Slideshow: spring preview highlights 2012

In the January/February issue, Q&Q looks ahead at some of the spring season’s new books. Covering Canadian fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, and international titles, the highlights below are a sample of 2012 titles from rising stars, critical darlings, reader favourites, and familiar faces, not to mention plenty of authors who seem poised to break out.

Check out Q&Q’s spring previews in each category for more information.

The fine print: Q&Q’s spring preview covers books published between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2012. All information (titles, prices, publication dates, etc.) was supplied by publishers and may have been tentative at Q&Q’s press time.

Book covers of the year 2011

When choosing covers of the year, the book designers Q&Q polled considered art, typography, layout, and meaning in their decisions. Allison Baggio’s Girl in Shades, Johanna Skibsrud’s This Will Be Difficult To Explain and Other Stories, and Alexi Zentner’s Touch were among designers’ favourites.

Click through the images below to see all five and read why each was chosen as a cover of the year.

Books of the year 2011: books for young people

What makes a book of the year? There’s no formula for deciding. Some are critical darlings, some are word-of-mouth favourites. Some introduce us to important new voices, some represent the best work from established authors. And some are simply exceptional works we think people will be reading and talking about for years to come. Together, these five books made the biggest impact in YA and kidlit in 2011.

Click through the images below to read why each book was chosen.

Books of the year 2011: non-fiction

What makes a book of the year? There’s no formula for deciding. Some are critical darlings, some are word-of-mouth favourites. Some introduce us to important new voices, some represent the best work from established authors. And some are simply exceptional works we think people will be reading and talking about for years to come. Together, these five books made the biggest impact in non-fiction in 2011.

Click through the images below to read why each book was chosen.

Books of the year 2011: fiction

What makes a book of the year? There’s no formula for deciding. Some are critical darlings, some are word-of-mouth favourites. Some introduce us to important new voices, some represent the best work from established authors. And some are simply exceptional works we think people will be reading and talking about for years to come. Together, these five books made the biggest impact in fiction in 2011.

Click through the images below to read why each book was chosen.

Book links round-up: publishers become sellers, John Cleese pays for divorce with memoir, and more

• Is Amazon forcing publishers to become booksellers?
• John Cleese is writing a memoir to pay for his divorce
• The Men Who Stare at Goats author Jon Ronson delves into the world of the psychopath
• Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson faces class-action lawsuit
• Will Farrell stars in Everything Must Go, adapted from a Raymond Carver short story

Book links round-up: Neil Gaiman’s defence, Babstock at the DMV, and more

• Neil Gaiman fights back against accusations that he’s a thieving “pencil-necked little weasel”
• Happy foot, sad foot: how the podiatry sign became a literary symbol
• William T. Vollmann’s new Kindle single is filled with danger
• Ethiopian-American novelist Dinaw Mengestu reinvents Kerouac
• Director Jean Seaton says the theme of this year’s Orwell Prize shortlist is fear
• VIDEO: Poetry fan recites Ken Babstock’s “To Inflame the Civic Temper” at the DMV, courtesy of How Pedestrian

Book links round-up: TCAF Q&As, editing David Foster Wallace, and more

• Quirky Q&As with Toronto Comic Arts Festival exhibitors
• How David Foster Wallace editor Michael Pietsch pieced together the posthumous Pale King
• According to comedian Albert Brooks’s debut novel, the future isn’t too bright
• We always hear from the writer, but what about the editor? Q&A with Robert Gottlieb
• Introducing Publishing App Expo, coming this December
• Toronto’s renovated Bloor/Gladstone library gets props from the Pug Awards

Open letter from Macmillan CEO John Sargent to Canadian booksellers

Editors’ note: This message ran as a paid advertisement for Q&Q Omni subscribers

View the letter »

Books of the Year 2010

There’s no formula for choosing the books of the year. Some break ground, some tackle familiar themes with new energy. Some represent the best work from established authors, some introduce us to important new voices. And some are simply in-house favourites we feel deserve a little more attention. Together, these 20 books made the biggest impact in 2010.

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