Launch of Bruce Johnson's "Firmament," March 29, St. John's, Newfoundland

Bruce Johnson will be launching his debut novel, Firmament (Gaspereau, 2010), on Tuesday, March 29, at The Ship Pub in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Shortlisted for the Fresh Fish Award, Johnson's novel, set in an actual (yet mythical) Newfoundland outport, is "an expressionist work where the grit of the mundane intersects with the mystery of human memory and dreams."

The fun starts at 7:30 - food, drink and a reading.

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Rattling Books will be presenting an excerpt from Firmament ("Caleb") on EarLit Shorts 5, the fifth in the EarLit Shorts series of short fiction anthologies.

Rattling Books' audio books are available as audio or MP3 CDs, and as MP3 downloads.

Rattling Books On CBC's Weekend Arts Magazine

Click here to listen to WAM's interview with Rattling Books owner Janet Russell, and actor Frank Holden, narrator of Vikings of the Ice, Rattling Books' 2011 Audie contender.

"Finding The Words": New Anthology Fundraiser For PEN Canada

Finding the Words is a new anthology published by McClelland & Stewart in support of PEN Canada, the national arm of the global non-profit organization that goes to bat for freedom of expression. CBC Books has recently been presenting excerpts from the anthology: follow this link to read about the summer Michael Winter and Lisa Moore had jobs together on the periphery of the Newfoundland justice system, in Michael Winter's "Thinly Veiled."

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Visit Rattling Books' author profiles of Winter and Moore for their Rattling Books' fiction titles. Rattling Books audio books are available as audio or MP3 CDs, and as MP3 downloads. Single stories are available as MP3 downloads.

Rattling Books' "Vikings Of The Ice" Up For Audie Award

Rattling Books is the only Canadian contender for a 2011 Audie, the audio book industry’s Oscar equivalent. Vikings of the Ice, RB's unabridged audio edition of George Allan England's 1922 eyewitness account of the Newfoundland seal hunt, is a finalist in the history category.

Presented annually by the Audio Publishers Association, an American organization representing audio publishing companies and allied suppliers, distributors and retailers of spoken word products, the Audies honour the best in audio books. Last year’s winners included Nelson Mandela’s Favourite African Folktales, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Mirren, Don Cheadle and Alan Rickman, and Booker-prize winner Wolf Hall, narrated by Simon Slater.

Over 1,100 audio books were entered in this year’s competition. Winners will be announced at the Audies Gala on May 24, 2011, at the Times Center in New York City. (We've got our fingers, toes, arms, legs and hearts crossed.)

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Vikings is not only a chronicle of the early twentieth-century industrial seal hunt, but of the speech, folklore and beliefs of rural Newfoundlanders of that period. These long gone and never to return voices of the men who plied the spring seal fishery are rendered vividly by Frank Holden, veteran playwright, actor and narrator. Like Chaucer's pilgrims on the way to Canterbury, the "swilers" offer us their stories about a hard-scrabble life valiantly faced, on both land and sea.

Vikings of the Ice is available from Rattling Books as an MP3 audio book CD and an MP3 download.

Anita Best Has Never Met A Liar She Didn't Like

Now that Valentine's Day is over, and all the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are on sale for a fifth of their former price, it's time to embrace love less artificially and commercially. And who better to do that with than Ron Hynes and Anita Best, neither of whom will ever be in the running for a Slick and Void Award. "I Never Met a Liar I Didn't Like" was written by Ron Hynes (and his ex-wife, Connie Hynes), and is sung by Anita Best in this video. (If you think you have no use for liars, here's a song that just might make you run right out and acquire one.)

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Rattling Books has been fortunate to have both Anita Best and Ron Hynes as narrators.

Rattling Books audio books are available as audio or MP3 CDs, and as MP3 downloads. Single stories are available as MP3 downloads.

Kathleen Winter's "Annabel" Nominated For Amazon.ca First Novel Award

Kathleen Winter's debut novel, Annabel, has been nominated for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. Read all about it in the Montreal Gazette.

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Listen to excerpts from Rattling Books' audio versions of Kathleen Winter's short stories: "The Destination," narrated by Merrill Francis; "His Brown Face Through the Flowers," narrated by Nicola Hawkins; and "Sleep, Little Baby," narrated by Mark Callanan. These stories are available as individual MP3 downloads, and are also featured on EarLit Shorts 1, a collection of short fiction by Winter, Joel Thomas Hynes and Carmelita McGrath.

Rattling Books is a Canadian audiobook publisher in Newfoundland and Labrador.