Sad faces abounded last December when John Scythe, owner of Glad Day Bookshop, announced that low sales had forced him to put the beloved LGBTQ book store up for sale. Today, an announcement turned those frowns upside down. A group of local Torontonians faithful to the history of the iconic store have banded together to [...]

As the final chapter is written on a trilogy of Toronto indie bookstores, it may not seem like the time is right to launch yet another one. But after just three months of plotting, Peter Sellers and David Newel have done just that. As of this fall, Sellers & Newel Second-Hand Books, a shop that [...]

There once was a time when newspaper book editors could relax on a tower of bestsellers, comforted by the knowledge that their section received full blessing from the bean counters. As today’s ad notes, the revamped Telegram books page featured editor George Anthony’s column on general notes from the publishing world, a selection of current [...]

Last week, after hearing about a trio of local bookstores facing closure or sale, we looked at some of Toronto’s past purveyors of literature. As we wrote then, it feels as if Toronto is experiencing a cycle of closures similar to the late 1990s. Back then, blame initially fell upon big box stores like Chapters [...]

Ballenford Books. David Mirvish Books. Pages. This Ain’t The Rosedale Library. All established book stores that have closed within the past four years. With The Book Mark joining that list, Dragon Lady Comics shutting its physical store, and Glad Day Bookshop up for sale, it feels as if Toronto is experiencing a cycle of closures [...]

It’s a story we’ve heard too many times before, but that doesn’t make it any less troubling: after more than 30 years in business, Dragon Lady Comics will be closing its doors for the last time on February 1. According to manager Joe Kilmartin, a combination of factors led to the store’s demise, including a [...]

Canada’s largest literary award, the Giller Prize, was handed out last night, but in another room across downtown from the Four Seasons, many of Toronto’s aspiring writers, book lovers, journalists, and university students gathered for quite a different evening. They came to see Joan Didion, the widely loved and widely read American author, who was [...]

For a panel discussion between three authors on the topic of book-to-film adaptations, last night’s event at the International Festival of Authors had a surprising focus on the perils of a movie being too true to the novel. Moderated by Canada AM film critic Richard Crouse, the discussion included authors Russell Banks (Lost Memory of [...]

When you get a group of authors who grew up reading some combination of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Stephen King, it’s not surprising to see them together in a panel discussion called “Magic, Myth, and Forces Beyond Reason.” Last night, in a round table hosted by author Lesley Livingston at the International Festival of [...]

Reading can be an intimate experience. Hopefully you learn something, at least—that’s what books are for, after all. But when was the last time a book talked back to you? Beginning this Saturday, you’ll be able to start placing holds from the Toronto Public Library’s newest collection: the Human Library. Now in its second year, [...]

More than a few Toronto authors and illustrators are celebrating today after finding their names on the list of 68 finalists for the 2011 Governor General’s Literary Awards. Peer-assessment committees considered 1,664 submissions this year, and of those selected as finalists, 12 are Toronto’s own. In the high-profile fiction category, David Bezmozgis, gets a nod [...]