A Sharp Intake of Breath is the story of Herman “Toshy” Wolfman, who grows up in a left-wing Jewish family in Toronto during the 1930s. Born with a split lip and cleft palate, Toshy’s life is an uphill battle and despite having seemingly overcome his obstacles, an aging Toshy stuns his nephew by asking for his assistance in committing suicide. Toshy won’t fully explain his decision. Nor will he fully explain why, at this late stage in life, he is obsessed with making a journey to France.

If you’re in the Hamilton area on Monday June 9th at 7pm you’re in for a treat since John will be reading from A Sharp Intake of Breath at Gallery on the Bay (231 Bay Street North), alongside Emma Donoghue (The Sealed Letter) and R.M. Vaughan (Troubled), as part of the Hamilton Pride Festival. Tickets are $5 and refreshments will be served. Contact Bryan Prince Bookseller for more information.

“What really made HARD WINTER for me is that it doesn’t rely on the people-getting-hit-over-the-head style of action like other books of this type, in that Joe is not constantly beaten up as he makes progress. Actually, Joe comes off as a distant version of Travis McGee, especially with Joe wanting to set up shop in a marina, which plays into the new second novel of the series, THE DELLS. Blair is rising star in the world of Canadian crime.” -– Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm

Check out the complete review here!

We’re looking forward to seeing what Bruce thinks of Michael Blair’s second Joe Shoe Mystery, The Dells.

“Dorothy Duncan has been able to admirably capture in 19 chapters the evolution and diversity of food preparation in this immense country … Canadians at Table should be in every Canadian public and school library. Needless to say, anyone remotely interested in food must read it to understand the culinary evolution of Canada.” – Hirayr Berbergoglu

To read the whole review click here.

Valerie Sherrard’s junior and teen fiction novel, Sarah’s Legacy, has been nominated for the 2008 Red Maple Award. The Red Maple Award is part of the Ontario Library Association’s (OLA) reading program that is focused on readers between grades 7 and 8. Readers who are involved in this program will then get to vote with their peers for the book that they feel should win the award.

Go Valerie!

For the 2008 selections, go to this website. The OLA has also set up a website here for readers.

Dorothy Duncan, author of Canadians at Table, a unique and profound book on the history of food, beverages and well-known traditions that still exist this present day, has received the Gold 2007 Canadian Culinary Book Award in the category of English Canadian Food Culture. You can check out the complete list of winners here.

Congratulations Dorothy!

“This is a pretty absorbing story, and it’s the first of a series. Being the first, it’s not totally a hundred percent got a “finished” feel to it, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. This is a great book!” — JPear, Flamingnet

Dorothy Duncan’s Canadians at Table is a finalist for the 2007 Culinary Awards in the category of “Canadian food culture.” Winners will be announced November 2nd 2007.

Tom Henighan’s Viking Terror has also been listed as a finalist for the 2007 Ottawa Book Award in the category of “English Fiction.” Winners will be announced October 13th 2007.

The Word on the Street festival is fast approaching (September 23rd!) and a couple of authors from Dundurn will be present. Keep in mind these details and mark them in your calendar!

W.O.T.S. in Halifax
Valerie Sherrard, author of Speechless, will be reading at the Graphic Novels and Young Readers Stage

Time: 12:15pm — Check the festival program

—

W.O.T.S. in Toronto
J.D. Carpenter, author of 74 Miles Away who was recently blogging with us as he travelled across America, and Sylvia Maultash Warsh, author of Season of Iron, will be at the Crime Writers of Canada exhibition booth signing books. The time schedule for these signings should be posted soon.

—

W.O.T.S. in Kitchener
James Bow, author of Fathom Five, will be participating in a discussion panel on Teens, Fiction, YouTube and the Internet at Beyond the Page located in Kitchener Public Library.

Time:  2:30pm — Check the festival program

Here are the event details.

When: Thursday, September 27th 2007 @ 7:30PM
Where: Fraser Auditorium on the campus of Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario

Interested or want more information? Email Canadian Civil Liberties Association or phone the Sudbury District Law Association at 705-674-3838

“This essential bit of Canadiana briefly relates the life, crimes, trials and execution of Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas …”

The Whitehorse Star’s Dan Davidson also had a few things to say about John Bell’s Invaders from the North but most notably:

“[...] John Bell’s book covers the range of talent and type of of material from the lush art of Hal Foster’s adventure sagas (Tarzan and Prince Valiant) to the barbarian satire of the controversial Dave Sim, the work of Tod McFarlane (Spiderman and Spawn), and also touching on a number of other big names in the field, such as ex-patriot John Byrne, Darwyn Cooke (The New Frontier, Catwoman and the revival of The Spirit) and others. [...] While you might not expect it, this is a scholarly book, complete with footnotes, a bibliography and website addresses where you can find out more about this subject and even look at some samples of that new phenomenon, online comics.[...]“