Category: Hart House Library

Social justice reading list

March 2022

Non-Fiction Novels 

Nishga by Jordan Abel

Return by Kamal Al-Solaylee

Praying to the West by Omar Mouallem

Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles

Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

Short Fiction Anthologies 

Stray Dogs by Rawi Hage

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

Tainna: The Unseen Ones by Norma Dunning

A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett

How to Date a Flying Mexican by Daniel A. Olivas

Social Justice Reading List

February 2022

Fiction Novels

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

How High We Go At Night by Sequoia Nagamatsu

The Boat People by Sharon Bala 

Crow Winter by Karen McBride

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese

Non-Fiction Novels 

I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You by David Chariandy 

Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Muller 

You Are Your Best Thing by Tarana Burke + Brene Brown

Deep Salt Water by Marianne Apostolides 

Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

To the River by Don Gillmor

Short Fiction & Anthologies 

The Book of Healing by Najwa Zebian

Ezra’s Ghost by Darcy Tamayose 

After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

Lovers on All Saints’ Day by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

The King Is Always Above the People by Daniel Alarcón

Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist (Poetry Anthology)

SOCIAL JUSTICE READING LIST

January 2022

Fiction

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler 

Dancing Lessons by Olive Senior 

Season of Anomy by Wole Soyinka 

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

Red X by David Demchuk

The Pump by Sydney Warner Brooman

In Singing, He Composed a Song by Jeremy Stewart

Suture by Nic Brewer

The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

Non-Fiction

Epic of Askia Mohammed by Thomas A. Hale

The Last Nomad by Shugri Said Salh 

White Space, Black Hood by Sheryll Cashin 

The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State by Lisa McGirr

Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang

This is My Real Name by Cid V Brunet

Watermelon Snow by Lynne Quarmby

Missed Connections by Brian Francis

Angry Queer Somali Boy by Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali

Short Fiction and Anthologies

Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel Moniz 

People From My Neighborhood by Hiromi Kawakami 

Sarahland by Sam Cohen

Hao by Ye Chun

I’m Not Hungry But I Can Eat by Christopher Gonzalez 

The Ones that Don’t Say They Love You by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh

Vertical Motion by Can Xue

Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler

Social justice reading list

October 2021

Fiction Novels

All of Us in Our Own Lives by Manjushree Thapa

All Inclusive by Farzana Doctor

All’s Well by Mona Awad

Dante’s Indiana by Randy Boyagoda

Days by Moonlight by Andre Alexis 

Non-Fiction Novels

Wages for Housework: A History of an International Feminist Movement, 1972-77 by Louise Toupin

Indigenous Women, Work, and History 1940–1980 by Mary Jane Logan McCallum

Decolonizing Employment: Aboriginal Inclusion in Canada’s Labour Market by Shauna MacKinnon

Work Won’t Love You Back by Sarah Jaffa 

The Color of Money by Mehrsa Baradaran 

Short Fiction

“Umbrella” by Chanel M.Sutherland (read here)

“Summer Body” by Lee Thomas (read here)

“Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey” by Haruki Murakami (read here)

“Selection Week” by Hurmat Kazmi (read here)

Bawaajigan edited by Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith (anthology)

Social justice reading list

September 2021

Fiction Novels

Non-Fiction Novels

This Strange Visible Air by Sharon Butala

Black Water by David Robertson 

Among Silent Echoes by Phyllis Dyson

The New Old Me by Meredith Maran

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron

Short Fiction – Stories and Poems

“Kids in Kindergarten” by Corrina Chong 

Super Important Filipina Thoughts by Alia Ceniza Rasul

“The Flowers” by Alice Walker

Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah

What You Are by M.G Vassanji

Hart House Library Curator

September 2021 – May 2022

The Hart House Student Literary and Library Committee is seeking a creative and motivated individual to fill the role of Library Curator at the Hart House Library – one of the most unique and charming libraries at the University of Toronto, located in the historic Hart House building. The Library Curator will work remotely and in-person to find innovative ways to engage the UofT community at the Hart House Library, within the parameters of approvals from the University with respect to COVID-19 protocols.

