'TIS THE SEASON FOR READING

What an exciting Fall we've had at Breakwater Books! Not only did we celebrate the Grand Opening of our Duckworth Street location, but we also celebrated our final 2025 releases, hosted even more author events, and began our holiday market season! As 2025 winds down, we're gearing up for our first holiday shopping season back in the downtown core and looking ahead to exciting Winter reads.

NEW RELEASES & UPCOMING EVENTS

Our final releases of 2025 have arrived! Certainly not least among them is Six for Saint-Pierre, the newest instalment in Kevin Major's award-winning Sebastian Synard Mystery series, this time taking on an international mystery.
And rounding out our line-up is the adorable Seamus and the Shiny Things, coming to us from celebrated children's author and folk artist Cara Kansala. 

Sebastian's visit to Saint-Pierre quickly takes a turn when a dead body is found floating in the frigid tidewater of a deserted beach. As mystery and intrigue surround the colourful French island, Sebastian is thrust into an international investigation.  Available now on our website and at our Duckworth Street store!

A colourful tale of a little crow's journey of self-discovery, teaching us that friendship and giving are the shiniest thing of all. Come along with Seamus as he learns a valuable lesson that maybe the real treasure isn't shiny objects, but the love and generosity of those around him! Available on our website and in stores!

SAVE THE DATE

• November 28th-30th: Head on down to the Jack Byrne Arena for the North Pole Christmas Fair, which will be packed with local vendors and artisans, including Breakwater Books! Stop in to chat with one of our authors and get a signed book for yourself or someone on your list! Featured authors include:
  • Ashleigh Matthews
  • Karl Wells
  • Heidi Wicks
  • Kevin Tobin
  • Ray Critch
  • Susie Taylor
  • Paul Moorehead
  • Debbie McGee
  • Jen Winsor
• December 6th: In partnership with our friends at Coles Village Mall, enjoy an all day signing event featuring ten Breakwater authors with their new releases! 
• December 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st: As we ramp up to the Holidays, twelve of our authors will be visiting our storefront at 263 Duckworth! Stay tuned for more details on these festive special events, coming soon!

BIG NEWS

Breakwater Books celebrates the Grand Opening of our 263 Duckworth Store!

Oh, what a celebration we had on November 1st! We welcomed our community to our new downtown location for a fabulous day full of author appearances, signings, book sales, interviews, friendly faces, and most importantly, fantastic books! The store was packed from open until close and we ended the day with a celebratory gathering of our authors, supporters, and friends.

We want to extend our warmest thanks to our community for showing up on a (very blustery and wet) November day to support us, celebrate with us, and take in all the wonderful things our new little store has to offer.

Check out some of our favourite moments we captured below!

We started the day with a reading of Seamus and the Shiny Things by Cara Kansala, and kicked off our non-stop author signings!

It was great to see so many faces visiting the store! And in the evening, the fun continued at our reception.

Thanks to all of our authors, colleagues, friends, family, and extended Breakwater network who showed up to support us! 

BREAKWATER BUZZ

Want to know more about our books, our authors, and what we're up to? We have new reviews and new interviews to dig deeper into the story behind your favourite recent reads:

-From Breakwater author Trudy Morgan-Cole's Shelf Esteem podcast: an interview with Debbie McGee about her new memoir, Cautiously Pessimistic. Click here to listen!

-In the Globe and Mail's piece on anglo-Canadian publishing, Breakwater Books president Rebecca Rose adds insight into what drove the boost of art-driven publishing in Canada. Read the full article here. 

-Read what VOCM has to say about Ship Moms by Jen Winsor here!

-Click here to read The Seaboard Review's take on the "engaging read" of Ship Moms by Jen Winsor!

-For All Lit Up, Breakwater author Angela antle conversed with fellow author Susan Grundy on history, memory, and art in their work. Find their full conversation here!

-Did you catch Jen Winsor on RogersTV's Out of the Fog? If not, don't worry! Her interview is available to watch here on the RogersTV website.

