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AS YOU WERE, MUSIC LATE AND SOON, HOUSEHOLDERS, DANTE’S INDIANA, ON THE ORIGIN, THINGS ARE AGAINST US: Media Hits!

IN THE NEWS!

AS YOU WERE

Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were (October 5, 2021), was interviewed on an episode of the podcast Across the Pond! Elaine was interviewed by the two hosts, Lori Feathers and Sam Jordison. The episode aired on October 5. You can listen to it here.

Elaine Feeney wrote a feature article for Lit Hub! The piece “Writing Through Trauma, Past and Present: On the Legacies of Catholic Ireland” was published on Wednesday, October 20. You can read it here.

As You Were was listed by Book Marks as a small press favourite! The three judges of the North American Republic of Consciousness Prize put together a list of seven recent favourite indie titles in 2021. The list was published on October 20. You can check it out here.

Lori Feathers praised:

“A not-to-be-missed debut novel—smart, witty, and very engaging … Two things set this extraordinary novel apart: the amazing writing—lyrical, natural, often very funny, and always affecting; and Sinéad, a woman with whom Feeney captures the pain of self-reflection and the stubborn resilience of hope.”

As You Were was also listed by All Lit Up as a weekly recommended All Queued Up title! The list was published on October 20. Check it out here.

All Queued Up offers keywords to engage readers in the book, similar to how Netflix does for shows. For As You Were, they praised:

“Dark comedy. Riveting. Award-winner.”

Order your copy of As You Were here!Things Are Against Us

 

THINGS ARE AGAINST US

An excerpt from Lucy Ellmann’s Things Are Against Us (September 28, 2021), was published in The Walrus! The excerpt “Kill the Travel Bug: The Case for Staying Put” was published on October 4. You can read it out on their website here.

Order your copy of Things Are Against Us here!

 

coverMUSIC, LATE AND SOON

Music, Late and Soon (August 24, 2021) by Robyn Sarah was announced as a finalist for The Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, presented by the Quebec Writers’ Foundation! The winner will be announced during a live-streamed gala event on November 24 at 7PM.

An interview with Sarah was also recently published in the Montreal Gazette. Ian McGillis writes,

“So let’s be clear: you don’t need to be a musician, nor do you need to have aspired to be a musician, to appreciate Music, Late and Soon. Anyone who has ever felt a vocation for something, pursued it, misplaced it, then tried to summon it again is apt to identify with Sarah’s story.”

The piece was published online on October 8. Read the full interview here.

Order your copy of Music, Late and Soon here!

 

HOUSEHOLDERSHouseholders cover

Kate Cayley’s Householders (September 14, 2021) received a starred review in Quill & Quire! The review was published on October 6, and it will appear in the November 2021 print issue. You can read the review on the website here.

Reviewer Steven W. Beattie wrote,

“A book that so assiduously interrogates notions of identity and belonging … Cayley’s language is precise and evocative … Each of the collection’s stories—from ‘Pilgrims,’ about a woman who impersonates a nun online to find sympathy for her difficult domestic situation, to the stunning opener, ‘The Crooked Man’—contains writing that impresses with its barbed acidity as much as its clear-eyed observation … The lambent prose frequently belies the emotional heft of the stories, which creep up on a reader.”

Householders was listed by 49th Shelf as an Editors’ Pick! The list was posted on October 4. You can check it out here.

49th Shelf also published a great review of Householders in their list “8 Books That Explore Memory and Space”! The list was published on October 4. You can read it here.

Reviewer Fawn Parker wrote,

“The stories in Householders are haunting and enigmatic, with a clarity of emotion that cuts through the dreamlike atmosphere Cayley has crafted … With incredible attention to the nuance of interpersonal relationships—whether familial, romantic, situational, dysfunctional—each story in Householders is a window into an eerie but wonderful world.”

Order your copy of Householders here!

 

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARS

Elaine Dewar, author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021) was featured in an article published in the National Post by Jesse Snyder titled, ‘Exit of top public health agency official leaves questions on Chinese military involvement with high-security disease lab.’ The article was published online on October 18. You can read it here.

An interview with Elaine Dewar for the Ottawa Writers’ Festival was also published online on October 15. You can listen to Elaine’s interview with Neil Wilson here.

Order your copy of On the Origin here!

 

DANTE’S INDIANA

Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021) received an excellent review in the Wall Street Journal! The review was published on Friday, October 8. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Sam Sacks praised:

“[Dante’s Indiana] mixes the outrageous social satire of George Saunders or Salman Rushdie with Prin’s more solemn and inward religious searching. The unique result juxtaposes the ridiculous and the sublime—fitting as both an homage to Dante and a portrayal of America.”

Dante’s Indiana also received a positive review in ZYZZYVA! The review was published on Monday, October 18. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Shelby Hinte wrote:

“Boyagoda shows how the political is always personal and the personal is always spiritual. The last ninety pages of the novel move at break-neck speed … The effect is a bit dizzying, but maybe that’s the point—in an age where the internet connects us across oceans and time zones, no one exists in isolation and every occurrence is connected.”

