Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Canada Reads declares a winner


The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis was declared the book of the decade by CBC's Canada Reads today. The other four competitors were Essex County, a graphic novel by Jeff Lemire, which was the first book eliminated, The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou, which was the second book eliminated, and Unless by Carol Shields and The Birth House by Ami McKay.


vhamilton@shaw.ca

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Libraries receive e-book boost


Greater Victoria Public Library users will have access to thousands more electronic books next month after a major publisher said it will allow library access to its titles.

BC Ferries Wi Fi service blocks access to abortion, sex-education sites


Ferry riders using BC Ferries free WiFi service are out of luck if they want to buy condoms online or research where to get an abortion.

That's because BC Ferries online web filters are designed to block any websites about "sex education and abortion", along with those for sites like pornography, hate speech and piracy.



Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A juicier way to get your Grapes of Wrath


Most would agree John Steinbeck eloquently captures the soul-wrenching journey of a Depression-era family as they move from Oklahoma to California in The Grapes of Wrath. But today's young readers often need more than words on a page to fully immerse themselves in a story -- they need multimedia.