Book Buzz

Books by Canadian Award Winners and Books Set in Toronto: Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge

June 28, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (1)

Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? So are library staff all across the city. They shared their suggestions for completing the Books by Canadian Award Winners and Books Set in Toronto categories. Marie's recommendations: Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig  The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky by Karen X. Tulchinsky Terminal Grill by […]

Books by LGBTQ+ Authors: Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge

May 31, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (6)

Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? So are library staff all across the city. To celebrate Pride month, we've asked staff for their recommendations for the category "A book by an LGBTQ+ author". These books can also be used in the category "A book recommended to you by library staff". We've also included other […]

Graphic Novels: TCAF Team & Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge

May 3, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (0)

Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? So are library staff all across the city. With the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) coming up next weekend, we decided to ask the TCAF team for some of their favourite graphic novel recommendations. Hosted annually in the Toronto Reference Library (and several other nearby locations), TCAF is […]

Books by an Author from a Visible Minority: Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge

April 25, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (3)

Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? So are library staff all across the city. We're hoping readers will explore a diversity of books with this challenge – so this month, we decided to ask staff about their favourite books for the category, "A book by an author from a visible minority". Here are some of […]

Non-Prose Books: Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge

March 20, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (3)

Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? So are library staff all across the city. In honour of World Poetry Day on March 21, we decided to ask them about their favourite books for the category, "A non-prose book". Plus April is National Poetry Month! On the Reading Challenge webpage, we're describing a non-prose book as "any […]

#TOpicks: Fantasy Book Casting

February 22, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (3)

On Sunday, February 24, the 2019 Oscars will be given to the films determined by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be the best in their respective categories. Maybe you'll agree with their selections – and some cases, perhaps not. Whenever you read a book, your imagination is the movie studio and you […]

Andrea Levy, 1952-2019

February 15, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (0)

Although she became an award-winning novelist, Andrea Levy was not a reader as a child. "Being a working-class girl," she told The Guardian, "I watched telly." Levy was born in 1952 in London’to Jamaican immigrant paren’ts who were part of the Windrush generation–West Indians who emigrated to the United Kingdom after World War II. She […]

Books about Mental Health: Staff Picks for the 2019 Reading Challenge

January 29, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (1)

Are you taking our 2019 Reading Challenge? Many staff members across our 100 branches are participating, and recently we asked them what their picks and recommendations are for "A book about mental health". We received a mix of answers, including children's books, young adult and adult books. Here are some of their responses. If you […]

Join our 2019 Reading Challenge!

January 2, 2019 | Book Buzz | Comments (37)

Looking for the TPL Reading Challenge 2020? It officially launches on January 13, 2020! Check back at tpl.ca/readingchallenge on or after the 13 for a whole new challenge list! Welcome to the Toronto Public Library (TPL) Reading Challenge for 2019. Want to read more? Try new authors and genres? Learn new things? This challenge is […]

Best of 2018 from the #TOpicks Team

December 11, 2018 | Book Buzz | Comments (4)

We’re nearing the end of 2018, and all the year-end booklists are out. Our four new Twitter librarians present their favourite books, music and movies of 2018 – and they’re ready to discuss them with you! Brendon's Picks These are the titles which left me awestruck this year. All these titles moved my heart, soul […]