Whitehorse Public Library
Issue: 2018-05-09, PHOTO: courtesy of Yukon Cares
Coming to the Yukon as a refugee
Fiona Azizaj will be the guest speaker at this year’s Yukon Cares Annual General Meeting (AGM). In 1993, during the Yugoslav Wars that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia, Azizaj and her parents fled Kosovo to Germany when she was months old. They... Read more
Issue: 2017-10-04, Photo: Amazon.ca
People who crafted the promise of Canada
Continuing this series of reviews of books that deal with the Canadian identity and, to an extent, with the idea of Canada at 150, we come to the latest book by former Berton House writer-in-residence Charlotte Gray. It’s called The Promise of... Read more
Issue: 2017-08-30, PHOTO: Amazon.com
Slap on a Hat, Slip into this Book
Every summer, Rose and her family pack up and head to their cottage in Awago Beach. There, the long days melt into lake swims and beach fires, counting stars, five-cent candies, watching movies and running around with her summer-sister, Windy. Read more
Issue: 2017-07-12, PHOTO: courtesy of Yvonne Mueller
An Inspiring Book, Found in a Unique Bookstore
MacLeod’s Books in Vancouver is a book lover's dream. Books are piled up from floor to ceiling. Fortunately, the friendly staff helps you to navigate through the wide selection of books – some of them quite old and rare. When my partner and I... Read more
Issue: 2017-07-12, PHOTO: Universal Pictures
Trainwreck
A flawed character struggles to unravel the threads of a pivotal event, though hobbled by some impediment – amnesia, maybe, or being stranded in a foreign country where everyone speaks an unfamiliar language. It’s a dramatic device of my favourite... Read more
Issue: 2017-06-07, PHOTO: House of Anansi Press
A book Canadians “must read”
A vicious attack leaves two girls hospitalized. Their families, reeling, draw together, looking for answers. In her arresting debut novel, The Break, author Katherena Vermette, a Metis writer from Treaty One territory, weaves together the stories... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-31, PHOTO: Pixabay
The Things that Weather You, Shape You
Often touted as a fairytale for adults, Alaska author Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel, The Snow Child, is a vividly depicted story about the heartache of life’s trials and the healing we are capable of. Set against the backdrop of 1920s Alaskan frontier... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-31, PHOTO: Pixabay
Beatle Stations
Somewhere in the tangle of ersatz gold rush facades, back alley shops and parking lots of Whitehorse, a portrait of the Fab Four used to sweep across the wall of one of the city’s shopping malls. Or did I imagine it? It’s gone now, but I remember... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-17, PHOTO: Courtesy of Hidden Histories Society Yukon
If You Have a Dream, Come to Canada
May is Asian Heritage Month. We recognize Socorro (Cory) Alfonso, who came to the Yukon in 1986 as one of the first Filipino nannies to work here. She was an adventurer, willing to leave the familiar for unknown challenges and the hope of a better... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-17, PHOTO: Amazon.ca
Playing in the Dark
Rumbling with dark humour, real life and bewitching characters, Eden Robinson’s latest novel, Son of a Trickster, is a confident coming-of-age story with a beautifully rhythmic cadence. Set in Kitimat, British Columbia, which is the town adjacent... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-03, PHOTO: courtesy of Harbour Publishing
Filling the Gaps in Our History
“Everyone talks about the Goldrush. I’m interested in the gaps in history. The points in between,” says Yukon writer Michael Gates, author of From the Klondike to Berlin. Published last month, this book is, perhaps surprisingly, the first to offer... Read more
Issue: 2017-04-05, PHOTO: Amazon.com
History Offers Timeless Perspectives
Stories are invaluable teachers, says B.C. author Caroline Woodward, they have the ability to “give us whole worlds.” Old stories, too, are relevant artefacts that help us gain perspective on how much, or how little, progress we have made. Read more
Issue: 2017-03-29, PHOTO: BBC static archive
Power Couple
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when it comes to Pride and Prejudice, once is not enough. For acolytes, Jane Austen’s best-selling novel of the early 19th century invites reading again and again – and again. The same applies to the... Read more
Issue: 2017-03-01, PHOTO: Wikipedia
A Provocative Gold Rush Mystery From the Other Side of the World
The Luminaries is a story of drama and mystery of the best variety; it will delight both those brainier sorts with a very calculated attention to detail, but also dreamers of the astrological sort— as long as you’re willing to work through its... Read more
Issue: 2017-02-22, PHOTO: Amazon.com
Don’t Ignore that Gut Feeling
From breakfast to dinner, allergies to diets, less sugar, more greens — we talk a lot about what we do and do not eat. But what about once we’ve supped our plates clean? Do you feel awkward already? Digestion is a private if not at times taboo... Read more
Issue: 2017-02-22, PHOTO: IMDb
King of Chicago
The mayor of Chicago is mad as a hatter, but the trains run on time. Having been mayor for a couple of decades, Tom Kane is the ultimate power player; he has a lot to say about which councillors get elected and he wields that power like a mace to... Read more
Issue: 2017-02-22, PHOTO: Paul Gowdie
February is Black History Month
The Hidden Histories Society Yukon invited Jillian Christmas, a Black Canadian spoken word poet to Whitehorse at the beginning of February. The Society commissioned her to write a poem in celebration of the diverse Black community in Yukon. Read more
Issue: 2017-02-15, PHOTO: Betty Davidson
Shedding a Little Light on a SAD Season
Since last November the Dawson City Community Library and the Whitehorse Public Library have been helping to shine a little light on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and possibly other mental health problems. About a year ago, the staff at the... Read more
Issue: 2017-01-25, PHOTO: Graphicstock
How to Choose a Library Book
Libraries are the most thrilling silent spaces to walk into; to me, they’re goldmines of intrigue. But when going in blind, the variety and selection can seem a bit overwhelming. With so many titles how do you make sure you’re choosing the right... Read more
Issue: 2017-01-11, PHOTO: IMDb
Epiphanies
“It’s like everybody knows the story,” muses a reporter to her colleague. “Except us.” The journalists of “Spotlight,” a legendary investigative unit at the Boston Globe, won a Pulitzer for a series of revelatory articles on the cover-up of child... Read more