HCPL’s DVD of the Month – December

On Christmas Eve in Victorian London, young Clara Stahlbaum receives a priceless gift from her late mother– A mystical egg shaped box.  To open it, Clara needs a magical, one-of-a-kind key, and finds herself drawn to places she’s never dreamed of in order to find it.  Led by a shimmering golden thread, Clara is pulled into a mysterious world full of fairies and living toy soldiers, where she learns that her mother was much more than what she realized.  There, she meets a soldier named Phillip, a group of mice, and the regents who currently preside over three realms, including the enigmatic sugar plum fairy. To retrieve the key, Clara and Phillip must venture into a nearly abandoned fourth realm. But things are not as simple as they seem. And little does Clara know, it is she who holds the key to the fate of this wondrous world. Check out The Nutcracker from HCPL today for a bit of festive whimsy and an all-star cast.

*Originally slated for publication in 2021 in the Haliburton Echo/Minden Times.

HCPL’s Jr. Book of the Month – December

Banana fox is at it again!

In this newest installment from James Kochalka and Graphix Chapters, Banana Fox’s late fees have landed him in library jail!  When a familiar foe is found around town and a giant book-eating robot is unleashed, it looks like Banana Fox’s friends and apprentice detectives Flashlight and William will need to step in to save the day. The junior detectives put their heads together, but when their investigation runs cold, an unlikely hero emerges to prove his own sleuthing skills.  With Banana Fox out of commission, can the untrained trio put Sour Grapes Jr. behind bars for good?

Graphix Chapters graphic novels are ideal books for beginning and newly independent readers. With approachable page counts, easy-to-follow paneling, and artwork that supports text comprehension, these engaging stories with unforgettable characters help children become lifelong readers.  Check out the adventures of Banana Fox, and many other graphic novels from HCPL today!

*Originally slated for publication in 2021 in the Haliburton Echo/Minden Times.

Fall Reads: Episode #26 – Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Hi, I’m Sherrill Sherwood from the Haliburton County Public Library. Sweater weather has arrived and we are transitioning from those bright, hot sunny months of summer into the cold, dark nights of winter. No matter the season, fresh reading, listening and viewing material continues to arrive at the library. Over the next few months, we will share with you some of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, to enjoy whether basking in the autumn sun or inside, cozy and warm. 

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult is back. In Wish You Were Here, Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder. Not engaged just yet, she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos–days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time. But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. “You should still go,” he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes. Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes amiss. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone.  In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself–and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is a moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit.

The book talked about today is available to reserve at the Haliburton County Public Library. All the library’s services and branch hours can be found at haliburtonlibrary.ca. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.

*Originally aired in 2021 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

Fall Reads: Episode #25 – Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Hi, I’m Tessa Iles from the Haliburton County Public Library. Sweater weather has arrived and we are transitioning from those bright, hot months of summer into the cold, dark nights of winter. No matter the season, fresh reading, listening and viewing material continues to arrive at the library. Over the next few months, we will share with you some of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, to enjoy whether basking in the autumn sun or inside, cozy and warm. 

Blending rich historical fiction with riveting adventure and a truly epic love story, Diana Gabaldon’s New York Times bestselling Outlander saga introduced the world to the brilliant Claire Randall and valiant Highlander Jamie Fraser. This fall, Diana Gabaldon returns to the Outlander world with the novel, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.

It is 1779 and Claire and Jamie are at last reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Fraser’s Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible, and they are determined to enjoy every moment.

But, the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to Fraser’s Ridge. And with the family finally together, Jamie and Claire have more at stake than ever before. 

Pick up Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone to follow Claire and Jamie on their latest adventure.

The book talked about today is available to reserve at the Haliburton County Public Library. All the library’s services and branch hours can be found at haliburtonlibrary.ca. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.

*Originally aired in 2021 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

HCPL’s Book of the Month – December

The Promise charts the volatility of a white South African family living on a farm outside Pretoria. The Swarts are gathering for Ma’s funeral. The younger generation, Anton and Amor, detest everything the family stands for — especially the failed promise to the Black woman who has worked for them her whole life. After years of service, Salome was promised her own house, her own land… yet somehow, as each decade passes, that promise remains unfulfilled.

The narrator’s eye moves fluidly between characters, flying into their dreams; deliciously lethal in its observation. And as the country moves from old divisions to its new so-called “fairer” society, the lost promise of more than just one family hovers behind the novel’s title.

This year’s Booker prize winner, author Damon Galgut’s story of sharp and tender emotional truths hits home hard. Confident, deft and quietly powerful, The Promise is literary fiction at its finest. Check it out from HCPL today!

*Originally slated for publication in 2021 in the Haliburton Echo/Minden Times.

Fall Reads: Episode #24 – Left-handed Twin by Thomas Perry

Hi, I’m Sherrill Sherwood from the Haliburton County Public Library. Sweater weather has arrived and we are transitioning from those bright, hot sunny months of summer into the cold, dark nights of winter. No matter the season, fresh reading, listening and viewing material continues to arrive at the library. Over the next few months, we will share with you some of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, to enjoy whether basking in the autumn sun or inside, cozy and warm. 

