The second I saw that Travis Baldree was going to be at Raincoast Books’ TBR Preview for Fall, I immediately clicked on the link to register. His first book, Legends and Lattes, has been on my TBR ever since I first heard it described as a “cozy fantasy,” and I was eager for the chance to hear the author speak about his upcoming book, Bookshops and Bonedust.

Baldree’s books were my first time to hear the term “cozy fantasy,” and already I love the concept. I enjoy fantasy fiction, but I’m not always in the mood for the serious epics in many fantasy novels. Over the past year, especially, I’ve found myself gravitating more towards more comedic fantasy fare like the Dungeons and Dragons movie and The Legend of Vox Machina with the occasional Critical Role one-shot videos.

So the notion of a “cozy fantasy” appealed to me, and the idea of a battle-scarred orc retiring to open up a coffee shop (Legends and Lattes) seemed especially appealing. In the Q&A at the event, Travis shared that he’d written these books during “the deep, dark heart of COVID.” He wrote the fantasy as cozy because the world was already so dire that he wasn’t interested in writing a story about another world also in dire straits.

Bookshops and Bonedust is a prequel, but both books can be read as stand-alones. In Bookshops and Bonedust, the orc Viv is injured in battle, and her group leaves her in a sleepy beach town to recuperate. There she meets Fern, a foul-mouthed bookshop proprietor whom Travis says is his favourite character, and a different kind of adventure begins.

I’m excited to meet both Viv and Fern, but I’m also especially excited to meet Pot Roast, a half-pug, half-snowy owl who is Fern’s shop pet. Even better, Travis says he does plan to return to this world, at least for a book or two more, because he has some discarded stories that he still likes and thinks can be worked into this world. So if I do end up liking this, I’ll have more books to look forward to.

During the Q&A, I asked if Travis would like to see this as a movie or animated series, and if so, who would he cast. For an animated series, he said there’s already lots of cozy fantasy being made by Japanese animation studios, and says he could imagine it being like a Studio Ghibli movie. For a live action, he suggested Gwendolyn Christie as Viv. And as much as I love Studio Ghibli and think an animated version of this would be charming, I absolutely want Gwendolyn Christie as a cozy fantasy lead now, and will definitely be imagining her as I read these books!

Beyond Bookshops and Bonedust, other books I’m excited for are:

• Gwen and Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher – queer, medieval rom com YA – Lord Arthur and Princess Gwendoline are engaged to be married, except Gwen has a huge crush on the kingdom’s only lady knight, Bridget, and Arthur becomes interested in Gwen’s brother.
• Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki – I love the Tamaki cousins’ work, and books they collaborate on are especially awesome. This one features a trio of college friends exploring NYC in 2009.
• 10 Things that Never Happened by Alexis Hall – fake amnesia leads to real romance – Sam is on his way to a meeting with his boss Jonathan, when he trips and bumps his head. Thing is, Sam knows Jonathan plans to fire him at that meeting, and so feigns amnesia to hold on to his job a bit longer. And then, somehow, Jonathan turns out to have a softer side to him, and they fall in love? It’s a hilariously zany start to a romance, and I, for one, am all in!
• The God of High School, Volume 1 by Yongje Park – This story about a high school student / Taekwondo specialist who enters a fighting tournament where the winner “can have ANYTHING” they want, sounds like a lot of fun! I’m also really glad Raincoast is adding manga to its distribution catalogue!

And books I’ll be recommending to friends:

• Bloodguard by Cecy Robson – a New Adult fantasy romance pitched as Gladiator meets Dungeons and Dragons. But it mostly caught my eye because of the gorgeous book design: the limited first print edition features red spray-painted edges with stencilled ivy. I have an artsy friend who loves the colour red, and honestly, I’m giving them a heads up about this purely for aesthetic reasons.
• The Memory Thieves by Dhonielle Clayton – a middle-grade fantasy about a magic school in the sky. I have a friend who loves middle-grade fantasies and stories about magic schools, so this is totally their catnip.
• Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS – There aren’t much details out yet, but I have a friend who’s a major BTS fan, so I definitely gave them a heads up on this book, coming out in July!
• Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer – a romance between an Evil Villain and his sunshine assistant. Sending a note about this to a friend who ships Draco/Hermione!

Check out the full Raincoast Books TBR Preview Fall 2023 list HERE.

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Thank you to Raincoast Books for inviting me to this TBR Preview! I’m excited to dive into the e-galleys you’ve shared!

It’s a beautiful, sunshine-y, summery day for an outdoor festival! Word on the Street is a Toronto classic I sorely missed during the pandemic. Its return last year was a highlight of my gradual return to normal life, and this year makes it officially back to being one of my favourite annual traditions.

Quick note: the festival doesn’t go all the way to Museum subway station this year; rather, it starts at Queens Park and follows the crescent up to Wellesley, with a small side arm by Grosvenor Street. I got off at the correct subway station only because the media booth was close to College, but I overhead a few other attendees laughing about how they got off at Museum station and were confused about the lack of bookish booths.

