All posts by Heather

About Heather

Heather is the Librarian II, Literacy and Readers' Advisory, with the Vaughan Public Libraries. Her job is to connect leisure readers and aspiring writers in the endless space of imagination and creation through words in all forms.  |  Meet the team

Top 10 Most Borrowed Titles at VPL in 2024

As the cool air sets in and the holiday tunes chime, I’m getting rolled into the jolly holiday spirit like any other years. Indeed, this is the most wonderful season of the year. In our book industry, every year this time we reward talented authors with awards and celebrate the most popular titles in various forms. Hence, our Recommended Magazine team again reviewed our circulation statistics in the past 12 months and developed six top 10 lists to pay tribute to the authors (or editors) of the top borrowed titles. The following are the three books in the first places of our teen, adult, and children’s fiction and non-fiction physical book categories. If you want to find out all the books included in these top 10 lists, please go directly to the bottom of this post.

Book cover of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Book cover of Happy Place
Book cover of Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wrecking Ball

But of course, while we totally respect the statistical data and are happy for the award-winning or top selling authors, we understand many gifted authors and their brilliant works won’t make those arbitrary spots – there is only one winner for most awards and limited mentions in any of the “top x” reading lists. Just like a sophisticated traveler would want to know the quaint, unique places outside of those top must-see sites in any city, I suspect you might be curious to know what are the notable works outside of our top 10 lists this year? (Ok, I know you can’t answer me, LoL) So, I’m taking this opportunity to share a few great works that didn’t make our top 10 lists. If you’re interested, please read on!

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Flight of the Monarch

Flight-of-the-Monarch-programs-resources

Have you noticed how everything transforms the moment you step away from buildings, roads, and screens and immerse yourself in nature? Instantly, all your worries disappear, and you get an immense feeling of joy and happiness. Do you know the secret behind this? Honestly, I have thought about it and realized that it’s because nature offers us precious gifts at every turn: vibrant flowers that fill the air with sweet aromas, playful birds that create a symphony of freedom all around, majestic trees that whisper breathtaking stories of time, and so much more. How fortunate we are to have the honor of enjoying these wonders!

I would like to share the story of one remarkable gift that continues to remain a mystery for scientists: the iconic monarch butterfly. With two pairs of exquisite black-and-orange wings, these unique creatures are one of the largest butterflies in Canada, with a wingspan of about 63 to 105mm. Each butterfly weighs a mere half gram, so light that you might not even notice if it decides to rest on your arm. But what makes these delicate insects so extraordinary?

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Black History Month Author Visit: Kern Carter

Celebrated Toronto author Kern Carter, author of Boys and Girls Screaming

Celebrated Toronto author Kern Carter will be visiting Vaughan Public Libraries on Thursday, February 22, 7:00 pm on Zoom. Please register on Eventbrite and join us for an evening of great conversations on writing, publishing, parenting, Black heritage, and more!

I’m really excited about this event because Kern is a “long-lost” friend. Last spring when I was waiting for my massage therapist at her clinic, I saw a familiar face on the TV screen being interviewed by the CTV host, and I recognized that was Kern! He was chatting with the host about his latest novel Boys and Girls Screaming. The first time I met Kern was back in 2014 when he was promoting his first book Thoughts of a Fractured Soul. He was still an independent author back then. He was very tall and handsome (only much later I found out he was also a basketball star, lol), but with that strong presence, he was extremely polite and gentle, just like his words in that thin, little novella … Since then, I haven’t heard from Kern for years, and I can’t believe when I see him again, he’s on TV!

So, when I went back to work that day, I looked him up like a little superfan. I read and read, trying to find out what he has gone through all these years, his struggles, tears, laughs, and successes … Apparently, he has been working hard in the past ten years and has created a long list of accomplishments that he can show off on his website: “From selling thousands of books independently, building a community of emerging writers, establishing a freelance career, landing book deals with the biggest publishers in the world, to now running my own business … Add to the mix that I was a teen father and high school dropout who ultimately graduated from university and built a successful writing career …” Indeed, after all the hard work, his dream of making a good living by just writing has now come true!

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