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Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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In Review: The Week of August 27
This week we interviewed a book cover designer, shared tips on getting the most out of a publishing internship, said bon voyage to CarryOnBooks, and more.
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CarryOnBooks: Three Months Later
Back in June, you may remember our announcement that we’d be bringing books to passengers at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport via CarryOnBooks, a book vending machine! Alas, it’s time to say “bon voyage!” to the machine’s home in the airport: and we’re doing so by taking a look at the kinds of books that…
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Publishing Intern Diaries: Bookmarking the Need-To-Knows
Five months ago I was almost certain I wouldn’t find an internship, and here I sit at my second internship, taking on the unexpected and fun opportunity to write about my experiences. Let me introduce you to the warm and welcoming world of book publishing.
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Beautiful Books: Original Prin
The plots inherent to contemporary Canadian novels can make the cover designer’s job anything but easy – and the “humour,” “family,” and “suicide bomber” of Randy Boyagoda’s Original Prin (Biblioasis) is no exception. Designer Michel Vrana walks us through the design process and inspirations behind his cover for Original Prin, and we think you’ll agree that the results…
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Under the Cover: Hit the Ground Running
The jumping off point for Mark Burley’s parkour-based adventure novel Hit the Ground Running (Blue Moon Publishers) began after a father-daughter afternoon at an art gallery and evolved into a fast-paced young adult novel (and trilogy) about a boy who goes on a mission to find his parents after they are abducted.
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Sink or Swim?
Once you read that last chapter of a good book and put it down, there is so much to do and so much to consider. You want to take a moment and decide how it made you feel, or write down your two cents, maybe even cross it off your list and reach for the…
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In Review: The Week of August 20th
This week we revealed our perfectly-normal crushes on literary characters, bid farewell to our summer book club, picked up some debut fiction, and more.
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First Fiction Friday: Hutchison Street
First Fiction Friday covers all kinds of debuts – this one happens to be celebrated Montreal writer Abla Farhoud’s first novel translated into English! Hutchison Street (Linda Leith Publishing) is a love letter to books and writing, and to the varied inhabitants of Montreal.
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Where in Canada: Louis Althusser at Emma Lake
If you’ve read Grant Buday’s Atomic Road (Anvil Press) — an absurdist novel about two historical intellectuals on a trip to Emma Lake — you might be wondering how Louis Althusser, the famous Algerian-born French philosopher, ended up in Northern Saskatchewan at the Emma Lake artist colony. In the foreword John O’Brian muses the same…
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All Lit Up Book Club: Further Reading after The Figgs
And just like that, book club is finished for another summer. We’ve had only ups reading The Figgs’ ups and downs: from interviewing both publisher Freehand Books and author Ali Bryan, and having our own staff discussion that ended in fits of laughter. Because we hate goodbyes, we dug up four follow-up reads that will…
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Summer Flings: Book Characters We Loved
As far as intensive reading experiences go, being completely taken by a fictional character tops the list! Nothing keeps you well invested in a story like a character you have come to adore and feel close to. You laugh with them, cry with them, you hurt with them, and rejoice with them. Basically, you get…
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Top 10: Snap-Worthy Stories
Yesterday’s World Photography Day had us thinking about all the great stories that are told visually. From portraits of Canadian authors to the rise of hip hop culture to photographic documentaries of marginalized women, our top 10 list of snap-worthy stories is an ode to this powerful visual medium.
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In Review: The Week of August 13th
This week, we interviewed authors, learned lessons, avoided foraging advice from Instagrammers, and so much more! Read on to make sense of that weird opening.
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First Fiction Friday: Land Mammals and Sea Creatures
Jen Neale’s debut Land Mammals and Sea Creatures (ECW Press) takes on dark subjects of suicide, PTSD, and environmental calamity balanced with themes of friendship and its curative power for a wildly engaging read.
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Chappy Hour: A Sweet Marie + Full Circle
All of the Chappy Hour poems we’ve read over the years have a certain decadence, but perhaps none more so than Helen Fogwill Porter’s “Food for Thought” from her latest collection Full Circle (Breakwater Books) lists eight specific food items (chocolate doughnuts, roasted pork, et cetera) that all sound just too good – we’ll have to sate ourselves…
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