Octopus Books

It’s time for a long weekend roundup! The weather is all over the map but that’s never stopped us before.

Well 613ers, we have made it through a full year of pandemic-style living, and this pretty little city of ours just keeps on keeping on. The weather has taken a major turn for the better, so despite the shifting restrictions of the red zone, we can enjoy ourselves a little bit in the valley this […]

We are kicking off Apartment613’s holiday gift guide with a handful of suggestions for the book-lovers in your life. Stay tuned for more in this series!

Every first Monday of the month, Apartment613 publishes the coolest #ottarts #ottjobs we hear about.

Some of us are over a month into this alternate normal of isolation, shaggy hair and bread making. As we settle into new routines, and are already dreaming of sunny patios and high fives there is no right or wrong way to be getting through this.

Ghost Water Kiss is an Ottawa author’s new collection of illustrated short stories which film director Guillermo del Toro calls “a landscape of enormous inner and outer beauty.”

Chris Hedges is not a subtle man.  In his latest book Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt, the former longtime New York Times foreign correspondent offers a blistering attack on corporate power and political institutions. Local residents can hear him first-hand on Wednesday evening, when he is scheduled to speak at Centretown United Church (507 Bank Street) at 7 […]

Hi kids! This week on Apt613 LIVE you can hear my conversations with Chris Dixon and Justin Louis Labelle. Dixon is the author of Another Politics: Talking Across Today’s Transformative Movements.  He was at Octopus Books January 20th to talk about his book-so if you missed out don’t despair!  He sat down with 613 to […]

This Friday, the Centretown location of Octopus Books is hosting a launch for a new book that collects the experiences of those who are at the forefront of efforts to improve the lives of trans and gender variant people in Canada. Dr. Dan Irving, an associate professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Carleton University, co-edited Trans […]

There is a certain something about independent bookstores. A sense of community and bringing people together – connecting over a love of books (which eventually ends up being about so much more) – that you just won’t find at Chapters. Independent bookstores are the best because the people who work there are REALLY passionate about […]

Human life would not exist without blood.  This is not only true in a literal sense – if your heart stopped beating you would die – but also figuratively, as blood plays an indispensable role in literature, politics, sports and culture, not to mention our understanding of who we are. In his new book Blood: The […]

It’s fashionable in some circles to argue that the novel is a dying art form.  According to this group – which includes, ironically, published fiction writers – novels no longer have the power to move society, nor do they offer much space for new forms of artistic creativity. In her remarkable début novel Ru, Saigon […]

Nancy Richler is a fantastic writer and is a joy to read.  Luckily for local book lovers, the Montreal-native will be in Ottawa on Thursday discussing her latest novel The Imposter Bride, a beautifully written story that focuses on a heartbreaking mother-daughter relationship. The novel begins with a mysterious European woman who arrives in Montreal from […]

Dr. David Suzuki – geneticist, environmentalist and the planet’s Steward-in-Chief – and Jeff Rubin – economist, award-winning author, and petrol price-prognosticator – arrived to a packed house at the Centretown United Church on Tuesday night. The event, part of their multi-city Eco Tour and organized by Octopus books, was moderated by  the leader of the Green Party of Canada, Elizabeth May (a […]