Author Reading - October 13

With the first hints of winter in the air, Pennywise Books has begun preparing for an extremely busy season of special events and author appearances.

The first guest, co-founder of Amarok Society, Gem Munro will be in the store on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. Gem will be discussing his new book South Asian Adventures with the Active Poor. Gem’s family will be in attendance to show video clips and converse about the family’s adventures in the slums of Bangladesh. Chai tea will be served free of charge.

The Amarok Society is a Canadian registered charity operating in South Asia. Motivated by the suffering created by poverty and ignorance, the Amarok Society believes that education is the only way to permanently overcome poverty. This charity was founded in response to a critical need that wasn't being addressed - providing education to the many children who can never afford to go to school and whose own parents are illiterate. For more information about the Amarok Society, visit www.amaroksociety.org.

For details about future authors and events, watch this website in the coming days.

William Bolley - Reading & Signing

On Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 7:00 PM, local author William Bolley will be reading and signing copies of his first book, A Sobering Moment.

A story of tragedy, addiction, pain, courage and pursuit of the truth, A Sobering Moment is a combination of a dramatic adventure and the inner struggle of a man searching for the true meaning of life.

Mason Walls grew up an adventurous prairie boy full of wonder. But at age twelve, when the Walls family moves, his entire life changes. Thus begins Mason’s personal loss of confidence and the tragic destruction of his family. By seventeen Mason is forced on a desperate search to fill the emptiness inside. On the journey he meets many characters, some offering help, others inflicting pain. His spirit is tested, weakened, wounded and celebrated throughout the many trials he experiences. When Mason’s existence is in the final stages of despair his last hope is crushed. Hitting bottom he is forced to decide whether to live or die.

William Bolley is employed as a school social worker and has assisted children and their families for almost thirty years. During this time he has been exposed to a wide spectrum of suffering including loss, abuse, addiction and violence. However, in his capacity as a therapist he has also seen the incredible power and resiliency of the human spirit. Since completing a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English, he has been interested in writing. A Sobering Moment is his first published work. Currently he is working on his second novel, Triangles, a dangerous love story. He is married with two grown children and lives in Brandon, Manitoba.

The future of the book

I recently attended the Canadian Booksellers’ Association Summer Conference. In addition to the renewal of old acquaintances, author visits, sales presentations and other sorts of activities you would expect to encounter at a professional conference, there was a panel discussion on the future of the book industry. Although this discussion touched on many of the issues affecting independent booksellers (the fluctuating Canadian dollar, reassessments of returns policies, the economy, big box discounters, etc), the most interesting topic, to my mind, was the mindset of various publishers regarding the rise of the ebook.

Even the idea of the ebook gives me a nasty crawling of the flesh. It isn’t that I am some sort of Luddite or that, as a bookstore owner, I have a vested interest in the survival of the book. My problem is that the ebook may eventually win out over the physical book, despite the fact that the centuries-old format is the superior of the two.

A cursory listing, in no particular order, of my arguments for this position include:

1. Books have no requirement for electricity, battery or any form of power. Thus, they can be used in even the most primitive of conditions.
2. Although ebook readers have improved greatly with the latest generation of products, the resolution of the book will be difficult to surpass.
3. Transferability is less an issue for books than ebooks. While handing a book to a friend is rarely an issue (even if getting it returned is), sharing an ebook across different readers has, to date, been problematic.
4. Books are a very popular gift. Ebooks do not possess that physical dimension that is often important in gift-giving rituals.
5. Environmentally, books are superior. While much hue and cry can be raised around deforestation and the pollution resulting from pulp and paper mills, there are alternatives to these industrial practices. Electronic devices, in both production and disposal, are frightening with respect to what is released into soils and waterways.

Certainly, there are additional arguments and just as many counterarguments. Yet, because the general public has a love affair with hand-held electronic devices, publishers are looking to monetizing that small, but growing portion of the market seeking digital versions of new books.

The general consensus among the publishers present at the CBA conference was that ebooks will not likely play a significant role in the marketplace for at least 5 years. In that time, I cannot say how else the book industry will evolve as we are truly in a time of change.

In short, although the publishing industry is in a time of flux, it is almost certain that the book will survive.

(This post has been simultaneously published on both Absurd Intellectual and the Pennywise Books blog.)

Big Book Sale!

Just a quick update in regards to a BIG SALE we're having at Pennywise Books. Once again, we have more books that we have space for, so we need to make room. Thus, we are having our first "Spring-Cleaning-Word-of-Mouth Sale."

On the first two Saturdays in June (June 6 and June 13), EVERYTHING in the store will be 30% off -- new books, discount books, used books -- EVERYTHING! (Except books sold on consignment).

As this is a "word-of-mouth" sale, tell your friends and family that like to read. This sale is your opportunity to stock up for your summer reading!

A couple of rules:

(1) This sale will be on June 6 and June 13 only. Sale prices will not be offered during the week. Therefore, if there is a book you've seen on the shelf that you are interested in, you might want to consider either getting here early on a sale day, or pick it up in advance of the sale to be sure you get it at our already low prices.

(2) You cannot put books on hold until sale day. That's not playing fair.

That's it! Tell everyone you know who needs/wants something to read for the summer that Pennywise Books is having an amazing sale on June 6 and 13 (10:00 AM - 5:00 PM), where everything is 30% off.

For more information, contact us at: pennywise@westman.wave.ca or call 728-2665.

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

Free Comic Book Day

The first Saturday of every May (this year, May 2) is Free Comic Book Day. Normally, we don't stock regular magazine-type comics, but because we are totally overstocked on one or two graphic novels, we will be giving away free graphic novels all day. That's MAY 2, starting at 10:00 AM.

This is not an invitation to walk in and pick up whatever you want. The free books will be available at the counter and last only as long as the stock does.

Also, remember that the Manitoba Arts Council will be making a presentation Saturday morning, if you are interested in taking part in that session.

I hope to see you all on Saturday!