This National Indigenous History Month take some time to read or listen to works by and about Indigenous people.  June is the perfect time to reflect on the Indigenous experience and celebrate the contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. Learn some Indigenous history and culture with the help of OPLs “Always Available” collection. 

This month in eAudio we recommend Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese.  Library Journal calls this father-son journey a “soothingly moving novel of rapprochement and family roots for all readers” and Publishers Weekly calls it “a complex, rugged, and moving father-son novel.”

A fantastic eBook to read this month would be Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead, a Canada Reads winner described as a “unique, shattering vision of Indigenous life, full of grit, glitter, and dreams.” We have many copies of the eBook in our CloudLibrary Express collection.  Download the app, if you haven’t already, to access many popular titles at OPL.

To highlight National Indigenous History Month in French, we suggest the reading of a short story collection called Wapke. This book was edited by Michel Jean, and includes stories by authors such as Joséphine Bacon, Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, and Jean Sioui. The word wapke means tomorrow in atikamekw, and these stories evoke a desire for change.

We also suggest the French audiobook Ici n’est plus ici by Tommy Orange for the month of June. The story takes place as 12 characters make their way to the Big Oakland Powwow. This book explores many themes, such as depression and unemployment, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Finally, we'd like to recommend queuing up for Indigenous authors and stories at OPL that are not offered by publishers in an always available format or in our Express collection and may have wait lists. Instead of using “Keyword” to search the OPL catalog, try using “Tag” and enter the term “Indigenous."  Place some holds this June and continue the discovery and appreciation of Indigenous history and culture for the rest of the year and beyond.

Suggestions and Resources for a successful online Book Club  

In order to have your Book Club take place online you can try creating Facebook groups, or using various social media channels to discuss books.  Or you could try meeting live via online video conferencing tools. The following tools are free: 

• Google Hangouts provides free video/chat/voice conferencing and does not have a time limit 
• Jitsi is a free open source video conferencing tool 
• In French, there is a platform built by Les librairesthat allows book clubs to meet online! You can request to create your own club, or there are groups that are already running that you can join. All book clubs, including the current book club picks and comments, are visible to anyone accessing the site
• Le Regroupement des éditeurs franco-canadiens is offering a monthly book club called D’un océan à l’autre – hereis more information (in French only), and the books available at OPL!

Finding eBooks and eAudiobooks for your Book Club 

• Always Available eAudio from OverDrive – many great Book Club reads in this list 
• Books with 100 simultaneous checkouts  -- this new format offered by publishers to libraries lets your whole book club borrow a book at once!
• Special Collection of Always Available eBooks and eAudio from Overdrive– a quality collection available until the end of 2021
• Always Available ebook Classics from Duke Publishing 
• OPL streaming eBook and eAudio collections 
• Some French publishers OPL purchases from through Cantook Stationoffer many loans of the same title at once.  You can search the Cantook platform for these publishers and make your choice.  Participating publishers include Gallimard, Actes Sud, Rivages, POL, Flammarion, and Payot.
• Radio-Canada offers free “Always Available” French eAudio - stream from the ICI Première website or download the Radio-Canada OHdio app.
• D'un océan à l'autre | club de lecture 2021

Contact OPLs InfoService 613-580-2940 if you need help accessing these titles and resources 

Hosting and Discussions 

If you would like discussion questions for your book, here is a list of 40 Great Book Club Discussion Questions from Book Riot.  They work for any book. 

Here are some great tips about how to host an online book club from Bustle Magazine: 10 Tips For Hosting A Digital Book Club 

Enjoy your Book Club – online or off!