Category: Monday Morning Reading

Before I talk about The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt, given that this is my last Monday Morning Reading, I wanted to share a few thoughts about reading.  Through sharing in this space over the last few years, I’ve had lots of opportunities for conversation about reading, and it’s given me some food for thought. …

I continue to think memoir is an exceptionally powerful form of writing, and When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi, was no exception.  By all conventional metrics, Kalanithi was an accomplished and extraordinary person.  He got a BA and MA in English literature at Stanford University, a MPhil in history and philosophy of science at…

David Foster Wallace is considered one of the great American writers of the late 20th century.  My introduction to him came through his now-famous Kenyon State graduation address, This Is Water, which was gifted to me by a friend (please read it!).  I’ll admit to being intimidated by his most famous book, Infinite Jest.  I’ve…

When I was 17, one of my best friends wanted to learn how to scuba dive, so we took the course together and did pool-training.  But I was neither that interested in it myself, nor was I really up for an open water dive in Tobermory (on top of being a little nervous about getting…

I know – it’s Tuesday.  There’s a book shop in Terminal B at Laguardia that always seems to have interesting books on display.  This is not normally the case for book displays at airports (which I always check out, assuming I have the time).  On a trip to New York a few months back I…

I’ve learned quite a bit about the Holocaust, between day school, university, and my own reading.  So when I heard about a book called The Holocaust: An Unfinished Story, by Dan Stone, it piqued my curiosity – what could be unfinished in this story almost 80 years later?  It turns out, quite a bit. Especially…

I’ve been a Fredrik Backman fan for some years and have written about many of his books in this space.  His first Beartown book was my favourite without question. And because I loved the first, I read the second, which was very enjoyable, but not as good as the first.  And once I was that…