-The Seaboard Review calls The Hunt by Nick Wilkshire a "a high-quality thriller". Read their full review here!

-Breakwater Books was proud to have many of our authors (Leahdawn helena, Trudy Morgan-Cole, Mary Dalton, Robin McGrath, and Agnes Walsh) featured in Up She Rises!, a public forum on Women and Gender in NL History organized by the Provincial Historic sites and the NL Historical Society's symposium.

-On his RogersTV show Point 2 Point, author Karl Wells took a turn being interviewed, discussing his new memoir with Jennifer Guy. Watch part one here and part two of the interview here!

-In fantastic news to round out our year, Openly Karl by Karl Wells was named the Best Book of 2025 in Newfoundland and Labrador by Indigo! New releases from Yvonne Yumbolt-Jones, Debbie McGee, and Kevin Major also made the top 10 list, which you can find here!

-The nominees for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award have been announced, and The Weather Diviner by Elizabeth Murphy is one of four Canadian books to have made the list! Read the news from CBC Books here and a shoutout from Quill & Quire here. Congratulations, Elizabeth! 

HAVE YOU HEARD?

ACP Launches Certified Canadian Publisher Program!

The Association of Canadian Publishers has launched an exciting new initiative: the Certified Canadian Publisher program! Canadian-owned publishers that support Canadian jobs, champion Canadian talent, strengthen our communities, and boost our economy can now be identified by a certified Canadian Publisher seal.

Breakwater Books is proud to be a Certified Canadian Publisher, connecting conscientious readers with the stories they love. Keep an eye out for this new identifying seal when browsing for books! 

GIVE THE GIFT OF READING!

Looking for ideas to invigorate your shopping list? Have a look at our recommendations for all different kinds of readers in your life!

FEATURED TITLES

WOMEN'S HISTORY, QUEER HISTORY, VETERAN'S WEEK

Have a look at a selection of our featured titles from October and November! Specially chosen collections for Women's History Month, Queer History Month, and Veterans' Week were on display in our storefront to celebrate and commemorate these events. Take a look at our selected titles! 

Featured for Women's History Month in October: From the Voices of Nurses by Jeanette Walsh, Ahead of her Time by Elizabeth Miller, Island Maid by Rhonda Pelley, and No Place for a Woman by Antony Berger.

From our picks for Queer History Month: transversing in collaboration with For the Love of Learning, A Seal of Salvage by Clayton B. Smith, Even Weirder Than Before by Susie Taylor, Openly Karl by Karl Wells, and The Blue Moth Motel by Olivia Robinson.

And finally, we have a selection of titles commemorating our veterans: The Long Run and In the Field by Joan Sullivan, Known Unto God by Morgan MacDonald and Frank Gogos, First in Line by Hilda Morrow and Steve Bartlett, and When the Great Red Dawn in Shining by Christopher J.A. Morry. 

PHOTO ALBUM

This fall has been a busy season for Breakwater Books! With several launches, readings, panels, and signing events, check out the photos below to see what we've been up to!

Coles Avalon Mall held another one of their popular Local Author Showcases! Our authors always appreciate this opportunity to get together with other local writers and sign some books!

The NL Quarterly team stopped by Breakwater to draw a prize winner! Congrats to Roxanne Fleming on being the selected recipient.  Check out the Newfoundland Quarterly here!

In partnership with The Rooms, Breakwater Books hosted two more Author Talk evenings to celebrate some of our recent releases! Three of our murder mystery authors (Nick Wilkshire - The Hunt, Ray Critch - The Beltane Massacre, Kevin Major - Six for Saint-Pierre) discussed their writing with moderator Craig Francis Power. Our second event brought together two non-fiction authors: Debbie McGee, author of Cautiously Pessimistic, and Jen Winsor, author of Ship Moms, in conversation with Angela Antle. Thanks so much to our fantastic speakers and our enthusiastic audiences! We hope to continue bringing more of these events to you in the new year!