Open Book: May 2025

Open book
In this issue

Letter from CELA’s Executive Director

As readers, many of us have a long list of books we want to read and that list often grows as we plan our summer reads. We’ve been working diligently to add more books to our collection so we’re ready for you. Whether you are after a beach read, a mystery or something to really sink into, we have lots to offer. And if you have children in your life, summer reading clubs launch at libraries across the country in June. They are a great way to connect kids with reading and the fun happening at their libraries. CELA’s accessible books are featured throughout these programs.

Our team has been busy the last month at conferences and events across the country, including meeting students and teachers at the Forest of Reading festival in Toronto, and presenting at the BC and Manitoba Library Conferences. In June our team members will present at the Atlantic Provinces Library Conference, as well as the Braille Literacy Symposium. We’re always happy to meet and chat with users and our library colleagues. We are also pleased to welcome Cora Payne as our new Outreach Manager. Cora and others on our team will work together to connect with people and communities to bring CELA services to more people who can use accessible formats.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the potential Canada Post service disruption. We know that many of our users rely on mail to receive their reading materials. While we can’t do anything to resolve the service disruption, we have put together more resources to support users who want to try digital options. You can find links to those resources on our blog or our CD Transition Resources page. Please follow our blog and social media for updates regarding CELA services during any potential service disruption. On behalf of the team here, we want users who rely on the mail for books to know how sorry we are you are facing this disruption.

Laurie Davidson, Executive Director

Awards update

Cover of the book The Adversary by Michael Crummey.Congratulations to the following authors!

Michael Crummey has won the 2025 Dublin Literary Award for his book The Adversary.

Canadian writer Canisia Lubrin has won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her book Code Noir.

Percival Everett wins the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel James, which is inspired by Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Support for CD users

A DAISY player, a tablet and a smartphone.As CELA users may know, we announced earlier this spring that CELA would no longer be providing CDs after July 31. Our CD Transition Resources page has important information about this shift in our services.

New CD transition resources

Upcoming training

How to read CELA audiobooks and magazines: Transitioning from reading on CDs to other devices

Wed. June 11 2:00-3:00pm EDT
Tues July 8: 3:00-4:00pm EDT
Tues Aug 5: 2:00-3:00pm EDT

Our weekly Q and A sessions with our Peer Trainer, which happensThursdays 2-3 pm ET and Wednesdays 6:30-7:30 pm ET:

Wed June 18 6:30-7:30pm EDT
Wed July 23 6:30-7:30pm EDT
Wed Aug 20 6:30-7:30pm EDT
Wed Sept 17 6:30-7:30pm EDT

Service switch to Direct to Player option

CELA users will also find a new option on their My Account page which can be used by patrons who are ready and able to switch from CDs to the Direct to Player option before July 31, or who wish to let us know they need more assistance. 

When you go to My Account, you’ll find a new link called “Service switch to Direct to Player for CD users”. There are three options on this page:

  1. Switch my CD service to DAISY Direct to Player now. This option will switch your holds and magazine subscriptions to Direct to Player within 24 hours.
  2. Switch my CD service to DAISY Direct to Player automatically after July 31, 2025
  3. I need more information or help to switch to receive audiobooks in a different way. If you choose this option, you will be redirected to a page with links to resources on different audiobook device options, plus our email and phone number to contact us for help.

Patrons are not required to submit this information to us immediately. For those users who are ready and able to shift before the July 31 deadline, your assistance by informing us will help us direct our resources and programs to those who need it most.

Death of author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'O.Award winning Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o has died. 

Best known for novels including The Wizard of the Crow and Petals of Blood, memoirs such as Birth of a Dream Weaver or the landmark critique Decolonizing the Mind, he explored the impacts of colonization, the power of language and history of Kenya. 

Read his work in our collection and learn more about his life and impact in this CBC story.

