Anyone who’s been to a KIRBC meeting can boil it down for you in about 10 seconds: You bring a book. You tell us why you love it. Great times ensue, and you leave with a go-to reading list in you back pocket. So when the Toronto Public Library announced their inspired Keep Toronto Reading campaign, which asked Torontonians to recommend books they love in just about any way they wanted to, including making one minute pitch videos, I thought, I haven’t run a big blog campaign in like . . . 2 weeks, let’s get behind this! So I’ve asked booklovers of my acquaintance to help me release a video a day for all of April. It’s basically a month-long KIRBC meeting, and the whole city’s invited!
Making videos isn’t easy, but from the response so far, it looks like people love books more than they hate seeing themselves on camera. Which, hey, is saying something right? (Still want to contribute? It’s not too late! Declare your intentions by emailing me at j.k.knoch[at]gmail.com. Videos will also appear on the Toronto Public Library’s website.)
So I’m kicking off Day 1, with my own reco, one I’ve blogged about before, and quickly discovered I couldn’t do it justice in a minute: An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum: 1941-1943.
Okay, third person time (This section will make better sense when it’s not me):
Jen Knoch is the president of the Keepin’ It Real Book Club, and the principal blogger on this site. By day, you can find her working as an Associate Editor at ECW Press, and by night she runs 140-second book clubs with Erin Balser and ropes people into schemes just like this one.
Yay! It has begun! A book rec a day helps to make April just a little less cruel!
It’s true, it does! Although I always though Eliot was was off the mark there — apparently he never experienced February in Canada.
Hi Jen,
Thanks again for supporting the library’s campaign. The three videos KIRBC posted so far – including yours this morning – have been great. :-)
We all look very forward to seeing more videos from your book club members as Keep Toronto Reading month progresses.
Have a nice long weekend!
- Ab. from Toronto Public Library
Awesome! Haven’t heard of this one before.
Imma going to work on my video this weekend on Atmospheric Disturbances…Internet vacations can only last so long
This was actually a KIRBC reco that I’ve adopted as my own, which is a great sign the system is working! The first reco for Etty came from the lovely Anne Lewis.