Blog
P+P+Z Best Cover of 2009
by Dan
Fiction + Humour / December 23, 2009
After several weeks of voting, Amazon customers have chosen the Best Book Cover of 2009: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, cover designed by Doogie Horner!
Congratulations to Doogie and publisher Quirk Books!
See all 60 of Amazon's nominees.
Advent Books: Great Books Recommended by Great People
by Dan
News / December 17, 2009
Everyone knows that books make great gifts right? But with so many books out there, how do you decide which ones to buy?
Well, if you're having trouble (and there are only 8 days until Christmas!), I suggest you get yourself over The Advent Books Blog ASAP.
Set up by pals Sean Cranbury of Books on the Radio (Vancouver) and Book Madam Julie Wilson (Toronto), Advent Books is posting short (v. short in some cases!) enthusiastic book recommendations by authors, publishing professionals, bloggers, and booksellers.
All the books recommended are from the past year, but so far they've covered just about every genre, format, shape, size and colour. And with 17 days worth of recommendations already posted, there is surely just the book you are looking for!
Just Like the Ones He Used to Know
by Dan
News / December 17, 2009
The good folks at Books@Torontoist are posting an original story by Victoria-based author Robert J. Wiersema (Before I Wake and The World More Full of Weeping).
Telling the story of a man who makes a mysterious journey to his home town on a stormy Christmas Eve, “Just Like the Ones He Used to Know” revives the Victorian tradition of ringing in the holiday season with a story of the ghostly and the miraculous.
The story will be serialized on the site in eight daily posts, beginning today and ending on Christmas Eve.
Happy Holidays!
by Siobhan
Food & Drink / December 14, 2009
Happy Holidays to you from all of us here at Raincoast Books!
May your holidays be filled with peace, love, joy - and lots of time to curl up by the fireplace with a cup of cocoa and a good book.
To get you started, here's a recipe for delicious Chai Hot Cocoa from I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas by Anna Getty (published by Chronicle Books).
Click here to download the recipe as a PDF.
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christmas recipes
Natalie Portman to produce and star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie!!
by Danielle
Fiction + Film + News / December 11, 2009
Yes that's right! Variety broke the news this morning that Natalie Portman will star as Elizabeth Bennet in the movie adaptation of the bestselling PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES.
photo courtesy of
natalieportman.com
No official release date has been announced. But I can certainly assure you we here at Raincoast and the folks down at Quirk are stoked about this news! She'll make the perfect Elizabeth. Wonder who else'll be cast? I'll let you know as soon as I find out!
Here's a link to CBC's website. They're talking about the new movie as well. But who isn't?
A quick fix for pre-holiday stress…
by Siobhan
Animals & Nature + Humour / December 08, 2009
I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little stressy in the lead-up to the holidays. It seems that every day there are more and more things to do... and fewer days in which to get them done. Fortunately, here's the ultimate distraction from all that madness: cats in wigs.
Yup, I said it. Cats in wigs.
It doesn't get any sillier than that. Well, not until you put it on film.
Here's a trailer for the book Glamourpuss by Kitty Wigs creator Julie Jackson.
"The photos in this book are equal parts cute, funny, and creepy (in that "obsessive cat lady" way), and the combination is most enjoyable. The book is well-designed for casual flipthroughs and kitteh-obsessive pageturners alike, with vivid color reproduction with which to faithfully present all those technicolor wigs. I may buy several copies for teenage, female cat-fanciers on my holiday list. Something about the brand of humor here seems particularly fitting for that age group, and I do not say that with the intent to condescend (although, hey, if the wig fits...). It's sweet, ridiculous stuff." -Boing Boing
Still feeling stressed? Check out this behind-the-scenes video about photographing the cats for the book. There's also a Flickr pool of photos of cats in Kitty Wigs. And in case you missed it, here's Glamourpuss on the cover of Publishers Weekly.
Me-ow.
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cats wigs
Picking a Planner
by Siobhan
Design & Typography + Gift & Stationery / December 03, 2009
If you're like me, getting to the end of the year signals three things:
- An onsalught of "Best of 2009" lists.
- Writing down New Year's Resolutions.
- Choosing a new planner.
What do these three things have in common? They're all about making lists.
Now, before I come off as totally obsessive, I know I'm not the only list-maker out there. (In fact, I work with quite a few of them!) Writing lists is oh-so-satisfying. You feel organized, efficient, clear-headed. Not to mention the cute colour coding! :)
The yearly planner is the mother of all list-making. Am I right? It's like a blank slate for the new year. What kind of lists will you write? What amazing things will happen this year?
But choosing the right planner is tough. It needs to suit your lifestyle (Can you fit it in your purse? Do you leave in on your desk?) as well as the way your mind works (Do you orgazine your time by day, week or month? Horizontally or vertically?) and your style (Are you looking for classic black? Or is red the new black?).
I love that Moleskine has started making videos of their planners. They really give you a good sense of how each planner is organized, and shows you each format's unique features.
Here are the videos for two new formats for Moleskine:
Video #01 Moleskine Colour-a-Month Daily Diary/Planner
Video #02 Moleskine "Days that Count" Desk Calendar
There are lots more planner videos (and other fun stuff) on Moleskine's YouTube channel:
Video #03 Moleskine Monthly Notebook Diary/Planner
Video #04 Moleskine Panoramic Diary/Planner
Video #05 Moleskine Project Diary/Planner
Video #06 Moleskine Weekly Horizontal Diary/Planner
Video #07 Moleskine Weekly Notebook Diary/Planner
Video #08 Moleskine Weekly Vertical Diary/Planner
Video #09 Moleskine Daily Diary/Planner
Green Christmas
by Dan
Environment / December 03, 2009
Reduce your carbon footprint and save money this season (without sacrificing style or tradition!) with green living expert Anna Getty's new book I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas!
Anna advises how to best choose a tree (real or fake?), mitigate the negative effects of necessary travel, recycle post-holiday, and more.
She also shares her favorite holiday recipes and homemade craft ideas:
Organic appetizer anyone?
Going West
by Dan
Art & Photography / November 26, 2009
OK, so I know this is for the New Zealand Book Council which is a long way from Canada, but it is (a) awesome and (b) called Going West, both of which are sufficient reasons to post this incredible stop-animation video:
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book trailer books new zealand video
Looking for a party?
by Chelsey
Travel / November 18, 2009
Looking for the hippest places to party in style? I'm not surprised that Montreal came in at #2 of the world's top ten party cities in Lonely Planet's 1000 ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES. Belgrade tops the list -- check out the Ottawa Citizen article for the full list. Salut and santé!
Easy-going Montreal is increasingly popular with foreign travellers, who enjoy the joie de vivre of a place with bilingual ambience, good local beer and even cross-country skiing at nearby Mount Royal. Montreal’s irrepressible student population and atmospheric old quarter give the city a light-hearted, Bohemian air. There are Old World cafes, cool jazz clubs, packed discos and late bars to choose from, plus a popular comedy festival each July.
1000 ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES brings together 1000 ideas, places and activities to inspire and entertain, for travelers and lovers of life-lists alike. Start the party!
Coming soon:
Montreal & Quebec City Encounter
1st Edition
by Lonely Planet
978-1-74179-055-9