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Perfect Summer Reads

Whether you’re mulching your balcony garden or watching half-wits feed bears, here are books for every summer moment.

Tyee Staff and Contributors 21 Jun 2011TheTyee.ca

This list was compiled with contributions from Ben Christopher, Ainslie Cruickshank, Tyler Harbottle, Crawford Kilian, Colleen Kimmett and Robyn Smith.

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Ahhhhh, that's what you waited for all winter.

We remember the feeling. It's the middle of June, the last day of the school year, and with white knuckles and jittery knees, you sit at your desk counting down the seconds to blissful summery freedom. But, as always, it's a freedom interrupted. A collective groan reverberates around the classroom as your English teacher distributes in those last final minutes the dreaded Summer Reading List. Dredged from the appreciated and unread depths of English Canon, it's the lineup of dusty old novels written by dusty old writers that will stand in your way of three solid months of goofing off unsoiled by education.

Well this list is different. Whether you're a beach bum or a fitness nut, a backpacker or a homebody, a foodie or just a drinkie, we've thrown together a list of perfect summer reads that you can crack open to complement all of your favorite summer activities.

And if we've left anything out, feel free to add your own suggestions in the comment section below!

What to read while playing softball with your 17 clones:

The Divinity Gene by Matthew J. Trafford (Douglas & McIntyre)

Inventive, unnerving, hilarious, heartbreaking, but more often than not, just plain bizarre, this collection of short stories dizzily oscillates between the surreal and the mundane, intertwining the two so seamlessly it's often difficult to tell one from the other. This is a world in which angels run gay night clubs, where Satan employs a web-based business model, and throughout which clones of Jesus Christ germinate in government labs and corporate headquarters. Told in a raucous fit of footnotes, columns, faux-hypertext, and sentence fragments, The Divinity Gene is engrossing, fun, and anything but predictable.

The book you'll see proudly perched on every corner-store counter in Strathcona this summer:

Opening Doors in Vancouver's East End: Strathcona, edited by Daphne Marlatt and Carole Itter (Harbour)

But to find out which store once bootlegged liquor out the back door, you'll have to pick up a copy, because if you think Strathcona's a hip and entertaining neighbourhood now, wait'll you see it through Nora Hendrix's eyes. Long before the shrine to grandson Jimi was built, Nora cracked jokes -- "any old funny something" -- at the annual minstrel show, and spent her weekends traipsing through Chinatown in search of black-eyed peas. This reissued collection of interviews with the area's "pioneer residents," mostly working class folks of immigrant descent, reveals the scrappy, heartfelt histories of Vancouver's East End as they saw it. Not to be missed: the hilarious squabbles of teachers Gertrude, Eileen, Elva and Jennie, recounting their golden years of teaching at Strathcona School.

The ideal book for the playoff-beard-sporting-gentleman looking for any excuse to keep the scruff:

One Thousand Beards: A Cultural History of Facial Hair by Allan Peterkin (Arsenal Pulp Press)

You've spent the last eight weeks growing a triumphant NHL playoff beard. It's well beyond that itchy, prickly phase and now shines with a soft lustre you never thought possible. And you're wondering if you can ever go back to being clean-shaven again. For an informed defence of your beard or a deeper characterization of what you've grown, look no further than One Thousand Beards. Author Allan Peterkin details the famous and infamous beards of history and discusses their cultural relevance. Peterkin includes a chapter on personal grooming strategies with a list of resources to keep your beard in check, and even psychoanalyzes today's beard-grower.

The perfect book to bring on the ladies’ weekend away:

Bossypants by Tina Fey (Little, Brown and Company)

"Once in a generation, a woman comes along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her." Fey's memoir, Bossypants is full of memorable one-liners like this, packed between revealing and thought-provoking insights on topics such as Photoshopping (take out the armpit stubble, please, but leave the meat on the bones), working with males (approximately one in every three pees in a jar in his office), and how to carve out "me time" as a working mom (feign narcolepsy).

But between the jokes, Fey has some solid advice to offer. This is, after all, a woman who worked her way to the top in the world's second most sexist industry after the longshore business: television comedy. Fey has encountered her fair share of ignorant remarks, passes over, and piss jars along the way, but above all, she did her thing, said her piece, and tried not to give a fuck whether people liked it or not. Pass this book on to your daughters, moms, girlfriends and that woman in the office who frequently has food stains on her clothes. They will all appreciate it.

A book for hikers wanting to enjoy Jasper and Banff before they jack up the fees:

Handbook of the Canadian Rockies by Ben Gadd (Corax Press)

This is the classic manual on the history, ecology, climate and geology of the Rocky Mountains. Full of fact-packed sidebars, gorgeous illustrations, and written in a direct, readable, and entertaining tone, don't set foot on the Skyline Trail without it.

