McNally to hold midnight launch of next Maas tome

Get excited, Sarah J. Maas fans — the publication date for the romantasy author’s sixth, as-yet-unnamed book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series drops this fall, and McNally Robinson Booksellers is now selling tickets to a midnight release party taking place Monday, Oct. 26 at the Grant Park location.

Doors for the ticketed, all-ages event open at 9:30 p.m.; there will be giveaways, entertainment and more, and those who are coming are encouraged to arrive in costume.

Admission is $35.28 including fees and includes a copy of the book; tickets are available at wfp.to/iMi.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

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There’s just over a week left to pick up tickets to see New York author (and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner) Colson Whitehead in Winnipeg.

Whitehead, whose latest novel Cool Machine was published July 21, will be at WAG-Qaumajuq (300 Memorial Blvd.) on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 7 p.m., where he’ll be joined in conversation by Winnipeg Swampy Cree author David A. Robertson.

Whitehead is best known as the author of 2016’s The Underground Railroad and 2019’s The Nickel Boys, each of which won him Pulitzers, as well as the first two books of his Harlem trilogy, 2021’s Harlem Shuffle and 2023’s Crook Manifesto. Cool Machine is the final instalment of the trilogy.

Tickets for the event, presented by McNally Robinson Booksellers, are $50.32 for one person (including a signed copy of Cool Machine), or $60.97 for two tickets with one book, and are available at wfp.to/iMW.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

For an interview with Whitehead, see Wednesday’s Free Press.

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Fresh off her role in the first season of Heated Rivalry, the series based on the bestselling novel by Rachel Reid, Canadian actor Sophie Nelisse is set to star in another TV adaptation of a bestselling book — this time one written by Toronto’s Carley Fortune.

Nelisse, who also appeared in Yellowjackets, will star in Netflix Canada’s adaptation of Fortune’s 2024 romance novel This Summer Will Be Different, which is set to start filming in Toronto and Prince Edward Island this summer.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

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Book lovers heading to Gimli in the next couple of weeks have a pair of events to look forward to.

The Gimli Recreation Centre (45 Centennial Rd.) is hosting a book sale today (9-6 p.m.) and tomorrow (9-5 p.m.). Then on Sunday, Aug. 2, the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba’s big weekend-long shindig, Islendingadagurinn, features the Music and Poetry in the Park event starting at 3 p.m. at the main stage in Gimli Park.

While in Gimli, you might as well pop in and browse the book selection (including plenty of locals) at H.P. Tergesen & Sons (82 1 Ave.).

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It’s the last chance to Find Waldo for a pair of promotions which run through to Friday at participating locations in Winnipeg.

For the city-wide hunt, get a stamp card from any of the participating locations (see wfp.to/waldomap for the map) where Waldo is hiding. Load up your stamp card and drop it at participating locations to be entered in the grand prize draw, which takes place Wednesday, Aug. 5. Both McNally Robinson locations (Grant Park and The Forks Market) are taking part; for those doing last-minute fringing, pop into Manitoba Theatre for Young People (2 Forks Market Rd.) or the Kids Fringe area at Old Market Square.

Meanwhile, Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore (163 Lilac St.) is taking part in a Corydon Village-centric Where’s Waldo? promotion — similar idea, but featuring participating businesses in the nearby vicinity. (The list of those businesses can be found at whodunitbooks.ca.).

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Speaking of Fringe fest, check out the literary themed productions running this year, including Chekhov Shorts, Fakespeare, Book Lovers, The First Vampire, Grimm’s Fairer Tales, Promise and Promiscuity, The Taming of the Shrew and A Woman’s Guide to Romance Novels.

Make sure to stop by and browse the books being sold by John Thompson, also known as Bookman, at his kiosk in Old Market Square.

For more last-minute fringing, see winnipegfringe.com to see what’s still running; for an interview with Thompson by Ben Waldman for the Free Press, see wfp.to/iMk.

winnipegfreepress.com/bensigurdson