Wednesday 19 February 2014

Crux Books is Fantastic

I am totally loving Crux Books at the University of Toronto, and this is not only because it is the only bookshop in Toronto that I know for a fact orders in Ceremony of Innocence. (If there are other bookshops that have made that crucial phone call to Ignatius Press, or to Ignatius Press's Canadian supplier, I am unblissfully unaware of them.)

Crux Books is an interdenominational Christian bookshop at the University of Toronto, and not only does it hire impoverished theology students to work behind the counter, it sells theological books at a discounted rate. (How they turn a profit is a mystery to me.)

Crux is attached to Wycliffe College, which is Evangelical Anglican, but they have books by theologians from all the mainstream denominations for all the mainstream denominations. They are also interested in Christian fiction, and so have a ton of Lewis, Chesterton and Tolkien, plus little me.

Cindy at Crux tells me they take orders and ship out, so if you want to give the Amazon juggernaut a miss and support an independent bookshop, well, Crux is my North American bookshop of choice. Incidentally they also hosted a book launch for Seraphic Singles, which you can order through them, should you have any money left.

Any Christian who went to, or teaches at the University of Toronto, and has penned a book of Christian theology or fiction should mosey on down to Crux Books because when I did upon arriving in Toronto, Cindy got out her calendar and planned me a party. How awesome is that? Utterly. So on Monday, February 24 at four-thirty in the afternoon, I will be reading from Ceremony of Innocence in Wycliffe College, 5 Hoskin Avenue. The closest subway stop is Museum. (Just cross the street after the Faculty of Music, Queen's Park on your left, and turn right. Trinity College will now be on your right.) I will also tell anecdotes and answer questions and sign books.

Cindy showed me the Reading Room today. It is Victorian Gothic--U of T really went in for Victorian Gothic in the day--with a fireplace and cozy couches and portraits of long-dead Evangelical Anglican ministers staring crossly down. Cindy said she thinks I'll get six to fifteen people, and I declared, "I'm going to get twenty!"

Please let there be no blizzard. But even if there is a blizzard, let my twenty persevere!

If twenty show up, they may give more leverage to my suggestion to Cindy that she organize a Christian Fiction Conference. Hey, my friend Chris and I founded what is now Marquette's Lonergan on the Edge conference; I'm full of great ideas.

Anyway: Crux Books at the University of Toronto. Good thing. Buy your theology texts from them. Show up at their events. Check out their cute cashiers. If you live within hailing distance of Toronto, come on down to my reading. There will be coffee and tea and fellow readers including Aged P aka my mum.

P.S. Fiorella de Maria, whose Do No Harm I very much enjoyed and recommend, has got TEN (10) reviews on Amazon.com for DNH, whereas I have got only SEVEN for CI. Hint, hint.

14 comments:

Heather in Toronto said...

There is definitely a copy on the shelf at Pauline's as well, so Crux is not the only one in town.

Alas that I work during the day out in the vastness of Scarberia, and thus will be unable to make it downtown in time for your reading. I hope you get crowds!

Seraphic said...

Thank you! And good for the Paulines! Well done, them. Do you mean the one at Bathurst and Bloor?

Magdalen said...

Aw, I lived at Wycliffe, back in the day, while finishing my undergrad (by far the cheapest UofT residence), but as I've moved to NYC, I won't be able to attend. I am, however, spreading the word and have an amateur Lonergan-ian who would love to meet you.

Seraphic said...

Great! I love to meet Lonerganians!

Heather in Toronto said...

Bloor and Bathurst is the Paulists, not the Paulines. (I attended Mass there once a number of years ago, but only once. The chalice was glass and looked like it had been purchased at Honest Ed's across the street. Yuck.)

I was referring to the Daughters of St. Paul at Dufferin and Lawrence. I think they had a smaller shop on Yonge Street at one point but they closed it about ten years ago.

But yeah, I was in on Saturday and saw a copy sitting right up front in the "new and notable" section. And I wasn't even the one who asked them to order it!

Seraphic said...

Heather, thank you for clarifying, as I'm to be interviewed in 35 minutes!

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

I still miss Pat. His death struck me harder than I expected, and happened when I had already gone away.

It was memorably one of the best book shops I've ever fallen in love with. And Pat always gave me The Hilary Discount.

Stellamaris said...

Have you thought of creating a Facebook event for the reading? If you give us the link, we can send invites to people we know. I have various friends in Toronto who could be interested.

Julia said...

If I didn't live over 10,100 miles away from Toronto, I'd so be there. Good luck!

Seraphic said...

I do have one! I'll link.

Seraphic said...

Hilary, Pat was most definitely one of the good ones. (Sigh.)

Here's a link to my Facebook announcement: https://www.facebook.com/events/437216426410291/

My Salt + Light interview will be aired/available on Saturday.

Review my book already, Hilary!

Stellamaris said...

Great, I sent invites to my Toronto Catholic crowd. Unfortunately, I'm not in town myself around then so I won't be there.
If you would allow me as a marketing person to give you a little advice: it would make the event much more appealing if you put up an image (like the cover) and included the descriptive blurb off the back of the novel in the description of the event, to whet people's appetites. Good luck!

Seraphic said...

Thank you, Stellamaris!

Seraphic said...

Stellamaris, I have added photos!