November 19, 2010

Salut!

J'espère vous voir au lancement de nos 3e et 4e éditions de Here Be Monsters. Nous avons changé la date de l'évènement parce que notre lieu de rassemblement original (ouvert pendant des années) a fermé ses portes! Donc le lancement ne sera plus au Café L'Étranger, mais au Café Shaika, proche du métro Vendôme. Pour savoir comment s'y rendre, consultez le lien Google Map que je vous envoie. Si des gens ont besoin de plus d'infos pour trouver la place, ils peuvent m'envoyer un message ou m'appeler. La bonne nouvelle est que maintenant le lancement va se tenir un samedi! La nouvelle date est le 4 décembre à 20 h.

Amenez vos ami(e)s! Ça va être une belle soirée! Il y aura de la musique, et les éditions 3 et 4 seront en vente!

Même si Shaika est un café, de la bière et de la nourriture seront disponibles sur place.

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Hello!

I hope to see you at our all at our Launch for issues 3 and 4 of Here Be Monsters. We have had a change of date because our original venue (open for years) actually shut its doors. So, the launch will no longer be at Café L'Étranger, but instead it will be at Shaika Café near Vendôme metro. I am attaching a google map, but if anyone needs better directions they should feel free to email or call me. The good news out of all this is that it will now be a Saturday! The new date is December 4 at 8:00 pm.

Bring your friends! It will be a great evening, with music and our third and fourth issues available for sale.

Even if Shaika is a café, beer and food are available.

November 7, 2010

Bookstore Review 2 - Paragraphe Books

Here is the second of our reviews of local Montreal books stores.

Paragraphe is the biggest of the non-chain bookstores in town.  It resides in a sleek, glass-fronted building, right outside the gates of McGill.  Walking in, you're greeted with an upscale, well-presented, store, with a selection that rivals any of the big-box superstores. It would be a mistake to assume that it is simply another place to pick up bestsellers, however.  Paragraphe incorporates its traditions as one of Montreal's longest running English-language bookstores with its modern business.

Each week, authors, artists, and speakers are brought in to show their work and meet with the public.  There are two regular series (Books and Breakfast and Words After Dark) that feature well-known authors as well as frequent appearances by lesser-known writers throughout the month.  Hosting such a huge number of readings for all sorts of books is a great service, and certainly unique to that store.

In addition, they show a lot of support for Canadian authors on the shelves and keep a well-stock political discourse section.  Since they cater to the McGill student crowd, they put common course books aside to save them from wandering the stacks.

If you're looking for a hidden gem, or a well-worn classic, this isn't the right place.  But if you're looking for a newer title, or kids books, or any of the other types of books that aren't well serviced by independent bookstores, then Paragraphe offers a great alternative to the monolithic Chapters/Indigo.

Paragraphe is located on 2220 McGill College (corner of Sherbrooke Ouest)

If you'd like to pick up Here Be Monsters, it is in the Anthology section, on the left as you enter.