Order your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!

 

AS YOU WERE, ON DECLINE, THINGS ARE AGAINST US, THE SINGING FOREST, WHITE SHADOW, and ON TIME AND WATER: New Reviews!

IN THE NEWS!

AS YOU WERE

Elaine Feeney’s As You Were (October 5, 2021) was featured in Nylon Magazine as one of “9 October 2021 Books to Kick Off Fall”! The list was published online on Friday, October 1. You can read it on their website here

Sophia June praised As You Were

“In a novel that paints a picture of modern Ireland that isn’t by Sally Rooney, women in an oncology ward come to terms with secrets, illnesses, and how to deal with their families through text and emoji-speak and existential humor. Perfect for Sad Girl Fall.”

An excerpt of As You Were was also published yesterday on October 4, in Lit Hub! You can read it on their website here.

Pick up your copy of As You Were here!

 

ON DECLINEOn Decline cover

Andrew Potter, author of On Decline (August 17, 2021) was interviewed for CBC Ideas with Nahlah Ayed. The episode was published online on September 29, and aired on CBC radio the same evening at 8PM ET. You can listen to the full interview here

Potter tells Ayed, 

“I think climate change is an effect of our civilization, but it becomes a problem when you lose the ability to do anything about it.”

Pick up your copy of On Decline here!

 

THINGS ARE AGAINST US

Lucy Ellmann, author of Things Are Against Us (September 28, 2021), was interviewed by Lit Hub! The interview was published on September 29. You can read it out on their website here.

Lucy Ellmann spoke about how men need to read women writers: 

“It’s time for men simply to listen to women. But apparently even educated men who read books do not read books by women: in other words, they have no respect for our point of view.”

Things Are Against Us was listed by Lit Hub as one of thirteen New & Noteworthy titles to check out this week! The list was published on September 29. You can read it on their website here

Lucy Ellmann’s new essay collection was listed by The Millions as a New & Noteworthy title! The list was published on September 28, and you can read it here

Lucy Ellmann was also interviewed by the Chicago Review of Books! The interview was published on October 1. You can read it out on their website here.

Interviewer Rachel León praised Things Are Against Us

“[Ellmann] delivers these diatribes with her signature wit and humor … Each essay is accompanied by an illustration by artist Diana Hope, which complements the colorful nature of this collection. Fans of Ellmann will likely delight in Things Are Against Us.”

And Things Are Against Us is a Toronto Public Library Fall 2021 Pick! It was included in “Valerie’s Picks”, published on September 20, and was featured on their Instagram on October 1. You can read the list on their website here

Librarian Valerie Casselman wrote,

“As you might expect, a collection of essays by the author of the prize-winning stream of consciousness novel Ducks, Newburyport will not be boring or stuffy. ‘Let’s complain,’ she says in the preface and then proceeds to do just that. A collection of satirical essays written with biting wit, irreverence, and clever wordplay.”

Pick up your copy of Things Are Against Us here!

 

THE SINGING FOREST

Judith McCormack’s The Singing Forest (September 21, 2021) was featured as an Editor’s Pick from 49th Shelf, as well as a “Valerie’s Pick for Fall 2021” at the Toronto Public Library! 

Check out the full list from 49th Shelf here

Check out the full list from the Toronto Public Library here.

Pick up your copy of The Singing Forest here!

 

On Time and Water coverON TIME AND WATER and WHITE SHADOW

Both Andri Snær Magnason’s On Time and Water (March 30, 2021) and Roy Jacobsen’s White Shadow (April 6, 2021) received excellent reviews in World Literature Today! Both reviews will be published in the Autumn 2021 issue and can be read on their website. 

You can read the On Time and Water review here, and the White Shadow review here.

Reviewer Greg Brown praised On Time and Water

“Andri Snær Magnason’s On Time and Water is a wondrous, rambling book. It confronts the ecological and social challenges facing humanity and eloquently presents facts that are dire and terrifying. And yet, through persuasive narratives and insightful examples, the book is satisfying, useful, and even hopeful to a degree. I highly recommend Magnason’s On Time and Water to readers of nonfiction, especially those interested in ecology and eco-theory … Magnason’s eloquence is exactly what is called for in this dire moment.”

Reviewer Thomas Nolden praised White Shadow: White Shadow cover

“With every sentence in his new novel, Roy Jacobsen shows how his characters carve their morality out of the dried driftwood found on the small islands of war-ravaged Norway. White Shadow is yet another masterpiece by Jacobsen, who continues in this short novel to track the vicissitudes of the life of his young heroine Ingrid Barrøy … White Shadow is a powerful psychological novel.”

Pick up your copy of On Time and Water here!

Pick up your copy of White Shadow here!

HOUSEHOLDERS, ON THE ORIGIN, 100 MILES OF BASEBALL, MURDER ON THE INSIDE and BUSH RUNNER: New Reviews!

IN THE NEWS!

