Hundreds of avid readers swarmed the 30 plus vendors at the first Readers Take Cornwall book and craft sale held recently at the Best Western. Rapidly decimating exhibitor’s stocks, all vendors expressed pleasure at how their sales exceeded their expectations for the whole day, within the first hour and were unanimous in their praise at the effective advertising and organization of the event.
The event was the brainchild of book lovers Ashley Barnhart and Brianna Brozoncevic of Ingleside, who started Readers Take Cornwall this year. Ashley said that the idea for staging the sale derived from seeing how popular such events were from chatter on the on-line book community in the U.S. The pair thought if it could happen south of the border, why not here? Artfully mixing books with crafts, they were right and the overwhelmingly positive response, already has them already thinking of expanding the event for a return performance in 2025.
Before you proceed to the photographs, I just want to ask you to take a moment to think about this. Not so long ago in Cornwall, a single book fair with the works of local and regional authors in would have been newsworthy. In the past three months, we have had three fairs, how we have progressed!
Co organizer Ashley Barnhart taking a breather from the event’s very busy book exchange.Co organizer Brianna Brozincevic doesn’t write, but she does sew, and is shown displaying her handiwork. Sewing runs in the family, her grandfather Lindy Latour operated Montreal Road’s Singer Sewing Centre. Contemporary romance author Mimi Flood from Montreal, publishes her novels set in Montreal and Quebec. Mimi has written eight books and two anthologies, which she describes as “spicy, angsty, & emotional.”Cornwall based Erin Lisbeth published her first book, The Dating Debacle, a contemporary romance this August. Alyssa Delle Palme from Ottawa, first book Summer at Pine Lake, a young adult romance was released in 2023. Alyssa was very impressed at how much she sold, and was nearly out of stock by 11 a.m.TM Goodkey aka Tiffany Martin from Durham Ontario, writes fantasy romance.Jamie Grant from Ottawa has been self publishing children’s books since 2021.The event mixed authors with vintage book sellers, such as children’s books from Marissa Belmonte of Frugal Finds of Ingleside. Marissa said sales had been “wonderfully crazy,” and she had sold out her first table of books within the first hour, leading her to refurbish her display with her reserve stock.“Indie” book award winner, Alyssa Milani from Montreal, has been writing contemporary romance and thrillers for the past decade.Jen and Eric Desmarais are authors with Renaissance Press , in Gatineau, a publisher “…drawn to the voices of those who are members of a marginalised group(s).” The couple wrote Assassins! Accidental Matchmarkers, and more.Reading was promoted by (left to right) Jessica Bourgeois, Brittany and Olivia Delorme from the Sisterhood Book Club, at virtualFacebook bookclub formed in 2020.Frank Burelle, the Cornwall Public Library’s very active Community Engagement Coordinator striking a pensive pose at the Library’s table.Self-published of fantasy romance author Sarah L. Rose from Kingston, holding the first in her fantasy romance series, The Guardians of the Aspis. Sarah said that she was “really, really pleased, sales” had exceeded all expectations within the first 90 minutes.
