Happy Spring to you all! I hope you are finding the warm sunshine and fresh air restorative and life-giving.
Spring at the library involves online programming and now curbside pickup! See our website or give us a call for the full details on this service. It gives us great joy to be able to provide access to our collection, though it is limited at this time. Please note that we are still working out the logistics of accepting returns, but we hope to welcome your items back soon. In the meantime, rest assured that your due dates will continue to be extended, and no late fines will accrue.
What are you reading these days? I have struggled to really get into a book for the past few weeks. Studies have shown that when we are under stress, we often do not have the mental energy to tackle a challenge in our reading lives. In fact, many of us revert to reading childhood favourites. I know my copy of Anne of Green Gables is looking tempting. (There’s a copy on the library’s shelf available for you too!)
When you are struggling to read, we are here to help! Here is a brief roundup of select titles that might appeal to you. All of these titles were available as of Apr 30. If you have questions about accessing any of these resources, feel free to give us a call or send us a message on Facebook. Or join us for Tech Tuesdays on Zoom where Nathalie will provide e-resource tutorials (also available on our YouTube channel).
Maybe you’re feeling ambitious, and it’s time for you to sink your teeth into that classic you never got around to reading:
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – available on Libby and in hard copy in novel and graphic novel formats.
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – available on Libby and in hard copy in book and audiobook formats.
- Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – available on Libby and in hard copy. This book is long, but so worthwhile for its moving, redemptive story.
- Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – available on Libby and in hard copy at the library in book, audiobook, and DVD. Hailed as the first science fiction novel, this extraordinary book continues to resonate.
- The Brontë Sisters: The Complete Novels – available in hard copy. This could keep you busy for awhile!
- Pride and Prejudice; Persuasion; and Northanger Abbey (my favourite) by Jane Austen – available in hard copy in novel and graphic novel formats.
- Bleak House; Great Expectations; A Tale of Two Cities; and Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens – available in hard copy.
Perhaps you want to support local in your reading. I recommend the e-resource Read Alberta eBooks available on our website. All the books on this platform were published in Alberta. There are quite a few academic titles, but some great general interest ones as well:
- This Place: 150 Years Retold – an excellent graphic novel compilation featuring different artists telling the history of Canada from an Indigenous perspective.
- What You Take With You: Wildfire, Family and the Road Home by Therese Greenwood – a story of the Fort McMurray wildfire. Also available in hard copy.
- The Canadian Kitchen Garden by Laura Peters – I know a lot of us have high hopes for our gardens this year!
- Arriving: 1909-1919 by Corinne Jeffery – the first in a series of historical fiction about the lives of a family of settlers on the prairies.
- Cut it Out: 10 Simple Steps for Tight Writing and Better Sentences by Laura Swart – Are you working on your own writing project? This book could help. Also available in hard copy.
- Laugh Out Loud Farm Animals by Wendy Pirk – sometimes a cheesy joke is just the thing you need.
Or maybe it’s a good time to get to a popular title from a few years ago that you never got to:
- Vi by Kim Thúy – available on Libby and in hard copy. A beautiful, sometimes challenging read about Vietnamese refugees making a new life in Canada.
- The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis – available on Libby. A funny, entertaining take on Canadian politics in novel form.
- A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler – available on Libby or in hard copy in audiobook format. This book invites you to fully immerse yourself into the life of the Whitshank family.
- French Exit by Patrick deWitt – available on Libby or in hard copy. This book is darkly funny. A quick read.
Or maybe, like me, focus and concentration aren’t coming very easily right now, and a short story collection could be just the thing:
- Best Canadian Stories 2019 – available on Hoopla. These collections are a great way to discover new authors.
- Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks – available on Libby and in hard copy as a book or audiobook. This charming collection is best enjoyed narrated by the author.
- Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta – available on Libby. Interconnected stories about a Jamaican girl growing up in Toronto.
- Immigrant City by David Bezmozgis – available on Libby. Wonderfully written stories with vivid characters, this was a finalist for the Giller prize last year.
Thank you all for how gracious you have been as we work out how to provide library services under these circumstances. If you have any questions or suggestions of how we can support you better through this time, feel free to contact us by phone, email or on Facebook.
From all of us at the library, we hope you stay well in every sense of the word. Take care.