In Review: The Week of Oct 8th

On the Blog

~ We rounded up these fowl-covered book covers to devour for Thanksgiving.~ GG-winning author Julie Bruck tells us the origin story of the title of her newest How to Avoid Huge Ships (Brick Books): (ahem!)~ For #WorldMentalHealthDay, poet Shazia Hafiz Ramji curated a list of books by women that confront us with the difficult complexities of mental illness.~ READ INDIGENOUS continued with excerpts from Tara Beagan’s In Spirit (Playwrights Canada Press), Curtis Peeteetuce’s Popcorn Elder (Scirocco Drama/Shilingford Publishing), Janet Romain’s Not My Fate (Caitlin Press), and a passage from Daniel David Moses: Spoken and Written Explorations of His Work (Guernica Editions).

Around the Web

~ According to a study, there’s a magic number of books to own and it’s above 80: “Those who had around 80 books at home tended to have average scores for literacy—defined as ‘the ability to read effectively to participate in society and achieve personal goals’—while owning fewer than 80 books was associated with below-average literacy.” (Or you could go to the library?)~ And if you collect books but don’t read them, there’s a word for that.

via GIPHY

~ In an unexpected turn of events for our US friends, President Trump signed a bill that will give the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) an additional $2 million bump.

What Else We’re Reading

Lauren read Joshua Whitehead’s Jonny Appleseed (Arsenal Pulp Press) “a book about a Two-Spirit young man in Winnipeg reminiscing about growing up in Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, and about the thrills and dangers of being a sex worker, and about heartbreak. But most of all, it’s a book about aching, powerful, unbending love: the love of a kokum giving her queer grandson makeup and dance lessons; the love of a man who’s divided in his affections; the love of a son returning home to his mother. It’s equally triumphant and devastating, and I can’t wait to read more of Joshua Whitehead’s work.”