Title: Beyond the Trees (2019)
Author: Adam Schoalts
Excerpt: A retelling of Adam’s solo canoe trip north of the Arctic Circle from Eagle Plains, Yukon, to Baker Lake on the Hudson’s Bay.
Why read this book? It’s a great travelogue across the north of our nation written by an author described as “Canada’s Indiana Jones”.
Title: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Author: Douglas Adams
Excerpt: One Thursday lunchtime the Earth gets unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however the weekend has only just begun, and the galaxy is a very strange and startling place.
Why read this book? It’s very Monty Python-esque British humour. I think we’re in need of a laugh and if you’ve read it already… read it again!
Title: Educated (2018)
Author: Tara Westover
Excerpt: This book is a fascinating memoir about Tara who lived with her Mormon family in Idaho. She was homeschooled until she got accepted into university at 17. The story is about her difficult upbringing and the transition she went through as she left home to pursue an education. Tara eventually went on to pursue her PhD at Harvard and her mother wrote her own version of the book titled Educating.
Why read this book: Who doesn’t love a good memoir? Learning about someone else’s experiences helps us gain new perspectives and learn about different cultures.
Title: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012)
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Excerpt: At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone.
Why read this book: It is a story about self-acceptance and a triumph of the human spirit.
Title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997)
Author: Jean-Dominique Bauby, Jeremy Leggatt (Translator)
Excerpt: In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, then editor-in-chief of French ‘Elle’, suffered a massive stroke and found himself completely paralyzed but entirely conscious, trapped by ‘locked-in syndrome’. Using his only functioning muscle – his left eyelid – he began dictating anecdotal accounts of his life both before and after the stroke, painstakingly spelling it out letter by letter one blink at a time.
Why read this book: A beautifully narrated set of anecdotes, this autobiography is in essence a story about the human spirit and a testament to Bauby’s ability to string together powerful prose.