-Dargatz & Kevin Patterson
Monday, Nov 14, 2016 - Craig Davidson & Ami McKay

Winter Events:
Monday, Jan 9, 2017 - William Thomas & Cordelia Strube
Monday, Feb 13, 2017 - Andrew Westoll & Amy Stuart
Monday, Mar 20, 2017 - Michael Helm & Lynne Kutsukake

They are planning a separate event with Romeo Dallaire as well. I sure hope that I get tickets as it is well subscribed!

I hope you get to see Emma Donoghue. She is really interesting. I love author events!

If I get tickets it is for the whole series which makes for a lot of arranged reading for those months as I tend to like to read the books that they are presenting as well as some of their past books. for a small town, Grimsby does a fantastic job of their author series which supports the library. they sell over 200 tickets and the event sell out quickly.

http://thewordonthestreet.ca/toronto/...
Has anyone attended the annual Word on the Street in Toronto? I attended when they had it at Queen's Park, but they've now moved it to the Harborfront Centre. Looks like a great lineup for this year again, but it's guaranteed to be crowded.

i have not but will have a look at it as i am an hour away.

@Susan, excellent!! I definitely am planning to go this year. The last time I went was with my son, who got a signed copy of Kenneth Oppel's book and he was so excited!

That is awesome - I took my kids to the Inspire Reading festival about a year and a half ago (first and only time it ran) and my son got his Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants books signed - it was so much fun and I love author events!!

Are you far away from Grimsby? their author series that i posted about above is stellar!

@Susan, I'm just North of Toronto, but unfortunately I am at work on Mondays :(

it is a big commitment for both reading and driving! takes me about 45 minutes which makes for a busy start to the week but it is organized so well that i can't say enough about it.

http://ifoa.org/
@Susan, there is also an Int'l Festival of Authors in October, if you are interested. It's a 10 day event. I just checked the website. The official lineup is not up yet, but a coworker of mine has been urging me to go in the past.