I’ve recently returned from a lovely trip to Boston, filled with so many of my favourite things: friends, family, books, and baseball. I love Fenway Park, and I’m always happy…
It’s time, once again, for the wmtc annual movie awards. To recap, my silly rating systems so far: – Canadian musicians and comedians (2006-07 and 2007-08)– my beverage of choice…
I feel so disconnected from this blog, and from writing in general. I hate it. I love having this blog. I love that when I do want to write, and…
Cover of 1943 Random Houseedition with woodcut illustrations Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights in 1847, under a pseudonym. Brontë died the following year, at age 30. It was the only…
My final post about the OLA Super Conference sessions I attended saves the best for last. “Sub-Urban Beats: Hip-Hop Programming in the Library” thrilled me with possibilities. Even more exciting,…
Eleven years ago today, the US invaded Iraq. This unprovoked invasion of another country that had not threatened the United States was justified by the pretense of finding weapons of…
I’ve just finished my first March Break (the Canadian equivalent of Spring Break in the US) in my new position as a youth librarian. It was exhilarating and a lot…
It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That’s the first line of Ned Vizzini’s excellent 2006 youth novel, It’s Kind of a Funny Story. By the…
The wmtc greatest hits page has been updated with the best posts of 2012, as chosen by my partner and editor. About this year’s picks, Allan says: “I tried to…
Last September, when Tim Hudak announced that he intended to break Ontario’s unions, it came as no surprise to labour activists. The head of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party, cynically framing…
Where oh where has the NDP gone? One of the most wonderful things about Canada, for me, has always been the presence of a viable third party on the left.…
Image from Freedom to Read website Freedom to Read Week 2014 runs from February 23 to March 1. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Freedom to Read Week in…
Tweens – older kids who are not yet teens – are among my favourite library customers. Tween books are my favourites to read, and a tween audience is my most…
The New York Times recently ran a heavy dose of letters in support of the movement against Israeli apartheid, many of them written by Jewish North Americans. Philip Weiss of…
Did I celebrate Michael Sam’s coming out on Facebook and Twitter, and forget to mention it on wmtc?? Ack! Social media run amok! The news that a top NFL prospect…
Allan came home from one of his used-book sale sprees with copies of both Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics. I had read so many excerpts from, and reviews of, these books…
Soraya Chemaly places Dylan Farrow’s claim in the context of rampant child sexual abuse, and the persistent myth of false rape claims. Dylan Farrow is in a situation that thousands…
In an excellent interview in Truthout, Michael Pollan responds to critics who accuse the food movement of being elitist. He very rightly credits Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation with explicitly…
Shirley Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson Growing up watching old movies, I was a big fan of Shirley Temple, whose dimples, singing, and tap-dancing charmed my parents’ generation. Temple danced…
I trust by now you’ve all heard about Stephen Harper’s latest plan to undermine democracy in Canada, his electoral reform bill that the chief electoral officer of the country has…
