Recommended Reads: Canadian Library Month

October is Canadian Library Month and there is a lot to get excited about; as much as we love books, there is way more than just books at your local library: videos, digital resources, learning tools, and friendly spaces to name a few.

One of the best things I like about my local library is personal recommendations. I love hearing what is new at the branch and what my local librarian would recommend. I get exposed to so many new and different books this way.

To share some recommendations, I reached out to librarian Vanessa Colantonio at the Coquitlam Public Library. Vanessa said, “there has been a boom in local history books over the past couple of years or so”—as she highlights in her recommendations below.

• The Last Gang in Town: The Epic Story of the Vancouver Police vs. the Clark Park Gang by Aaron Chapman (Arsenal Pulp Press) is a portrait of early-1970s counterculture Vancouver that includes testimonials from surviving gang members and police officers.
• Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s First Forensic Investigator by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press) details intriguing criminal cases of pioneer forensics expert John Vance.
• Aqua Vitae: A History of the Saloons and Hotel Bars of Victoria, 1851-1917 by Glen A. Mofford (TouchWood Editions) full of tales about the heyday of Victoria’s drinking establishments.
• Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (Knopf Canada) blends humour with heartbreak in a coming-of-age novel, the first in Robinson’s trickster trilogy.
• Crossing Home Ground: A Grassland Odyssey through Southern Interior British Columbia by David Pitt-Brooke (Harbour Publishing) is a journey on foot through the bunchgrass backcountry of BC.
• The Promise of Paradise: Utopian Communities in British Columbia by Andrew Scott (Harbour Publishing) looks at what makes people intentionally seek to build idealistic colonies and settlements.
• Accidental Eden: Hippie Days on Lasqueti by Douglas L. Hamilton (Caitlin Press) portrays the eccentric days of the 60s and 70s and the political accomplishments of the islanders.

Vanessa Colantonio has worked at the Coquitlam Public Library since 1998, which has two branches, Poirier and City Centre, as well as a mobile library service called Library Link currently serving 8 different locations across the city. At the end of October, CPL will be launching an eNews service which patrons can subscribe to and receive email updates on library news, programs and events. Subscribe before the end of November and you will be entered into a prize draw for a Roku Streaming Stick.