HOUSEHOLDERS

Householders coverKate Cayley’s Householders (September 14, 2021) received an excellent review in Lavender Magazine! The review was published on September 27, both print and digitally. You can read the review on the website here.

Reviewer E. B Boatner wrote,

“You don’t have to come from a foreign country to be a stranger in your land. Cayley’s haunting short stories weave together stealthily, gentle until the cosh strikes your skull … Brutally, beautifully lyrical.”

Householders also received a rave review in ZYZZYVA! The review was published today on September 29. You can read the review on the website here.

Reviewer Peter Schlachte wrote,

“Full of startling turns of phrase and evocative descriptions … Cayley’s background as a poet—she has published two collections of poetry—shines … With Householders, Cayley has envisioned a world that mirrors our own like a distorted funhouse—a place where the moral and physical stakes are heightened, where emotional bonds run deeply, and where something menacing is often lurking. It’s a frightening world, but it makes for a compelling story collection, as good to tear through for the narrative as it is to savor (and savor again) for the language.”

And don’t forget! Tonight, on September 29 at 7 PM EDT, tune in for Householders’ virtual book launch! This is a double book launch with David Huebert’s Chemical Valley (October 19, 2021). Kate Cayley and David Huebert will be joined in conversation by author Sofi Papamarko. We’ll be streaming live on Facebook & YouTube. Co-hosted by Another Story Bookshop (Toronto, ON), and Bookmark (Halifax, NS). Tune in for the launch here.

Grab your copy of Householders here!

 

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARSOn the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years cover

An excerpt from On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021) by Elaine Dewar, has been published in Independent Science. The excerpt was published online on September 27. You can read it here.

Pick up your copy of On the Origin here!

 

100 MILES OF BASEBALL

Dale Jacobs & Heidi LM Jacobs were interviewed by Windsor Life Magazine about their book 100 Miles of Baseball: Fifty Games, One Summer (March 16, 2021)! Dale and Heidi spoke to Michael Seguin. The interview was published on September 27, in their Autumn 2021 issue. You can read it on their website here.

Get your copy of 100 Miles of Baseball here!

 

MURDER ON THE INSIDE  and BUSH RUNNERMurder on the Inside cover

Both Catherine Fogarty’s Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary (April 13, 2021) and Mark Bourrie’s Bush Runner (April 2, 2019) were reviewed in the latest issue of Ontario History! The reviews were published in print in the Autumn 2021 issue.

Reviewer Jordan House praised Murder on the Inside:

“Fogarty’s approach makes for a compelling narrative and an extremely readable book … Fogarty’s most significant contribution is in a number of original interviews with guards, including one who had been held hostage, and prisoners who had lived through the riot. These interviews allow for a rich chronicling of events … Murder on the Inside successfully weaves a concise history of Canada’s most notorious prison into a compelling story of the 1971 riot and its aftermath and is a valuable contribution to the history of Canada’s prisons and the Canadian prison justice movement.”

Reviewer Chris Sanagan praised Bush Runner:

“It is the theme of survival that dominates Radisson’s life and is the beating heart of Mark Bourrie’s biography, Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson … A journalist and historian, Bourrie recognizes a good story when he sees one … In his hands, the life of Radisson plays out like some kind of early Canadian tragi-comedy … Masterful.”

Get your copy of Murder on the Inside here!

Get your copy of Bush Runner here!

 

ON DECLINE, ON THE ORIGIN, DANTE’S INDIANA, MUSIC LATE AND SOON, and THINGS ARE AGAINST US: Podcasts & Publicity!

On Decline coverIN THE NEWS!

ON DECLINE

Andrew Potter, author of On Decline (August 17, 2021) was interviewed for Jodi Butts podcast, @Risk, and the episode is now live! You can listen here.

On Decline was also the subject of an opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen by Terry Glavin titled, “Glavin: Yes, civilization is in decline (though it may not stay that way)”! The article was published online on September 22. You can read it here.

Glavin writes,

“Like its historic ancestors, On Decline deserves a wide general audience and should be required reading for the incoming federal government.”

Get your copy of On Decline here!

 

THINGS ARE AGAINST US

Lucy Ellmann’s Things Are Against Us (September 28, 2021) was listed by the New York Times as a New & Noteworthy Title! The list was published online on September 22, and in print on September 26. You can check it out on their website here.

The New York Times wrote:

“Ellmann tackles the climate crisis, war and feminism in this collection of 14 searing essays on the beauty industry, ecotourism, crime fiction, Donald Trump and more.”

Things Are Against Us also received a rave review in the Winnipeg Free Press! The review was published on Saturday, September 25. You can read it out on their website here.

Reviewer Pauline Holdstock wrote:

“[Ellmann] lambastes the patriarchy with verve and gusto … The 14 pieces that comprise Ellmann’s discontents, vividly illustrated by Diana Hope, muster all of her comic powers in the service of her home truths… Ellmann is entertaining, funny, loopy and brave, but, importantly, she’s empowering. You remember that you’re not alone … It’s good to know Ellmann is keeping her formidable comic weaponry trained on the people who got us into this pig show.”

