Bytown Bookshop » Items of Interest

A Rather Devilishly Designed Gospel Ticket

Richard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:15:31 +0000

Found this tucked in a book the other day and just had to post it. I love how they so neatly wrap your eternal damnation into a trendy little admission ticket.

But wait! Simply flip the ticket over and eternal salvation shall be yours.

Kind of reminds one of the church indulgences used in the Middle Ages.

Your Brain, What Can You Do With It?

Richard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:49:12 +0000

Found this little infographic on the web a few weeks ago, have been using it for my background screen, and thought it worth sharing.

Long Overdue Post

Richard — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:10:22 +0000

Here goes a bit of a round up of all the things I should have posted over the past couple weeks (in no particular order):

MHB Press
A new UK press specializing in finely bound limited edition signed horror titles (many of which have been long out of print). With two books already set for pre-order and a half dozen more, by authors like Graham Masterson and Nancy Kilpatrick, waiting in the wings, this imprint is looking to have a great future in fine horror editions.

Punctuation Quiz
A little fun from a fellow Ottawa Press Gang member. I scored 50%, dang caret/chevron mix-ups again!

Letterpress Exhibition at the Canteen Gallery
Printmaking artist and Ottawa School of Art Teacher, Guillermo Trejo, will be exhibiting his prints and letterpress works at the Canteen Gallery (238 Dalhousie in the Market) from Aug 6 to 22nd.

Google Says There’s 129,864,880 Different Books

According to one of their fancy algorithms and the book data found in online library catalogues and sites such as Worldcat.org, there are just shy of 130 million different books (excluding serials, A/V material, microfiche, and bad teen poetry).

And finally…

CAN-CON 2010

This year Ottawa plays host to the 3-day Canadian sci-fi focused convention from Aug 20-22nd at the Travelodge Hotel on Carling (near Westgate Mall). It looks like the Bytown Bookshop will be the sole bookseller in the dealers room which could be very promising (or a bad omen). With a Steampunk theme to liven things up, we hope to have a fun show and take in some of the convention events. Hopefully see you there!

The font that only the creator could love

Richard — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:55:20 +0000

Saw this while trolling some of my favourite sites and had to share:

10 Strangest Things Ever to Happen In a Library

Richard — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:44:29 +0000

Was sent this fun little top ten of strange events at a libraries ranging from cute to lewd (and #5 is just downright creepy) from Emma at onlinecolleges.net.

The website’s blog also has some other great entries & info for students. I particularly liked the 100 Great Writing Tips from the World’s Top Bloggers.

I Write Like

Richard — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:50:08 +0000

Caught wind of the I Write Like writing style analyzer from the Bookninja blog and have to admit I got a great kick out of giving it a try. Simply cut and paste a piece of your writing into the analyzer, then supposedly using some manner of statistical methodology based on word choice and writing style it spits out a reknown author your style is most aligned with.

Using a bit of my own prose as test bait, it turns out that I write like David Foster Wallace. Funny enough, put in a paragraph or two from Infinite Jest and the analyzer indicates that David Foster Wallace writes like………well………um……… David Foster Wallace! Was kinda hoping it would spit out my name, but I guess my work hasn’t exactly taken me into the realm of author extraordinaire

If you decide to give the analyzer a whirl, please post a comment and let us know who you write like.

Choir Boats = E-book of the Month

Richard — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:31:04 +0000

I met the author of Choir Boats, Daniel A. Rabuzzi, at the Sci-fi World Con we did last year in Montreal and lo & behold his book has been chosen by Wowio as their free e-book for July! I’m already a few chapters in and am greatly enjoying the book. Daniel has also let it be known that a sequel is on the way!

For those not familiar with Wowio, it’s a great e-book seller (with a wonderful eye for sci-fi/fant, comics and small publishers) who let the publisher set the price and keep the revenue from their sales. They also have set up a sponsor system, so that a book or comic can be sponsored by someone and made available for free! Back that up with great content and what better way to lure someone into a comic series or introduce someone to an up-and-coming author like Daniel.

Even better, if you end up getting hooked on a series or author the prices are very reasonable ($0.99 – $6) per issue or book, and the majority of what you pay goes directly to support the author.

Now, back to reading Choir Boats

London Letterpress Shop just 288 Pica Wide

Richard — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:32:25 +0000

Was sent this link by a fellow Ottawa Press Gang member to Harrington and Squires, who’s letterpress shop (known as The Corridor) is but a mere 288 picas (1.2m). From their unique little 3 storey shop they produce a wide variety of letterpress books, calendars, cards and “by-products” as well as teach the art of letterpress to those enthusiastic enough to overcome any claustrophobic inhibitions.

Books Owners Have Smarter Kids

Richard — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:30:20 +0000

An interesting article, discussing a study recently published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility which discovered a correlation between simply having books around the house and how many years of schooling a child will likely complete. The study found that children in homes of 500+ books had the greatest advantage and even children in homes with a couple dozen books completed on average two years more schooling that kids from a home without books (are there truly such things?!).

With about 7000 books kicking around the house at any given time, by my calculations our little Emma is in for a lot of schooling (good-bye early retirement!).

Rare Inscribed Sherlock Holmes Book up for Auction

Richard — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:24:15 +0000

Perhaps one of the rarest treasures of modern literature will hit the auction block this summer at Sotheby’s. The copy of A Study In Scarlet, the debut novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of only two inscribed examples known to exist, and the first to ever be auctioned, is expected to fetch over $600k. A great article on the book and sale can be found at the UK Telegraph site.