Plumleaf Press

05/01/2025

I have always dreamed of having a little bookshop of my own, with a tea-room tucked inside it (who doesn’t?). When I set up the PlumLeaf office in a retail space in beautiful Bronte Village, I often thought, “this would make a perfect bookshop.” And Oakville really needs a bookshop! But of course, I’m just a publisher and have no idea how to run a bookshop. Yet … our office is on a beautiful street that is steps from the lake, and many people stroll by, and some do stop in to ask if we are a bookshop … Rebecca, Kaitlin, and I started talking about selling our own books. When I mentioned it to M, he replied, “Well, you’ve always wanted to have a bookshop … why not start with this?” So, we rearranged our furniture and tidied our bookshelves, and the front of the office is now a mini bookshop — ready to sell Plumleaf Books! SWIPE. We don’t have a cafe, but there’s Taste of Colombia (excellent coffee, tea, snacks) across the road and Peach Coffee right next door! For now, we are only open Monday to Thursday, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. But we hope to extend to Fridays and Saturdays soon. We extend a warm welcome to all book lovers. 💖And we have wonderful books for Mother’s Day gifts.💖

04/24/2025

Excitement in the office yesterday with the arrival of our JA250 commemorative edition of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! “Stunning!” and “Gorgeous!” Heard all around. Swipe to see book from all angles.😀
The book is available in indie bookstores, in UK, and at janeaustenbooks.net in the US.
“Austen hits every possible beat in Pride and Prejudice, and the resulting tune is as near perfect a refrain as a reader could hope for. If the past two centuries are any indication, it will play on forever.” - Natalie Jenner, Internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society and Austen at Sea, in Introduction
*
“There is a bond among those who love and cherish Pride and Prejudice that is not unlike a sibling attachment. … With this beautiful edition, the sibling circle has a new adornment to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its unparalleled author’s birth, and for lucky new readers, a delightfully pretty volume from which to form their own first impressions.
— Louise Ansdell, Trustee, Chawton House, in Foreword
💙
Cover Art by UK artist .widdowson

02/09/2025

A fabulous evening at the TORONTO SYMPHONY LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, which started off with dinner reception at Shangrila Hotel, where (1) Senator Yuen Pau Woo (left) and I had pleasure of meeting Canada’s 26th Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her husband, John Saul Ralston. (2) Then I caught up with Kathleen Kajioka and Mark Wigmore, voices on my favourite radio station, Zoomer Media’s Classical 96.3FM; and (3) watched master calligrapher write the Chinese character for LUCK (Fu (福); and then (4) managed to catch a picture with internationally acclaimed guzhen virtuoso Wu Fei and violinist Stella Chen, both of whom would wow us at the TSO concert later; and (5) found M chatting with Mark Williams, CEO of the TSO, and (6) joined our kids with family friend KC Choong, foodie and traveller extraordinaire, before being led (7) to dinner by two prancing lions and their very loud drummers-and-cymbals entourage. (8) Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow graced our table for a chat, and then (9/10) we were entertained by an amazing young mask artist who showed us many different facial masks with just a flick of his head! After dinner, we were driven (the hardy young ones did a lantern walk) to (11) Roy Thomson Hall for a wonderful concert with the TSO under the baton of conductor Naomi Woo, featuring Wu Fei and Stella Chen; Dashan’s lyrical recitation of “Ode to Mountains,” in perfect Mandarin; plus dances by the Yang Yang Dance Studio. (12) At interval, I dropped by Plumleaf Press table in the lobby Market, where author Catherine Little was busy autographing her popular books; (13) returned to join Kathleen and Mark, who was happy with his lantern, for final half of concert, (14) which ended with a much-deserved standing ovation, before exiting the theatre to this lovely winter scene. (15). Altogether a wonderful winter evening, and funds raised by the TSO for music education in Toronto schools.💓

02/09/2025

02/09/2025

A fabulous evening at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Lunar New Year Celebration, which began with a dinner reception at Shangrila Hotel — 1. Met Canada’s 26th Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, John Saul Ralston, and Senator Yuen Pau Woo; 2. Mark Wigmore and Kathleen Kajioka of Classical 96.3; 3. Wufei, extraordinary guchen Artist and violinist Stella Chan; 4. M had good chat with CEO of TSO; 5. Watched a calligrapher skilfully wrote Chinese characters; 6. Caught DIL and sons chatting with KC; 7 by a wonderful concert at Roy Thomson Wall with conductoNaomi Woo on the podium for the orchestra and soloists and dancers from the Yang Yang Dance Studio.
1. With Senator Yuen Pao Woo,

02/08/2025

The perfect Valentine’s Day gift — this fabulous collection of poems by renowned women poets, covering LOVE, MOTHERHOOD, WORK, FAMILY & FRIENDS, and BALANCE. ❤️This first book under the Plumleaf Press imprint was published in 2015! To mark the anniversary, we are selling it at the special price of $15.00! Scroll down for a poem from the book.
Order at our website: plumleafpress.com or
❤️
WINTER
By Kamala Das
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It smelt of new rains and of tender
Shoots of plants - and its warmth was the warmth
Of earth groping for roots ... even my
Soul, I thought, must send its roots somewhere
And, I loved his body without shame,
On winter evenings as cold winds
Chuckled against the white window-panes.