And on Sunday, September 26 we celebrated the launch of Things Are Against Us! Check out the full video of the launch on Facebook here, or on YouTube here.

Order your copy of Things Are Against Us here!

 

MUSIC, LATE AND SOONcover

Robyn Sarah, author of Music, Late and Soon (August 24, 2021) published an editorial in The Globe and Mail titled, “We should need no excuse to hold on to or reclaim something we love”! The piece was published online on September 24, and in print on September 25. Read the article here.

Sarah writes,

“… a longing to go back to what was once so central and fulfilling can haunt the years. In my own case, longing became impulse became action at the age of nearly 60.”

Robyn Sarah’s Music, Late and Soon was also featured in a review by the Winnipeg Free Press! The review was posted online on September 25. You can read it here.

Get your copy of Music, Late and Soon here!

 

DANTE’S INDIANA

Randy Boyagoda, author of Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021), wrote an article for the Globe & Mail! The opinion piece “Dante’s pandemic: Why the Divine Comedy helps us understand how we can respond to the challenge of living good lives in bad times” was published on Saturday, September 25, both in print and online. You can read it on their website here.

In other news, University of Toronto’s Massey College is hosting an exclusive in-person event with Randy Boyagoda on Wednesday, September 29 at 4:30 PM EDT! The event, “A Dante Theme Park? Satire and Sensibilities in 2021”, is part of the Massey Dialogues series. Randy Boyagoda, a Massey College Senior Fellow, will discuss his Dante’s Indiana with Senior Fellow Charles Foran and Junior Fellow Kate Frank. Only a limited number of people can attend, so register for a ticket here.

Get your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!

 

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARSOn the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years cover

Elaine Dewar, author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years (August 31, 2021), was interviewed by Jesse Brown for the Canadaland podcast! The episode aired today on September 27. You can read the transcription and listen here.

Over the weekend, Dewar was also live on The Roy Green Show (Global News). Listen to the episode here.

On the Origin was also mentioned in an article from The Sun titled “OVEN READY Covid was ‘perfectly adapted’ to infect humans when virus emerged in Wuhan which ‘proves’ lab leak, book claims”. Read the article here.

Get your copy of On the Origin here!

Praise for Biblioasis Titles

IN THE NEWS!

ON THE ORIGIN

Elaine Dewar, author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021), published an editorial in the Toronto Star titled “Canadians must know what our lab’s role was in COVID’s origins”! The article was published online on September 18. You can read it here.

On the Origin was also listed in the Globe and Mail‘s “Fall 2021 books preview: Pump up your autumn with these weighty reads”. See the full list here.

And on Friday, September 17, Elaine Dewar was live on CJAD 800 AM – Montreal Now with Aaron Rand and Natasha Hall. You can listen to her radio interview here.

Get your copy of On the Origin from Biblioasis here!

 

THINGS ARE AGAINST US

Lucy Ellmann’s Things Are Against Us (September 28, 2021) received a great review in Publishers Weekly! The review was published online on September 20. You can read it on their website here.

Publishers Weekly wrote:

“In this offbeat essay collection, novelist Ellmann (Ducks, Newburyport) addresses complex systemic ills alongside petty grievances in an acerbic and hilarious litany of complaints … Readers of Ducks, Newburyport will be familiar with her expansive writing style, which here manifests as a plethora of footnotes … Fans of feminist satire will delight in these rants and ruminations.”

Things Are Against Us was also included in the Globe and Mail‘s Fall 2021 book preview! The list was published on Saturday, September 18, both in print and online. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Emily Donaldson wrote:

“‘Let’s complain,’ urges the author of the prize-winning experimental novel Ducks, Newburyport at the outset of her first work of non-fiction, then valiantly leads the way. Over 14 entries that use approaches ranging from all-caps to page-swallowing footnotes, she takes on Trumpism, the beauty industry, patriarchy and crime writers, with charming tetchiness.”

Order your copy of Things Are Against Us here!

 

DANTE’S INDIANA

Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021) was included in Globe and Mail‘s Fall 2021 book preview! The list was published on Saturday, September 18, both in print and online. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Emily Donaldson praised Dante’s Indiana as,

“Witty and wrenching.”

Randy Boyagoda was interviewed about Dante’s Indiana in the Catholic Register. The interview was published yesterday on September 19. You can read it on their website here.

Wendy-Anne Clarke wrote,

“Randy Boyagoda takes a bold dive into some of society’s most contentious issues in his latest novel, Dante’s Indiana … The theme of being lost and also being found is at the crux of Prin’s experience and that of the other characters. That profound idea found in Catholic liturgy and in Scripture is central to the religious tradition at play in this book.”

Randy Boyagoda was also interviewed by the University of Toronto’s A&S Newsletter. The interview was published September 15. You can read the interview on their website here.

Get your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!

