Exciting News

I know I usually stick to posts regarding books I have read but I couldn't resist sharing this with my readers. I know fellow Canadians especially are going to love this!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2011

Goose Lane Editions launches new website

[Fredericton, NB] In 1994, still in the birthing years of the Internet, Goose Lane Editions, Canada’s oldest independent book publisher, made history by becoming one of the first publishing houses in the world to launch their own website. After 18 years, the site has gone through numerous transformations, changing to suit our evolving culture as technology improved and users became more computer-savvy. Now, we are proud to announce the newest iteration of www.gooselane.com, with new features, new content, and a new promotion to kick off the launch.

In addition to a complete visual redesign, we have added new website elements such as twitter feeds and ongoing blog posts by our many employees. Sample chapters are available for many books, and an ongoing stream of events and notices is added to the main page every day.

To celebrate our launch, we’d like to extend a special offer. For every day the week of January 30, we will be offering one book a day at a special highly-discounted price. Roadsworth, YOU comma Idiot, The Famished Lover, Miller Brittain, The Black Watch, Beaverbrook: A Shattered Legacy, and Ganong: A Sweet History of Chocolate will each take over one day of the week with a drastically discounted price to help celebrate our new look and attitude. All this, in addition to our regular feature of free shipping on orders of $60 or more. To take advantage of these offers, simply create an account with Goose Lane. By doing so, you’ll also ensure that you are regularly updated on upcoming special offers.

We’ve been around a long time, both physically and electronically. Here’s to many more years together.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Published by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group and Penguin Group Canada

The internet is still being discovered by most people in 1996 and two young students, Emma and Josh, are about to embark on their own adventure online. Equipped with Emma's new computer and Josh's AOL disk that his parents don't want to use, they have no idea what they are in for. What they find is Facebook in 2011 and the profiles of people who look like them, just older and different. It doesn't take them long to discover that decisions they make in the present, affect their future selves in enormous ways and none of the outcomes are what the two desire.

I found this book to be a very quick read, and an addictive one at that. The concept was fascinating and unique so it's safe to say this book had my interest before I even opened the cover. It was almost surreal reading about characters trying to navigate through Facebook and discover what it was, when it's an every day part of my life. I found this book to be imaginative, thought-provoking, inspirational and entertaining. The two main characters are often scrambling to try and change their current lives in order to bring about a desired future and it never quite seems to work out how they anticipate. The ending was quite predictable which stifled my enjoyment a little but in spite of that, I still consider it a good reading experience and I would have no problem recommending it but I think adults aren't going to enjoy it as much as their young readers will. Personally my favourite aspect of this book is that it teaches about the consequences of our actions which I think is an invaluable lesson.

Authors' websites - http://jayasher.blogspot.com/
and

http://carolynmackler.com/Carolyn-Mackler-Home-Page.asp

Obsessed with Star Trek: Test Your Knowledge of the Star Trek Universe by Chip Carter

Published by Chronicle Books

Distributed by Raincoast Books

This interactive game features 2,500 Star Trek related questions that span across all of the TV shows and movies. Do you think you know everything Star Trek? If you aren't the type who likes to play group games there is a single player mode so you can just challenge yourself or if you want to challenge a friend simply switch to the two player mode. You can also set up the game with your preference as to whether you want random questions or whether you would rather input your own question numbers. The results are charted via way of how many correct answers out of how many questions asked (example: 3/10) as well as a percentage format. It's a fun and interesting way to learn more about Star Trek too if you are not so familiar with it. It takes just a few seconds to set up with your preferences and is so easy to use.

I had quite a bit of fun with this book. I don't consider myself a Trekkie but I did think I knew enough to at least avoid a totally humiliating score. I was so wrong. I found myself struggling to answer at least the first 10 - the example score above is probably the same score I had at that point - but the more I got into it, the more I got right which I was pretty relieved about. Of course, given that all the questions are written in a 4 answer multiple choice format, it could have been due to my luck improving rather than skill. Regardless, I found this book to be entertaining and informative and I couldn't help but find myself wanting to watch more Star Trek after playing, if only so I can have a better score next time! I especially seem to be lacking in knowledge of the original Star Trek with Captain Kirk and crew but my knowledge all through seems pretty pitiful. It's to be expected from a bookworm I guess.

A fun gift and if you have a Trekkie in your life, this should definitely be on your 'to buy' list. I personally could see myself playing this with a few friends on those cold winter nights just for fun.

Author's website - http://chipcarter.com/