LIFESTYLE

Last night at the 26th annual Scotiabank Giller Prize awards ceremony, hosted by Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden, author Ian Williams was named the winner for his novel Reproduction. On top of the esteem that comes with winning, Williams also receives a $100,000 prize courtesy of Scotiabank. 

Let’s face it, whether you love them or not, the holiday season is almost upon us. Stores have started playing Christmas music, parades have started running down main streets and the Hallmark Channel is playing holiday films all day long. While you may or may not have started with your Christmas shopping yet, you may want to start thinking of places you want to head out to over the next few weeks. Here are some of our favourites.

Toys R Us as a whole may have been struggling for the last couple of years, but the retailer has been standing its ground in Canada. Part of the reason why, is because it has been bringing unique experiences to its customer base and keeping abreast of the times. Now, the company has announced that it has partnered with Snapchat Portal Lens to create a unique augmented reality experience for its customers that can be accessed anywhere and anytime through the Snapchat app.

November’s one of those months where it’s not too cold to still go outside and enjoy a walk, yet not warm enough to keep the windows open all day or take a dip in the pool. That of course makes it a little tough to figure out what there is to do with your time, […]

Joe Hill’s one of those authors that might have slipped past you without you noticing. Over the years he’s written some great speculative fiction though, such as Horns, NOS4A2 and Heart Shaped Box, as well as 20th Century Ghosts and Strange Weather. The latter two are collections of his shorter works, and are great examples why short fiction works. For his latest novel, he once again turns to short fiction, collecting stories he’s published elsewhere over the last 15 years or so.

When the Booker prize judges decided to break the rules and award two winners their annual prize instead of one, they probably weren’t thinking that it would cause as much of an uproar as it has. But due to the fact that author Bernardine Evaristo, the first black woman to ever win Britain’s most prestigious literary award, now has to share it and the prize money with Margaret Atwood, people are letting their voices be heard.

Every Friday night until November 29th you have the opportunity to experience something unique. From 7:00 – 11:30 PM you can spend you evening roaming the Royal Ontario Museum, exploring the exhibits with a drink in hand, stopping for some delicious bites to eat, listening to some great live music and dance until your heart is content. Friday Night Live is back, and it’s a great way to unwind after a long week.

When you finished reading Rene Denfeld’s last novel, The Child Finder, you were left wanting more.  After all, the story’s lead character Naomi, the child finder herself, may have found the missing child she had been looking for, but she herself was far from complete. You wanted to know more about her story, and wanted her to find out not only who she was, but what had happened to her sister. Denfeld’s latest novel comes out two years after The Child Finder, and with it you get to delve deeper into Naomi’s story.

It’s been 25 years since Cirque du Soleil first brought their show Alegria to the big top, and in celebration of that achievement they’ve reinterpreted the show and brought it back so a whole new generation of fans can enjoy it as well.

Two time Real Style Magazine cover-girl Tessa Virtue, and her longtime ice dance partner Scott Moir took to social media yesterday to officially announcement their retirement from the sport.

Let’s face it, when the weather starts cooling down and fall quickly replaces summer, many of us start thinking of bringing out our warmer clothing and preparing ourselves for the winter ahead. Vacations and day trips are a thing of the past, and our minds skip straight into snowy landscapes and icy sidewalks. The thing is though, fall in Canada is one of the most beautiful times of the year, and there are plenty of places you will want to visit before it does get too cold. Here are our favourites. 

Sometimes new authors come in like the tide, slow and steady and eventually overwhelming. In Kassandra Montag’s case however it might be appropriate to say she’s coming in like a flood. The author’s first novel is due out in September, and to say it’s a riveting page turner would be doing it far less justice than it deserves.

Canada’s largest pop culture exhibition Fan Expo returns to Canada today and runs all weekend long. For their 25th anniversary they’ve pulled out some of the biggest names in geekdom, from comic book writers, movie stars, anime, horror, science fiction and much more. It’s hard to think of Fan Expo without taking a look at […]

Let’s face it, mid-late August is the time of the year where you might start feeling a little blue. After all the summer is quickly coming to an end, you’re starting to run around getting the children ready for school, and a lot of the major festivals and events have already happened. Don’t fret though, […]

After years of protest and collisions, the Italian government has decided to divert giant ships away from Venice’s central waterway, the Giudecca canal.