 

ON DECLINEOn Decline cover

Andrew Potter’s On Decline (August 17, 2021) received a great review in the Winnipeg Free Press, titled “Extremism, stagnation hastening our potential downfall”! The article was published online on September 18. You can read it here.

Michael Dudley writes,

“Like its historic ancestors, On Decline deserves a wide general audience and should be required reading for the incoming federal government.”

Get your copy of On Decline here!

This Week in Reviews!

On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years coverIN THE NEWS!

ON THE ORIGIN

Elaine Dewar, author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021), was featured in a Q&A with Marsha Lederman in The Globe and Mail, titled “Canadian author Elaine Dewar’s book raises troubling questions about the origins of COVID-19”! The article was published online on September 10. You can read it here.

In the interview, Elaine Dewar states:

“I want to get at how come that happened. And I don’t want people to forget it. Because we have [27,000] dead people whose deaths might have been avoided if we had acted with speed. And if we had acted from a science point of view, as opposed to from a political point of view.”

And don’t miss the launch of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years next week! Join us on Facebook Live or YouTube on Wednesday, September 15 at 6PM EDT!

Get your copy of On the Origin here!

DANTE’S INDIANA

Quite a bit of news for this title! Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021) received a positive review in the Toronto Star! The review was published online on September 3, and it will appeared in their print issue that weekend. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Alex Good wrote,

“Boyagoda set himself a challenge, and it’s one that he’s up to … Boyagoda makes it seem easy with a series of apt similes … This is the sort of imaginative verbal panache that in our own vernacular pays tribute to Dante as literary guide … The classics, however, are always reimagined in ways that respond to the personal anxieties and public crises of our own time. In the shattered funhouse of the twenty-first century we may be expected to redefine the content of a faith that sustains.”

Dante’s Indiana also received a rave review in the Plough Quarterly! The review was published online on September 3. It will appear in their print issue as well. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Mike St. Thomas wrote,

“Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana is many things—knee-slapping satire, social commentary, spiritual pilgrimage. But above all, it is an attempt to bring contrapasso to bear on contemporary American life, both implicitly and explicitly … As in his first novel, Boyagoda mixes the sacred and profane to great effect … By locating the sacred within the profane, Dante’s Indiana offers a counternarrative to that of the culture wars … Boyagoda’s novel is hilarious and deeply touching.”

Dante’s Indiana received a great review in Desi News, and it was the feature title! The review was published on September 1. It’s available online and in their print September issue. You can read it on their website here.

Desi News wrote,

Dante’s Indiana is, like the first book, about Prin’s adventures in a world that is crazy and chaotic for a man of faith. And it is, also like the first, real, yet surreal. Hugely funny, yet poignant … Many of us will find our stories reflected in Boyagoda’s work, we’ll meet people we know.”

Dante’s Indiana also received a rave review in North Texas Catholic. The review was published on September 8. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Susan Moses raved,

“Full of memorable characters and as fast-paced as the roller coaster that will be the main ride of hell, the novel reads like a movie script … Even when the plot descends into dark topics, Boyagoda’s eye for wit keeps the novel lighthearted … Sometimes absurd, sometimes witty, the humor of Dante’s Indiana is always thoughtful, never hurtful, and often satirical … As Prin makes his path through the twists and turns of this novel, he never gives up hope that heaven awaits on the other side of purgatory.”

Finally, Dante’s Indiana was included in NOW Toronto‘s list “The 15 best new books to read this fall”! The list was published online on September 10, and it will appear in their print issue. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Susan G. Cole praised,

“Another sharp satire from one of Canada’s best writers.”

Get your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!

White Shadow coverWHITE SHADOW

Roy Jacobsen’s White Shadow (April 6, 2021) received a great review in Book Post USA! The review was published on September 7. You can read the review on their website here.

Reviewer Robert Karron wrote:

“Seldom do we find a protagonist who pushes against her confinement as subtlety and deftly as Ingrid does, and who allows herself, while trapped in circumstances that are beyond her control, to be so open, inquisitive, and even loving. In White Shadow, Jacobsen offers a portrait of a woman who is single-minded but not rigidly so, purposeful but not devoid of feeling … The intensity of feeling just beyond the actions described, and the effort itself of forging language to capture their evanescent reality, seems like a literary accomplishment in the family of more overtly ‘sophisticated’ novelists like Thomas Bernhard or W. G. Sebald.”

Get your copy of White Shadow here!

HOUSEHOLDERS

On Friday, September 3, Kate Cayley’s Householders (September 14, 2021) received a rave review from Kerry Clare’s Pickle Me This! You can read the review on the website here.

Kerry Clare wrote,

“Literally took my breath away … Kate Cayley is splendid in her deft arrangement of the sentence, and in her depiction of the quotidian but just askew enough to be new and surprising. These stories are rich, absorbing, and oh so satisfying, and I predict this as one of the big books of the fall literary season.”

Get your copy of Householders here!

THE SINGING FOREST

Judith McCormack’s The Singing Forest (September 21, 2021) received a great review in the Ottawa Review of Books! The review was published on September 9. You can read the review on their website here.

