September 9 – Upcoming Events Email!

To Prince George and beyond,

This Friday (September 9^th) evening Books & Co. and Café Voltaire are proud to announce that Prince George’s very own Karl Standeven will take the Friday Night Mics stage at 8pm!  This singing and song-writing Blues guitarist is bound to knock your socks off!  Please c’mon down to the café, grab a coffee and a seat and take in this absolutely free performance by one of PG’s finest!

Retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Charles Scheideman is proud to announce the printing of a sequel to his wildly popular Policing the Fringe: The Curious Life of a Small-Town Mountie!  His new book Tragedy on Jackass Mountain: More Stories from a Small-Town Mountie is chalk full of the same wry humour and irresistible small-town-Canada stories you loved in Policing the Fringe!  Better yet – Scheideman is visiting Books & Co. at 2pm on Saturday September 10^th to chat with you, swap shop talk, read from his new book and sign your dog-earred copies of his books!  See you there!

Come down to Café Voltaire Tuesday September 13^th at 6pm and join members of the Prince George Safe Water Coalition as they come together for a Safe Water Panel to discuss water safety in Prince George and its mighty region.

The very next day, Wednesday September 14^th, we are hosting another epic instalment of Café Scientifique!  Come down to the shop for 7pm for a scientifique discussion (we have not been advised of the topic yet, but we’re sure it’s going to be fabulous . . . and we’ll let you know as soon as we do)!

Your favourite Booksters have something very special planned for you and your family on Sunday September 18^th at 2pm!  Come down to the shop for the Roald Dahl Day Peach Party!  Did you know that James and the Giant Peach was first published 50 years ago!?  Join us for a reading from that epic young adult novel and stay to play and make new monsters like those that menace your beloved Dahl heroes!  AND!  Your monster masterpieces will be posted and strung all around Books & Co. to strike fear into the hearts of customers and staff alike . . . or you can take them home to play and scare the wits out of your siblings, parents and friends!  This is going to be a super fun (and free) event – please c’mon down!

Oh family, friends and fans – we have some amazing musical acts lined up for you in the coming weeks!  We’re starting on September 21^st at 8pm with “one of the major talents of our time” Garnet Rogers (tickets are $20 and available now at Books & Co.)!  Then, on October 13^th at 8pm, we are so excited to present Canadian greats Valdy & Gary Fjellgaard (so excited – how many times have you walked passed the Books & Co. counter and saw your favourite Booksters singing along to VLT?  Too many to count – you’re absolutely right) – tickets for this event are $25 each and also available now!  Finally, on October 21^st at 8pm, Canadian musical juggernaut Roy Forbes is returning to the Artspace stage!  That’s right, we have tickets for that show available for you now for $25 each!

Please join us in welcoming local wordsmith Vivien Lougheed to the Artspace stage as she launches her new book Sidetracked: The Struggle for BC’s Fossils from 7-10pm on Thursday September 22^nd!  On her visit, Vivien will talk about this thrilling new book in which she “tells the fascinating tale of the [Monroe Dinosaur Trackway]’s discovery and, in the telling, weaves in stories of other major fossil finds in British Columbia and across North America, many of which demonstrate how egos, turf wars and a lack of resources diminish the science of palaeontology.”  Exhilarating indeed!  You do not want to miss this event!

From 7-10pm on Friday, September 23^rd the contributing authors of British Columbia’s Inland Rainforest: Ecology, Conservation and Management will be at Artspace for an evening celebrating the paperback edition of their landmark book and they want you to join them!  Please come up to Artspace and meet the authors of this exciting book, which “illuminates the unique ecology of BC’s other rainforest, the one 500km inland, and provides  insight into the physical, social and ecological dimensions of the rainforest.”

Books & Co. is very proud to announce the birth (so to speak) of another new project of our own!  We have a brand new book club for all of the new parents in the crowd!  The Shhhh, Mommy’s (or Daddy’s) Reading book club has been designed for new parents who need to get out of the house to chit-chat about new literature and who are curious about new titles their new little bundles of joy would enjoy listening to just before bedtime!  While the books discussed won’t just be about babies and parenting, we may just throw one or two in for fun!  Our inaugural meeting is scheduled for Monday September 26^th at 10am in Café Voltaire, where the books The Help by Katherin Stockett and Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin will be discussed.  Please come out and socialize over books, coffee and scones with us!

We have another author event for you!  At 7pm on Friday September 30^th please join us in Artspace for a visit from Andrew Nikiforuk and Charlotte Gill as they give a reading from their books Empire of the Beetle: How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug Are Killing North America’s Great Forests and Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe!  Very poignant, very timely subject matter!

That’s it for this week, folks!  Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook (we love your feedback), Twitter (140 characters or less) and on our fantastic homepage!

Burn that mother down.

Have you ever wondered why a book has been banned?  Or who challenged its relevancy?

Do thoughts like this keep you up at night?

If you’ve answered an enthusiastic “OH HECK  YES!” to any or all of these questions, well then. . . .

 

Booksters Kim G and Mama Erin have been hosting an unofficial Books & Co. book club for just over a year now!  This book club is special for a myriad of reasons (chief among those is the collection of amazing members we’ve amassed who consistently wow us with with the scope of their discussions), but one of the things that sets us apart is that we read and discuss books that have been banned from or challenged in school and municipal libraries, cities, and even countries.  We’ve read Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Roy’s The God of Small Things, Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland along with several others and plan to tackle Capote’s In Cold Blood next!

