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Toronto, A Books Tour Part III: All the Rest
The third bookstore I'd like to talk about is Glad Day Books. They've been around a good long time, always in an upstairs location on Yonge Street, near the Wellesley subway station. When I walked along Yonge Street on the Wednesday I was there, en route to the Lighthouse immersive experience of Library at Night (see Part I), their sign was still there but the door was locked and there was no indication of when or if it would be open again. I would have appreciated some sort of sign along the lines of "We have moved to: [new address]". But no matter. I decided to look for their website once I was back in my hotel room and learned that sure enough, they had moved to 499 Church Street.
The next morning, after enjoying a swim at the hotel pool, I made Glad Day my first stop, aiming to arrive close to their opening time of 11AM. I must say I was quite impressed. Their new location feels much more bright and spacious, is more accessible to anyone with a physical disability, and features a coffee bar as well. I didn't try their coffee or snacks but they seemed to have a good selection there and were asking for proof of vaccination for anyone wishing to eat or drink there.
Whenever I go shopping in another city, I look for items that I think would be harder to obtain locally. When it comes to books, size and weight are also important factors, since I'm going to have to lug everything home. If I see a book I'm interested in that's quite a hefty tome (or set of them), I just note the details so I can order it later. Quite often I gravitate towards books from small local presses. So on this occasion, I ended up buying two books, as follows:
Even The Sidewalk Could Tell: How I came out to my wife, my 3 children and the world, by Alon Ozery (Regent Park Publishing, 2021). The author is the co-founder of Ozery Bakery and co-owns Parallel Brothers, a restaurant and sesame butter brand located in Toronto. Born in Toronto to an Orthodox Jewish father and a British mother, raised in Israel and educated in Canada (where he still lives), he has an interesting story to tell about his life, his values and coming to terms with his sexuality. The book contains some really charming line drawings which I presume were done either by the author or a member of his family.
Beyond the Gender Binary, by Alok Said-Menon (New York: Penguin Workshop, 2020). Pocket Change Collective series, see PenguinTeen.com. Weighing in at a mere 64 pages and smaller than a regular paperback, this really does fit easily in a pocket or purse. While possibly geared to young people still struggling to find themselves on the gender spectrum, it nevertheless serves as a useful introduction for anyone just learning new terminologies of gender.
After my visit to Glad Day Books, I continued on to the Sleuth of Baker Street, which I visit pretty much every time I go to Toronto and periodically order from at other times. Here's what I bought on this trip:
P.D. James - The Part-Time Job; Murder Most Foul (2 short stories published by Faber, 2020, to celebrate her would-have-been 100th birthday)
J. Sydney Jones - Basic Law: A mystery of Cold War Europe (New York: Mysterious Press, 2015)
Carole laFavor - Along the Journey River (Firebrand Books, 1996)
Arthur Mayse - Perilous Passage (Montreal: Vehicule Press & Estate of Arthur Mayse, 2022); reprint of story originally published in 1949 as 7-part series in Saturday Evening Post. With an introduction by his daughter, Susan Mayse.
Tim Paulsen - Damaged Goods. (Cobourg, Ont.: Ragnar Press, 2019)
Harriet Rutland - Blue Murder (Dean Street Press, 2015; first published 1942)
Philipp Schott - Fifty-Four Pigs, a Dr. Bannerman vet mystery (Toronto: ECW, 2022).
The final book-related event I went to in Toronto was Noir at the Bar at the Duke of Kent pub. It featured readings by a number of crime fiction writers, some well-established like Barbara Fradkin and Giles Blunt, others relative newcomers. I bought 2 books there:
Don Macdonald - Omand's Creek (Cordova Pub. Co., 2020). It was a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada's award for best unpublished manuscript. On the back cover is the tag line "You love Nordic Noir, now try Prairie Noir". I did try it and I can definitely recommend it! Purely by chance, Don Macdonald and his partner were sitting at my table. He now lives in Montreal but was born and raised in Winnipeg, where the story is mostly set.