Reviewer John Delacourt wrote:

“Yet there is nothing bleak or drained of life in The Singing Forest, despite such harrowing scenes. The energy of the prose does not falter, transcending the expectations—if not the limitations—of a crime drama. The interiority of Leah Jarvis’s transformation in the narrative lacks some of the tonal variation and visceral impact of the chapters devoted to Drozd, but she ultimately achieves a balance of darkness and light that, aptly enough, rhymes with something like justice. Which is fitting, because the scope of McCormack’s ambition is nothing less than a poetic meditation on the mutability of identity, and with The Singing Forest, she succeeds.”

Get your copy of The Singing Forest here!

Biblioasis News, Reviews, and Excerpts!

IN THE NEWS!

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARS

Elaine Dewar, author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021), was featured in an article on CBC Manitoba titled “New book debunks Winnipeg-lab conspiracy theory but questions collaboration with Chinese military scientist”! The article was published online on August 31. You can read it here.

Elaine Dewar also appeared on CHCH Morning Live for an interview about her book On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years. The interview with Annette Hamm aired on September 2. You can watch it on their website here.

Get your copy from Biblioasis here!

 

HOUSEHOLDERSHouseholders cover

On August 25, Quill & Quire published their Best of Fall 2021 Guide for Fiction, Short Fiction, and Poetry, and Kate Cayley’s Householders (September 14, 2021) was on the list!

Andrew Woodrow-Butcher wrote about Householders:

“The accomplished fiction writer, playwright, and poet veers from the fantastic to the mundane and back again in her latest collection of intertwined stories, which features neighbourhood drama, zombies, and an underground bunker.”

The Best of Fall 2021 Guide will be published in the September 2021 issue, and can be read on their website here.

Householders (September 14, 2021) was also included by the Lambda Literary on their list “September’s Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Literature”! The list was put together by Sydney Heidenberg on September 1, and it can be read on the Lambda Literary website here.

Order your copy from Biblioasis here!

 

On Decline cover

ON DECLINE

Andrew Potter, author of On Decline (August 17, 2021), published an article in The Globe and Mail titled “The COVID-19 pandemic. Climate change. Culture wars. For the West, the party is over”! The article was published online on August 20. You can read it here.

An excerpt was also published in The Walrus on August 25. You can read the excerpt here.

Get your copy from Biblioasis here!

THE SINGING FOREST and AS YOU WERE: Rave Reviews!

IN THE NEWS!

THE SINGING FOREST

Judith McCormack’s The Singing Forest (September 21, 2021) received a great review in Quill & Quire! The review was published online on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, and it will appear in the print September issue. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Ami Sands Brodoff wrote:

“A brilliant stroke … McCormack’s scope is impressive. The Singing Forest is a crime drama, a historical novel, and a character-driven work … This novel posits that time does not heal all wounds. Recognition, reparation, and remembrance are urgent.”

Get your copy of The Singing Forest today from Biblioasis here!

 

AS YOU WERE

Elaine Feeney’s As You Were (October 5, 2021) received a starred review in Publishers Weekly! The review was published online on August 16, 2021, and it will appear in the print issue. You can read it on their website here.

Publishers Weekly wrote:

“Feeney’s brilliant debut follows an Irish woman’s struggle to accept a terminal cancer diagnosis … Feeney skillfully tells the stories of other patients, including Margaret Rose, recovering from a stroke, and Jane, suffering from dementia. In the closed space of the ward, these three women share their secrets … Never sentimental, and full of well-crafted dialogue and rich descriptions, the story is driven forward by Sinead’s strong narration. This powerful work perfectly balances tragedy and hope.”

Preorder your copy of As You Were from Biblioasis here!

Rave Reviews for Biblioasis Titles!

IN THE NEWS!

THINGS ARE AGAINST US

Things Are Against UsLucy Ellmann’s Things Are Against Us (September 24, 2021) received another rave review in The Guardian! The previous one was in the Sunday Observer. This Guardian review was published online and in their print issue on July 3, 2021. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Catherine Taylor wrote:

“Ellmann’s polemic is a medley: a wickedly funny, rousing, depressing, caps-driven work of linguistic gymnastics hellbent on upbraiding the deleterious forces of the prevailing misogyny … Attentively negotiating a bleak world, the sentences remain joyous constructions … ‘Let it blaze!’ commands Woolf in Three Guineas. At their brightest, Ellmann’s own pyrotechnics are ones to savour.”

Things Are Against Us was also featured on the Lonesome Reader blog! The review was posted online on July 6, 2021, and can be read on their website here.

Reviewer Eric Karl Anderson wrote:

“This collection largely succeeds in distilling the author’s frustration about how we deserve better than the leaders we must live under and the systems we must live within. Ellmann wearily acknowledges towards the end of the book that “I recognize I’m fighting a losing battle—going up the down escalator” but I’m so glad she continues to march on and doesn’t allow herself to be silenced.”

Preorder Things Are Against Us today from Biblioasis here!

