Online Facebook Spotlights and In-store Events
Thursday, April 24th- 6:30-7:30 pm– The Shadow in the Window– Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia. An abandoned house with shadowy windows, a hand that floats in the air, a grey lady that vanishes…these are the “things” that have been witnessed along Nova Scotia’s shores. Join storyteller Cindy Campbell-Stone for this spine-tingling performance of unexplained encounters in folklore. Advanced registration will be required by purchase of a $10- gift certificate to monitor our numbers.
Saturday. April 26th- Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (CIBD), celebrated annually, it is when readers, writers, illustrators, publishers, and other industry supporters come together to celebrate indie bookstores across Canada. By joining the celebration, you are advocating for independent businesses, supporting a flourishing bookselling community, and investing in Canadian culture.
We will be participating in the first-ever HRM Independent Bookstore Day Passport
How does the Passport work?
Visit all 9 of the participating HRM Bookstores in person and get a sticker, stamp, or signature from each store. Once you have completed your postcard, bring it to one of the participating stores nearest you by Sunday, May 4th, to be entered in the draw. Each store will have a draw for a tote bag full of swag! No purchase necessary.
We will have a brand new scavenger hunt for the kids. Completed scavenger hunts will get a free picture book, while supplies last. Customers with purchases of over $50- before taxes will get their choice of a mystery book, while supplies last. Mystery books are different from our Blind Dates books. Mystery books have the genre on the front along with a quote from inside the book. We will also have a table set up with 20% off new local books.
Saturday, May 17th, 5:45 pm-8:00 pm: An Event To Die For. Join us for a night of murder and mayhem with donalee Moulton author of Hung Out To Die, Vernon Oickle who will launch his ninth book in his Crow Series, Nine Crows for a Kiss and to add some realism, retired RCMP officer Gary Grant, author of Walking Life’s Yellow Line My Way will be joining us. There will even be a fun quiz about psychopaths. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is maybe one of the most well-known psychopaths, so we will be serving NovelTea’s Vlad’s First Bite, Berry Bliss Herbal Tea at 5:45 pm, with the event to follow. Advanced registration will be required by purchase of a $10- gift certificate to monitor our numbers
Tuesday, May 20th– Readings at The Woodside. Come to Dartmouth’s oldest bar, the Woodside Tavern (209 Pleasant Street), on Tuesday, May 20, to hear two Dartmouth authors read from their novels nominated for 2025 Nova Scotia Book Awards: Charlene Carr (We Rip the World Apart, HarperCollins) and Susan LeBlanc (The Nowhere Places, Nimbus Publishing). The readings will be followed by a conversation moderated by bestselling author Donna Jones-Alward (When the World Fell Silent, HarperCollins). Doors open at 6:00, readings at 7:00. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 (cash only) at the door. Seating is limited. Dartmouth Book Exchange will be on hand with books for sale by the three featured authors.
Wednesday, May 21st- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting. Debbie Marshall will be presenting Too Many to Mourn: One Family’s Tragedy in the Halifax Explosion by James Mahar and Rowena Mahar. Rowena is Debbie’s Aunt, her Mother’s youngest sister. The book tells the tragic story of a family who lost the largest amount of it’s members during the explosion. This is addition to the rest of our members presenting their books.
Saturday, May 31st- 10:30am-11:30am– Author Meet and Greet with Janice Landry. Every Little Thing: How Small Acts of Kindness Make a Big Impact. Please join us for our first-ever morning author Meet and Greet with Janice Landry. Come sit and chat with us at this informal get-together. Author Janice Landry was diagnosed with Lyme disease during the summer of 2023. Following her recovery, Landry realized that a small thing, a tiny tick, has had a big impact on her life. The author has deliberately woven the theme of small versus big throughout Every Little Thing via heartwarming stories of acts of kindness and connection. Landry proves in the end that the little things really are the big things.
