School is back in session, and with that comes projects and, thus, increased demand for the classics. You know them. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Brave New World, Animal Farm, Shakespeare with Hamlet, Macbeth, and R&J being ubiquitous. Etc. These have been staples in schools for decades*1. If you’re a data-driven person, this Ontario Book Publisher’s Association report will confirm many of the above titles.
Libraries are magical places, and I don’t just say this because I’m a huge library nerd. Besides, I’m in good company being one; Sir Terry Pratchett, in his Science of Discworld (Vaughan doesn’t have our own copy, but you can borrow Overdrive books from our partner systems using your VPL library card) books says, “There is no higher life form than a librarian.” I’m one of those, too, mainly due to my love for libraries and what we do. Where else can you come to borrow free books/movies/games/any of the so many other collections we have without paying a dime*1? We’re a place to cool off on hot days or warm up on cold ones, and there’s no pressure to buy anything. Do you need access to the internet or even a whole computer? We’ve got you covered! And all of this isn’t even touching on our programming and staff expertise. There’s a reason that a TV aardvark*2 once sang that “Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card.” But while all this is magical, it’s also ever so mundane. Our dragons, unicorns, robots etc., are all contained within the pages of the books on our shelves*3. Some books contain even more magic than others, for described on their pages are libraries whose magic is far more than mundane. Dragons*4 stalk their halls, the books they store come to life and attempt to escape, and if you travel far enough and know the way, you can even use them to travel through time itself. If libraries have always seemed to be mystical places to you, these books will help reinforce that feeling.
Continue readingLaughter comes from many places and takes many forms. That passenger on the bus is chuckling at a well-written quip in a good novel. The giggling fit from the other room is your family reacting to the hero of an action-comedy making a pratfall. Raucous laughter reverberates through the house at 3 am as you watch yet another YouTube video starring a funny animal. We all enjoy a good laugh*, and sometimes we’re okay with brainless cat videos*2; other times, we want our laughter to come with a side of enlightenment, or at least a new factoid we can use to impress our friends.
Before I get into the funny books*3, I’d like to draw attention to Ha! the Science of When We Laugh and Why by Scott Weems, which examines exactly what it promises with that title. It isn’t a funny book in and of itself; sure, there are jokes scattered throughout, but they’re there to support the book’s scientific approach to humour. Besides exploring what makes us laugh, Weems also examines what laughter does to our brains. Did you know that “getting” a joke fires the parts of our brain that deal with conflict resolution? Or that laughter therapy is a legitimate treatment in hospitals*4? It also lightly touches on how humour changes across cultures around the world. While it’s a pop-sci style book, don’t go into this one expecting a light and breezy read, as Weems doesn’t shy away from getting technical. This book won’t make you funnier or draw out a hearty guffaw, but it will help you understand why you’re laughing at the next couple of books.
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