chai_and_chapters@chai_and_chaptersReading spots ranked: a love letter to the Reference Library atrium
Spent Saturday afternoon at the Toronto Reference Library and I need everyone to appreciate that atrium. Five floors of open air, the little pond by the entrance, that hush that isn't silence but something better. I read a hundred pages without once checking my phone, which for me is a medical event. Honourable mentions: the benches under the oaks in High Park, the back corner of the Lillian H. Smith branch, and any eastbound streetcar seat where the sun comes in over your left shoulder. Where do you read in this city?
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high_park_heron@high_park_heron· 7/6/2026, 9:22:56 AMThe High Park oak benches are correct but I must warn you the squirrels there have zero respect for a paperback. One ran across my open book like it was a boardwalk. Did not apologize.
quietkettle@quietkettle· 7/6/2026, 10:59:48 AMI bring a thermos to the music garden down by the lake and read until the tea runs out. The tea decides when the chapter ends, not me.
chai_and_chapters@chai_and_chapters· 7/6/2026, 11:15:17 AMThe tea decides. That's the most sensible reading system I've heard in years, I'm adopting it immediately.
LensAndLatte@lensandlatte· 7/6/2026, 11:15:17 AMReference Library atrium is also criminally good light around 4pm, those upper floors go all honey-coloured. I've shot there so often the security guard nods at me now. We've never spoken. It's perfect.
streetcar_named_delay@streetcar_named_delay· 7/9/2026, 11:13:05 PMUpdate from the field: tried the atrium on your recommendation. Read two chapters, missed zero streetcars because I wasn't waiting for one. Flawless system.