No we are not talking about the rivalry between Eugenie Bouchard

and Maria Sharapova!  I ran into Orca author Michelle Mulder today and we

chatted a bit about her new book in the Orca Footprints series Trash Talk. 

Coming in April the book looks at the history of garbage from the ancient

Minoan trash pits to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and investigates ways

people are dealing with trash all over the world.   Thankfully things in Victoria

are improving.   From 1908 to 1958, city workers loaded all of Victoria’s

garbage onto barges and dumped it in the ocean.  The tide washed it back to shore

and beach users had to carry rakes with them to clear places to sit on the sand.

9781459806924 ages 8-12

Lorna

We’re well into winter here in Vancouver, and though it’s certainly not as cold

as many Canadian cities, it sure is gloomy out. This weekend I decided to cheer

myself up by heading out for margaritas at my favourite local place, El Caminos.

I had such a great time, I decided that this week I’ll try out a few recipes from a

book from one of our new publishers, Sellers.

500 Mexican Dishes
by Judith M. Fertig
9781416207870| Price: $19.95

-Ali

Happy Friday!  It has been a hectic week and I am looking

forward to the weekend.  I thought I should share this with you:

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Dot

Hi there!

We’re deep into January and the Toronto office realized that we haven’t exactly been living up to

our “New Year, New You” resolutions. So we decided to bring back the Ampersand Health Hustle,

(now renamed “Ampercise”) and climb up 10 flights of stairs – twice. This is sadly, the result.

We almost lost a soldier in battle. We’re happy to report that his condition is stable

and that he only suffered a minor loss of ego.

- Tamara

Just got my sample of  Forgotten English  A Daily Calendar of

Vanishing Vocabulary and Folklore from Sellers Publishing.

My favourite words thus far:

glottened - suprised; startled; quafftide - time of drinking;

paper stainer - an author or clerk in contempt;  daint -

delicate, elegant;  anparsy also termed parsy-and - &!

Lorna

This weekend I went to check out the new show at the VAG, to see their new

show Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Chinese Contemporary Art .

It was awesome! Now I can’t wait to dig into our office copy of A History of

Art in Twentieth Century China, by Lu Peng.

A History of Art in 20th Century China
by Lu Peng (05/27/15)
9788881587797| Charta| Artbook/DAP
Paperback | Price: $180.00

-Ali

Ok, I know.  We all have to make a living.  Most of

the time that is a great thing as I love my job.  The

only time that gets in the way is when I am part way

through a book I really, really like.  I started my ARC of

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

(978-1-250-05480-7,  $31.50, Macmillan)

and it is so captivating I can’t wait to go home and read.  I don’t want

to do chores, cook, return calls, talk to anyone; I just want to read my

book.

You know how it is when you are grabbed by a book and are totally swept

up into that world?  That’s me at the moment.  Plus, not only is it a good

read but it is a great book story as well.  The author made multiple handmade,

hand-aged, hand-bound copies of her manuscript to send out to publishers.

I will quote her here:

“When submitting The Book of Speculation for publication, I faced a problem.  I

needed to convey the magic of a very old book, a seductive power that leads my

librarian protagonist, Simon, down the rabbit hole of a family curse.  The solution was

both obvious and ridiculous: I’d replicate Simon’s experience and create a book as

alluring as the one he receives, something with pictures, letters, and tarot cards.  I had to

make books.  In teaching myself bookbinding, I fell down my own rabbit hole of needles,

drills, tea staining, illustration, gilding, and more paper dust than one person should

ever inhale.”

I am positive the finished book is going to be a thing of beauty.  The tale in The

Book of Speculation reminds me in a way of The Night Circus; and not just the story but

the way it makes me feel.  When I finished The Night Circus I wanted to read it again immediately.

I have an odd feeling that I will want to do the same with this book.

Check out Erika’s blog  erikaswyler.tumblr.com and her

baking  Tumblr  ieatbutter.tumblr.com  (too yummy for words!)

Have a great weekend!

Dot

Happy Thursday!

Here’s a funny little joke that’s making its way around Emailverse. I thought I’d share it with you.

Almost mid- January so time to start implementing those

New Year’s resolutions.   Here is one that only takes  seven minutes:

Based on the New York Times article  “The Scientific 7-Minute  Workout,”  former

Olympic athlete trainer Brett Klika presents 50  high intensity interval circuits that

require  only a timer and a chair – and some personal resolve!    Coming from Chronicle

books this month – for busy people who can’t always get to the gym and those who

would rather  work out at home.   Definitely going to try it this week!

full-color throughout, 80 how-to illustrations, lay-flat flexi-binding
$18.95 • pb •
9781452138473 •

Lorna

So last week my boyfriend excitedly brought over two sets of

Star Wars Lego for us to build. I haven’t played with Lego for

quite a few years, and I always enjoyed building whatever I

felt like, rather than using sets (possibly related: my parents

never bought sets). But building sets was super fun! Enough

so that I might start bringing home my samples of books like this one:

Lego Star Wars Visual Dictionary

Updated & Expanded

by Dorling Kindersley (04/30/14)

9781465419217 | Dorling Kindersley

Cloth | Price: $22.99

-Ali