"at your library" in the north island eagle: booklists: we could use a laugh
As I mentioned here, I’m posting three of these columns each week until I’m caught up. Booklists: We Could Use a Laugh I have one last booklist for you before…
what i’m reading
"at your library" in the north island eagle: booklists: hidden gems of historical fiction
Booklists: Hidden Gems of Historical Fiction Here’s a booklist you may want to save: historical fiction. This genre brings history to life, by letting readers view it through the eyes…
"at your library" in the north island eagle: booklists: hidden gems of fiction
Booklists: Hidden Gems of Fiction Here’s a list of 10 so-called literary novels. These are great reads that will move you, make you think, and maybe make you sad when…
"at your library" in the north island eagle: booklists: meet amazing people through reading
As I mentioned here, I’m posting three of these columns each week until I’m caught up. Booklists: Meet Amazing People Through Reading In my last column, I suggested ten travelogues…
"at your library" in the north island eagle: book lists: travel the world by book
Book Lists: Travel the World by Book In my last column, I promised you lists of books on various topics. I’ll highlight ten books in each column. You might want…
"at your library" in the north island eagle: happy new year and happy book lists
Happy New Year and Happy Book Lists 2020 was such a difficult year. Most of us were not sorry to see it go! Your library is here for you, dreaming…
what i’m reading: there, there by tommy orange
After finishing and marveling over Kate Reed Petty’s True Story, I picked up There There by Tommy Orange and had a similar reaction. I don’t read a lot of popular…
what i’m reading: true story by kate reed petty
Kate Reed Petty’s True Story is one of the most impressive debut novels you’ll ever read. It is both a riveting page-turner and a narrative puzzle, twisting and turning in…
what i’m reading: the skin we’re in by desmond cole
Alternative title: It Happens in Canada, Too. Desmond Cole’s book, The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power may be a difficult book for white Canadians to…
rtod: kids are jumping out of windows of burning buildings, so we board up the windows instead of putting out the fire
Revolutionary thought of the day: What I’m here to talk about is how our whole approach since day one has been like this: Kids are jumping out the windows of…
what i’m reading: sometimes you have to lie: the life and times of louise fitzhugh, renegade author of harriet the spy
Until very recently, I didn’t know anything about Louise Fitzhugh and had not thought about her at all. Of course, as a child I read and loved Harriet the Spy,…
what i’m reading: the sword and the shield: the revolutionary lives of malcolm x and martin luther king jr.
When I read a review of The Sword and The Shield: the Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., I knew it was a book I’d been…
beverly cleary, rest in peace, and thank you
Beverly Cleary, who died last week at the astounding age of 104, was a pivotal figure in the world of children’s literature. Her books are treasures; her influence can scarcely…
what i’m reading: janis, her life and music
As a teenager and in my early 20s, I was somewhat obsessed with Janis Joplin. I read all the available biographies of her, and took any opportunity to see footage…
what i’m reading: the bridge by bill konigsberg — important, powerful, essential teen fiction
The Bridge, by Bill Konigsberg, is the best YA novel I’ve read since Eleanor & Park in 2012. Unfortunately, I know that many readers won’t go near this book, because…
what i’m reading: ghosts of gold mountain, the epic story of the chinese who built the transcontinental railroad
Ever since reading, in 2006, The National Dream and The Golden Spike, Pierre Berton’s books about the building of the Canadian railroad, I’ve been interested in the Chinese railroad workers.…
a reading plan for 2021: big stacks of nonfiction, plus some fiction, and series for mind breaks
2018: Titles and reading projects that were languishing on my List. 2019: The year of the biography. The first time I created a reading plan for the year. 2020: I…
what i’m reading: never cry wolf by farley mowat
I have read many essays and op-eds by Farley Mowat, the legendary Canadian naturalist, but until now, had never read any of his many books. (He was incredibly prolific.) When…
how do you read? in which my reading habits unexpectedly change
Librarians like to ask readers about their reading habits. How do you read? What format do you most prefer? Do you have a secondary format? These days, most avid readers…