This is the fourth and final year that I'll be sharing my summer reading list with you. As many of you know, I am an avid reader and enjoy books from a variety of genres and perspectives. By sharing my list, I hope that you will be inspired and encouraged to create your own list and make reading part of your summer enjoyment.
1. Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence
by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
Sacks, who is a respected writer and contributor to radio, has written a number of award-winning books. He served as 'Chief Rabbi' of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 - 2013. In his opening chapter, Sacks writes, When religion turns men into murderers, God weeps...Too often in the history of religion, people have killed in the name of the God of life, waged war in the name of the God of peace, hated in the name of the God of love and practised cruelty in the name of the God of compassion. When this happens, God speaks, sometimes in a still, small voice almost inaudible beneath the clamour of those claiming to speak on his behalf. What he says at such times is: 'Not in My Name.'
I've already read about a third of Sack's book and have found that he offers a very helpful perspective on both the conflicts between and the cooperation among the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). He also offers a new lens for reading some of the more difficult passages in the Old Testament.
2. Brown by Kamal Al-Solaylee
Kamal Al-Solaylee wrote the memoir, Intolerable, which was a finalist for Canada Reads. The book won the Toronto Book Award as well. In his most recent book, Al-Solaylee includes the stories of 'brown-skinned people' from some on-the-street reporting that he conducted over two years in ten countries including, the United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Britain, Trinidad, France, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the United States and Canada. In his book he explores many of the implications of being a brown-skinned person in a world where 'brown people have emerged as the source of global cheap labour (Hispanics or South Asians) while also coming under scrutiny and suspicion for their culture and faith (Arabs and Muslims). To be brown is to be on the cusp of whiteness and on the edge of blackness.' Given that Mississauga is one of the most racially diverse regions of Canada, I'm very interested in gaining a greater understanding of the unique challenges of those who are often unfairly judged, maligned and ill-treated because the colour of their skin is not white.
3. When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi
Kalanithi's book was published posthumously. Kalanithi was a young resident in neurological surgery at Stanford when he received the diagnosis that he had terminal lung cancer that had metastasized to his spine and liver giving him 22 months to live.
A great lover of literature as well as medicine, Kalanithi had B.A.s and an M.A. in literature at Stanford, then a Master of Philosophy at Cambridge. His background in literature enhances his writing in this poignent memoir. As one reviewer comments, 'Part of this book's tremendous impact comes from the obvious fact that its author was such a brilliant polymath. And part comes from the way he conveys what happened to him - passionately working and striving, deferring gratification, waiting to live, learning to die - so well. None of it is maudlin. Nothing is exaggerated. As he wrote to a friend: "It's just tragic enough and just imaginable enough." And just important enough to be unmissable.'
4.
Barkskins
by Annie Proulx
Many years ago I read Proulx's Pulitzer Prize novel, The Shipping News, which tells the tale of the Quoyle family in Newfoundland. In Proulx's most recent book, Barkskins, she returns to Canada to tell the story of woodcutting French settlers in Canada. Her book spans the years between 1693 through to 2013.
According to one reviewer, the book will tell you all you need to know and more about cutting and sawing and pulping and shipping and estimating lumber yields. Proulx also goes into great detail when describing the 'cuisine' and preparation of meals at lumber camps. Throughout her book, she weaves a warning about the environmental consequences of our disappearing forests.
5. The Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Over the years, I've read many of Anne Tyler's novels and so I was curious when I learned that her most recent novel, The Vinegar Girl is part of a project to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. The 'Hogarth Shakespeare Series' is currently publishing novels by well-known writers such as Margaret Atwood, Jeanette Winterson and Howard Jacobson that are retellings of Shakespearean plays. Tyler's novel is a retelling of 'The Taming of the Shrew'. The series has received mixed reviews, as has as similar series that retells Jane Austen's novels. Nevertheless, it sounds like a creative idea and I look forward to reading Tyler's interpretation.
6. The Last Foundling
by Tom H. Mackenzie
As many of you know, I always look for a paperback to take on our annual canoe trip. This year we are going on a six-day trip that will take us to Florence Lake in the Temagami Region of Northern Ontario. The Last Foundling is a memoir from one of the last children who was taken in by the famous Foundling Hospital in London, England. Established by Captain Thomas Coram in the 1700s, it was the first orphanage established in London for children who could no longer be supported by their parents. Many of the children were born to single mothers, and in those days, there was widespread prejudice against children born out of 'wedlock'. Although the conditions of the Foundling Hospital would be considered appalling by today's standards, they were a vast improvement over the workhouses where many children were normally sent (remember Dickens' Oliver Twist!)
Coram initiated an ingenious campaign to finance the 'hospital'. He recruited artists, writers and musicians of the day; such as William Hogarth, Charles Dickens and George Frideric Handel to host readings, offer concerts or display their art in the orphanage which in turn attracted the aristocracy who contributed generously for its upkeep. In Mackenzie's book, Tom is the child of Jean, the unmarried daughter of an elder in the Church of Scotland and the memoir gives the account of his growing up years in the hospital during WWII.
Given that next Friday is July 1st, this will be the last Friday message I write prior to my vacation which begins on July 4th. The church office may send out important announcements or updates while I'm away; however, my messages will return on August 12th. I hope you have a refreshing and restful summer with a good book or two to read along the way.
