Longtime library employee Jeremy Tolmie talks to Dahlia about his life and his book called Kicking ASSpergers: One Meltdown at a Time.  Find his book on his publisher's website, Jeremy's website, or in the library catalogue. Jeremy Tolmie has written three previous books—Living with Asperger’s Syndrome, Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Living on the Autism Spectrum. His goal in sharing his story is to inspire hope in others with autism, and their families. He resides in...

We hear ya...  Summer can be a busy time and we have some local short fiction to squeeze in while you do something else.  Meet winners from the 2022 Islands Short Fiction Contest!  They are here for you. Stories included today: The Grimathonian Monster written by and read by Mira Vickers, 1st place in the junior category The Push written by and read by Lillith Stoyko-Lang, 1st place in the youth category Read-a-like: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones Revenge of the...

Get right into the live vibe of this event from Pride Month at Courtenay library with author Sydney Sunderland.  I Am Everything In Between highlights kids who don’t fit into stereotypical gender ideals. The book is published by Rebel Mountain Press in Nanoose. Find it in the library catalogue, see more info from Rebel Mountain, and find it in your local bookstore!

Kendra talks with Vivi and Catherine of Duncan's amazing bookstore, Volume One.  Get ready for some deep-dive recommendations! Their favourites for adults: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard (non-fiction) Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (fiction) Bluebird by Sharon Cameron (fiction) ~on order People Change by Vivek Shraya (non-fiction/essay) Their favourites for children: The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson (picture book) Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (picture...

Are fines fine, or are fines not so fine? Does fining lead to... crime? Find out with Nathan and visit the dark world of library fine crimes. (Did you know that VIRL has no overdue fines for children's and young adult materials? And we're trying it out for adult materials too in 2022!) Darby shares some fine thrillers (with crimes in them): The Kill Club by Wendy Heard Read alike: Kristen Lepionka's Roxanne Weary series Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano The Only Good...

Sooke Librarian Nathalie interviews Victoria-based author Hayden Stone.  He is definitely a book-ish person and talks about favourite real-life bookshops along with the fictional one he created for his character Aubrey.  You can find his queer romance book An Unexpected Kind of Love for sale or in our catalogue.  (Apparently it has a lot of kissing and steamy bits.) Casey tells us about some great full cast audiobooks, which are awesome because there are multiple narrators and it's a bit...

Settle in, maybe in a meditation seat, maybe reclined on your couch, and give yourself a little break to listen to some poetry.  Kamal Parmar is Nanaimo's Poet Laureate and the author of numerous books of poetry.  Parmar is also a writer creative non-fiction and has published multiple books in North America, India and the United Kingdom, with topics including childhood memories of India, her impressions of Canada and her experience caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease.

On Sunday November 28th from 2-3:30pm we will be conducting a virtual (Zoom) screening of the documentary film The Gift of Adversity, which will be followed by a Q&A by the filmmaker. Here are some details about the film and creator: Following W'Ren's life-changing 2016 diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, he turned to filmmaking as part of his healing journey. Dance with Disease: the Gift of Adversity explores various people's stories of hardship, and their grace and gratitude in the face...

BOO(k) to you!!! Casey shares some Spoooooooky Booooooooks: Good House by Tananarive Due Through the Woods  by Emily Carroll Fangs by Sarah Andersen Check out Sarah’s Scribbles too Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Sarah Khaw Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall by Suzette May Tell us what YOUR favourite spooky tales are! Then Darby had a more lighthearted conversation with Shanon Sinn of Victoria, BC about his uniquely spooky and well-researched book The Haunting of...

What does folklore have to do with COVID anyway?  And have you ever wanted to know what the difference between gossip and rumour is?  Why does it even matter?  And how big an X-Files fan is Nathan anyway? Find out by listening (and using a bit of imagination on what the slides looked like) if you're concerned about the reptilian cabal that runs the podcast!  On September 28, Memorial University professor John Bodner virtually visited the Comox Valley to talk conspiracy theories all the way...

The episode in which you learn the name to that instrument you hear in all the TV shows but had no idea what it was.  Also, Nathan and Darby talk about Libraries of Things that lend unexpected items. We talk about: Seed libraries at Nanaimo North, Creativity Commons (Nanaimo),Courtenay, and Gabriola branches Human libraries Tool libraries located on Gabriola Island and in Courtenay Musical instrument libraries Puzzle lending shhh....  Nanaimo North has a semi-secret puzzle lending...

“If only we could just read and not go to our jobs and stuff.” -Quote of the episode Author Meryl Wilsner reads from and discusses their novel Something to Talk About back in June for Pride month.  The book follows Jo and Emma in a what starts as a Hollywood rumour and looks like it might become a relationship.  Meryl answers questions from the zoom audience as well. Queers romance authors/books mentioned by Meryl: Alyssa Cole Alexandria Bellefleur Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers Brown...

We're all about the R&R and slowing it down to get some reading in this episode.  These segments were recorded during our July heatwave, so don't mind our dewey/Dewey appearance. Beach reads are different everyone, but Casey tells you about some compelling, light, and totally entertaining books that she thinks are just beachy, whether you're an ocean, lake, river, or AC kind of reader: Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila...

Jessica takes us for a field trip into her Ask A Local Farmer program series!  Local Comox Valley farmer Arzeena from Amara Farm discusses growing your own food and supporting local food cultivation during and post pandemic.  You might learn something that will help you with your carrot crop or just inspire you to plant something!  Arzeena recommended you check out a book about square foot gardening.  Jessica made a list of the Comox Valley resources mentioned in their conversation.  About...

Brace yourself...this one is pretty book-ish.  Books about books...  Metabooks?  Bibliomemoirs?  Reading about reading?  In Talk Bookish to Me Casey tells us about some books about some other books. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi The Victorian and the Romantic by Nell Stevens My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead Banned Book Club by Hyun Sook Kim (graphic novel) Book Love by Debbie Tung (comic/graphic novel) A Girl Walks Into A Book by Miranda Pennington Bookworm: a memoir of...

Are you a fan of cosy/serious/hilarious/Indigenous culture lit?  Us too!  Author Eden Robinson laughs (a lot) with Darby about her books, Wild Men of the Woods (aka Sasquatches), matriarchal tendencies, and lots more.  This is the audio from our special zoom event on April 23, 2021. Eden Robinson came to us from her home in Kitimaat Village and is of Haisla and Heiltsuk ancestry.  Darby was at work in Nanaimo and is of Dutch, Icelandic, and mixed British/Irish/Scottish ancestry.  Both like ...

Lori Shwydky talks to Darby about Rebel Mountain Press and the diverse titles they've been producing as they've grown since 2015.  You can find Rebel Mountain titles in our catalogue, including the teen writing anthologies that feature the talented teens of Vancouver Island and our surrounding coastal communities. Rebel Mountain Press books we touched on: In Our Own Teen Voice and In Our Own Aboriginal Voice Ghost's Journey by Robin Stevenson and Breaking Boundaries: LGBTQ2 on Coming Out...