A First Time for Everything, by Dan Santat, is a perfect tween book. It’s funny, sweet, honest, sometimes poignant but not sad. It’s a gentle comfort for every kid who has ever felt awkward and different, and an incentive for everyone who is afraid to try new things. It’s a
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wmtc: what i’m reading: an immense world by ed yong
Long ago, I briefly observed one of our dogs do something that has always stayed with me. I was walking Cody in our New York City neighbourhood, and saw, in the distance, a neighbour walking a dog that Cody was in love with, called Little Bear. Cody had never interacted
Continue readingwmtc: "the secret pocket": children’s books on residential schools, reading for reconciliation, and other library things
This post started as a standard “what i’m reading” post. But as I thought about it, I realized that it touches on several other themes that are important to me: history, Reconciliation, libraries, readers’ advisory… and maybe some others I’m not seeing yet. The Secret Pocket In September, for National
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: 2023 wrap-up, a reading plan for 2024, and why i now create reading plans
I’ve finally figured out this reading plan thing. A list that will guide me but not overwhelm me. A way to make sure I read at least a few old titles that have been languishing on my Books Universe list for ages. A list that will keep me obsessively reading,
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the invisible kingdom: reimagining chronic illness
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke is a important book. I would even call it a landmark. For ten years, O’Rourke suffered from a debilitating condition that was either misdiagnosed or dismissed. Her search for answers forms the structure of this book. Although the author writes about her
Continue readingwmtc: achievement unlocked! what i’m reading: gotham: a history of new york city to 1898
Ta-da! I finished! I’ve been reading Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 in weekly installments, since March of 2022. And now I have finished it. I thoroughly enjoyed both the book and the reading experience. I have a list of doorstoppers that I’d like to approach the same way.
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: for the win + labour book club update
Cory Doctorow’s novel For the Win may have been the most unexpected title on my Labour Book Club booklist. It’s kind of science fiction (but not really), kind of YA (but not), and it doesn’t show up on most “books about unions” lists. But it is most definitely a book about
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: delusions of gender: how our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference
When I was in library school, much ink was spilled discussing a “crisis” of “boys not reading”. Countless articles were written, studies were launched, hands were wrung. How do we get boys to read??? For a paper I was writing, I dug up the original study that launched this literacy
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: sea people: the puzzle of polynesia
If the Hōkūle’a hadn’t come to Port Hardy, this book might have languished indefinitely on my Books Universe List*. The List is very long. Often Books Universe is the place interesting-to-me titles go to die. Fortunately for me, a friend who is also excited about the Hōkūle’a asked if I had read
Continue readingwmtc: rip cormac mccarthy: an indelible impression, for better or worse
The recent death of Cormac McCarthy has me thinking about his dark genius, and my contrary views of his best (and worst) writing. I know exactly when and how I discovered McCarthy. In the early 1990s, I was volunteering, and later teaching, at a New York City youth centre called
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: madame restell (nonfiction version)
In March, I wrote about My Notorious Life, historical fiction by Kate Manning, based on the life of a woman known as Madame Restell. I loved the book. Then, by beautiful coincidence, I stumbled on this book while in Powell’s City of Books in Portland: Madame Restell: the Life, Death
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: god’s bits of wood + labour book club update
My BCGEU Vancouver Island Labour Book Club is happening! 25 people expressed interest, 18 people registered, and about 5-7 people have been attending. A few other folks are following the reading but not attending the discussions. I take all of this as wins. The fact that it’s happening at all
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: bread & roses: mills, migrants, and the struggle for the american dream
I’d be willing to bet my paycheque that Bruce Watson, author of Bread & Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream, did not want his book to have that title. The 1912 millworker strike in the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts is now referred to as “the Bread
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: my notorious life by kate manning (madame restell, fictional version, nonfiction to follow)
I read this book last year, and have been recommending it nonstop, so it’s about time to commit it to wmtc. My Notorious Life was an obvious book for me to love — or to hate. Much historical fiction feels contrived to me. An author takes a period of history, writes
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: empire of pain, the secret history of the sackler family
Buried on page 364 of the hardcover edition of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty — almost two-thirds into the book — is one sentence that, for me, defines the most important piece of this urgent story. The opioid crisis is, among other things, a parable about
Continue readingwmtc: oregon family visit, part 5 (portland)
Our full day in Portland was almost entirely about books and food, with a little shopping-I-can’t-do-at-home thrown in. I thought I was going to do a bit of tourism — the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden was calling — but I ran out of time and energy. As my mother used
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: shuggie bain, brilliant and devastating fiction by douglas stuart
Any novel that wins the Booker Prize will be worth reading. Not all literary prizes reflect quality, but the Booker Prize carries a lot of weight. So when a debut novel wins a Booker, that is a singular achievement. Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart, was the recipient of the 2020 Booker
Continue readingwmtc: rip russell banks: a belated tribute
I was very sorry to hear that Russell Banks, one of my favourite contemporary writers, died on January 7 of this year. There’s a very short list of authors that are must-reads for me; I’ll read anything they publish. Banks was on that list. Banks wrote about very ordinary people,
Continue readingwmtc: trying something new: labour book club
Through my union, I’ve started a labour book club. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, and now it’s gotten off the ground. I’m very pleased! Everything requires persistence, even quitting I first thought of doing this pre-covid, and imagined that I might gather members of my union
Continue readingwmtc: a reading plan for 2023
This year’s reading plan is more open-ended — designed to give me focus but not overwhelm. I’ve created what most people seem to call a reading challenge, but that term doesn’t work for me. So here’s the plan. ** Five current (within 3 years) nonfiction ** Five older nonfiction from
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