Jasper Municipal Library staff
June 7-13 is Seniors鈥� Week. To celebrate, we asked a few of our elder patrons to recommend some of their favourite books, authors, DVDs and other library materials. Enjoy!
Sheila: She reads widely and has enriched our From the Stacks adult story time with her spot-on observations and reading recommendations. Sheila suggests four nonfiction books:
- 鈥淔ight or Submit: Standing Tall in Two Worlds鈥� by Grande Chief Ronald Derrickson of Westbank First Nation, B.C.
- 鈥淟ong Beach Wild: A Celebration of People and Place on Canada's Rugged Western Shore鈥� by former Jasperite Adrienne Mason
- 鈥淭he Wolverine Way鈥� by Douglas Chadwick
- 鈥淎dventures of the Yorkshire Shepherdess鈥� by Amanda Owen
Sheila also enjoys the novels of Mary Lawson: 鈥淐row Lake,鈥� 鈥淩oad Ends鈥� and 鈥淭he Other Side of the Bridge鈥� (librarian鈥檚 note: in February, Lawson released 鈥淎 Town Called Solace,鈥� her first novel in eight years) and recommends the DVD 鈥淛ust Mercy.鈥�
Leo: Leo often comes in with great book recommendations. He was the first to suggest 鈥淎lways Brave, Sometimes Kind鈥� by Alberta author Katie Bickell, which became a staff and patron favourite. Leo suggests:
- 鈥淭hrough the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats)鈥� by Lorna Crozier, a memoir about living with, and losing, her partner, writer Patrick Lane.
- 鈥淢iss Benson鈥檚 Beetle鈥� by Rachel Joyce, a humorous novel about unlikely friends on an adventure.
Leo is currently enjoying the nonfiction book 鈥淣ever Fly Over an Eagle鈥檚 Nest鈥� by Joe Garner.
Avice and Mary Ellen: These fiction aficionados are prolific readers of historical, light and literary fiction, romance, thrillers and cozy mysteries. Looking for good authors in one of those genres? Look no further:
- Light Fiction and Cozy Mysteries: Avice recommends Rhys Bowen and Catherine Ryan Hyde; Mary Ellen recommends Sarah Kate Lynch.
- Mysteries and Thrillers: Mary Ellen鈥檚 favourites include Louise Penny, Kate Ellis and Charles Todd, while Avice鈥檚 include Simon McCleave and Fiona Barton.
- Historical Fiction: Laila Ibrahim and Jennifer Anton top Avice鈥檚 list in this genre, and Mary Ellen recommends Jennifer Robson, Susanna Kearsley, Mandy Robotham and Natasha Lester.
- Romance: Mary Ellen鈥檚 top choice is Rosie Thomas, and Avice recommends Amy Harmon and Fiona Valpy.
If you鈥檙e in the mood for literary fiction, Avice would also recommend Chris Cleave and Sejal Badani.
Charlene: Her tastes are eclectic and wide-ranging: from horror flicks to academic writing, from linguistics to pop culture.
Charlene says she isn鈥檛 reading much lately but that clearly hasn鈥檛 swayed her from her lifelong learning journey. Her focus these days runs between The Great Courses series, language learning kits, nature and travel DVDs and old Hollywood films. She notes that our library has a good collection of movies from the 1930s to 1950s. Charlene is also revisiting some of her favorite classic novels and Nobel prizewinners through audiobooks and movie adaptations.
A student of literature, Charlene most strongly recommends checking out some of Canada鈥檚 canonical writers, including Ringuet, Adel Wiseman, Al Purdy, Gabrielle Roy, Farley Mowat, Margaret Atwood, Fredrick Philip Grove, Nellie McLung and Pauline Johnson.
Thanks to these wonderful patrons for their recommendations, and happy Seniors鈥� week!
