October 12th was a night of dual celebrations. A joint party was held to celebrate the launch of McClelland & Stewart’s new imprint, Signal, which is dedicated towards promoting non-fiction authors who address very topical and sometimes extremely controversial issues, and the launch of Diplomacy in the Digital Age, a collaboration of essays inspired by Ambassador Allan Gotlieb’s desire to alter diplomacy in order to adapt to the times in which we live.

As the publicity intern for McClelland & Stewart, I was thrilled to be a part of the event. The launch was hosted at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. The venue was intimate and created a perfect aura of intellectual sophistication. At five pm, the guests began to arrive and some very successful Canadians began to fill the room; including Avi Bennett, former owner of McClelland & Stewart; Doug Kelly, president of the National Post; Noreen Taylor, Chairman of the Charles Taylor Foundation; and Canadian Ambassador Deanna Horton.

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For the first time in the competition’s history, Canada Reads is eschewing fiction in order to highlight some of the masterful “True Stories” written by Canadians. Today, the CBC released the Canada Reads: True Stories Top 40, which will move on to the next round of votes.

Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart cannot thank you enough for successfully campaigning for 17 of our titles! Your nominations and praise are music to our ears, and to our authors’. Thank you, Canada!

Our Canada Reads: True Stories Top 40 Contenders

Click on a cover to learn more or read an excerpt

But, your work is not done yet! It’s time to help select the Top 10 True Stories. It’s similar to an award shortlist: Canada Reads defenders will select one of the Top 10 to champion on air in March. You can select up to 5 books in this poll – who are you voting through to the next round?

Tap into your inner hippie! Explore the birth of folk music, a time of peace, love and game changing music, with three fantastic new biographies.

Writing Gordon Lightfoot
The Man, the Music, and the World in 1972 by Dave Bidini

Writing Gordon Lightfoot by Dave Bidini - A brilliantly original look at a folk-rock legend and the momentous week in 1972 that culminated in the Mariposa Folk Festival. Through a series of letters, Bidini addresses Lightfoot directly, questioning him, imagining his life, and weaving together a fascinating, highly original look at a musician at the top of his game. By the end of the week, the country is on the verge of massive change and the ‘72 Mariposa folk fest-complete with surprise appearances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and yes, Lightfoot-is on its way to becoming legendary.

Sweet Judy Blue Eyes
My Life in Music by Judy Collins

Sweet Judy Blue Eyes is the deeply personal, honest, and revealing memoir of folk legend and relentlessly creative spirit Judy Collins. In it, she talks about her alcoholism, her lasting love affair with Stephen Stills, her friendships with Joan Baez, Richard and Mimi Fariña, David Crosby, and Leonard Cohen and, above all, the music that helped define a decade and a generation’s sound track.

Four Strong Winds by John Einarson, Contribution by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson

An acclaimed music historian brings us the long-awaited story of Ian & Sylvia - marking the first time that the legendary folk duo has endorsed a biography of their groundbreaking career. In Four Strong Winds, John Einarson takes us back to Ian & Sylvia’s early days in Toronto coffeehouses, to their experiences at the heart of the vibrant 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, and beyond, as their personal and musical partnership continued to change and evolve. Based on Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s own personal reflections as well as on the recollections of contemporaries, associates, and admirers, Four Strong Winds is the definitive account of this iconic musical duo and a window on a fascinating period in music history.

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Today marks my first message to you in the Booklounge newsletter – hello! I look forward to bringing the Booklounge newsletter to you every other week and welcome your comments on articles and information you find interesting and what you would like to see more of.

As I write this, we are heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, and where I am based, the weather forecast looks fantastic – perfect for walks to see the leaves changing colour, sitting out on the deck for one last time this season with a great read, and, in my case, giving some much needed attention to my garden before the frost comes.

These things bring some books to mind. A New Leaf: Growing with My Garden by Merilyn Simonds shares Merilyn’s experiences in her garden throughout the year and provides inspiration for the mind at the same time. And, on the deck this weekend, I’ll be reading The Virgin Cure, the new novel by bestselling author of The Birth House Ami McKay, which I’ve managed to get an early copy of (it goes on sale October 25) and can’t wait to read.

If you have the opportunity for a little reading this weekend (on a deck or elsewhere), I highly recommend The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Cat’s Table by Scotiabank Giller Prize nominee Michael Ondaatje. Enjoy!

I have a confession to make. These delicate baby puddings scented with a touch of rum and orange zest started life as the filling for my mother’s pumpkin pie. But since I don’t have Devin’s deft hand in the pastry department, I decided to skip the crust and make these sweet little desserts instead. (Though for Thanksgiving dinner Devin and I work in tandem and turn out a pie that would make Mom proud.)

The puddings can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, but bring them to room temperature before serving.

Serves 6

Pecan Brittle
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup pecan halves (about 3 oz/90 g), broken in rough quarters
Pinch of kosher salt

Puddings
14-oz (398 mL) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling), about 1 3/4 cups
3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground mace
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (not condensed) or 18% cream
2 Tbsp dark rum
1/2 tsp lightly packed grated orange zest, preferably organic
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…that, despite his novel Amerika being an exploration of the United States and its culture, Franz Kafka never traveled further west than Paris?

Excerpt from The Tao of Travel:

Franz Kafka cannot be held accountable for the title of his novel Amerika. Left unfinished, it was published after his death by his friend and literary executor, Max Brod, who gave it this name. Kafka usually referred to it as Der Verschollene (The Missing Person or The Man Who Disappeared). The man in question went to America.

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September 6, 2011 started with the early morning news that Julian Barnes’ latest novel, The Sense of an Ending, had made it onto the UK’s Man Booker Prize shortlist. The prize is £50,000 and the winner will be announced in London on October 18.

Hot on the heels of this announcement came another: The Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. Of the 16 books that made the list for the $50,000 prize, Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart are home to 5 of them:

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A colleague of mine was at a party the other day and met someone who had never heard of the job ‘book designer’; the person usually responsible for the cover, but also for designing the ‘interior’ of a book, the person ultimately charged with the task of organizing everything from page one to four-hundred fifty-one.

“I thought all books were the same inside,” she said.

Don’t believe it for a minute.

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Forget for one second that I posed as Christopher Hitchens’ Arguably in my profile picture - it was a fan boy moment. Let’s focus instead on the fact that I adore well-wrought rhetoric. Even when ideas and opinions differ from my own, I take massive pleasure in reading books by people who a) know how to turn a phrase and b) have the courage to stand behind their convictions. There are many who attempt to hide behind a pretense of a non-confrontational tone or self-indulgent inanity they claim to be non-partisan, or even worse, unbiased.

Christopher Hitchens is a masterful writer, and no one could claim that he refuses to stand behind his opinions. There are few writers with a voice like Hitchens - hilarious, informative, intriguing, confrontational, hilarious, erudite, inquisitive, abusive, and did I mention hilarious? Here is a man whose voice has sung to millions, and let’s be honest, he’s ticked more than a few people off in the process, and we love him for it. Arguably is a brilliant collection of his best pieces from the past seven years; it’s over 800 pages of his thoughts on literature, society, current events, friends, foes, alcohol, and the beauty and horrors of our world.