Tag Archives: Reading Recommendation

February and Forever: Reads for Black History Month

, , ,

The theme of this year’s Black History Month is February and Forever. This month, we are invited to not only remember and celebrate the legacy of Black Canadians and their communities, but also their contributions in the here and now, which enrich the multithreaded tapestry of our country. I thought this would be a great opportunity to list some recent and current works by Black Canadian authors, all of which you can borrow from VPL!

Nonfiction

The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole

Desmond Cole shatters the assumptions that Canada is a post-racist nation by chronicling the events of a single year (2017), which was also Canada’s 150th as a country. It was a time of, among other things, calls for borders to be tightened against Black refugees from the States crossing through Manitoba, Indigenous peoples fighting for land and water protection against invasive and damaging pipelines, and police rallying around an officer accused of murder.

Continue reading →

YA Superhero Graphic Novels for Any Age

,

I am a huge fan of superhero stories and comics but I’ve recently fallen out of touch with all of the new releases and keeping up with single issues. Instead, I have slowly started to become obsessed with the new line of DC and Marvel original graphic novels aimed at young readers and teens. These stories contain all of our favourite superheroes but they re-imagine our heroes as young teens. Whether you have been a fan of these superheroes for years and are looking for a fresh take on their origin stories or you are just looking for a quick introduction to some superheroes, here are some amazing books to get you started!

As always, the links below will take you the VPL catalogue where you can request the books for yourself.

Green Lantern: Legacy by Minh Lê and Andie Tong.

While this novel doesn’t re-tell the story of more famous Green Lanterns such as Hal Jordan or John Stewart, it is a wonderful novel about family and legacy. In this graphic novel, 13-year-old Tai Pham inherits his grandmother’s jade ring when she passes away. He soon starts to realize that the ring is not just a ring and he is chosen to be a new Green Lantern of Earth. This is a wonderful story as it can be read both by fans of superheroes and those who know very little about them, as the novel mainly focuses on Tai’s connection with his grandmother and his relationship to his city and how to protect it using his new powers.

Continue reading →

A New Reading Obsession: Historical Romance

,

*all links will take you to the VPL catalogue where you can check out these books for yourself!

If you’ve read any of my previous posts then you know that my main reading expertise is graphic novels, contemporary romance or anything to do with reality TV. Lately though, I have found myself more and more into historical romance. Now, I can’t say that I’ve never read the genre (any self-proclaimed romance nerd has read at least one!) but I always read one or two a year at most. Over the last few months however, I found myself binge-reading more than one series and I’ve quickly caught up on some major backlist books for a few authors.

Unmasked by the Marquess (Regency Imposters, #1) by Cat SebastianOne of my favourite authors is Cat Sebastian. In the past, I read her Seducing the Sedgewicks series which are all gay historical romances. Of course, there will always be skeptics who think that such series are far too frivolous or historically inaccurate, but any queer person will tell you that LGBTQ+ people have existed for centuries, it is merely the labels that are now more modern. One title from Sebastian’s latest series that I recommend is Unmasked by the Marquess. The marketing and cover promo align more with mainstream historical romances and despite that, I enjoyed the fact that the main character, Robin, was non-binary (though such language was never outright said, as the term is definitely more modern than when the novel takes place). Though the mainstream historical romance reader may find such titles a bit too scandalous, I think that Sebastian’s writing is sure to win anyone over as she is an expert in writing characters that anyone will want to root for, regardless of who those characters may be.

Continue reading →