The new mystery novel Left-handed Twin by Thomas Perry features Jane Whitefield. Jane helps people disappear. Fearing for their lives, fleeing dangerous situations, her clients come to her when they need to vanish completely–to assume a new identity and establish a new life somewhere they won’t be found. And when people are desperate enough to need her services, they come to the old country house in western New York where Jane was raised to begin their escape. It’s there that one spring night, Jane finds a young woman fresh from LA with a whole lot of trouble behind her. After she cheated on her boyfriend, he dragged her to the home of the offending man and made her watch as he killed him. She testified against the boyfriend, but a bribed jury acquitted him, and now he’s free and trying to find and kill her. Jane agrees to help, and it soon becomes clear that outsmarting the murderous boyfriend is not beyond Jane’s skills. But, the boyfriend has some new friends: members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood. Left-handed Twin is the ninth entry in Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitefield series.

The book talked about today is available to reserve at the Haliburton County Public Library. All the library’s services and branch hours can be found at haliburtonlibrary.ca. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.

*Originally aired in 2021 on 100.9 CANOE FM

Fall Reads: Episode #23 – Never by Ken Follett

Hi, I’m Tessa Iles from the Haliburton County Public Library. Sweater weather has arrived and we are transitioning from those bright, hot months of summer into the cold, dark nights of winter. No matter the season, fresh reading, listening and viewing material continues to arrive at the library. Over the next few months, we will share with you some of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, to enjoy whether basking in the autumn sun or inside, cozy and warm. 

Never is the new must-read epic thriller from master storyteller Ken Follett.

A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen US Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons: all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis.

Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world war are a young woman intelligence officer; a spy working undercover with jihadists; a brilliant Chinese spymaster; and the president of the United States, beleaguered by a populist rival for the next presidential election.

Never is an extraordinary novel, full of heroines and villains, false prophets and elite warriors, jaded politicians and opportunistic revolutionaries. It brims with cautionary wisdom for our times, and a delivers a visceral, heart-pounding read that transports readers to the brink of the unimaginable.

The book talked about today is available to reserve at the Haliburton County Public Library. All the library’s services and branch hours can be found at haliburtonlibrary.ca. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.

*Originally aired in 2021 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

Authors to Actors – The Father by Florian Zeller

In this academy award winning film starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, Anthony, a loving father, finds himself sinking ever deeper into the depths of dementia. He wants no help at all from his daughter, Anne, who continues to introduce carer after carer for him with little acceptance.  But Anne cannot follow where her father is going. Slowly but surely, Anthony finds himself doubting everyone and everything around him. Will he be able to find peace in his new reality before he passes away or will he leave without knowing just how much he means to his family?  A poignant and heart-breaking look into the emotions that arise when dealing with dementia, this heart wrenching film is based on a novel of the same name, and is even directed by the novel’s original author, Florian Zeller, which makes it an absolutely stellar adaptation.   Check out both from HCPL today.

*Originally slated for publication in 2021 in the Haliburton Echo/Minden Times.

Fall Reads: Episode #22- The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Hi, I’m Sherrill Sherwood from the Haliburton County Public Library. Sweater weather has arrived and we are transitioning from those bright, hot sunny months of summer into the cold, dark nights of winter. No matter the season, fresh reading, listening and viewing material continues to arrive at the library. Over the next few months, we will share with you some of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, to enjoy whether basking in the autumn sun or inside, cozy and warm. 

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich follows a turbulent year in the life of a strong though vulnerable Ojibwe woman named Tookie. After serving part of an outrageously long sentence, Tookie, who “learned to read with murderous attention” while in prison, naturally gravitates toward working at a bookstore. There she joins a dedicated community of artists and book lovers and begins to build a new life for herself. When Flora, the store’s most persistent customer, suddenly dies, her ghost refuses to leave. Flora returns on All Soul’s Day to haunt the bookstore and in particular, Tookie. Why? The mystery of this revenant’s appearance leads  to a shocking personal discovery with historical reverberations. A complicated love finds Tookie as well when Pollux, who has been in love with her for years, proposes, and they marry. Pollux was the tribal police officer who arrested Tookie all those years ago. How Pollux and Tookie overcome past betrayal and learn to trust each other is a challenge that will either deepen or destroy their love. The Sentence is written by National Book Award winning author Louise Erdrich.

The book talked about today is available to reserve at the Haliburton County Public Library. All the library’s services and branch hours can be found at haliburtonlibrary.ca. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.

*Originally aired in 2021 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

Fall Reads: Episode #21 – Blue-Skinned Gods by S. J. Sindu

Hi, I’m Tessa Iles from the Haliburton County Public Library. Sweater weather has arrived and we are transitioning from those bright, hot months of summer into the cold, dark nights of winter. No matter the season, fresh reading, listening and viewing material continues to arrive at the library. Over the next few months, we will share with you some of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, to enjoy whether basking in the autumn sun or inside, cozy and warm. 

In the novel Blue-Skinned Gods by S. J. Sindu,  a boy is born in India with blue skin. His father sets up an ashram, and the family makes a living off of the pilgrims who seek the child’s blessings and miracles, believing young Kalki to be the tenth human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In Kalki’s tenth year, he is confronted with three trials that will test his power and prove his divine status and, his father tells him, spread his fame worldwide. While he seems to pass the tests, Kalki begins to question his divinity.

Over the next decade, his family unravels, and every relationship he relied on—father, mother, aunt, uncle, cousin—starts falling apart. Traveling from India to the underground rock scene of New York City, Blue-Skinned Gods explores ethnic, gender, and sexual identities, and spans continents and faiths, in an expansive and heartfelt look at the need for belief in our globally interconnected world. 

The book talked about today is available to reserve at the Haliburton County Public Library. All the library’s services and branch hours can be found at haliburtonlibrary.ca. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.
*Originally aired in 2021 on 100.9 CANOE FM.