Great Gifts & A Chance to Win

December 1, 2009 by Beth

We’ve compiled a list of our most gift-worthy books to help ease any gifting stress you might be under. View our suggestions and enter to win a basket of books worth $200 at www.simonsaysholiday.ca

December Events

December 1, 2009 by Beth

 

Toby Lester will be signing at Ben McNally’s Books & Brunch
Sunday, December 6, 2009 – 10:00am
King Edward Hotel
37 King St. East
Toronto, ON  M5C 1E9
Tickets $45.00 (taxes included)
Please call 416-361-0032 with your credit card information to reserve a ticket.

Mickey Leigh and Legs McNeil will be on tour with stops in Hamilton and Toronto.

Hamilton @ This Ain’t Hollywood
Sat Dec 12th at 9:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171363394237
*Bryan Prince Bookseller will be selling books

Toronto @ The Horseshoe
Sun Dec 13 at 8:30pm, doors 8pm w/musical guests (likely punk) at 10pm
*Ben McNally Books will be selling books

The Collaborative Habit

November 30, 2009 by Michelle

If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about collaborating, it’s Twyla Tharp. The world-renowned choreographer has worked with the likes of Billy Joe, Jerome Robbins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, David Byrne, Richard Avedon, Milos Forman, Norma Kamali, and Frank Sinatra.

This week, The Collaborative Habit, Tharp’s sequel to her national bestseller The Creative Habit hits stores. Tharp explains why collaboration is important to her — and can be for you. She shows how to recognize good candidates for partnership and how to build one successfully, and analyzes dysfunctional collaborations.

Among the surprising and inspiring points Tharp makes in The Collaborative Habit:

-In a good collaboration, differences between partners mean that one plus one will always equal more than two. A good collaborator is easier to find than a good friend. If you’ve got a true friendship, you want to protect that. To work together is to risk it.

-Getting involved with your collaborator’s problems may distract you from your own, but it usually leads to disaster.

-When you have history, you have ghosts. If you’re returning to an old collaboration, begin at the beginning. No evocation of old problems and old solutions.

Check out this clip from Tharp’s collaboration with Frank Sinatra, Nine Sinatra Songs, performed by the North Carolina Dance Theatre.

Picture Book Spotlight: Weezer Changes the World

November 25, 2009 by Beth

A box of finished copies of this fantastic picture book by David McPhail arrived in-house today.

Weezer is an ordinary pup who is struck by lightning and finds himself  suddenly capable of big things!

(Click images to view larger)

Check out the book page, here! On-sale December 1st.

Toby Lester Event

November 25, 2009 by Beth

Don’t miss Toby Lester, author of The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth and the Map that Gave America Its Name, December 6th at the Ben McNally Books & Brunch event.

Ben McNally Book & Brunch
Sunday, December 6, 2009 – 10:00am
King Edward Hotel
37 King St. East
Toronto, ON  M5C 1E9
Tickets $45.00 (taxes included)
Please call 416-361-0032 with your credit card information to reserve a ticket.

Visit the book site for more information and videos.