We are fortunate to have some of Prince George’s finest minds join us in our (sometimes zany, mostly serious and always interesting) discussions and now we want you!  That’s right folks, we’d really like to have some new membership in the club!  So, if you’re looking for a new book to read, pick up Capote’s.  If you’re looking for some nifty folks to chat about that book with, come down to Café Voltaire at 3pm on Sunday June 26th for our next meeting!

And hey, if you have any comments, concerns or questions please feel free to leave us a comment on the blog, email us at booksandcopg@gmail.com, give us a call at (250) 563-6637, send us a message on Facebook,  or query us in 140 characters (or less) on Twitter!

We’ll see you on the 26th!

(If you’re interested in some Books & Co. Banned Book Club history, check out this article on Kim’s blog: Give that baby a steak!)

Kevin Hutchings at Café Voltaire!

Kevin Hutchings:  University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) professor extraordinaire, William Blake enthusiast, recording artist, rock star.

Last night (February 25^th) Dr. Kevin Hutchings graced Books & Co. and the Café Voltaire stage for the shindig celebrating the release of his third album, “Light to Shine”!  As always, the show was phenomenal.  Kevin crooned some of his tried-and-true tunes, introduced us to a few new ditties, and showed the crowd why George Gordon Lord Byron is the rock star of the Romantic Era.

Café Voltaire was packed for the show last night!  Books & Co. Friday night regulars were in attendance along with UNBC faculty, Kevin’s students (current and past) and curious passers by.

Whenever Kevin Hutchings takes the stage, the audience is in for a treat.  Not only is he a phenomenal musician – singing, strumming his guitar and showing off his harmonica skills – but he is a spellbinding storyteller.  Each of his songs has a story behind it, and that story is as much fun to listen to as the song itself.  I have been fortunate enough to have seen Kevin in two other Café Voltaire shows on Friday nights (and one stint at the Great Santa Claus Debate at UNBC seven years ago, give or take).  As with those shows, Kevin invited local troubadour (and Café Voltaire Friday Night Event Director) Eric Tompkins an stage to jam with him.  An outstanding duo, complementing each other beautifully.

I had the chance to have a quick chat with Kevin between sets.  He, very cheerfully, let me know that the Café Voltaire stage is his favourite to frequent.  In fact, he said that playing Café Voltaire was like playing in his own living room.  Folks, this has less to do with the physical ambiance of Books & Co. and (much, much) more to do with you.  Part of what makes Kevin Hutchings such an engaging performer is that he’s so comfortable with what he does.  He addresses his audience as though they’ve been friends for years (and in some cases they have), and his audience treats him in the same relaxed, comfortable manner . . . although we tend to be a little awe-struck, too.

An outstanding show by Kevin Hutchings and Eric Tompkins!  Thank you gentlemen, you are phenomenal and Prince George is so very lucky to have you.

This post (also) brought to you by Kim G.

For previous Kevin Hutchings Café Voltaire reviews, be sure to visit Kim’s blog:

November 28, 2009
July 23, 2010

Books & Co.: Taking over the internet!

Well fans, friends and family of Books & Co.? We have (finally) entered blogdom!

Let’s start with some Ws!

What is this?

This is a blog.  As you may know, a blog (or “web log”) is a collection of the author’s (or authors’) own experiences, observations and opinions.  This blog is to be a discussion of the culture of Our Northern Capital. Books & Company is fortunate to be situated in the downtown core of Prince George, BC. There is so much going on around us here, and we want to explore all of it! Of course we are very interested in reviews of Books & Co., Cafe Voltaire and Artspace events, but we also want to post things about Prince George that may have very little to do with Books & Co.! Our culture comes from the culture of our city and her amazing citizens!

We want delve into the world of Prince George’s musical events, author visits, book launches and science lectures, as well as our feelings about the latest and greatest in the world of literature, local sporting events, downtown revitalization plans, what we expect for 2015 and why we just can’t resist Michael Scott, Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin: Scranton!

Who are we?

We are Books & Company, Prince George’s favourite independent bookshop!  The brainchild of store owner Jim Brinkman.  Books & Co. has been in PG for over fifteen years now and has been an important player in the shaping of the culture of the city’s downtown – perhaps the city itself.  Contributing to this blog will be Books & Co. employees, past and present, our friends, family and fans.  You know what this means, folks. . . .

We want you!  You attend our events, you read books and magazines, you feel strongly about what’s going on in PG – we want your input!  If you have something to say, say it! We would love to accept your submissions to our blog!  (If you are interested, please visit our submissions page for more information.)

When will we post?

It is exceedingly frustrating to follow a blog that is not consistently updated.  Though we cannot promise to share our words of wisdom with you daily, we do promise to give you something at least once a week!  If you are fans of us on Facebook, or loyal Twitter followers, you will know we’ve blogged as soon as we know!

Why are we doing this?

Just like you, we’re interested in Prince George.  We love our events and our city, we love to read, and we love to blather on and on about the things we love!  We’re very interested in discussing our opinions and yours.  The good, the bad and the ugly, folks – we want to discover Prince George’s secrets and explore all this fantastic little city has to offer!

There you have it, folks.  We’ll be making up the rules as we go, based on experience we pick up and feedback from you.  Well beyond the importance of your submissions of reviews, thoughts, rants and best new slam poem, we want your feedback.  Let us know how we’re doing by commenting on our posts, or emailing us (again, see our submissions page for more information) if you’re shy!

We look forward to discussing Prince George with you!  Have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

(This post brought to you by three (almost four) year Books & Co. veteran Kim G: blogger and Neil Gaiman addict.)