Reading for Truth and Reconciliation

Cover of 52 Ways to Reconcile by David A. Robertson.52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing
By David A. Robertson

From bestselling author of the Misewa Saga series David A. Robertson, this is the essential guide for all Canadians to understand how small and attainable acts towards reconciliation can make an enormous difference in our collective efforts to build a reconciled country.

52 Ways to Reconcile is an accessible, friendly guide for non-Indigenous people eager to learn, or Indigenous people eager to do more in our collective effort towards reconciliation, as people, and as a country. 

As much as non-Indigenous people want to walk the path of reconciliation, they often aren’t quite sure what to do, and they’re afraid of making mistakes. This book is the answer and the long overdue guide.

The idea of this book is simple: 52 small acts of reconciliation to consider, one per week, for an entire year. They’re all doable, and they’re all meaningful. All 52 steps take readers in the right direction, towards a healthier relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and a time when we are past trauma. By following these steps, we can live in stronger and healthier communities equally, and respectfully, together.

Books for Pride Month

Cover of It's Pride Baby! by Allen R. WellsPride events kick off in June and happen across the country all summer long. Here are a few recent additions to our collection, perfect for Pride. 

For kids and teens: 

For adults: 

Possible Canada Post service disruption

CELA will continue to produce and mail reading materials as long as Canada Post continues to deliver mail. If this labour negotiation results in a full strike or lockout, CELA will suspend production and distribution of physical materials and let users know through posts on our blog and social media.

For ongoing information about the situation please follow the Canada Post website.

BLC’s Braille Symposium - Five years strong!

A woman stands on a stage in front of an audience.From our friends at Braille Literacy Canada:

Braille Literacy Canada looks forward to our 5th Annual Braille Symposium on Friday, June 13, 2025. 

We are pleased to be offering 5 different presentations:

  • Using Tactile Images to Make Astronomy More Accessible for Blind and Visually Impaired Learners (concurrent)
  • Dans le sillage de trois personnages emblématiques mis à l’honneur au musée Valentin Haüy - Paris (concurrent) (This presentation will be in French: Valentin Haüy workshop)
  • e-Braille; A Reality for Everyone across the World
  • Braille Challenge; Celebrating the Challenge of Braille
  • Marrakesh and the Accessible Books Consortium: The Benefits and Access for Readers.

For more information and to register go to 2025 Braille Symposium. 

Webinars for you

We host a series of webinars on Zoom to help users access CELA services, to stay up to date on new technologies and to learn more about accessible reading. Most of our webinars are recorded.

On the Webinars for you page, you will find upcoming webinars. On that same page you will find links to other CELA video resources available on our YouTube channel.

How to read CELA audiobooks and magazines: Transitioning from reading on CDs to other devices

Discover the many ways you can read CELA’s audiobooks and magazines using a variety of devices. This webinar is intended to support you as you transition off of CDs onto other players. In this one-hour webinar, you will learn: 

  • Which audiobook players work with CELA audiobooks and magazines 
  • How to start using Envoy Connect devices, the EasyReader app or Direct to Player on your Humanware Stratus DAISY player 
  • Where to buy players 
  • How we can further support you through this transition 

To register for the online Zoom webinar, please select your preferred date below and fill in the registration form. To attend by phone, please call the Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273. 

Wed June 11: 2:00-3:00pm EDT
Tues July 8: 3:00-4:00pm EDT
Tues Aug 5: 2:00-3:00pm EDT
Wed Sept 17: 2:00-3:00pm EDT

Transitioning from CD to other audiobook device options Q&A

Were you receiving CELA CDs and need help transitioning to a new device? Are you helping someone make this transition?

Join our Peer Trainer, Ioana Gandrabur, who will answer your questions about finding the best alternative players and apps for reading CELA’s audio books and magazines. We welcome your questions about using the following devices and more:

  • Envoy Connect player
  • Humanware Victor Stratus players that have an internet connection
  • EasyReader app on your tablet or smartphone
  • Other device options

To register for one of the weekly Thursday sessions from 2:00-3:00pm ET select the link below, choose the date you prefer from the dropdown menu and complete the registration form. We look forward to meeting with you.

