by Rachel Kadish In our increasingly digital age, the value of the tangible written word that one can hold in their hands is often questioned. Yet as is shown in Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink, paper can prove to hold more than just words conveyable on a screen. This historical medley intertwines the lives […]
by Matt Parker I watch math videos on YouTube for fun. For a lot of people that’s probably a strange concept. Math has always been considered “hard”, and for the really advanced stuff, it is. I’m not going to pretend that I understand a lot of it, but the idea that really strange things happen […]
by Marisa de los Santos Reading a Marisa de los Santos novel is like listening to the most intricate of melodies, layered with exquisite detail that places you in the centre of the story. I have read every one of her novels and pick up each one in both anticipation and unspoken expectation. I’ll Be Your Blue Sky is the third […]
by Adriana Trigiani The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani is a love story that spans a lifetime, yet also brings us so much more. Enza’s family lives modestly in the Italian Alps, the family’s meagre income supplemented by Enza’s talented stitchery. Ciro lives with his brother Eduardo in the local convent, having been left there by their mother as young boys. Although they live in neighbouring villages, Enza and […]
by Meredith May I am one of those people who walks through the park in the Spring and Summer and watches the bees amid the blossoms, fascinated by the industrious creatures that make our world work. Meredith May’s The Honey Bus captures this same sense of wonder, narrating a troubled childhood that only begins to […]
by Alka Joshi It is 1950’s India, a time when the traditional is merging with the modern, yet the castes are still very much defined. Teen-aged Lakshmi escapes an abusive marriage to the city of Jaipur and becomes a highly sought-after henna artist. She has worked hard to earn the trust of her ladies – […]
by Jonathan Van Ness Jonathan Van Ness, beloved grooming expert on Netflix’s Queer Eye series, came out with an eye-opening memoir filled with struggle, hurt, and most importantly, love. The effervescent TV personality comes off as a strong, confident, person with plenty of self-love to go around so it came as quite a surprise to […]
by David Bukszpan Scrabble is a fantastic way to spend the time with family. I remember playing it as a kid on family vacations. I remember playing it with my (nerdy) friends on camping trips. I know that since it was invented in the 30s and especially when it exploded in popularity in the ’50s […]
by Ann Hui I grew up on the prairies and fondly remember the seemingly exotic Chinese diners in little towns like Nanton, Vulcan and Drumheller, Alberta. As a kid, Chop Suey and the gooey orange sauce over the Sweet & Sour Chicken were my favourites. It was surprising to learn Chinese diner dishes have little […]
by Jojo MoyesThe Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes newest novel takes us on a historical journey into the backwoods of Kentucky in the 1930’s. In this period, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had begun a horseback librarian program that would give access to library materials and increase literacy among the remote inhabitants of the Appalachian Mountains. […]