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The Cellist of Sarajevo
By: Steven Galloway

This year, as part of the Keep Toronto Reading Festival, the library has chosen Steven Galloway’s novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, as its One Book community read. We invite you to read the novel and then participate in special events throughout April.

Steven Galloway’s national bestseller tells the story of three civilians trying to survive in a besieged city, and of the mournful cellist who plays undaunted in their midst.

One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills 22 people. The cellist, witness to the horrific act, vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni’s Adagio every day for 22 days to honour each of the victims. What will his tribute mean to the citizens of Sarajevo? And who will protect the cellist from the snipers surrounding him?

The Cellist of Sarajevo is a beautiful and unforgettable story that speaks to the redemptive power of art.

Also available as:
Audiobook
eAudiobook
eBook
Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

April Alternative Read:

For those of you who were with us when Book Buzz discussed The Cellist of Sarajevo a few years ago, we offer an alternative book for discussion.

The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise
By: Julia Stuart

Set in the popular tourist attraction in present-day London, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is the exquisite story of love, loss, and a one-hundred-and-eighty-one-year-old pet.

Balthazar Jones has lived and worked in the Tower of London for the past eight years. Being a Beefeater is no easy job, and when Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie of the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interesting. Penguins escape, giraffes go missing, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent tourists running for their lives. But that chaos is nothing compared to what happens when his wife, Hebe, makes a surprise announcement. What’s a Beefeater to do?

Also available as:
eAudiobook
eBook
Large Print

Online Author Chats in April

Allan Stratton
Thursday April 10, 7 PM EDT

Steven Galloway
Thursday April 17, 7 PM EDT