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Happy Birthday, William Morris!

Born on this day in 1834, William Morris is perhaps best known as an artist and designer, and a major force behind the Arts & Crafts movement. But he was also a poet and novelist, connected to the Pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-1800s, and also the founder of the Kelmscott Press in 1891.

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A Happy Cyberpunk Birthday!

Okay, it’s not precisely the birthday of cyberpunk, but it is the birthday of one of the authors who pioneered the genre, William Gibson… born this day in 1948, and who introduced the world to cyberspace in his 1982 short story “Burning Chrome” and his 1984 debut novel Neuromancer.

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Pi Day 2021!

As the official unofficial family holiday of our Chief Alien… and because PIE… we here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library of Literary Eccentricities & Rarities want to celebrate by sharing a selection of cookbooks and food-related books from our collection, plus a vintage geometry book from 1951.

And, of course, PIE.

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Happy International Women’s Day 2021!

Since this is our library and we can do what we want, we here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library of Literary Eccentricities & Rareties are going to celebrate International Women’s Day all week!

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World Book Day 2021

We almost missed this entry on the Bookish Calendar, but in our defence, we kind of thought every day was world book day…

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Africanfuturism goes to Space…

If you’re looking for reading recommendations, look no further than our Butterfly-in-Chief. She lives to put the right book in your hands. So it was that our Head Alien was introduced to Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, with a vehement “You HAVE to read this book!” We now count Binti among our favourite works of speculative fiction, our first introduction to a subgenre of science fiction that Okorafor calls Africanfuturism.

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In memoriam: Jack Whyte, 1940-2021

Rest in peace, Jack…

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Toni Morrison’s Birthday

Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio as Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931. She was nothing short of amazing and the world suffered a great loss when she passed away on August 5, 2019.

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An “I Read Canadian Day” addendum

An amazing and accidental last minute addition to my “I Read Canadian” pile! The Barnabas Project by Terry, Eric, and Devin Fan — The Fan Brothers — edited by Tara Walker, designed by Kelly Hill, and published by Tundra Books.

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Happy I Read Canadian Day 2021!

Today is a day of celebration across our country, a celebration of Canadian books for young people. People across the nation are being challenged to Read Canadian for 15 minutes and to share their experience. We are celebrating by sharing a small photo gallery of some our personal copies of Canadian books for young readers, and a video from Marty Chan!

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My Canadian Family

In honour of Family Day, celebrated on the third Monday of February here in our corner of the “real” world, we thought it fitting to introduce you to one of those book friends, Raina Schnider, and give a shout out to her book My Canadian Family.

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Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story

There lurk some stranger, darker corners here within the Butterflies & Aliens Library of Literary Eccentricities & Rarities. It is against that backdrop, in honour of the annual day of celebration of love and flower shops that we call Valentine’s Day, that I share one of my favourite books of the love poetry genre, Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story.