Faking Sanity

A New Month, A New Sale!

Posted by mtlaise - 30/01/12 at 10:01:05 am

Everybody loves a sale, right? We’ve switched up the sale table and filled it with romances… and all those romance books are 50% off! So, if romance is your thing, pop in and get a great deal on your reading.

We’ve also switched up our little cut out area to feature books about relationships. It may not be all the typical relationship fare you see leading up to Valentines day, though… There are several books about friendships, several humourous titles, such as I Used To Miss Him, But My Aim Is Improving, and of course some classics, like Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.

Come check it all out!

Great Books

Posted by mtlaise - 19/01/12 at 06:01:26 pm

Have you ever come across a book and knew you had to read it? It happens to me all the time… but then life gets in the way and time runs out, and the list of my “must reads” is way longer than I could ever possibly read in 3 lifetimes. A while ago, though, we got in a copy of A.J. Jacobs’ book The Year of Living Biblically, and I knew I had to read it.

The premise is intriguing. The author is an atheist who was raised in a secular Jewish home, and decided to investigate religion by diving into it head-first. What would it be like to live a year obeying all of the Bible’s rules? Not just the well known ones, like the Ten Commandments, but the lesser known ones as well, like wearing tassels on your garments, or not wearing clothes of mixed fibers. That’s the premise upon which he lived a year of his life and wrote this book.

It’s a very unique approach and A.J.’s style of writing is refreshing and amusing. It’s very interesting to see the journey A.J. – or Jacob, as he calls his biblical year’s alter ego – takes over the course of the year. And I laughed out loud more than once as he recounted scenes between he and his wife over the course of this year.

I loved it. If you’re up for something a little different to read, I highly recommend it! And I hope you’ll love it too!

More books!

Posted by mtlaise - 05/10/11 at 08:10:33 pm

We got 5 new custom-made bookshelves installed in the store, so… it’s time to expand!

You’ll now find our expanded Mystery, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Christian Fiction, and Action/Adventure sections in the front lobby, as well as new books on consignment from local authors. No worries, though, the sale table is still there, too!

In the main book room, all non-fiction sections are expanding, so they’re taking over the group of bookshelves in the centre. The expanded romance section is now on the back wall, and kids, fiction and westerns are all staying where they were before.

Come check it out!

It’s our First Anniversary Sale!

Posted by mtlaise - 15/09/11 at 11:09:11 am

This month, Faking Sanity turns 1, and we couldn’t have done it without you! Thanks to you all!

To celebrate, we’re having a sale. Join us for the last 2 weeks of September (19th – 30th), and get 15% off all your book purchases, including already reduced sale books! And while you’re here, why not treat yourself to a  latte or one of our custom tea blends along with a scrumptious cheesecake? Or sit down and relax and start on one of those new books!

Don’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover… maybe!

Posted by mtlaise - 08/08/11 at 11:08:46 am

Have you ever been drawn to a book because of a catchy title or the look of the cover? I have. And many times, it’s led me to discover great new authors, like AJ Jacobs. So, here are a few covers and titles that caught my eye recently at the store. What do you think?

I’m already half way through the AJ Jacobs (A Year of Living Biblically), and I’m loving it so far. We also just got in his previous book (Know It All), where he chronicles his journey reading through the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a year. If it’s anything like this one, I may have to pull it off the shelf and read it myself before anyone else buys it!

What about you guys? Any great finds that you first read just because they caught your eye?

July is Teacher Appreciation Month!

Posted by mtlaise - 01/07/11 at 04:07:25 pm

There isn’t enough time! Exams, marking, report cards, year-end… Aaaagh!

Don’t fret; it’s all over now, and July is Teacher Appreciation month at Faking Sanity! Come browse the great selection of used books, treat yourself to some tea and cheesecake, and get 10% off all your book purchases for the month of July if you mention you’re a teacher when you check out.

It’s June! You know what that means…

Posted by mtlaise - 02/06/11 at 02:06:31 pm

A sale!

We have two very special reasons for celebrating this week here at Faking Sanity. Firstly, summer is coming, so they say, and we’re finally having summer weather to go with that prediction. Woo!

We’ve also just entered our 10,000th book into our inventory system, and you can ask anyone who has cleaned, priced, entered or stickered all these books, that is more than enough cause for celebration!

So, you can celebrate with us this week on June 3rd and 4th. We’re having a “Stock Up For Summer” sale: 10% off all books, including already reduced sale books. Come check out all the new stock, or try one of our new iced drinks here for the summer.

WWKIP? Yarn Bombing? What?

Posted by mtlaise - 28/05/11 at 11:05:33 am

Do you know about WWKIP? It is World Wide Knit in Public Day, and we’re having our event here at Faking Sanity on June 18th. Come join us from 2-5 pm, and show the world that knitting (and other crafts) can be very social activities. Bring your knitting, crochet or other craft, and join in on the fun! We’ll be providing free drinks and goodies to everyone participating, and craft books will all be 10% off for the duration of the event.

You can’t have a knitting/craft related event without decorating for it, so the walls will be adorned by several works from our regular knit/craft night attendees. So far, it sounds like there will be knitting, crochet, and spinning (with possibly more to come), and everything from balls of handspun yarn to intricate lacy shawls to giant stuffed snails. That one, by the way, you have to see to believe! It’s so adorable!

As this year also marks the first International Yarn Bombing day, we’re thinking of doing a little something special here at the shop on that front, too. Don’t know what yarn bombing is? Well, you’ll just have to come by the shop on June 18th to check out what all the fuss is about! :)

Singer/Songwriters Coffee House… With A Twist

Posted by mtlaise - 24/03/11 at 09:03:42 pm

Come join us at Faking Sanity this Saturday evening, March 26, for the monthly Singer/Songwriters Coffee House. The event will be taking place at the same time as usual, but at 8:30 pm, in honour of Earth Hour, we will be switching to a candle lit event, with solar powered sound! The featured performer this month is Barb Munro. Come check it out. For the bookstore side of things, our staff picks display has been changed up to include a few selections about weather, the environment and ecopolitics. Browse through our Science & Nature section for even more related titles. See you soon!

Freedom to Read Week

Posted by mtlaise - 23/02/11 at 03:02:49 pm

February 20-26 is Freedom to Read Week here in Canada. As long as books have been written, there have been people who objected to some of them. Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reafform their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Have you read any of the books that have been challenged over the years? You might be surprised. Of Mice and Men, which was required school reading for me, was challenged for blasphemy and profanity. Anne Boleyn, a history book about Anne Boleyn’s life, was contested for immorality. Call me crazy (many people do), but contesting a history book because the person it is about was immoral is ridiculous. How can we learn about and from the past if half of it has been censored out? Many books that I read as a child, or as part of my schooling have been challenged. Looking back, I can understand why some people are offended by the content of some of these books, but we each have a choice to read them or not. I don’t think banning Little House on the Prairie or the Tintin comics and preventing me from reading them as a child would have made me a better person in any way.

I found a couple of quotes related to this topic, recently, that I found very à propos:

“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book.”  Dwight Eisenhower

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”  Oscar Wilde

I think my favourite, though, is this quote from Ray Bradbury:

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them”.

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