5 Summer Reads to Enjoy and Share

Summer is here and with it brings many happy hours spent on patios, in the park and at the beach, more often than not, with a book in hand.??

There’s something so genuinely relaxing about being able to unplug from technology and step away from our shared global economic and political worries to get lost in a book (even if it’s just temporary).??

Books can be the perfect escape, and our local libraries are the perfect oasis. This is one of the great things about reading; it’s a free form of entertainment which transports us away to new lands, connects us with adventure and opens our minds to new experiences.??

I hope you enjoy these recommendations below, and that your summer is filled with so much literary love!??

Demon Copperhead?

By Barbara Kingsolver?

When I was a teenager, I loved reading Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees. I was excited to pick up her new novel; the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper coloured hair. ?

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia; Barbara Kingsolver brings the themes of David Copperfield to the forgotten parts of rural America. Sharp and captivating, this Pulitzer Prize winner deserves all the accolades Kingsolver is receiving.

The Postcard?

By Anne Berest?(Translated by Tina Kover)

The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, with an enthralling investigation into family secrets and a poignant tale of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust.?

Luminous and gripping to the very last page, we follow Anne as she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family; their flight from Russia following the revolution and their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris.?

Hang the Moon??

by Jeannette Walls?

Jeannette Walls is another author I loved from my youth. I found her memoir Glass Castle to be deeply moving, and was happy to find the same reverent story telling in this fictional story of Sallie Kincaid.??

Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege; Sallie navigates being sent away by her stepmother at a young age and returns home nine years later as a woman confronting the secrets and scandals of her family with fearless determination.??

Red Zone: From the Offensive Line to the Front Line of the Pandemic??

By Laurent Duvernay-Tardif??

Athlete, medical professional and accomplished author; Canadian Laurent Duvernay-Tardif sent shockwaves through the sports world by becoming the first NFL player to opt out of the upcoming season during the global pandemic.??

From the incredible highs of winning the Super Bowl to the burnout of working as an orderly, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif shares how he navigated being a medical professional and NFL football player during a global pandemic.

Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came to America??

By Hugh Eakin?

Picasso’s War is the never before told story about how a single exhibition irrevocably changed American taste, and in doing so saved dozens of the twentieth century’s most enduring artworks from the Nazis.

In January 1939, Pablo Picasso was renowned in Europe but disdained by many in the United States. One year later, Americans across the country were clamouring to see his art. In this novel, Hugh Eakin shares how the controversial leader of the Paris avant-garde movement was able to break through to the heart of American culture and change the art world forever.?