Haiti Reads Virtual Library

I came across a cool web site for free bilingual books at https://bilinguator.com/en/languages. The site shows you a table and tells you what books are available in what two languages. I tried out French and Spanish. Most of the items are classic pieces of literature, but they might be useful for learning a new language. Unfortunately, Kreyol was not among the languages offered.

Bilingual books in 69 languages — read for free Bilingual books on Bilinguator.com in multiple languages with parallel translation. Read and download in PDF, EPUB, FB2, TXT formats. For free!

Too good not to share!

MAN ARRESTED AFTER BREAKING INTO A FAMOUS BOOKSTORE ON BURNSIDE AT MIDNIGHT TO FINISH A BOOK HE “WASN’T GOING TO BE ABLE TO SLEEP WITHOUT”

Leonard “Lenny” Whitaker, 67, of Portland, Oregon, was charged Tuesday with breaking and entering after slipping into a closed famous bookstore on Burnside through a propped emergency exit at 12:10 AM—all to finish the final 47 pages of a thriller he had been quietly working through in the armchair section for four straight afternoons.

According to the report, Whitaker discovered the book on day one, read for several hours, carefully re-shelved it spine-out for easy retrieval, and returned daily like it was a part-time job. On day four, he was politely asked to leave at closing with 47 pages left—at what he later described to officers as “an absolutely unacceptable emotional cliffhanger for a man my age.”

Details from the police report:
Located the book in complete darkness using his phone flashlight in under a minute (“muscle memory,” he claimed)
Returned to his exact armchair like a seasoned professional
Came prepared with reading glasses, a granola bar, and what officers described as “focus”
Finished the remaining 47 pages in 1 hour and 14 minutes
Re-shelved the book properly (alphabetically, no less)
Found seated calmly with the book closed in his lap, staring into the middle distance like he’d just unpacked something personal
When officers asked if he was okay, Whitaker replied,
“Yeah… I just thought it was going somewhere else.”
He declined to elaborate.

Officer Jenkins noted in the report:
“He didn’t run. Didn’t panic. Just… needed closure. Honestly, we’ve all been there.”

The bookstore has declined to press charges, despite the abandoned granola bar wrapper, which management described as “mildly disappointing but understandable.”
The book has since been purchased by three customers.
Whitaker has not returned.

He came for answers. He left with… complicated feelings.

Illinois made history as the first state to outlaw book bans once and for all.

Marginalizing people, ideas, or facts has no place in our state — and they have no place in a democracy.

This National Library Week, we continue our commitment to free thought and free speech.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a haunting yet deeply human story about survival, guilt, and love in the most unimaginable place. Based on the life of Lale Sokolov, a prisoner forced to tattoo numbers onto fellow inmates at Auschwitz, the book explores how one small act of connection can preserve humanity in the face of systematic dehumanization.

When Lale tattoos the number 34902 onto Gita’s arm, he does more than mark her, he falls in love with her. Their relationship unfolds through stolen moments, smuggled food, and quiet promises to survive. Morris doesn’t romanticize the horrors of the camp; instead, she shows how love became Lale’s moral anchor while he lived with the burden of a role that saved his life but scarred his conscience.

The most powerful part of the story comes after the war, when Lale searches tirelessly for Gita, refusing to accept a world where she might be gone. Their eventual reunion and lifelong marriage transform the narrative from one of survival to one of enduring devotion.

This book is less about grand heroism and more about quiet resilience. It reminds readers that even in a place designed to erase identity and hope, remembering a name, rather than a number, can be an act of resistance.

Fanm se poto mitan.

In Haiti, women are the pillars that hold communities upright. They are strength, steadiness, and the quiet force that keeps families standing.

🇭🇹💛✊

The king of Haiti and the dilemmas of freedom in a colonised world | Aeon Essays How a utopian vision of Black freedom and self-government was undone in a world still in thrall to slavery and racism