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Some literary collective nouns

We here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library are delighted to be ‘installing’ something every library needs… a bulletin board! (and yes, we’re installing it right next to our card catalogue… because #OldSchool…) And this cartoon by Tom Gauld, author of The Snooty Bookshop, is what got us to finally put up our board…

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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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The Well of Being

I was reminded today of the importance of seeking gratitude, thanks to a social media memory of discovering a “Thank You Station” at my place of primary employment, a year ago now. It’s also where I discovered The Well of Being: a children’s book for adults, written and illustrated by Jean-Pierre Weill. It was the perfect book to anchor a thank you station.

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Small Press Saturday: Hingston & Olsen

This week for #SmallPressSaturday, we are delighted to feature “a literary press in the frozen north” based out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with a passion for the physical book at its core: Hingston & Olsen Publishing. Best known as the publishers of the Short Story Advent Calendar, Hingston & Olsen was founded in 2015 by author Michael Hingston and designer Natalie Olsen, according to their website, “as a means of finding out just how far an untested idea could be taken.”

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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.

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Small Press Saturday: Erewhon Books

Happy Small Press Saturday! This week we showcase a small press that has only been around since 2018: Erewhon Books, a small independent Canadian press that focuses on novel-length works of speculative fiction.

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A short love letter to libraries…

On the first day of kindergarten I went to school and fell in love. Sunk three steps into the middle of the school’s central atrium, a circular open-concept library formed the literal and figurative heart of Duggan Elementary School in south Edmonton.