 

A Ghost in the Throat cover

A GHOST IN THE THROAT

Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat received a rave review in the Globe & Mail! The article was published on July 2, 2021. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Emily Donaldson wrote:

“Electrifying and genre-bending … The book’s title conveys the uncanny feeling Ní Ghríofa had while writing the book, of having another’s voice emanate from her own throat … Ní Ghríofa’s quest sometimes feels like DNA-sleuthing, but with earth and texts taking the place of cheek swabs … The final act of reciprocity may be that one great work has ultimately spawned another. Ní Ghríofa’s book wouldn’t exist without Ní Chonaill’s poem, in the same way the poem wouldn’t exist without the death of Art O’Leary: both are rooted in agonizing, exquisite emotion.”

Buy your copy of A Ghost in the Throat from Biblioasis here!

And don’t miss out on our limited-edition signed hardcover copy here!

 

MURDER ON THE INSIDE

Murder on the Inside coverCatherine Fogarty’s Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary received a rave review in the Literary Review of Canada! The article “Inside Kingston Pen: So irksome and so terrible” was published online last week and will appear in the July/August 2021 issue. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Murray Campbell wrote:

“In Murder on the Inside, the writer and television producer Catherine Fogarty relates this notable chapter in Canadian history crisply and in greater detail than the various feature articles written over the years or even Roger Caron’s first-hand account of the event, Bingo!, from 1985. Remarkably, Fogarty gives distinct personalities to the inmates and puts us on the inside of the negotiations that ensued … Murder on the Inside tells a story that Canadians ought to know. Fogarty’s final chapter brings that story up to date and shows that we have not fully learned the lessons of 1971 … The ghosts who haunted those cold, dank corridors are still with us.”

Learn more about Murder on the Inside here!

 

THE DEBT

Andreae Callanan’s The Debt received a great review in the Toronto Star! The review was published online on July 1, 2021 and appeared in the Saturday, July 3 print issue. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Barb Carey wrote:

“Andreae Callanan’s appealing debut collection is an exploration of what is owed: an individual’s debt to family, community and place in forming identity and the present’s debt to the past. In the opening poem, the St. John’s writer offers a lyrical portrait of the island she calls home … In a sardonic suite of poems called ‘Crown,’ she looks at the history of settlement and colonialism, and the effect of being ‘outpost, not empire.’ Callanan’s phrasing is crisp, forthright and imbued with the music in commonplace language.”

The Debt was also featured in an article from the Peterborough Examiner! The article was published on July 1, 2021. You can read it on their website here.

Get your copy of The Debt from Biblioasis here!

 

WHITE SHADOW

White Shadow coverRoy Jacobsen’s White Shadow also received a great review in the Toronto Star! The review was published on July 8, 2021, and it appeared in the print issue on Saturday, July 10, 2021. You can read the review on their website here.

Reviewer Janet Somerville wrote:

White Shadow is written in spare, affecting, unsentimental, vivid prose … Kind gestures translate perfectly in this ‘land of silence,’ where Barrøyers are ‘folk of few words’ with ‘great wisdom in hands and feet.’ A minimalist tale of tenacity, White Shadow is atmospheric and compelling.”

Pick up a copy of White Shadow from Biblioasis here!

News and Reviews: Highlighting Biblioasis Titles!

IN THE NEWS!

THINGS ARE AGAINST US

Things Are Against UsLucy Ellmann’s Things Are Against Us (September 28, 2021) received a rave review in The Observer! The review was published in their print issue on June 27, and online on June 28. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Hephzibah Anderson wrote:

“Funny and furious … Aimed at everything from air travel to zips, genre writing to men (above all, men), her ire is matched only by an irrepressible comic impulse, from which bubbles forth kitsch puns, wisecracking whimsy and one-liners both bawdy and venomous … You don’t have to agree with everything Ellmann says to find this supple, provocative volume invigorating. Indeed, part of its craftiness lies in keeping the reader guessing about precisely how seriously she takes herself … A manifesto worth getting behind. On second thoughts, better make it a womanifesto.”

Preorder your copy from Biblioasis here!

 

Dante's Indiana coverDANTE’S INDIANA

Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021) received a positive review from Kirkus Reviews! The review was published online on June 29, 2021, and it will appear in their July 15, 2021 print issue. You can read it on their website here.

Kirkus wrote,

“Boyagoda keeps things moving quickly and imaginatively. He skewers hosts of sinners along the way, but the wit has a winsome empathy behind it. A rollicking, inventive, mostly successful satire—with a vein of seriousness and sadness underneath.”

Preorder your copy today from Biblioasis here!

 

100 MILES OF BASEBALL

Dale Jacobs & Heidi LM Jacobs were interviewed by Steve Paikin on TVO’s The Agenda about their new book 100 Miles of Baseball: Fifty Games, One Summer! The interview aired on June 15, 2021, and you can watch it on their website here.

On June 16, 2021, CBC Books included 100 Miles of Baseball in their list “24 Canadian books to get your dad for Father’s Day”.  You can check out the list on their website here.

