February arrives once again, and as much as things stay the same, things are still changing in Winnipeg and at Whodunit?
The hopes in November that we would be able to return to in-person events, or even have our Book Club move off of Zoom were dashed by Omicron, which feels like the dozenth time that we have written a version of that. We now expect to transition back to once again managing COVID without provincial mandates, and can at least feel confident that you, our readers have continued to support the safety steps that we maintain.
We are still in plans to return to many of the things that we have missed over the past two years. Author Events, theme nights, the Used Book Sale, Canadian Independent Bookstore Day, and a few more surprises are all on our calendar for 2022, and we intend to do the best forms of all of those we can given the constraints of the times. There are details deeper in these pages for many of those things, and a few hints to come on our social media as we get closer to the days.
Our supply chain continues to be...inconsistent, especially in terms of titles that are printed in the United Kingdom. Which books are affected by this are pretty variable: there was no clear reason as to why. Only Headline UK can tell you why it took them two extra years to get Quintin Jardine's The Roots of Evil to arrive in Canada, while one of our children's authors had his book stuck on the Evergiven, and one spring cookbook will be delayed because its journey ended in the Atlantic after its cargo container fell off a different ship! All of that is to say nothing of the domestic shipping issues that have come from the weather, from warehouse problems, and from more sinister trucking delays.
2022 has certainly arrived with challenges, both new and old. But it has also come with some very exciting new developments for us at Whodunit? Many of you will already have seen that our website is being upgraded, and as it gets more polished, we are thrilled to be able to offer more features and functionality. If there is a specific feature you would like to see, do please let us know, and we will see what we can do. Already, for those who have been on there recently you will also have notice a few of these that we have already launched:
New Feature - Book Subscriptions
Folks have asked for a while, and we have listened! With this issue, we will be starting our first subscription service! Joining is simple: let us know how often you want us to choose you a book, and what format you would like it in.
That's it. Really. We do everything else. When it is time for your book to go out, we will contact you to make arrangements.
So if you have someone special in your life who you want to keep reading, or you just want to make sure there is always something new on your own "to read" pile, get in touch and we can get everything set up.
New Feature - Book Boxes
For those of you who want to have a few more things show up at once, we have also launched our Book Boxes! Starting at $25, these are great for those among you who read lots but may either have lacunas on their shelves, or difficulty getting into the shop to pile them up. Or maybe you have a loved one who consumes more books than others would believe possible.
For whatever reason, if you buy a Book Box, we will fill it for you to fit your needs. Used cosies? Cold War spies? Sherlock Holmes? You let us know how much, and what kind of books you want and we will get it put together for you. Or, tell us about the person you are buying for and we can tailor the box to their tastes!
Both of these features are ready for you should you want them, but they are not the end to what we hope to add to our services as the year goes on. Some, as mentioned above, will depend on the nature of the world, but some will also depend on you! There is no better way for us to know if you like the things that we offer than you using them.
For those of you who haven't stopped in in a while, we also have some new surprises in store for you as well. However, as space in this newsletter is also required for the parts that most of you actually use it for (See page 5 for the start of the lists), I will leave here for many of you to be shocked when in the coming weeks a secret door starts opens to reveal something else.