What's On at the Library

… are the Tea and Books aficionados (or recidivists, as some call themselves) who can be found at monthly Tea and Books gatherings in library branches across the city. It all sounds terribly proper, and to be sure, tea is served and cookies set out. An itinerant librarian introduces a selection of the latest novels, mysteries, histories and memoirs and pretty much anything worth reading. But if the basic rituals are the same, each group has its own character. And when everyone jumps in to share their knowledge and opinions in a free-wheeling, sometimes intense discussion, it's anything but prim and proper.

After hearing about Tom Jokinen's amusing expose of the funeral business Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker in Training at Runnymede's Tea and Books a one avid reader went on to read Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death (both editions) and Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One. She's now an expert in the literature of the "dismal trade," as Mitford called it.

The long-time regulars at Wychwood (and they do warmly welcome newcomers) are among Toronto's most knowledgeable mystery fans. Whether the careful detail of a Henning Mankell police procedural, or the finer points of "the locked room" form, these folks are experts. Luckily there is an inexhaustible supply of mystery and detective fiction to satisfy their hunger  for new titles and writers.

If your branch is one of the 20 or so that host Tea and Books, you're in luck. If not, don't despair. Just ask your friendly branch librarian to direct you to a branch that hosts the program (or click on the link at the top of this entry). And if you are among the converted, tell us about one of your Tea and Books favourites.