Also, Dale Jacobs & Heidi LM Jacobs were interviewed by the Pandemic Baseball Bookclub. Heidi & Dale were joined in conversation by Andrew Forbes, author of The Only Way is the Steady Way. The interview was posted on June 16, 2021. You can watch it on their YouTube channel here.

Andrew Forbes wrote,

“In 100 Miles of Baseball, authors Heidi L.M. Jacobs and Dale Jacobs create a series of beautiful, heartfelt and carefully considered meditations on baseball’s myriad pleasures and meanings.”

Buy 100 Miles of Baseball from Biblioasis here!

 

DRIVEN

The Coast published an excerpt from Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers highlighting Halifax driver, Michael Kamara’s story on June 16, 2021. The excerpt was published in the print issue and is available on their website here

Editor Morgan Mullin wrote,

“When you’re in a cab, looking at the back of the driver’s head, do you think about who they are? Not just their job—to get you from Point A to Point B—but their life and dreams? Probably not, the same way you don’t think about what your cashier had for breakfast. But Marcello Di Cintio does think of these things—enough that he wrote a book about cabbies, built on endless hours of interviews that construct the backstory of drivers from across the country.”

On June 18, 2021, the CBC’s Day 6 included Marcello Di Cintio’s Driven on their summer reading list! Book columnist Becky Toyne discussed Driven on the show, featuring it as one of the four titles she recommends. You can listen to the segment here.

Also on June 18, 2021, the Montreal Gazette included Driven in their list of “Time to revive an old habit: seven books to take out and about this summer”.  You can check out the list on their website here.

Reviewer Ian McGillis wrote,

“In Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers, Marcello Di Cintio takes the time and trouble to engage with a cross-Canada range of people representing a profession too often taken for granted. Most of them are immigrants; all of them are subject to scarcely conceivable challenges and obstacles, often exacerbated by the onset of Uber.”

Marcello Di Cintio’s Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers received a positive review in the Winnipeg Free Press! The review was published on June 26, 2021. You can read the review on their website here

Reviewer Gordon Arnold wrote:

Driven is a collection of short essays laying out the backstory for an eclectic array of immigrant cabbies … All of the characters are driven by an incredible work ethic, where 17-hour days are not uncommon … If you have spent any time at all in cabs, chances are you will have met some of the character types in this easy-reading collection.”

Marcello Di Cintio was also interviewed on the video & audio podcast Sweater Weather. Marcello spoke to writer Aaron Giovannone, and the episode aired on June 26, 2021. You can watch it on the YouTube channel here

Marcello Di Cintio was interviewed on another podcast, Canada Reads American Style. He was interviewed by the two hosts, Rebecca Higgerson and Shauna Quick, and the episode aired on June 28, 2021. You can listen to the episode here

Order your copy of Driven here!

 

LUCIA

The Globe & Mail included Alex Pheby’s Lucia (June 15, 2021) in the Summer 2021 Books Preview! The list was published online on Friday, June 18, 2021, and was also in their print issue on the weekend. You can read it on their website here.

Reviewer Emily Donaldson praised Lucia:

“An air of mystery has always clung to Lucia Joyce—daughter of writer James, dancer and lover of, among others, Samuel Beckett and Alexander Calder … In an original, bravura turn, British novelist Alex Pheby tells Lucia’s story from the perspective of the various men around her (spoiler alert: none come off well).”

Buy Lucia today from Biblioasis here!

 

A GHOST IN THE THROAT

A Ghost in the Throat coverDoireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat (June 1, 2021) received a rave review from the Chicago Review of Books! The review was published on June 25, 2021. You can read it on their website here

Reviewer Shazia Hafiz Ramji wrote:

“A detailed tapestry that threads Eibhlín Dubh’s family histories with the author’s own translations of her poem from the Irish, Ní Ghríofa’s essayistic and intimate style recalls the inter-disciplinary perambulations of W.G. Sebald and the uncompromising feminism of Maggie Nelson … A Ghost in the Throat is a kaleidoscopic book of ‘homemaking’ that centers the intuitive knowledge of the body in order to learn to live—again, again, and again.

Also, A Ghost in the Throat was included by Buzzfeed Books as one of “58 Great Books to Read This Summer, Recommended by Our Favourite Indie Booksellers”! The listed was posted on June 24, 2021. Check it out here

James Crossley at Madison Books wrote:

“Many writers have used classic literary works as a lens for examining their own lives, but none have ever given me the visceral thrill that Doireann Ní Ghríofa has. She doesn’t meditate on a mysterious 18th-century Irish lament; she wrestles with it, turning it over and over to reveal myriad intimate connections to modern motherhood and marriage. To read A Ghost in the Throat is to hold in your hands a living, beating heart.”

Finally, A Ghost in the Throat was listed by Page One as a New & Noteworthy title in their July/August 2021 issue.  It will be available in print, and you can check out the list on their website here.

Get your copy of A Ghost in the Throat from Biblioasis here!