Thursday, June 12th, 6:30 pm- 7:30 pm- Blind Date Speed Dating Night– with special guest Cathryn Fox. Cathryn Fox has some of the best first lines in her novels. Our Blind Date books will use their first line(s) as their pick-up lines, so Cathryn will be here to tell us all about first lines: how she comes up her first lines, and their importance. She’ll also discuss her novel The Blurbs and the Bees that has a one of the best first lines. $10.50- preregistration is required for this event to monitor numbers. Everyone gets one of these, never seen before, specially made, high-demand Blind Dates. Advanced registration required.
Wednesday, June 18th- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting with guest author Marjorie Simmins’ new book In Search of Puffins.
June 23rd-June 29th- ONLINE spotlight for OC Publishing’s Francene Gillis’s book launch: Where did I go? a Memoir Plus.
July- Note different date: July 23rd- 6:30pm-7:30pm: Locally Authored Book Club Meeting
Sunday August 17th, 3pm-5pm- Bookstore Romance Day. Details to come.
Wednesday, August 20th- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting
Wednesday, September 17th- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting
Thursday September 18th and 25th-6:30pm- 8:00pm- Cindy Campbell-Stone will be presenting Lady in the Lighthouse: The Catherine Gallagher Story in two repeat performances. Catherine also known as Mrs. Edward Gallagher, was known as one of the main sources for folklorist Dr. Helen Creighton. This show contains various stories from her life and eight of the forty songs that she sung for Helen.
Thursday, October 9th- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm Blind Date With A Book Speed Dating Night. It’s the 11th anniversary since we sold our first Blind Date With A Book, what better way to celebrate than by having another Blind Date With a Book Speed Dating Night? Special guest Amy Spurway and her novel CROW will be joining us! If you have not had the pleasure, Crow has a GREAT first line(s) and for our Blind Dates Speed, the first line is the pick-up line. Amy will be discussing her book Crow, how she came up with her first line and the importance of GREAT first lines. Advanced registration will be required.
Wednesday, October 15th- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting
Wednesday, November 19tth- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting
Wednesday, December 10th- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- Locally Authored Book Club Meeting
We are currently limiting all our in-store author or book-themed events to:
- Already well-known, established authors that we know will draw a crowd and be of interest to our local customers.
- Or to group, and themed events, where we host several authors at once.
- Or to community groups that are interested in us hosting a particular author or themed event for their group to attend.
We do offer week-long online spotlights and book giveaways for local authors
What a Spotlight entails:
What a spotlight entails is for a week (Monday- Sunday) we do posts on our Facebook page promoting the author and book. At the end of the week, we give away a copy of the book spotlighted, provided by either the author or the publisher. The authors, in advance, provide us with any interviews, reviews, or special posts about their book or of them, that we can share. The more the author/publisher provides the more that we can post.
Dartmouth Book Exchange Events Group
Authors, bloggers, aspiring authors, reviewers, publishers, editors, professional storytellers, and other supporters of local authors are more than welcome to join our Book Events group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/899347560587433
***If you are a Local Author/ Publisher interested in having an online spotlight done on our social media pages, please contact us on our contact page. Thank-you
Our Locally Authored Book Club Exchange
We generally meet on the third Wednesday of the month from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
• Each participant will bring a locally authored novel that they have recently read and can part with. Locally authored will be defined as an author living within the Atlantic Bubble.
• During the meeting, each person will take a turn telling everyone what they liked about the book they brought and why the others should read it.
• Each book will go into a basket and at the end of the meeting, if a book sparked your interest, you’ll be able to take it home to read.
• If there is more than one person interested in reading the book, it will be brought back to the next meeting, for another person’s turn.
• We may even host an author occasionally and Dartmouth Book Exchange may even seed the basket once in a while.
• All are welcome to come and listen during the meetings, but only the people who brought a book will be guaranteed to leave with a book.
Our Book Club aims to promote local authors, their books, and the writing of reviews. #supportlocalauthors
Meeting space
***If you are looking for a meeting place for your small group of 10 people or less, such as your book club group, we have a space. We charge a small $25 set-up and take-down fee for a 2-hour meeting, but should your group spend that or more in our store, the fee is waived.