Carolyne Topdjian - The Hitman's Daughter (Agora Books, 2022). I'm reading this one now and it looks promising so far.
I haven't yet read any of the books I bought at Sleuth of Baker Street although I'm definitely looking forward to them - I just have to decide which to read first!
The next morning, after enjoying a swim at the hotel pool, I made Glad Day my first stop, aiming to arrive close to their opening time of 11AM. I must say I was quite impressed. Their new location feels much more bright and spacious, is more accessible to anyone with a physical disability, and features a coffee bar as well. I didn't try their coffee or snacks but they seemed to have a good selection there and were asking for proof of vaccination for anyone wishing to eat or drink there.
Whenever I go shopping in another city, I look for items that I think would be harder to obtain locally. When it comes to books, size and weight are also important factors, since I'm going to have to lug everything home. If I see a book I'm interested in that's quite a hefty tome (or set of them), I just note the details so I can order it later. Quite often I gravitate towards books from small local presses. So on this occasion, I ended up buying two books, as follows:
Even The Sidewalk Could Tell: How I came out to my wife, my 3 children and the world, by Alon Ozery (Regent Park Publishing, 2021). The author is the co-founder of Ozery Bakery and co-owns Parallel Brothers, a restaurant and sesame butter brand located in Toronto. Born in Toronto to an Orthodox Jewish father and a British mother, raised in Israel and educated in Canada (where he still lives), he has an interesting story to tell about his life, his values and coming to terms with his sexuality. The book contains some really charming line drawings which I presume were done either by the author or a member of his family.
Beyond the Gender Binary, by Alok Said-Menon (New York: Penguin Workshop, 2020). Pocket Change Collective series, see PenguinTeen.com. Weighing in at a mere 64 pages and smaller than a regular paperback, this really does fit easily in a pocket or purse. While possibly geared to young people still struggling to find themselves on the gender spectrum, it nevertheless serves as a useful introduction for anyone just learning new terminologies of gender.
After my visit to Glad Day Books, I continued on to the Sleuth of Baker Street, which I visit pretty much every time I go to Toronto and periodically order from at other times. Here's what I bought on this trip:
P.D. James - The Part-Time Job; Murder Most Foul (2 short stories published by Faber, 2020, to celebrate her would-have-been 100th birthday)
J. Sydney Jones - Basic Law: A mystery of Cold War Europe (New York: Mysterious Press, 2015)
Carole laFavor - Along the Journey River (Firebrand Books, 1996)
Arthur Mayse - Perilous Passage (Montreal: Vehicule Press & Estate of Arthur Mayse, 2022); reprint of story originally published in 1949 as 7-part series in Saturday Evening Post. With an introduction by his daughter, Susan Mayse.
Tim Paulsen - Damaged Goods. (Cobourg, Ont.: Ragnar Press, 2019)
Harriet Rutland - Blue Murder (Dean Street Press, 2015; first published 1942)
Philipp Schott - Fifty-Four Pigs, a Dr. Bannerman vet mystery (Toronto: ECW, 2022).
The final book-related event I went to in Toronto was Noir at the Bar at the Duke of Kent pub. It featured readings by a number of crime fiction writers, some well-established like Barbara Fradkin and Giles Blunt, others relative newcomers. I bought 2 books there:
Don Macdonald - Omand's Creek (Cordova Pub. Co., 2020). It was a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada's award for best unpublished manuscript. On the back cover is the tag line "You love Nordic Noir, now try Prairie Noir". I did try it and I can definitely recommend it! Purely by chance, Don Macdonald and his partner were sitting at my table. He now lives in Montreal but was born and raised in Winnipeg, where the story is mostly set.
Carolyne Topdjian - The Hitman's Daughter (Agora Books, 2022). I'm reading this one now and it looks promising so far.
I haven't yet read any of the books I bought at Sleuth of Baker Street although I'm definitely looking forward to them - I just have to decide which to read first!