Read the same book. Share the same story.

One Book Nova Scotia has returned! The book? Just Beneath My Skin by Darren Greer.  The book has been described as “gritty and unrelenting”, and having read it, I cannot disagree.  Yet in the midst of that unrelenting grit, there are moments of beauty, laughter, and raw emotion, which make it a very discussable book.

What’s it about, you ask? Poverty, family, alcohol abuse, and the power of friendship come to mind. Here’s how the publisher summarizes the story:
In the small town of North River, every day that goes by bleeds into the next. Poverty begets hopelessness, hopelessness breeds violence, violence causes despair. The only way to change fate, a minister tells his son, is to leave. The minister's son, Jake MacNeil, chooses to ignore his father's advice. Only when he realizes what has become of his life - working a grueling dead-end job, living with a drunk, friends with a murderer - does he decide to make something of himself. But nothing comes without a cost: in choosing freedom, Jake abandons his own son, Nathan, to the care of the boy's abusive mother. Years later, a reformed Jake comes back for Nathan, to finally set things right. But in North River, everything comes around again; and when a dangerous figure from the past becomes hell-bent on dragging the new Jake "back down where he belongs", three generations of MacNeil men must come together to pay the full price of hope.
Visit the 1BNS website for events, discussion questions, and more.  Follow along on Twitter @1bookNS, use the hashtag #1BNS to chat with others about the books. There’s even a contest this year - show us where you are reading the book with the hashtag #reading1BNS, and you could win dinner with the author!

Get your copy now, and start reading. If you are part of a Book Club (or want to start one), we have a Book Club in A Bag for this title.  On October 29, at 7 PM, we are co-hosting Darren Greer at Acadia University. He will be at the Vaughan Memorial Library’s Quiet Reading Room to read from his book & talk with folks who’ve read it. You can even purchase a copy that night from our friends at Box of Delights, who will be at the event.


We can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the book. Tell us on Twitter or Facebook; tell us in the comments. Read the same book. Share the same story. Join Nova Scotia’s biggest Book Club!

--Angela Reynolds, Community Engagement Coordinator

One Book: Roost

Have you read Roost yet?  Ali Bryan’s novel Roost is this year’s pick for One Book Nova Scotia which is the book all Nova Scotians are being encouraged to read this year.

Ali will be here in the Valley at the NSCC Kingstec Library in Kentville on Monday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m.  She’ll be reading from Roost and sharing stories about the writing process as well as answering questions.  We have several copies of her book available at Annapolis Valley Regional Libraries as well as a downloadable eBook version and a Book Club in a Bag kit.  Copies of her book will also be for sale at the reading thanks to our friends from Box of Delights in Wolfville.  

Set in Nova Scotia, Roost is the story of a single mom dealing with the sudden loss of her mother, the quirky and troubling behavior of her aging father, and her long-term sibling rivalry with her “perfect” brother.  Told with great humour and compassion, Ali Bryan creates compelling and relatable characters that may remind us of ourselves or someone we know.

Ali was originally from Halifax, then Sackville, NB, and like many other Maritimers, currently lives in Alberta.  Thanks to a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, she kicks off an author reading tour of Nova Scotia starting at Halifax’s Word on the Street on Sunday, September 21.  Her tour includes readings not only here in the Valley, but in Yarmouth, Antigonish, Baddeck and Amherst.

For more information on One Book Nova Scotia or Roost, check out http://1bns.ca   

--Frances Newman, CEO

One Book Nova Scotia

It’s time for the third annual One Book Nova Scotia unity reading event!  This is when adults in Nova Scotia are encouraged to read the same book, kind of like a giant book club.

This year’s book is Roost by Ali Bryan and it is a funny, lighter read than the two previous selections.  Set in Halifax and written by a Nova Scotian, Roost offers a comical and poignant look at single parenting, aging parents, and sibling rivalry.

We’ve listened to participant feedback and this year we are revealing the title a little earlier than usual, so people can read it in the summer or fall, whichever is more convenient for them.   The library has plenty of copies of Roost as well as a Book Club in a Bag kit with eight copies and discussion questions.  

Ali Bryan will be featured on the Main Stage at The Word on the Street Book Festival in Halifax on Sunday, September 21, and then embark on a reading tour with six stops across the province thanks to funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.   

The Valley reading will be on Monday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the NSCC Kingstec Campus Library in Kentville.  Admission is free.   

For more information on One Book Nova Scotia check out http://1bns.ca  or follow us on Facebook  or Twitter @1BookNS. 

--Frances Newman, CEO 

Alissa York to Read at Kentville Library

Alissa York, the author of this year’s pick for One BookNova Scotia, will be giving a free reading from her novel Fauna on Wednesday, October 2^nd at 7:00 p.m.  at the Kentville Library.

One Book Nova Scotia is a province-wide community reading event for adults in which everyone is encouraged to read the same book and share the same story.  

York’s novel Fauna examines the complex relationships that humans have with animals – the ones we fear, the ones we love, and those we hate.  Animals can be our friends, our enemies, or even our saviours.  In cities and in the country all over the world people strive to coexist with animal life, sometimes successfully and sometimes not.

Alissa York will be touring Nova Scotia from October 2-10 with twelve readings from Kentville to Sydney sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts.  All public, community college and university libraries have multiple copies of Fauna to loan, and the ebook is available for download through the public libraries.  The visually impaired can borrow the audiobook version through the CNIB, and the novel is also available en Francaise.

Bookstores are also promoting Fauna and Mitzi from Box of Delights in Wolfville will be coming to the Kentville Library reading so you can purchase a copy that night and have it signed by the author.

So why not come out to the Kentville Library on Wednesday night and be a part of Nova Scotia’s province-wide community reading event!

Posted by Frances Newman, Regional Librarian

One Book is back

It's almost that time of year again when Nova Scotians will be invited to "read the same book, share the same story".  Community reading programs are nothing new and started in Seattle back in 1998.  Other communities quickly caught on and CBC's Canada Reads is a good example of a nation-wide community reading program.

Community reading events promote recreational reading among adults.  Often the titles chosen are designed to inspire discussion and debate. One Book Nova Scotia also aims to promote Canadian literature.

Last year was the first time Nova Scotia held a province wide reading event for adults.  It proved popular with over 1,100 people borrowing the book from libraries during the seven-week run of the program.  Forty-two events were held around the province, including author readings and book club meetings.  Leo McKay Jr.’s Twenty-Six, a fictionalized account of the 1992 Westray Mine disaster, was the inagural One Book Nova Scotia selection. 

One Book Nova Scotia is a project of Libraries Nova Scotia and will be promoted throughout public libraries, community college and university libraries, and bookstores this fall.  The chosen book will be unveiled on Tuesday, September 10^th at 10:00 a.m. at a provincial launch at the Waterfront Campus of NSCC in Dartmouth.  The public is welcome.

Which book will it be this year?  Stay tuned to find out or check out the 1bns.ca website for more information.

Frances Newman, Regional Librarian