Open Book: November 2024

Open book
In this issue

Letter from CELA’s Executive Director

Canada has a rich literary culture, and that is due in part to awards programs, which recognize our authors, poets, illustrators and translators. Whether they are established writers or just beginning their career, being nominated or winning an award can make a substantial difference in their career and introduce them to new audiences. These books often have buzz, and we try to bring them in so our readers can participate in our national conversations.

We appreciate the opportunity to work with some of Canada’s most prestigious awards, which allow us to ensure we have nominated titles in advance so we can get them ready for you. This month the winners of the Governor General’s Award for Literature, the Giller Prize, the Writers' Trust prizes and the CCBC have been announced. We’ve got an awards update for you in this newsletter so you can find them all in our collection.

You may have noticed a new Open Book feature we have been running called Reading for Reconciliation. With so many important books written by Indigenous, Metis and Inuit authors, this gives us a place to draw your attention to some of the recent works which speak to Canada’s relationship with First Nations communities.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the impact that the Canada Post service disruption is having on our readers who need CDs or braille to read our materials. We are so sorry this is impacting our users, and we want to do what we can to help. Please read through our resources for digital services and reach out to our Contact Centre if you need support.

Laurie Davidson, Executive Director

Awards update!

Cover of the book Held by Anne MichaelsIf you love to read award winners, November is the month for you. Let's get started!

This year's Giller Prize winner was awarded to Anne Michaels for her book Held.

The Governor General's Award for Literature honoured Jordan Abel for his novel Empty Spaces in the fiction category and Niigaan Sinclair won the nonfiction category for his book Wînipêk. Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol won the Young People's award. 

The Writers' Trust awarded the Atwood Gibson Prize for fiction to Sheung-King for his book Batshit Seven, and the Hilary Weston Prize for nonfiction to Martha Baillie for her memoir There Is No Blue. The Balsilie prize, another Writers' Trust prize, was given to Wendy H. Wong for her book We, The Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age.

The National Book Award in the US was given to American author Percival Everett's novel James, his retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Congratulations to all these incredible authors. Watch our Awards page for updates as more award announcements are made.

Murray Sinclair, author and Indigenous leader dies

Cover of the book Who We Are by Murray Sinclair.In early November, Murray Sinclair, author, judge and leader passed away. As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he challenged Canadians to wrestle with our history and to embrace an inclusive vision for our shared future. 

His book Who We Are: Four Questions For a Life and a Nation was just recently published. 

Structured around the four questions that have long shaped Senator Sinclair’s thinking and worldview—Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? Who am I?—Who We Are takes readers into the story of his remarkable life as never before.

Who We Are is available in audio narrated by the author and in braille.

Author Barbara Taylor Bradford dies

Cover of the book The Wonder of it All by Barbara Taylor Bradford.Prolific author Barbara Taylor Bradford passed away Sunday November 24 at the age of 91.

She was best known for her strong female characters and epic family sagas. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance has sold more than 30 million copies since its debut in 1979. The novel was semi autobiographical and fans often shared how impactful it was on their lives.

Over her career Bradford wrote 40 novels, many of them were adapted for the screen. Her last novel, The Wonder Of It All, was published in 2023. It is available in both human narrated audio and braille.

Go digital!

a stack of packages sits outside the door to a house.As the Canada Post strike continues, now might be the perfect opportunity to explore CELA's digital services.

Digital access allows you to get books directly to your devices quickly and without worrying about delays due to weather, mail volume or holiday hours.

Reading for Truth and Reconciliation

Cover of the book Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre by Niigaan Sinclair.Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre is written by Niigaan Sinclair, son of Murray Sinclair, and  was the winner of this year's Governor General's Award for Nonfiction. 

Niigaan Sinclair delivers a defining essay collection on the resilience of Indigenous peoples. Here, we meet the creators, leaders, and everyday people preserving the beauty of their heritage one day at a time.

Sinclair uses the story of Winnipeg to illuminate the reality of Indigenous life all over what is called Canada. This is a book that demands change and celebrates those fighting for it, that reminds us of what must be reconciled and holds accountable those who must do the work. 

Read this book in our collection in braille and audio narrated by the author. 

Save the date! World Braille Month

Statue of Louis Braille from the chest up.Join CELA and its partners for a retrospective of 200 years of braille and 5 years of World Braille Days events on January 17 (English Event) and January 21 (French event) from 1-3 pm Eastern.

We will also be offering another year of Braille Boost with new activities and resources for braille learners and those who support them.

Visit the World Braille Day page to register, and look for social media and newsletter announcements from our partners at AEBC, AERO, BLC, CCB, CNIB Beyond Print, CNIB Foundation, NNELS, and PRCVI. Plan to join us!

Reading in the news

Cover of the book Being Henry, the Fonz, and Beyond by Henry Winkler.Henry Winkler played Fonzie on Happy Days for 11 seasons, but it wasn't until after the show wrapped up that he learned why he had struggled so much with reading the script. 

In an recent interview with CBC, he opens up about being diagnosed with dyslexia at age 31 and how it inspires his work now.

Read more about his life in his recent autobiography Being Henry, The Fonz and Beyond. Henry Winkler's children's books feature a young boy struggling in school as a result of his dyslexia. Find even more of Winkler's children's books through Bookshare. 

