Jul 04, 2022
Summer is here and what better way to enjoy it than by going on an outdoor adventure? In Ottawa we’re so lucky to have many multi-use trails to beautiful outdoor destinations as well as Gatineau Park so close for mini-adventures but what if you’re into something bigger?
This month in eAudio you can get your big adventure fix by listening to Mountains of the Mind by Robert Macfarlane. This book is more than just a chronicle of a climb of Mount Everest, it combines Macfarlane’s adventures, accounts of climbing pioneers like George Mallory and a discussion of how climbing mountains has captured the modern West’s imagination.
In eBook you can read about adventures on the sea in Two Years Before the Mast. This memoire by Richard Henry Dana was originally written to expose the poor working conditions of the average sailor but it quickly became a very popular adventure story.
If you’re a little less adventurous and a road trip is more your style, then try En route vers nowhere a French eBook about Sara and Sebastian who meet as children in the mid-nineties during a summer camping trip and become fast friends. Years later, by chance they meet again and pick up where they left off. They decide to embark on a summer road trip that will surely have you and your friends reminiscing and planning your own sunny vacations.
For more mountaineering but in French eAudio this time try Paolo Cognetti’s intimate look at the Aosta Valley in Italy in his novel Les huit montagnes We follow the story of friends Pietro and Bruno as they explore glaciers and forests of the Alps while deepening the connection with nature and life. This title won the Prix Médicis étranger in 2017.
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 libraires that 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 – here is 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!
- Always Available ebook Classics from Duke Publishing
- OPL streaming eBook and eAudio collections
- Some French publishers OPL purchases from through Cantook Station offer 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