MWPL: Tea and Books

Below is the land acknowledgement that the library has been working on - there are 3 versions and there is the reasons why the library is writing this  and what it hopes to accomplish. I think it would also be great to think about what we want to do in the coming year (2023). So thank you in advance for your feedback and let 's try to continue this into 2023. Our next meeting is July 5th at 1 and we will meet in person in the garden of the library weather permitting. We will be continuing the discussion of the challenge of reconciliation. ----------- DRAFT MWPL Land Acknowledgment ● We acknowledge that the Montreal West Public Library is located on unceded Indigenous lands.  We respect the past, present, and future in our efforts to foster a lasting relationship between Montreal West  and Indigenous communities.  ● The Montreal West Public Library gratefully acknowledges that the land on which it is established is unceded Indigenous land historically inhabited b...

 Tea and Books - Suggestions from May Here are most of the titles we discussed at our May meeting of Tea and Books.  All of these are available in the library. Book Lovers by Emily Henri is only available here at the moment:  MWPL - Overdrive

  The February Tea and Books meeting was fun, especially because I had read/am reading several recent novels relevant to Black History Month. I thought to share brief summaries and thoughts on this blog. Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi is an engaging first novel. relatively easy to read. Themes include Nigeria, immigrant life, lesbianism, family, food, myth, identity. The mythical slant is subtle but central to the book. Born in Nigeria, Ekwuyasi currently lives in Halifax. I’m in the throes of reading The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah, the recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. This book is even more intersectional: immigration, race, family, identity, gender, social class, mental and physical health and aging. Not an easy read, but not one to put down either. Originally from Zanzibar, Gurnah now lives in England. Omar El Akkad’s What Strange Paradise Is a bleak treatment of migrancy that nonetheless provides insight and some hope ...

 For those of you who like short stories someone sent me this podcast earlier this month and I can't stop listening to it. I have not used audio books and so although not a book this is my fore-ray into listening to a (short) story. New Yorker Fiction Podcast

 More to come.....

 February 2022 Tea and Books - Black Authors February's theme was black authors. The group discussed works written by people all over the world. Oddly enough, most of the writer were female.  That was odd. Here are some of the works that were discussed (that are available in the library):