By: Margaret Huntley
If you’re like me, your favourite summer activities include: reading on the beach, reading by the poolside, reading in your sunny backyard, reading in the park, and reading on the couch during rainy days. With all that reading, it’s easy to run out of material.
I’ve compiled a list of my favourite reads that I think everyone should check out this summer. Without further ado, here they are:
Translated from Italian, this four-part novel series follows the lives of two friends who grow up together in a poor neighbourhood in Naples, Italy. By following their lives, you learn so much about politics, feminism, history, and friendship. It’s a beautifully written series that I recommend to everyone I meet.
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
This exciting and spiritual dystopian novel is written by a Canadian Metis author. The well-written, action-packed story of survival reflects a long history of resistance from Indigenous peoples to systemic racism and genocide in Canada.
This bio-text was by far my favourite read on my syllabus this year. The text is constructed by short, one-page stories from Wah’s life. With poetry and nuance behind every expertly phrased sentence, the text unfolds a narrative that grapples with mixed-race identity in rural Canada.
Tornado Weather by Deborah E. Kennedy
I haven’t read this book since I bought it over five years ago, yet I still remember it fondly. The novel tells the story of a young girl’s disappearance, but it does so by jumping between multiple people’s perspectives, giving each character equal importance. Reading this novel was immersive and captivating.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano
This self-published memoir from the late 1700s is just as relevant and powerful today as it was when it was originally published. Equiano describes the details of his life as well as his internal struggle to find himself amongst racial oppression.
N or M by Agatha Christie
Christie’s WWII spy novel was my most recent read after buying it at a thrift store this summer. The book features an intricately plotted mystery that makes for a fun story. There are also surprisingly modern ideas of womanhood and marriage present. That said, many of the ideas around nationalism and race should be read with a more critical eye.
It may sound like I am kissing up to my boss with this one, as this is her recently published memoir. But I assure you that I would recommend this memoir even if I didn’t know her at all. The eloquent writing draws you in to experience moments of beauty and joy interwoven with moments of pain and suffering right alongside Ghadery. When you finish the memoir, you are left with expanded empathy for people with mental illness and bi-racial individuals.
You’ll notice that this list is all over the place in terms of genre, which is intentional. I wanted there to be something for everyone on here.
Happy summer reading!