New Year New Book Club

After the busy holiday season, January is the perfect month to spend some quiet time reading and enjoying great books.

At the library, one of the things we love most about reading is talking about a book when we’re finished. Online book clubs are one of our favourite ways to stay with a book a little longer and connect with other readers to share our thoughts about it, its characters, and themes. 

If you’d like to try an online book club or connect with friends and family over a shared reading experience, consider joining us for One eRead Canada this January.

One eRead Canada is a month-long, nationwide eBook club, hosted by public libraries from across the country. It’s open to cardholders from any participating library, so you’ll have the chance to connect with readers from all over the country.

This year we’re reading Vi, Kim Thúy’s celebrated novel about the lives and experiences of Vietnamese refugees in Canada.

Best of all, there are unlimited digital copies of the book available, so you won’t have to wait for a hold to come in!

How to participate

• Get a digital copy of Vi using your RPL library card and Overdrive/Libby
  • Available Jan 1 to 31
  • eBook and eAudiobook versions available, in English or French
  • No library card? Sign up for one here.
• Join the One eRead Canada Facebook Group.
  • Chat with other readers in the discussion tab
  • New discussion prompts will be posted each week
• Watch the live Q & A with author Kim Thúy on Facebook
  • English: January 19, 7:00pm
  • French: January 20, 7:00pm

About the Book

Published by Libre Expression in French and Penguin Random House Canada in English, Vi is a masterful book about the lives and experiences of Vietnamese refugees in Canada. It was a finalist for the 2019 Governor General’s Literary Award in translation and longlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

About the Author

Kim Thúy Ly Thanh, is a Vietnamese-born Canadian writer, whose debut novel Ru won the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, she and her family were among thousands who fled the country on boat after the fall of Saigon. They later settled in Quebec.

About One eRead Canada

One eRead Canada is organized by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council/Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada (CULC/CBUC) — the people behind the eContent for Libraries campaign. Libraries are facing very high costs for eBooks and eAudiobooks - and some titles aren't available to libraries at all. With this campaign, CULC wants to show that libraries introduce readers to new books, which actually helps to drive sales to publishers.