The book to help your brain transition into slow gear:

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

In 2002, the Israeli psychologist Daniel Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his groundbreaking theory that the human brain is, contrary to popular economic wisdom, slightly less rational than a calculator. With Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman for the first time offers that same cogent reasoning to a popular audience. A broader take on the mechanics of the human mind, Kahneman conceives of the decision-making process as a complex dance between two separate mental systems; while one system is fast, intuitive and emotional, the second is slower, deliberate and logically oriented. From financial speculation on Wall Street to the eternal pursuit of spiritual fulfillment, Kahneman explains how so many of our decisions and pursuits are rooted in the perpetual race between our inner-tortoises and our inner-hares.

What to read when it’s just too damn hot:

Snowdrift by Lisa McGonigle (Oolichan Books)

After graduating from university in her native Ireland, writer Lisa McGonigle ventures to British Columbia to spend the winter snowboarding in Fernie. Though she flies back across the Atlantic once to pick-up her studies at Oxford, she is inevitably drawn back to the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian west -- this time to Rossland. Through this series of anthologized emails, McGonigle recounts her second life as a Canadian ski-bum.

A very fine book if you want your summer reading list to validate your beer gut:

Beer Quest West: The Craft Brewers of Alberta and British Columbia by Jon C. Stott (TouchWood Editions)

Maybe in university you let your appreciation of beer interfere with your summer reading, but with Beer Quest West on the list, you will have no such excuse this season. Replete with brewery profile, beer chemistry lessons, a style-by-style beer guide, and individual brew descriptions florid enough to make even the most pretentious of wine connoisseurs blush, this is a comprehensive field guide of the best beers in the west.

What to read if you want to help (or do absolutely nothing) to save the environment this summer:

But Will The Planet Notice?: How Economists Can Save The World by Gernot Wagner (Hill and Wang)

Have you recently made the switch from four wheels to two? Does presenting a hemp-woven bag at check-out leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. Well, according to Environmental Defense Fund economist Gernot Wagner, the earth couldn't care less. Be the change you want to see in the world may be a sentiment well suited for bumper-stickers, but according to Wagner, the only hope we have to avoid otherwise certain ecological devastation is the blunt instrument of economic policy. Armed with models, graphs and obnoxiously inflated senses of self-worth, economists are the only ones who can save us from our nasty, polluting selves.

This is the book when stuck in the cabin (or condo) while it's pelting down rain:

Kraken by China Miéville (Macmillan)

In China Miéville's London, competing religions threaten to bring about the end of the world by harnessing the magic of a preserved giant squid. Though magic-savvy, the cops are, naturally, not much help. You'll never look at calamari the same way again.

The perfect book to read if you’re trying to rekindle the romance with British Columbia:

Writing the West Coast: In Love With Place edited by Christine Lowther & Anita Sinner (Ronsdale Press)

This collection of more than 30 essays explores life on Canada's west coast and includes perspectives from both social activists and satirical commentators. With topics ranging from Alexandra Morton's thoughts on wild salmon to Briony Penn's comparison of sex in the city to love in the temperate rainforest, there's something for every west coaster or west coast admirer in this eclectic mix.

What to read if your new swim suit causes you to have doubts about last summer's tattoo:

Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade by Justin Spring (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

What do you call a poet, novelist and university professor who abandons academia to become a tattoo artist on Chicago's infamous south side? And what do you call a man who used to rub elbows with Gertrude Stein, an alleged lover of Rock Hudson, a colleague of Alfred Kinsey who went on to write uncharacteristically literary sadomasochistic gay erotica? You could refer to this man by more than one name (he had three), but whatever name you choose, you'd have to call him one of the most fascinating biographical sources of the 20th century. Drawing upon over 80 boxes of musty letters, faded photographs, personal souvenirs and meticulously kept sexual records, Justin Spring has retrieved and intimately reconstructed from near anonymity, if not the most influential, then certainly one of the most notable gay figures of pre-Stonewall America.

The perfect book if you're looking for a high words to laughs ratio:

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton (Drawn and Quarterly)

Nova Scotian web comic creator Kate Beaton has come out with a new collection of irreverent comics that are sure to stimulate your brain and your funny bone.

The perfect book to read when deciding whether to keep up with your classmates after graduation:

The Antagonist by Lynn Coady (House of Anansi Press Inc.)