 Qualifications:

• Recently completed or in the process of completing a graduate degree in Library or Information Science from an accredited institution or equivalent degree
• 2 + years of experience working in library and/or information service role (highly recommended)
• Experience working with the Hart House Student Literary & Library Student Committee or Hart House is considered a strong asset
• A demonstrated interest in literature, libraries, and the philosophy of library science.
• Experience producing written and visual content for social media platforms and websites
• Professional skills, including a familiarity with library databases, searching, queries, and data entry 
• Experience researching, selecting, and curating book acquisitions
• Proficiency using photo editing / design software to create virtual content and programming (i.e. Adobe Suite, Photoshop, Canva).
• Ability to work independently and self-manage deadlines and priorities
• Experience organizing and managing teams of employees and/or volunteers

Responsibilities:

• Contribute out-of-the-box, engaging ideas for activity programming and community outreach at the Hart House Library, both virtually and in-person.
• Develop the Hart House Library book collection – researching and compiling a list of new book purchases in accordance with the library theme and policy; purchasing and receiving orders; and maintaining an updated database of new products and equipment
• Create and update content regularly on the website and social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and develop an online presence for the Hart House Library that accompanies and/or supplements in-person programming.
• Perform various duties at the Hart House Library such as: designing collection showcases, book selections, signage, campaigns, and programs.
• Responsible for the management of the Hart House Library book collection, including but is not limited to: sorting, repairing, and archiving the book collection.
• Perform environmental scan of various libraries of similar size and type to identify best practices and improvements that can be implemented at the Hart House Library.
• Support Hart House Student Literary and Library Committee with events and programming at the library (i.e. monthly book club, writing groups, book drives, and etc), and attend all Hart House Student Literary and Library Committee meetings
• Organize and lead a group of library volunteers dedicated to the upkeep and function of the Hart House Library.

The average time commitment is between 2 – 6 hours per week both in in-person (COVID-19 restrictions permitting) and remotely. For the 2021-22 academic year, considering COVID 19-modifications, this is a Fee-For-Service opportunity for the period of September 2021-April 2022. The fee provided will be $500 per term, for a total of $1000.

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa

They Said This Would Be Fun by Eternity Martis

Indigenous Toronto edited by Denise Bolduc, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, Rebeka Tabobondung, and Brian Wright-McLeod

Where Things Touch by Bahar Orang

Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted by Gary Barwin

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi

Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

Book of Wings by Tawhida Tanya Evanson

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

What You Are by M.G. Vassanji

Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah

Red X by David Demchuk

First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon

Reproduction by Ian Williams

A Really Good Brown Girl by Marilyn Dumont

Accretion by Ifran Ali

Tainna: The Unseen Ones by Norma Dunning

The Lover, the Lake by Virginia Pésémapeo Bordeleau

The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

Sufferance by Thomas King

Black Matters by Afua Cooper & Wilfried Raussert

More Powerful Together by Jen Gabby

Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

Disfigured by Amanda Leduc

Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis

Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waudeshig Rice

God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop by Kathy Landoli

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib

Boyz n the Void by G’ra Asim

When Rap Spoke Straight to God by Erica Dawson

The Butterfly Effect by Marcus J. Moore

The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur

The BreakBeat Poets by Kevin Coval

Dead Precedents by Ray Christopher

The Psychological Covert War on Hip Hop by Professor Griff

The Last Poets by Christine Otten

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill & Theodore Taylor III

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Bead on an Anthill: A Lakota Childhood by Delphine Red Shirt

The Misadventures of Sulliver Pong by Leland Cheuk

Slow River by Nicola Griffith

Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir by Janice Erlbaum

You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson

Black Futures edited by Kimberely Drew amd Jenna Wortham

All About Love by Bell Hooks

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie

Wrestling With the Devil: A Prison Memoir by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa

They Said This Would Be Fun by Eternity Martis

Indigenous Toronto edited by Denise Bolduc, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, Rebeka Tabobondung, and Brian Wright-McLeod

Where Things Touch by Bahar Orang

Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted by Gary Barwin

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi

Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

Book of Wings by Tawhida Tanya Evanson

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

What You Are by M.G. Vassanji

Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah

Red X by David Demchuk

First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon

Reproduction by Ian Williams

A Really Good Brown Girl by Marilyn Dumont

Accretion by Ifran Ali

Tainna: The Unseen Ones by Norma Dunning

The Lover, the Lake by Virginia Pésémapeo Bordeleau

The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

Sufferance by Thomas King

Black Matters by Afua Cooper & Wilfried Raussert

More Powerful Together by Jen Gabby

Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

Disfigured by Amanda Leduc

Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis

Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waudeshig Rice

God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop by Kathy Landoli