On the Floor - Where Coupland is Untouchable

Jesse Kinos-Goodin, National Post
Published: Saturday, December 6, 2008

Joseph Stewart, the owner of Blackberry Books, since 1979 a family-owned bookstore on Granville Island, Vancouver, on what he's recommending this season:

Q. What are you most excited about right now?
A. I'm most excited about the new book by Lemony Snicket called The Lump of Coal. He does a Christmas book every year and I collect Christmas books. Last year, he did The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, which is the funniest book I've ever read. The Lump of Coal is almost as funny. It's about a coal that comes to life and wants to be an artist -- a coal artist -- or make his mark on a piece of meat. It looks like it might be a kid's book because of the pictures, but it's definitely for adults.

Q. What are your most popular books this winter?
A. Other than Joseph Boyden's Through Black Spruce, which is obvious, a very popular one here is Chuck Klosterman's Downtown Owl. It's his first novel, and many people were skeptical because he is known for his non-fiction, but it's really good. It's set in a 1980s Midwestern town, but it's Klosterman, so it's clearly autobiographical and a lot of people die at the end.

Q. Does he give Douglas Coupland a run for his money?
A. No one can touch Coupland in our store. He's a local boy.

Q. What is a big coffee-table book for you this year?
A. Voices from the Sound: Chronicles of Clayoquot Sound and Tofino 1899-1929 by Margaret Horsfield. It's based on all these amazing first-hand documents. BCers really like their local history.