Sure it’s indulgent, but I’m not going to lie, "a book that celebrates books, reading or libraries," is one of my all-time favourite Reading Challenge categories (if I could include an animated applause here I would). There's something kind of special when you are reading and you suddenly realize: “Hey!...
We’ve been taught to "never judge a book by it’s cover". But let’s be honest, most of us do. Publishers go to great effort to create covers and titles for books that (ideally!) capture our interest, give a hint to the content of the book and produce the perfect first...
We could all use a laugh right about now, so we've asked library staff and members of the Reading Challenge Facebook group to recommend books that made them laugh. Some of these books are giddy, silly fun; some are dark; some are dry, some are goofy. We hope you find...
In October 2018, a team of four Toronto librarians made their way onto Twitter. We were looking for new ways of connecting readers with books; trying to find out if Twitter could be a place where people could get reading recommendations from the comfort of their phone or tablet, wherever...
Sixteen novels have been selected for 2020's Women's Prize for Fiction. This is the 25th year for the prize following the realization the only 10 percent of nominees in the history of the Booker Prize were women although more books written by women were published. This year the nominees include...
Author Clive Cussler (right) shakes hands with an Airman at a book signing event that was part of the USO’s “Operation Thriller” visit at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 9, 2011. Cussler’s work includes The Dark Pitt Adventures and The Oregon Files series. Operation Thriller brought popular novel...
I was heartened when I asked library staff and customers for their favourite books by Indigenous authors for our Reading Challenge – they responded with such passion. I believe that Indigenous literature may be one more path to Truth and Reconciliation. I've hosted many author talks and lectures at my...
In keeping with the theme of encouraging readership, the TPL Reading Challenge 2020 includes a category that really took me out of my reading comfort zone: "A book originally written in a language that is not your first language." It's a bit of a mouthful but it's quite a fun...
Our Reading Challenge 2020 has already begun, but we wanted to take a quick look back at some of the most popular books that you read or listened to for last year's Reading Challenge. Based on the responses we received, here are the most popular from books last year and...
Mary Higgins Clark at the Mazza Museum by Alvintrusty. Used on a Creative Commons license. Mary Higgins Clark was born on Christmas Eve, 1927 in New York City. Her father Luke was an Irish immigrant who owned a successful pub. His death in 1939 threw the family into turmoil. Clark's...