Lots of bookish and theatre swag at the festival this year. I was especially grateful for the cardboard fans from Mirvish and the Toronto Public Library union. Plus, check out this awesome Fabio card from Happily Ever After Books!

Meeting author June Hur was definitely a highlight for this year’s festival. Turns out she used to work at the Toronto Public Library, and she was at the TPL worker union’s booth giving away signed copies of her book The Red Palace. If you love Korean history and murder mysteries, I highly recommend checking this book out! It was one of my top 10 books in 2021, and I wrote a gushing review of it for Quill and Quire.

Just in front of the TPL union’s booth is that of the Royal Ontario Museum, and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of their absolutely adorable baby T.rex banner. Seriously, I would be a goner if I saw that creature in the wild. And not just because they’re such a deadly predator, but because I’d be so smitten by their cuteness that their parent may be right behind me before I even realize I’m in danger! Anyway, for anyone who likes museums, there’s a raffle for a free ROM membership, copies of A Field Guide to the Trees of Ontario for sale, and also ROM staff with objects you can touch and learn about.

I was also thrilled to see Happily Ever After Books back at the festival this year. They’re a bookstore dedicated specifically to romance books, which makes them exactly the kind of store I’d love to spend hours browsing in. They don’t have a physical storefront and focus mainly on online sales, so it’s always a bonus to see one of their pop-ups. Probably no surprise, their booth was often crowded, and I echo another customer’s wish that they had a bigger booth, because I definitely wanted more.

Somehow, I managed to control myself to buying only two books from Happily Ever After: The Make-Up Test (nerdy medieval lit romance? yes please!) and Behind the Scenes (because I absolutely loved the author’s other book Satisfaction Guaranteed). Bonus: the store owner, Jenny, has an incredible memory for faces, and recognized me from last year’s festival!

I also want to shout-out Word on the Street’s incredible media relations team. Their booth had coffee and tea for bloggers, bookstagrammers, and media outlets, as well as some fun bookmarks and ARCs. All of us got a copy of The Witch is Back and a choice of two other books. I selected Sunshine Nails and A Death at the Party, but it wasn’t an easy choice! The other books on the table also looked great, and if the blogger just before me hadn’t snapped up the final copy of Lisa See’s Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, I would’ve had a much harder time deciding.

The children’s area was a beautifully whimsical space called The Fantastical Book Garden. You entered through a storybook and exited through a beautiful illustration. And inside are book flowers. I didn’t look closely at all of them, but one flower featured Chris Hadfield’s An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. Kudos to whomever on the festival team designed this space. It felt like stepping into another world, and I especially love how it’s framed as a Fantastical Book Garden rather than just “The Kids Zone,” or some such. As an adult with no kids, I likely would’ve walked right past a Kids Zone, but this design invited people of all ages to experience the magic for ourselves.

I also always enjoy the Mirvish booth, and this year had a definite Harry Potter theme. There was a figure-eight railroad with the Hogwarts Express, buttons for each of the houses, and a poster of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child signed by the cast!

Also pictured is a Dundurn Press tote, which I won at the publisher’s spin-the-wheel game. It’s apparently the biggest of the prizes they have available, which makes me extra happy I won, and I especially love that the tote even has a side pocket with a button.

Another bookish treat was the Toronto Public Library Bookmobile. I didn’t go in, because my backpack was pretty bulky with books at this point and the bookmobile didn’t look very spacious. But bookmobiles make me think of small towns and children’s books, and it was a nice cozy touch in the heart of the city. I also won a pen at their spin-the-wheel game, which is perfect, because I go through pens pretty quickly.

Books I loved seeing: the Nguyen Kids series by Linda Trinh at the Annick Press booth. I reviewed the first book, The Secret of the Jade Bangle, for Quill and Quire, and absolutely loved it. And it was great to see Maria Ressa’s How to Stand Up to a Dictator at the Another Story Bookshop booth. Maria Ressa is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and an award-winning journalist from the Phillippines. She tirelessly speaks truth to power against authoritarian Philippine governments, and I very much admire her work and her courage.

Other highlights were a Soapbox Science area by Toronto Metropolitan University. I can’t remember what this particular scientist was talking about, but I overheard another telling folks how X-rays worked. Also, how awesome is Poesy? You could sit with one of their poets and they would compose a poem for you on the spot!

And finally, the highlight of any outdoor festival — the junk food! The corn on the cob and potato twists are my classic go-to’s at any festival. The Choco Churros looks so yummy I’m sorely tempted to come back tomorrow just so I could give it a try. Also, as someone who’s trying to reduce my meat intake, I’m beyond thrilled that this festival had a booth just for veggie hotdogs. I didn’t get a chance to look at their menu, but I’m curious if they actually offer a variety of options. (Fingers crossed!)

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Thanks to the Word of the Street Festival for inviting me and my blog to be part of the fun!