For those of us in the book business, June always means it's time for Book Expo Canada (BEC), the annual conference and trade show that takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Up until this year, BEC, modeled after its American counterpart, has been closed to the general public, but after a special Task Force (where I hope bookish superheroes were at the very least consulted) determined that Book Expo either had to evolve or dissolve, we now have Booked! Three Days Between the Covers.

Obviously, it's the gala tribute to Stephen King that's making headlines in the book world. It's his first public appearance, ever, in Canada and what a way to land on our northern shores than to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Booksellers Association. But with over 50 authors to choose from, each participating in a myriad of events around the city, it certainly shouldn't be hard to spend June 7-9 between these covers! And there's even a focus on children's books, billed as Booked! For Kids, that's also taking place.

For the most part, Booked! is setting out to capitalize on the fact that many publishers bring their authors to Toronto to celebrate their upcoming work during BEC, it's an interesting way to get the public involved, kind of like killing two birds with one stone. A lot of the events, breakfasts, lunches, etc., will introduce book lovers to upcoming works, many of which won't be published until the busy fall season, and giving authors that little extra promotion and publicity.

On the whole, as this is the first year for the public side of the trade show, it remains to be seen how successful the entire enterprise will become—but I hope that it becomes a staple on the literary scene like the IFOA or many of the other more established author event series.

Now on to something completely different: Facebook. The social networking site has taken the book world somewhat by storm. It's perfect for me because I've learned about a couple of reading series that I've been meaning to mention in these pages before, Alex Boyd's IV Lounge Reading Series, that takes place every second Friday night at 326 Dundas Street W (across from the AGO) and the Fictitious Reading Series that takes place in the gallery space about This Ain't The Rosedale Library on the last Sunday of each month. Although the latter of the two takes a hiatus for the summer, I wanted to mention it here simply because it's such a long-running cool series that I should have brought to your attention well before now! I've joined a few book-themed Facebook groups to make sure that I'm at least in the loop when it comes to literary events even outside the scope of my normal sightings.

Now, if you're looking for something to do this Friday, June 1st, Toronto-lit staple Taddle Creek is having its Summer Launch party at Jet Fuel Coffee Shop, and with free beer courtesy of Steam Whistle and 'brief readings' Cary Fagan, Hal Niedzvieci, and poet Kathleen Olmstead, is there a better way to wind down after the work week? I don't think so.

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