Month: December 2019

Canada’s book trade mag picks it’s favs. Includes Sonnet L’Abbe’s Sonnet’s Shakespeare, which I loved.

For the record, I have no intention of trying to answer that. But here are a bunch more end-of-year best-of lists.

• A look inside the NYT process for choosing their list
• New Yorker
• Chicago Tribune
• Forbes
• Guardian gets writers to pick
• So does the Irish Times
• Smithsonian on best travel
• Guardian best SF/Fantasy
• WaPo on children’s lit

A new movement is afoot to make libraries a little more chill when it comes to tardiness. This should be a balm to my wife, who is late for everything. Her father gave me a great line to use: “When the angel of death finally comes for me, I hope it is you driving him.”

For decades, libraries have relied on fines to discourage patrons from returning books late. But a growing number of some of the country’s biggest public library systems are ditching overdue fees after finding that the penalties drive away the people who stand to benefit the most from free library resources.

From San Diego to Chicago to Boston, public libraries that have analyzed the effects of late fees on their cardholders have found that they disproportionately deter low-income residents and children.

Heather Reisman, of all people, is complaining that Amazon stifles competition…. I mean, she’s not wrong, but…. the irony… I… I… For the love of flaming bags of dogshit. I can’t even.

Chapters Indigo CEO Heather Reisman slammed Amazon for being anti-competitive on so many levels. She said in an interview with BNN that “I think Amazon is anti-competitive on so many levels. They knock off products directly. You cannot deal in a world against Amazon.”

A short story advent calendar? What a time to be alive. Break out your coloured lights, Ninjas. It’s December. And what better way to celebrate than with short stories. (Okay, there are definitely better ways to celebrate, but work with me here.) Beats has the scoop:

The brainchild of editor Michael Hingston and designer Natalie Olsen, who together run the Edmonton micropress Hingston & Olsen Publishing, the advent calendar features twenty-five short stories – one per day between December 1 and Christmas. The stories are by Canadian and international authors, professionally edited, and beautifully designed. This year’s version comes in a selection of differently coloured slipcases, and each individual story is saddle-stitched and typeset for easy reading.