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It has been a tough year for the independent bookstore. So, here are two stories about independent bookstores – one happy, one sad for those of you who are keeping track.

What Canada Also Reads

Unfortunately we don’t have a national program like Canada Reads, which honors favorite authors and titles from our northern neighbor. This year, the National Post’s literary blog didn’t think the Canada Reads program did a good enough job in spotlighting lesser-known Canadian authors and titles so they did something about it.

They Call Me Mr. Tayto

Forget Kindle, this is the future of books. In Ireland a local company is fending off foreign competition in the snack industy. They own Tayto. It’s Irish. But, there’s stalwart competition from Pringle’s, PepsiCo, and KP Hula Hoops on the Emerald Isle. What does Tayto do? They sketch out their representative, give him some personality. Some panache. They give some derring-do to Mr. Tayto, who looks like a cross between Planters’ Mr. Peanut and one of the Mister Men. And they give him a book.

Dave Eggers Telegraphs His Thoughts

The thing with becoming a name is that the name is invariably different from the person. The name is a straight-laced golf pro. The person is a serial horndog with a penchant for borderline whores. Or the name is a pleasant, if bland t.v. actress, while the person is a charitable, if modest, ordinary person. I don’t know when the two split, but they do. And, this has happened to Dave Eggers. Everybody has an opinion about the guy. The opinion is split into two camps with the fracture line being if he can write. But, everybody seems to agree he’s a nice enough guy who’s trying to do some good things in the world. So, it’s nice to see this profile in The Telegraph on Eggers this morning.

Orwell’s Birthplace Preserved

The house where George Orwell was born is being preserved. He wasn’t born where you might think.

Protecting The Guilty

I’ve seen some people link to The New York Times feature today which asks seven book people to “cull” their collection of books – separating the wheat from the chaff. And it’s all a miserable cop out.

The Books We Get For Christmas

Okay, for some reason my family (four of us) wound up giving each other a bunch of books for Christmas. I’ve now tallied and linked so you can judge our taste in books. Also, feel free to share which books you got for Christmas. The good and the bad!

Won’t You Come See Me, Queen Jane?

With the success of Wolf Hall and Showtime’s The Tudors, Leanda de Lisle’s non-fiction The Sisters Who Would Be Queen, should be popular.

Beating The Tintin Drum

Get ready for the onslaught of Tintin-related stories. Oh wait, the onslaught is here. If you like Tintin, read after the jump. If not, proceed to scroll.

Author As Tour Guide

Going to Parma? Then sit down with Stendhal before you go. Trust me.

Saturday Book Review Round-Up Sunday Edition

I hope everybody had an excellent vacation. It looks like some of our book reviewing friends were enjoying the holiday, too. But, it didn’t dampen our festive book review round-up.

‘Parallax View’ Author Dies In Unconspiracy-Like Fashion

Loren Singer, author of the Parallax View, died on Dec. 19 at the age of 86. As The New York Times notes, his book was one of the first to offer a world of paranoia. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t attach the world’s greatest montage which appeared in the movie.

Return Of The Prodigal Sun King

Although I promised to post intermittently during my absence, I didn’t hold to that. But, that’s okay even if I have a lot of catching up to do.