A 40-year-old emotionally fragile but physically intimidating man named Gord Rankin wanders into a book store one day and discovers that a college buddy has written a novel -- a novel that mirrors the worst moment in Gord's life, conveyed to his friend in a drunken moment of guilty admission decades earlier. The Antagonist is written from Gord's perspective, wanting to set his own story straight on his own terms. Coady is an author with the ability to say so much with so little. In the way that odours instantly transport a person back to a certain time and place, Gord's descriptions of the people and places from his past make it feel like you're there: back in your high school parking lot, but this time only seeing things from the perspective of the big, bruising class bully, the hockey star. And to your surprise, it actually doesn't seem so easy.

The perfect book to give to your poverty stricken, apocalyptic-minded hiking partner so you'll have something positive to talk about:

Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change by L.Hunter Lovins & Boyd Cohen (D&M Publishers Inc)

Know someone that needs a nudge in the green economy direction? The authors of Climate Capitalism argue that "sustainability leads to profitability," using examples from sectors including energy, transportation and communications technologies to back up their claims. In-depth case studies of profitable corporations as well as small businesses prove that going green isn't just an investment for the future.

Once you've reached your mountain-top tent, the perfect book to read by LED:

The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou (Brindle & Glass Publishing)

Author Angie Abdou assembles a mismatched crew of snow-seeking backcountry enthusiasts. In homage to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, this eclectic mix of characters engage in a story telling competition. Dispelling some common stereotypes of ski-bum towns, single-female urbanites and snowmobiling "rednecks," The Canterbury Trail is a thorough exploration of backcountry camaraderie.

Excellent reading while buying organic produce and self-satisfaction at your local farmer's market:

The Wealth of Nature: Economics As If Survival Mattered by John Michael Greer (New Society Publishers)

Building upon the extraordinary premise that there might be a cost to ecological collapse, John Michael Greer examines the myriad ways in which orthodox economic theory (and the economists who espouse it) have failed to incorporate "natural capital" into their models. As the insatiable demands of the global economy outstrip the productive and regenerative limits of the environment, it is only by rethinking such fundamental concepts as wealth, cost and value that we can successfully navigate our way into an era of "post-abundance."

The perfect book for Tofino surfers idling on the beach waiting for the perfect wave:

Cascadia's Fault by Jerry Thompson (HarperCollins Canada)

Only 50 kilometres off the coast of Vancouver Island lies the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Tracing the western edge of the continent all the way down to northern California, this massive fissure in the earth's crust generates a major earthquake every 500 years. And we're due for the next one. This account of the dangerous geology just offshore may make you consider surfing Lake Winnipeg instead.

The perfect book to read before getting all dewy eyed about your balcony garden and deciding to move to the country:

Tragedy on Jackass Mountain: More Stories from a Small-Town Mountie by Charles Scheideman (Harbour Publishing)

After 27 years of policing small-town British Columbia, Charley Scheideman is well positioned to detail the oddities of rural B.C. life. Tragedy on Jackass Mountain compiles an assortment of Scheideman's policeman stories -- some strange, some unbelievable and some tragic. For city-dwellers it's a revealing peek into a lesser-known world and a unique perspective into everyday events that often characterize small towns.

The perfect book to read before letting mosquitoes convince you it's time to move from the country to the big city:

The Mere Future by Sarah Schulman (Arsenal Pulp Press)

New York, the near future: rent is affordable, homelessness is non-existent, and everyone works in marketing. Unrealistic though two-out-of-three of these suppositions may be, welcome to Sarah Schulman's dubiously utopian Big Apple. After the economic and social fabric of the city is transformed under the auspices of a reform-minded mayor, the city's population, inoculated against the material degradations and inconveniences of contemporary American capitalism, seem uniformly comfortable -- and dissatisfied. Within this city of material bounty and spiritual emptiness, amongst a chaos of meaningless commercial jargon and social isolation, Schulman's copywriting protagonist tries to find something so obviously simple and immensely complicated as love.

A good book for people who insist on feeding bears:

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant (Knopf Canada)

In a fascinating and frigid world of the Siberian taiga, the Amur tiger, calculating, furtive, and agile, is much smarter than the humans it hunts. But it is only the most insightful of humans who realize this. The rest get eaten.

What to read while remembering all the trouble you got into summers past, and wondering what toll it took on your parents:

Who Killed Mom? by Steve Burgess (Greystone Books)

Tyee columnist Burgess has written not only the funniest book published this year, but one of the most moving memoirs Canada's prairies have offered up, spiked with LSD laced family dinners , Jack Ass-worthy self-inflicted injury, and poignant yet unflinching scenes of a mother's departure from Brandon, Manitoba to the Great Beyond.

That's our start of a good, hot summer's reading list. Please add your own suggestions!  [Tyee]

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