Summer Reading Guide 2014

Actor and PEI native Jonathan Torrens shares his summer reading wish list

You often hear book publishers referring to the most common places people read as “the three Bs”—beach, bed and bath. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find me in one of those places from now until Labour Day weekend with these books by my side…

My fascination with lighthouses and the peculiar individuals who tend to them began several years ago when I read Vanishing Lights: A Lightkeeper’s Fascination with a Disappearing Way of Life (Nimbus Publishing) by Nova Scotia native, and former lightkeeper, Chris Mills.

This year’s Facing the Sea by Harold Chubbs and Wade Kearley (Flanker Press) is a Newfoundland entry into the genre that promises to shed some light (pun intended) on the unique lifestyle of the lightkeepers and their families.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Meghan Marentette in film and TV around Halifax, where she is a first-call seamstress in the wardrobe department. The Stowaways (Pajama Press) is her first novel and—if she writes the way she sews—this YA effort is not to be missed.

Music is For Everyone (Nimbus Publishing), written by Jill Barber and illustrated by Sydney Smith, promises to be a joyous fun-filled frolic through many genres of music, from hip-hop to jazz. I’m excited to read this to my young daughters. The only downside is that Jill’s silky smooth voice doesn’t accompany the text. Maybe an audio book is on the way!

I got to know Dan Leger a bit when we both worked at CBC Halifax; he is one of the sharpest journalistic minds on the East Coast. His book Duffy: Stardom to Senate to Scandal (Nimbus Publishing) offers an insider’s view on this colourful character, and sounds like the perfect summer guilty pleasure!

Hope you enjoy the breezy, read-y days of summer!

Jonathan Torrens was born in Charlottetown and grew up in Sherwood, PEI. He is currently shooting the fourth season of Mr. D on CBC Television and the ninth season of Trailer Park Boys on Netflix. His new quiz show, Newshounds, can be heard on CBC Radio this summer. Jonathan lives in rural Nova Scotia with his wife and two young daughters.

WIN the books mentioned in this essay by visiting atlantic.49thshelf.com! Contest closes August 30th, 2014.

Nova Scotia writer Shauntay Grant’s summer picks

When I was young, I had a favourite reading tree. It was a wonderful old maple with lots of green and three special branches that met to form a rustic wooden chair. Late afternoons, I’d settle inside this nook and, week by week, work my way through the stack of books I’d set aside for summer reading.

It’s been 20 years since I’ve climbed that tree, but my summer reading stack has been a constant and always includes lots of book picks with a local interest. Here are a few:

Emancipation Day (Doubleday Canada) marks Canadian writer Wayne Grady’s first foray into fiction. His non-fiction book Breakfast at the Exit Café (Greystone Books), which he co-authored with his wife, writer Merilyn Simonds, was among my reading picks for last summer. And I’m just as excited to explore this newer work, particularly for its interesting origins. Several years ago Grady discovered that his father—who claimed to be Irish-descended—was a fair-skinned Black man “passing” for white. And so Emancipation Day is a fictional tale inspired by this family history and set in St. John’s, NL, during the Second World War.

In Seasoned: Recipes and Essays from The Spiceman (Nimbus Publishing), Costas Halavrezos shares his passion for old favourites like cinnamon and paprika. But he also takes readers on a cross-cultural food trek through Morocco, Ethiopia, Mexico, Greece and many other countries that have captured his culinary heart. More than just a recipe book, Halavrezos’ personal essays make Seasoned an extra-special read.

And in Writing The Common (Gaspereau Press), local poets explore one of Halifax’s oldest public spaces. The anthology commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Halifax Common and presents an impressive lineup of poets, among them Sue Goyette, George Elliott Clarke and Tanya Davis (just to name a few). The poets featured in this collection explore a range of themes and memories connected to this popular public space. I’ve already made plans to be there this summer—under (or perhaps even “up”) a tree to read.

Shauntay Grant is a Nova Scotia writer, author and storyteller, and was Halifax’s third Poet Laureate (2009–2011). She has shared her work internationally at festivals and events, and has published three children’s picture books, including Up Home, which won the 2009 Atlantic Book Award for Best Atlantic Published Book. Find her at shauntaygrant.com.

WIN the books mentioned in this essay by visiting atlantic.49thshelf.com! Contest closes August 23th, 2014.

Newfoundland’s Elisabeth de Mariaffi offers her summer reading picks

Quel winter! After the longest cold season anyone I know can easily remember, I’m eager to get into anything new and fresh, starting with Running the Whale’s Back: Stories of Faith and Doubt from Atlantic Canada (Goose Lane Editions). Short story collections make the best summer reading. There’s more time and space available to sink into each story, and you can stare off into the sunset and think about them.

Where that’s true, an anthology of stories by different writers is even more appealing. Never mind Atlantic Canada: Running the Whale’s Back includes some of the best authors of their generation, period. Lynn Coady, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Michael Winter, Michael Crummey, Jessica Grant, Kathleen Winter: it’s a stellar roster, made up of heavy-hitters only.

Halifax poet Sue Goyette’s Ocean (Gaspereau Press) is next on my list. Goyette was recently named to the Griffin Prize shortlist, but her work has been close to my heart and mind for years and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to pick up a copy of her newest book.

Breakwater Books just launched Wow Wow and Haw Haw, easily the most gorgeous children’s book I’ve seen in years—and I’d say that even if I didn’t live with the author, poet George Murray (… and, full disclosure, even if I didn’t work in marketing at Breakwater, too). Illustrated by Sobey Art Award-nominee Michael Pittman, the paintings alone are worth the price of admission—but the rhyme and cadence of the story, a re-telling of a Celtic legend, are perfect for young children and early readers alike.

At our house, we survived the worst of the winter by holding up a table at The Club, chef Mark McCrowe’s newest St. John’s venture, so I’m excited to get my hands on his new book (written with Sasha Okshevsky). Island Kitchen: An Ode to Newfoundland (Creative Publishing) highlights traditional ingredients and local artisan products. With the warmer weather finally on its way, here’s hoping McCrowe included a recipe for The Club’s signature Caesar.

Elisabeth de Mariaffi’s first collection of short stories, How To Get Along With Women (Invisible Publishing, 2012) was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2013. Her first novel, The Devil You Know, is set to be released by Patrick Crean Editions in January 2015. She lives in St. John’s, NL.

WIN the books mentioned in this essay by visiting atlantic.49thshelf.com! Contest closes August 15th, 2014.