National Network for Equitable Library Service

Everybody knows a brown-noser when they see one. But how about a greeter? A workbrickle? A jack? Can they tell downsizing from grey bearding or bright sizing? With 'The Idler's Glossary' (2008), Mark Kingwell and Joshua Glenn offered a spirited defense of leisure. As confirmed idlers themselves, they assured us their Glossary could provide 'everything you need to know about how to conduct a life.' Today, however, as we recover from the worst global recession since 1929, the work-world is a very different place.

"Dawdler." "Layabout." "Shit-heel." "Loser." For as long as mankind has had to work for a living, which is to say ever since the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, people who work have disparaged those who prefer not to.

This quirky ode to a quirky land is a humorous nostalgia trip and a fun Canadian history lesson couched in a hipster quiz book. If you’ve ever wondered Why is the inuksuk more revered than Wheelchair Jimmy? Does the iconic beaver really represent us better than The Littlest Hobo? Is everyone going canoeing without me or is canoeing way less of a thing than it’s made out to be? then this book is for you. Is Canada even real?

A hilarious self-help book for recovering Leafs fans everywhere. We’ve all heard it. The sound of one team sucking. Our team. The Leafs. It starts as an almost imperceptible hum, a month or so after the home opener, once the shine of the new season wears off, building in intensity with each defeat until the sound explodes like the noise a star might make if you ripped its heart out. Fact is, being a Maple Leafs fan is a kind of addiction: irrational, compulsive, dependent. You can’t just quit cold turkey. You need help … And that’s where The Sound of One Team Sucking comes in.

Hamilton Spectator columnist Paul Benedetti’s essays paint a wonderfully funny portrait of family life today. Paul Benedetti has a good job, a great family, and successful neighbours — but that doesn’t stop him from using it all as grist for a series of funny, real, and touching essays about a world he can’t quite navigate. Benedetti misses his son, who is travelling in Europe, misplaces his groceries, and forgets to pick up his daughter at school. He endures a colonoscopy and vainly attempts to lower his Body Mass Index — all with mixed results.

One Animal Among Many: Gaia, Goats, and Garlic examines the real-life experiences of creatures great and small. Best known for his witty columns in Harrowsmith, David Waltner-Toews explores the interconnectedness of all life with insight and humour. The collection looks at everything from sheep farming to herbal remedies and rabies.

It is rare that one can pick up a book and find all the answers to the problems of Life. Yet in this one book, we find these answers, and learn a few more things that will keep us up at night. What really happened when Mike Harris woke up after emergency surgery in a hospital still smarting from budget cuts? Why did Linda Tripp turn on Bill Clinton?

Are you a snob? Then why not learn to do it right? Study this revolutionary work and become a Canadian Snob of Distinction! Victoria Branden has traced the history of Snobbery from its pre-human roots to our own era, in our own country, and has enunciated the definitive Theory of Snobbery. She examines its evolution from its crude beginnings to its present confused state, with detailed study of the most important types of snobbery, distinguishing Goodsnobs from Badsnobs, experts from fumbling amateurs.

Come and walk the offbeat world of Mike Strobel’s popular column in the Toronto Sun. Meet the legendary panhandler Shaky Lady; the Weasel, who knows where Jimmy Hoffa is buried; the secretive swinger Sexy Boots; the notorious Bicycle Bandit, who quit robbing banks, got a loan, and opened a bar; and Dr. Hook, the top doc whose professional fate rested on the cut of his jib.

Once again we are blessed with yet another collection of Jim Foster’s ravings. His first book, I hate to complain, but … with its views on everything from bank mergers to the author’s 30-year love affair with Sophia Loren, is being hailed as a classic example - though of what no one is quite sure. Readers will be amazed at the depth of the author’s knowledge on just about any subject and his total inability to keep it to himself. What should you do if a comet falls on you at 1000 mph? What are the best pick-up lines for the man or woman looking for romance?