All branches close on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 for Canada Day. This includes branches with Extended Access.
The accessible washroom at Barton Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
All HPL Branches are closed Canada Day, Tuesday, July 1. Extended Access is not available. The following Bookmobile visits are also cancelled on July 1st:
- Riverdale
- Strathcona
- McMaster
- Greencedar
- Mountview
Regular service hours resume Wednesday, July 2.
Study Halls are taking a summer break after Thursday, June 26. The service will resume in early September.
www.hpl.ca/study-halls
The parking lot elevator at Terryberry Branch is not working. Members will need to use the accessible ramp at the Mohawk entrance and the inner elevator. We're working to get it fixed quickly.
Please note that the audio volume levels on our public computers are having issues. The estimated time of disruption is unknown at this time. Thank you for your patience.
The accessibility ramp at Mount Hope Branch is damaged. The handrail is not available. The ramp will not be available while being repaired. We aim to fix it quickly.
Hamilton Reads 2023 - Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted
Motl is middle-aged, poor, nerdy, Jewish and in desperate need of a shave. Since having his balls shot cleanly off as a youth in WWI, he's lived a quiet life at home in Vilnius with his shrewd and shrewish mom, Gitl, losing himself in the masculine fantasy world of cowboy novels by writers like Karl May--novels equally loved by Hitler, whose troops have just invaded Lithuania and are out to exterminate people like Motl. In his dreams, Motl is a fast-talking, rugged, expert gunslinger capable of dealing with the Nazi threat. But only in his dreams.
An imaginative and deeply felt exploration of genocide, persecution, colonialism and masculinity--saturated in Gary Barwin's sharp wit and perfect pun-play--Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy is a one-of-a-kind novel of sheer genius.
- Penguin Random House Place a hold on a physical copy or eBook of Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy.
The Author
Gary Barwin is the author of 26 books including this year’s Hamilton Reads selection, Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy which won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award. His national bestselling novel Yiddish for Pirates won the Leacock Medal for Humour and the Canadian Jewish Literary Award, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and was long listed for Canada Reads. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

Join a book club to discuss Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy.
- If you are interested in discussing this year’s Hamilton Reads selection with your fellow bookworms, there is a book club near you.
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- Recommended if you like this title.