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One of the best parts of my job is shopping for books. I am blessed to manage a book budget that makes my friends and family incredibly envious! Twice a year we have the opportunity to attend the Alberta Book Fair, where publisher representatives pitch upcoming books and alert us to all the new hot picks. I have a great time at these events, although my reading list is ridiculous by the time I leave! I thought I would share some of the highlights of the most recent event with you. Richard Wagamese died last year, and his final novel, Starlight, will be released this summer. I love his writing for its hope in the face of darkness. This novel is set in the backcountry of the BC interior and will feature vividly drawn characters. Another Canadian pick is Full Disclosure by Beverley McLachlin. You might recognize
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the author’s name: she was the longest serving Chief Justice of Canada in history. Now she has written a legal thriller that sounds intriguing. Michael Ondaatje has a new book coming out. Warlight tells the story of two children in London in 1945 in a “narrative as beguiling and mysterious as memory itself.” To round out the Canadian list, Louise Penny had planned to take a break from writing after a personally difficult year. Fortunately for us, she couldn’t stay away from the character she created in Armand Gamache and is working on a book anyway! Kingdom of the Blind will be out in November, but you can place your hold now. If you enjoyed The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, you might be interested to know that the author Jonas
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Jonasson has a new book coming out. You can expect more wild capers featuring North Korea, contraband uranium, and President Trump. If you like to stay ahead of the game when it comes to new books, visit our website and sign up for our e-blasts to receive a monthly newsletter highlighting the newest and best items coming in to the library. Printed copies are also available. What books are you eagerly awaiting this spring? I would love to hear which titles or authors have caught your attention.
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Life can get you down some days. but I like to remind myself that it’s not a bad life, just a bad day. In my recent experience it was a series of bad days, or “A Series of Unfortunate Events” if you will. Yes, I would like to relate my life to the Lemony Snicket book series. I have not had to deal with the life-altering loss of my parents, or the murder of a beloved relative (thank my lucky stars, knock on wood, etc.), as the young characters of Violet, Klaus and Sunny have, but I would like to dramatize my own unfortunate events to illustrate similar life lessons to those taught in Snicket’s series. My unfortunate events happened in the span of three days. On Monday my puppy decided to consume my favourite specialty lettering pen. Fortunately, she was fine but unfortunately, there was black ink all over the carpet and the pen only ships from Japan. She has never chewed anything that isn’t hers before.
On Tuesday the second unfortunate event struck. I stopped at the pet store to buy food for the one in the dog house. I was in a hurry to get home and was a bit out of routine. Upon leaving the store with a heavy bag of dog food, I noticed that my keys were sitting on my driver’s side seat. I was locked out. After a moment of anger and a few failed
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ideas, my dad came to the rescue and was able to break in for me. Unfortunate event solved! Like Snicket’s series, my family had my back. No matter the circumstance, Violet, Klaus and Sunny never part ways and will do anything to protect each other. By Wednesday I was starting to feel unlucky. I made it through the work day without incident and was ready to leave town to get home. I desperately needed gas, but upon arriving at the pump I realized I did not have my wallet. I had left it at home by the computer because I was online shopping for a new PEN! I had zero money on me. I stayed relatively calm to solve this issue because at this point, I was kind of getting used to unfortunate events. My wonderful workplace bailed me out of this one! Again, I can compare this to “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. Sometimes bad or silly things just happen with no rhyme or reason. Luckily for me, this was easy enough to overcome, unlike some of the struggles in the books.
I was finally thinking things were looking up because I have heard that bad things come in threes. I figured the unfortunate events were over for the time being and started to let my guard down. On Wednesday evening I was heading
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out to pick up a friend for coffee. I had never been to her place, so I let Google maps on my phone do the navigating. I realized that I didn’t know her building or suite number because I hadn’t looked at it before quickly pasting it into the search bar. I hardly had time for this thought to cross my mind when my phone promptly died. This was the ultimate disaster! I had nothing to do but knock on doors! I met a kind man, but he was of little help. After about 15 minutes of panic, I decided to run to the gas station, buy a phone charger, and give her a call. All turned out fine, we were just a little late. And guess what? Thursday was a full moon! This was the end of my unfortunate three days. Like the characters in Snicket’s series, I was faced with several problems to solve. In the end, it all was fine and I will live another day. I know this for sure: life is a mystery. Lemony Snicket leaves a hint at the end of each book about what will happen next. In life, we often have no hints, but we can make many unfortunate events into enjoyable experiences with a positive outlook and some problem-solving skills. One last thing I know: I can’t wait to fly internationally this month on Friday the 13th!
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