Rob Ford: I can think of another word for her

This video speaks for itself as author Vikki VanSickle speaks at the City of Toronto Council meeting last night.

WE SURE CAN!

If you are in the neighbourhood, Sarah B. Hood author of We Sure Can!will be at the Leslieville Farmer’s Market in Toronto all day to answer questions about jamming and preserves.
Date: Sunday, August 7 (rain date Sunday, August 14th)
Time: 9am-2pm
This book is awesome and has folks such as Lorraine Johnson and Elizabeth Baird contributing over 100 recipes.

You have to laugh...

This article appeared in last Sunday's New York Times. In an effort to create buzz around its digital magazine Think Quarterly, Google is using a "retro" technique...they are publishing it has a hardcover book!

Way to go Ms. Atwood!

Long time admirer of the Deweys ;) and author extraordinaire, Margaret Atwood tweeted last Thursday that "Toronto’s libraries are under threat of privatization. Tell council to keep them public at http://ourpubliclibrary.to/ " The response was so big that the website ended up crashing! No worries...it's back up and running. You can read the Quill report here. And the Globe did a piece as well.

And another thing...

In the Globe today there was a piece on privatizing public libraries. Janet sent this link about privatizing libraries in the States. This really hurts my head, this is wrong on so many levels...and it's too hot for that!

SOS! Save our Libraries

As many of you know, the cost cutting agenda of Toronto City Council could target the TPL within weeks. A petition is going around to address this issue. If you are interested in signing it, click here. Make sure you pass this around!

Taverns, Saloons, Speakeasies and Grog Shops

America Walks into a Bar is an informative and funny book about how taverns and bars helped to shape American history. It was written by Christine Sismondo, a former bartender, who is now a lecturer at York University in Toronto.

In many newly settled colonies in what was to become the United States, the tavern was often the first building to be built. In small communities that didn’t have many public buildings, the tavern often doubled as a courtroom, post office, community centre – and sometimes the library.

Many events central to the history of the US took place in bars, including some of the Salem witch trials. Plans for the Boston Tea Party were hatched at the Green Dragon, and the Declaration of Independence was ratified at a tavern in New Jersey. For runaway slaves escaping to Canada, it was often tavern owners who provided food and shelter to the refugees. Even the Star Spangled Banner has a connection to a bar; it was written over a few pints at the Fountain Inn to the tune of an old drinking song.

Yarn Bombers Unite!

I had never heard of Yarn Bombing until this book. Otherwise known as knit graffiti, it is an international guerrilla movement that started underground and is now embraced by crochet and knitting artists of all ages stripes. Basically one knits something and then puts it in a public space. For lots of cool examples you can check out Yarnbombing.com.
This book has been everywhere recently...the New York Times, National Post, Good Morning America etc. The author has a new book coming out this fall: Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery...it should be just as much fun!

Canadian Bookshelf is now in Beta Testing

Canadian Bookshelf, the resource for all Canadian books is now in Beta testing. The intent is to officially launch in the Fall. They do have a section dedicated specifically for Teachers and Librarians. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, they would love to hear them. Their tagline is "if it's Canadian, it's here".

2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize Winner Announced

Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikotter (Bloomsbury USA) has won the 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, the U.K's most prestigious non-fiction prize.

On the shortlist:

• Caravaggio by Andrew Graham Dixon (Penguin UK)


• Liberty's Exiles by Maya Jasanoff (Knopf)


• The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley (HarperCollins)


• Bismark: A Life by Jonathan Steinberg (Oxford University Press)


• Reprobates by John Stubbs (Viking UK)

Best Canadian Political Books of the Last 25 Years

I love lists and normally we start to see them at the end of the year, but to celebrate Canada's 144th birthday, the Writer's Trust of Canada is looking to find what we think is the Best Canadian Political Book of the past 25 years. Below is a list of the 12 filanists.
To vote for the best one click here.

On the Take: Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years
Trudeau and Our Times, Volume 1: The Magnificent Obsession and Volume 2: The Heroic Delusion
While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World
Fights of Our Lives: Elections, Leadership and the Making of Canada
The Best Laid Plans
One-Eyed Kings: Promise & Illusion in Canadian Politics
John A: The Man Who Made Us; The Life and Times of John A. MacDonald, Volume One
Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights
Harperland: The Politics of Control
1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal
A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada
Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper’s Conservatism

Westward Ho!

The Klondike has been getting a ton of attention in the national media. It is a graphic novel filled with all kinds of great characters all about the Canadian Gold Rush. The Globe review says "trust Montreal publisher D&Q to go panning for graphic treasure and come up with gold almost every time.
The National Post really sums it up: "it is a Canadian document of a pivotal moment in our national history". This is perfect for fans (like me) of Chester Brown's Louis Riel and for Canada Day!