National Network for Equitable Library Service

Canada's former poet laureate looks back at a life lived in literature and hockey fandom Hockey forms the backdrop of our lives. For many Canadians, the big moments--births, deaths, marriages, moves--are all mixed up with the wins and losses of our teams. The voices of Hockey Night in Canada sportscasters are our soundtrack, and visions of skates scraping across the ice lull us to sleep. George Bowering, Canada's former poet laureate, is no different.

In hockey, goalies have always been a contradiction — solitary men in a team game, the last line of defence and the stalwarts expected to save the day after any and every miscue and collapse from his teammates. It’s no wonder that anyone who played the position has had his sanity questioned; yet some of the biggest innovations in the game have come from its puckstoppers.

The Genie in the Bottle makes science downright fun. Dr. Joe Schwarcz blends quirky anecdotes about everyday chemistry with engaging tales from the history of science. Get a different twist on licorice and travel to the dark side of the sun. Control stinky feet and bend spoons and minds. Learn about the latest on chocolate research, flax, ginkgo biloba, magnesium, and blueberries. Read about the ups of helium and the downs of drain cleaners. Find out why bug juice is used to colour ice cream, how spies used secret inks, and how acetone changed the course of history.

Examining the roots and fruits of the urban foodscape

Our cities are places of food polarities — food deserts and farmers’ markets, hunger and food waste, fast food delivery and urban gardening. While locavores and preserving pros abound, many of us can’t identify the fruit trees in our yards or declare a berry safe to eat. Those plants — and the people who planted them — are often forgotten.

Hot on the heels of his previous bestsellers, award-winning author Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s latest book, The Fly in the Ointment, doesn’t disappoint. From pesticides and environmental estrogens to lipsticks and garlic, Dr. Joe is back to demystify the science that surrounds us. Why do some people drill holes in their heads for “enlightenment”? How did a small chemical error nearly convict the unfortunate Patricia Stallings for murdering her son? Where does the expression “take a bromide” come from?

The poems in The Flower of Youth depict the coming of age and into sexual difference of the great writer and film director, Pier Paolo Pasolini. The time of this story is World War II; the place is German-occupied northern Italy. Unlike his younger brother, Guido, who took up arms to fight in the resistance, Pasolini chose to help his mother set up a school for the boys, mostly sons of farmers, too young to fight or be conscripted.

When biologist Brian Harvey saw a thousand fish blundering into a Brazilian dam, he asked the obvious: What's going to happen to them? The End of the River is the story of his long search for an answer. The End of the River is about people and rivers and the misuse of science. Harvey takes readers from a fisheries patrol boat on the Fraser River to the great Tsukiji fish market in Japan, with stops in the Philippines, Thailand, and assorted South American countries.

A refreshingly honest memoir about politics and private life

Get to know the eccentric alien known as the Doctor

From his beginnings as a crotchety, anti-heroic scientist in 1963 to his current place in British pop culture as the mad and dangerous monster-fighting saviour of the universe, the titular character of Doctor Who has metamorphosed in his 50 years on television. And yet the questions about him remain the same: Who is he? Why does he act the way he does? What motivates him to fight evil across space and time?

With thousands of Canadians heading south for the winter each year, many of these individuals, referred to as “snowbirds,” face unique and challenging U.S. tax and financial planning considerations. Crossing the border, spending time in the U.S., and engaging in various financial transactions have legal and tax implications both in Canada and the U.S.