02/07/2025

Ladies who lunch … a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration with this group of talented & creative friends — lively & engrossing conversation, laughter, and delicious fare.
Have to do it more often!💓
“Suddenly
from our diversity
words linked us
like a ring of stars.”
- Elizabeth Bishop, “Letter to NY”

02/05/2025

BLACK HISTORY MONTH — Nominated for Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award, this powerful book will resonate with children and inspire confidence to follow their dreams.
🌟Excellent teaching notes from Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (swipe) at link:
https://www.ednet.ns.ca/acs/files-acs/docs/waterloveteacherguideeng.pdf
(Image and caption below repost from )
Kaya, a young Black girl, navigates her lifelong love of water amid the disapproval of her friends and despite her mother’s deep-seated fear of the water.
Kaya joins an all-Black surfing program where she begins to understand the larger struggles of the Black experience and learns to love her “real” self through her passion for surfing.

Natalie Hodgson (right) is an Indigenous Black Nova Scotian mother, partner, author, counsellor, educator, and Impact of Race and Culture Assessor.
She has a passion for literacy and its value in children’s growth and well-being. Hodgson believes that children need to see themselves reflected in the books they read.

Rajean Willis MSW, RSW, PP, PhD(c) (top left) is a proud Black African Nova Scotian (ANS) woman, partner, mother, social work clinician, scholar and educator.
She is an invested community member, passionate about matters impacting the ANS community holistically.
Rajean is a TEDx speaker and self-produced talk show host.
She has a passion for developing and promoting culturally specific opportunities for Black children and youth and the need for cultural representation.

Sahle Robinson (bottom left) is a children’s book illustrator and series director, senior storyboard artist, and character concept designer for television animation.
Based in Toronto, Robinson, his wife, and his children also contribute to various community art-related projects.
WATER LOVE is published by Plumleaf Press

02/03/2025

Congratulations, ANNE SUMMERHILL! You are the winner of our Jane Austen 250 prize! 💖

02/03/2025

JANEITES REJOICE! Recently aired on BBC and coming soon to PBS is this “absolute treat.” Here is excerpt of review by Lucy Mangan in The Guardian:
“Miss Austen, an adaptation of Gill Hornby’s book of the same name, … tells the story of the just-beginning-to-be-famed Regency novelist through the eyes of the beloved sister who long survived her, Cassandra – played by Keeley Hawes with her customary controlled, unshowy magnificence. …
Cassandra, of course, was responsible for what some consider to be the greatest act of literary vandalism in history – and certainly one that causes every Janeite to double up in pain when they think of it. She destroyed almost all her vast collection of her sister’s correspondence to protect her and the family’s reputation and privacy. Of an estimated 3,000 letters, about 160 survive – mostly given to other family members as mementoes and therefore probably among the most anodyne examples from what would have been the treasure trove of treasure troves for future fans and scholars….
The sisters’ lives unfold in a series of extended flashbacks as Cassandra (whose younger version is played by Synnøve Karlsen) reads through the letters she finds in Eliza’s bedroom. The women’s closeness is deftly evoked by a script that manages the astonishing feat of sounding effortlessly Janeish (witty not waspish, appraising not cold), with Patsy Ferran giving a perfect performance as the young author. I suspect that the inescapable charisma and energy (stopping just short of pertness), impeccable timing, light touch and shining intelligence she brings to the part will be greeted with cheers and no little relief. …
Everything about Miss Austen is masterly, from the individual performances to the interweaving of narrative strands past and present. And it manages to keep Jane as the presiding spirit without selling any of the other characters short. …
We may never truly forgive Cassandra for her bonfire, but Miss Austen goes a long way to easing the pain.“

01/31/2025

OLA SUPER CONFERENCE — Kaitlin and Rebecca welcoming librarians at Plumleaf Press booth. Still time to enter our JANE AUSTEN 250 LUCKY DRAW today!

01/30/2025

This very creative cake by .bakescakes was the most photographed item of our dessert table at our Chinese New Year celebration.This Year of the Snake is a Double Spring Year — which means double the blessings for everyone.