Ontario book news, interviews and more

Excerpt Month: "I Feel Hungry Ghosts Behind My Back" Read an Excerpt Karl Jirgens' The Razor's Edge

Karl Jirgens' collection of linked stories, The Razor's Edge (Porcupine's Quill) asks questions about the past and future, how loss and violence live in the land and our genes, and how the mysteries ...

Monique Polak on Helping Kids Find Themselves While Exploring Parental Alienation in Her New Middle Grade Book

Everything in Justine's world has changed since her parents got divorced. She and her little sister Bea travel across Montreal from one house to the other, living two lives. But when Justine's mother ...

*Well, excuuuse me, Princess

Welcome back, Open Book reader. Lovely to see you again, hope you’re doing well. As promised, I’m going to give some insight into what fuels all this nerdiness I’m brimming with. The relatively ...

Dorkus Malorkus Alert 2: The Search for More Nerdiness

Hey there, Open Book reader. Good to see you again. Can you believe February is over 70% done? (I can’t, and it’s keeping me up at night.) I know my previous post went pretty heavy on the nerd factor ...

Where the magic happens...sorta? Kinda? (Sometimes?)

Warning: I fully embrace my nerd status in this one. If I remember correctly there's a Latin term for this...yup, found it:Hey there, Open Book reader. Welcome back! Hope you've been having an awesome ...

"Sometimes People Think Children Just Bounce Back" Sarah Howden on Her Thoughtful New Picture Book Helping Kids Navigate Loss

Talking to kids about tough subjects, including grief and loss, is one of the most disorienting parts of being a parent or caregiver. Children need a way to navigate sadness, but the language and concepts ...

"I’ve Read What I’ve Wanted... No Regrets" Ayaz Pirani on the Books That Shaped Him, from S.E. Hinton to Kabir

Ayaz Pirani's third poetry collection, How Beautiful People Are (Gordon Hill Press) builds on his reputation as a meditative, skillful, and wise writer rooted in the Indian ginan poetic tradition. Capturing ...

Excerpt Month: Battle the Darkness with Maude Barlow's Still Hopeful, a Memoir of Activism & Inspiration

If asked to find a word to describe our current point in history, few would immediately land on "hopeful". But for Maude Barlow, former senior water advisor to the UN General Assembly, lifelong activist, ...

Valentine's Day! (and one or two other things I don't really like)

Hello, Open Book reader. Glad to have you back. So…remember that promise I made early on to curb the sass mouth? Well, apologies in advance because I’m breaking that promise today. Originally, I wasn’t ...

Contest: For Valentine's, Find Your Passion - Win Inspiring Books About What People Love Most From ECW

Today is Valentine's Day, the day of red hearts, chocolates, and roses. But if we're celebrating love, we want to celebrate all kinds of love, including the passion we can feel for a cause, a hobby, or ...