Thursday Q & A sessions: Audiobook device options

To register for one of the monthly Wednesday evening sessions from 6:30-7:30pm ET select the link below for your preferred date and complete the registration form. We look forward to meeting with you.

Wed June 18 6:30-7:30pm EDT
Wed July 23 6:30-7:30pm EDT
Wed Aug 20 6:30-7:30pm EDT
Wed Sept 17 6:30-7:30pm EDT

Featured title for adults: Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)

Cover of the book Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jese Q. Sutanto.Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. … Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder.

Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure trove: Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for. Online, Xander had it all: a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents. Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.

Read Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jese Q. Sutanto.

Read the first book in the series: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jese Q. Sutanto.

Top five books

Cover of the book Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves.Most popular with our readers last month:

  1. Death at the Sanatorium: A Mystery by Ragnar Jónasson, Police procedural fiction
  2. Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves, Mysteries and crime stories
  3. Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo, Mysteries and crime stories
  4. Onyx Storm (The Empyrean #3) by Rebecca Yarros, Fantasy
  5. My Time to Stand: A Memoir by Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, Women biography

Top five for kids

Cover of the book Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett.Most popular with kids last month:

  1. Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett, Science fiction
  2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Fantasy
  3. Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow Book 4 (Nevermoor #4) by Jessica Townsend, Adventure stories
  4. The City of Ember: The First Book Of Ember (The City of Ember #1) by Jeanne Duprau, Science fiction
  5. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft, Folklore

Featured title for teens: Messy Perfect

Cover of the book Messy Perfect by Tanya Boteju.Perfect for fans of Mason Deaver and Becky Albertalli, this tender, raucous novel follows a rule-following, perfectionist teen who starts an underground GSA club at her conservative Catholic high school, from the acclaimed author of Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens. Cassie Perera is a star student in St. Luke's junior class. But the new school year brings an unwelcome surprise—the return to St. Luke's of Cassie's former friend, Ben, who left a few years ago after a homophobic bullying incident Cassie knows she didn't do enough to prevent.

Still harboring guilt from her inaction, Cassie decides, in her usual, overzealous way, to team up with the neighboring public school to found an underground Gender and Sexuality Alliance—as a complicated strategy for making things up to Ben. Secretly, Cassie is also tempted by the possibility of opening up about her own sexuality for the first time. As Cassie's new friends urge her out of her comfort zone, she unlocks a kind of joy and freedom she's never felt before—even as she struggles to balance these experiences with her typical tightrope of being the perfect daughter, student, and Catholic. Cassie's perfectly curated life unravels into turmoil, but can she embrace the mess enough to piece together something new?

Read Messy Perfect by Tanya Boteju.

Top five for teens

Cover of the book In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters.Most popular with teens last month:

  1. In the Shadow of Blackbirds: A Novel by Cat Winters, Historical fiction
  2. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins, Adventure stories
  3. The Hunger Games (Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins, Science fiction
  4. The Originals by Cat Patrick, Romance
  5. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas, Adventure stories

Service tip: Browse by category

We’ve recently been adding lots of new books to our collection. If you are looking for an easier way to find books that interest you, our Browse by category option can help you focus on the genres or topics you want.

The Browse by category option can be found just to the right of the search bar, beside the link for Advanced Search. By clicking on Browse by category, you will get a list of the many categories available, which includes everything from Adventure stories to Westerns and nonfiction, including biographies to travel or war. 
Once you’ve found the category you want, you can refine your search using any of the filters to find the format or publication date you prefer.

Stay connected!

Logos of X, Facebook, and YouTube.Visit CELA's social media, including X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, YouTube and our blog, for more news about what's happening in the world of accessible literature.