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.

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.

Deliver flexible reading accommodations with CELA and EasyReader

Join Faline Bobier from CELA and MJ Barry from Dolphin to discover how CELA can support people who are blind, have low vision and various kinds of learning disabilities, such as dyslexia. Learn who’s eligible for CELA services—more people qualify than you might expect! We’ll guide you through finding all kinds of books and reading material, as well as show you how to personalize the reading experience to suit your neurodiversity or visual needs using the EasyReader App.

Audience: CELA users and educators

To register for this webinar select the link below:

Thurs Dec 12 1:00-2:00pm EST

Starting with CELA: finding and getting books and magazines

Have you recently registered for CELA or would you like a refresher on how to find and read books and magazines? We’re pleased to share how you can use the 1.4 million titles available to you in this 45-minute webinar.

  • Discover how to access a book or magazine using CELA’s site: log in, search and choose a book
  • Do you prefer to choose books by phone? Find out how you can learn about new titles and request the ones you like
  • Learn about our loaning rules and how to return materials
  • Find tutorials and videos for more help

Select the link below to register for this webinar:

Tuesday Jan 14 2:30-3:30pm EST

Ask Us! Come chat with CELA staff and have your questions answered

This hour-long interactive conversation gives CELA users an opportunity to ask questions related to using CELA’s library services. We encourage you to bring your questions and learn from CELA staff, as well as to share experiences with other CELA patrons in the audience. This Q&A aims to support how you access the books, magazines and newspapers in CELA’s multiple format collections for people with print disabilities.

Select the link below to register for this conversation:

Tues, Feb 11 1:00-2:00pm EST

Featured title for adults: The Grey Wolf (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #19)

Cover of the book The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny.Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.

That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin THE GREY WOLF, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you", a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder—all propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.

Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they're chasing becomes clear. If they fail the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages. Including Three Pines.

Read The Grey Wolf (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #19) by Louise Penny.

Top five books

Cover of the book God of the Woods by Liz Moore.Most popular with our readers this month:

  1. The God of the Woods: A Novel by Liz Moore, Suspense and thrillers
  2. The War We Won Apart: The Untold Story of Two Elite Agents Who Became One of the Most Decorated Couples of WWII by Nahlah Ayed, Women biography
  3. Tom Lake: A Novel by Ann Patchett, Family stories
  4. Intermezzo: A Novel by Sally Rooney, Serious and literary fiction
  5. The Briar Club: A Novel by Kate Quinn, Suspense and thrillers

Featured title for kids: The Shape of Lost Things

Cover of the book The Shape of Lost Things by Sarah Everett.Skye Nickson's world changed forever when her dad went on the run with her brother, Finn. It's been four years without Finn's jokes, four years without her father's old soul music, and four years of Skye filling in as Rent-a-Finn on his MIA birthdays for their mom. Finn's birthday is always difficult, but at least Skye has her best friends, Reece and Jax, to lean on, even if Reece has started acting too cool for them. But this year is different because after Finn's birthday, they get a call that he's finally been found.

Tall, quiet, and secretive, this Finn is nothing like the brother she grew up with. He keeps taking late-night phone calls and losing his new expensive gifts, and he doesn't seem to remember any of their inside jokes or secrets. As Skye tries to make sense of it all through the lens of her old Polaroid camera, she starts to wonder: Could this Finn be someone else entirely? And if everyone else has changed, does it mean that Skye has to change too?

Read The Shape of Lost Things by Sarah Everett.

Top five for kids

Cover of the book Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2 by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and J. K. Rowling.Most popular with kids this month:

  1. Harry Potter and the cursed child: Parts I & II (Harry Potter Ser.) by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and J. K. Rowling, Fantasy
  2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Fantasy
  3. Harry Potter: The Cinematic Guide by Felicity Baker, General non-fiction
  4. The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember by Jeanne Duprau, Science fiction
  5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6) by Jeff Kinney, Family stories

Top five for teens

Cover of the book A Walk to Remember by Nicolas Sparks.Most popular with teens this month:

  1. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, Bestsellers (fiction)
  2. As Good As Dead: The Finale to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, Suspense and thrillers
  3. Killer Instinct (The Naturals #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Mysteries and crime stories
  4. Hatchet: Hatchet Series, Book 1 by Gary Paulsen, Adventure stories
  5. Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, Suspense and thrillers

New on YouTube

close up of a hand holding a phone with the YouTube red play icon.

CELA's webinars are recorded and made available on our YouTube channel. We have recently added "Help! How do I support struggling readers? An introduction to accessible literacy and reading formats". The video features extenive information on a variety of accessible reading formats, as well as helpful advice on supporting struggling readers. Watch to discover a broader approach to reading and literacy development.

You can find this video and others on our YouTube channel. 

Service tip: Update your apps!

If you use apps like EasyReader to read your books, please make sure that your apps and browser stay up to date. Keeping things current helps avoid potential issues getting your books.

Holiday hours

A happy snowman wears a red and white hat and scarf and holds a red shovel.For the holiday season, our Contact Centre will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on December 24. It will be closed on December 25, 26 and January 1 for the holidays. On December 27, 30, and 31, our Contact Centre will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time. We will return to normal opening hours on January 2, 2025.

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.