All posts by Adam

About Adam

Adam is a Digital Creation Specialist - Children who never has enough shelf space for his board game collection, wall space for his photographs, or stomach space for his baking. Once he’s got a book in his clutches (preferably a fantasy, or humorous non-fiction one) absolutely nothing else is getting done that day. Working in a library is a blessing and a curse to his free time.  |  Meet the team

好吃！A culinary adventure (in progress) through Chinese Cuisine.

, , , ,
The cover of Dim Sum Here We Come! by Maple Lam

I’m out of the country! So, after last year’s posts on Alaska, I’ve decided that this year’s trip should influence a post, too. Where am I this time? If you skipped reading the title when this post goes live, I’m probably getting fat on dim sum, seafood, and roast goose in Guangzhou, China, after visiting Chongqing and Chengdu earlier in the trip. Hot pot, dan dan noodles, mapo tofu, kung pao chicken; I’m returning at least a kilogram heavier from this trip with an even higher heat tolerance than I currently have. My wife and I make some of these dishes at home, but that’s never quite the same as getting them right from the source. And since Chinese cuisine covers so much ground, it’s nice to eat the things we don’t make at home too. Not having to cook them ourselves is a big plus, too.

If you’ve read this far and haven’t immediately jumped to a translator, 好吃, if translated literally, is good (好 hǎo) eat(ing) (吃 chī), but can be generally understood to mean delicious. It’s something I said a lot on my first trip to China and something I expect Future Adam will be saying a lot on this trip as well. Can you tell I like 中国菜 (zhōngguó cài) Chinese cuisine? Present Adam, the one writing this post, wishes it was already time to head off on vacation, but I know I can at least fill some food cravings here at home1.

Continue reading →

One eRead Canada / Un Livrel Canada: Valid

, , ,
The logo for One eRead/Un Livrel Canada

It’s April again, which means it’s time for all of Canada to read the same eBook again time again. For those of you not in the know, One eRead Canada is when The Canadian Urban Libraries Council / Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada (CULC/CBUC) selects one book and makes it available simultaneously in English and French to all libraries that want to participate. Since they’re electronic formats, everyone reading this post on day one can go to Overdrive and instantly borrow it without having to wait.

We have a physical edition if you need the feeling of dead trees in your hands and dinosaurs burning in your gas tank to pick it up. This year’s book can be read and listened to in its original French, and anglophones like myself can read a copy translated into English. Sorry, English-speaking audiobook lovers. CULC always selects a Canadian author, so joining in the reading makes supporting Canadian content easy. Just read the One eRead Canada book and join the discussion and interviews. The English interview will be on CBC on April 23rd at 7 pm, and the French interview will be the next day, April 24th at 7 pm on Radio-Canada.

Continue reading →

Judging a Book by its Title: Romance Novel Edition

, ,
The Cover of Her Billion Dollar Bump by Dani Collins

I’ve missed Valentine’s Day by a couple of weeks, and Maya’s unusual romance novel post for it was as fantastic as we’ve all come to expect, but I have an idea, darn it, and I’m not letting it go to waste! It’s time for what might become the first of many Judging a Book by its Title posts, in which I source the silliest titles of a specific genre from my colleagues and then come up with my own back-of-the-book blurb for it before reading anything about the book. In this case, I’ve chosen to aim my snark at romance novels. Filling the new fiction display and coming across Her Billion Dollar Bump by Dani Collins inspired this bit of silliness. A lot of Dani Collins‘ titles could fit this post, honestly. No shame on you if these books are your jam, though! We carry them for a reason, and they’re here to be enjoyed, I only hope my having some fun with the silly titles doesn’t offend their readers. And if any of my takes on what the title could be are more interesting to you than the accurate description, please give me a shout-out in the acknowledgements section of the best-seller you write from my prompt1.

A disclaimer: I am not a romance reader. My takes on these titles are going to be based off of those same tropes that Maya was specifically avoiding in her post2. Am I making these books sillier than they really are? It’s possible, some might even say probable. But when you see some of the titles I’m working with, I think you’ll understand where I’ve come from.

Continue reading →