As a diversion from immersing myself in children’s literature, I chose to spend summertime GROWN-UP reading with a batch of hardback titles, fiction and nonfiction. These were some WOW 2025 reads indeed! Half of these memorable titles are from the British Isles. Just sayin’
ABSENCE by Issa Quincy / fiction / British
An unnamed character guides us through his life, mostly by telling stories about others who were part of his life. Each of these characters has a story to tell (don’t we all?) and this book unfolds as a series of ventures into memories recounted by each of these characters. These narratives are often set off in italicized print as ‘told stories’ but we also learn about someone’s past through his journal entries, another through letters. Stories are told of a beloved schoolteacher, a woman who sets a spot at the dinner table hoping her son will return home, a family who shuns their young son, a black and white photograph, a strange women, dressed in black who visits the seashore nigh by night, Each sentence of this novel is beautifully but I crafted on the whole, the book is really a series of short stories, linked by the rather elusive protagonist. Two of the testimonies on the back cover of this debut novel commented that the book is Proustian. Google tells me that the term Proustian ‘is often used to describe a writing style characterized by long, complex sentences, detailed descriptions and a focus on memory and subjective experience. Absence is a languid, melancholy, Proustian novel.
Excerpt
“As I watched him there, I thought of the words that returned to him in moments like these, the words marked with echoes of freedom, of an inescapable desire for something, anything else entirely, and the want that pinched at him when the earth felt at its most contracted.” (p. 61)
“… there was always the quietly steaming away, latent and invisible truth of memory which sat waiting, predacious and shadowing each thoguht and action with an irrevocable melancholy. And upon occasion, without warning it would seize him by the neck again to reveal itself in fits of anger and violence, long periods of absence and frenzied paranoia.” (p. 91)
ACTIVE BRAVE CONVERSATIONS, Andrew Campbell / professional resource
I was fortunate to have co-written the book Stop The Hate (2023) with Dr. ABC (Andrew Campbell) an OISE colleague. I have total respect for Andrew’s expertise and commitment to support and advocate for belonging and inclusion . Dr. ABC has just released a new Pembroke publication, a rich – important- resource – for educators who want to deepen their understanding and practice with DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Andrew has assembled a fine cast of authors providing information and narratives to help teachers, leaders, instructors, administrators and community partners to have brave conversations about issues that may be uncomfortable. However, each of the fifteen chapters brings insight to help foster courage, growth and action to help navigate anti-oppression, equity and social justice. Noteworthy features, Stories from the Classroom and Voices in the Field offer readers show, don’t tell insights into significant teaching of DEIB The authors words help readers to think about what they can do to promote and maintain a sense of belonging where each student can feel recognized and safe. Dr. ABC opens the book with the words “Every Child Needs.A Champion.” Amen! Bravo to you Andrew and your team for this important, timely resource.
ACTRESS OF. CERTAIN AGE: My Twenty Years to Overnight Success by Jeff Hiller / memoir
Jeff Hiller had a big dream to have a reputable career in acting. His break came at a ‘certain age’ when he got a call from Bridget Everett which led him to be cast in the role of Joel for the HBO 3 season series Somebody Somewhere*. It was, however a long journey of struggles, conviction, perseverance and goal-setting that led to the turning point in Hiller’s career. Bullied at school, moving to New York, temp jobs, volunteering as a social worker, committed to participating and teaching Improv ]\, regional theatre, acting in commercials, working as a waiter and coming out add to a varied resume of blood sweat and tears. Jeff Hiller’s story is one of humiliation and determination but you can’t help but be charmed and cheer for him as Hiller shares his journey with honesty and with humour. Hiller has a passion for reading celebrity memoirs (each chapter is the title of a celebrity biography (e.g , ‘Finding Me ‘by Viola Davis; ‘Little Girl Lost’ by Drew Barrymore). and Actress of a Certain Age is up there with the best of them. Funny, funny, funny. Hooray for Jeff Hiller for achieving success with the television series. He’s terrific as a hilarious, heartbreaking gay best friend. Somebody Somewhere is at the top of the list of my television viewing this year. Jeff Hiller’s memoir is at the top of a my list of celebrity biographies I’ve encountered in recent years. Bravo!
Opening sentence (p.1)
Hello. Welcome to my memoir. My essay collection? My celebrity autobiography with a really loose definition of the word celebrity? which sounds the least pretentious and navel-gaze-y? Let’s call it that.
Last page (p. 256)
In my own life, I am constantly focused on reaching the destination, but life is the journey. I am not paying attention to the journey, I am not living life. There is no job, no person, no piece of real estate or perfect family that will make someone happy forever.
THE GIFTS OF READING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION: Essays on Nurturing a Passion for Reading, inspired by Robert Macfarlane and curated by Jennie Orchard / essays / British
How could I not buy a book with the title The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation. What insights could I gain from this collection of 25 essays intended to provide a testament to ‘nurturing a passion for reading’. My work as a classroom teacher, university instructor, workshop presenter and author is centred on supporting teachers to choose and use literature in their classrooms that will hopefully inspire their students to partake in the joy of reading today and tomorrow. Thought the numbers keep changing (downward?), statistics tell us that young people (eight to eighteen) do not enjoy reading in their free time. This is grim news. What can we as teachers promote reading as a pleasurable activity?How can we do it? Promoting good books matters. Sharing our own passion for reading matters. There is no one simple answer but the essays in this book provide food for thought about the importance of books in the lives of authors and help us consider the roles we can play. I did not read these contributions chronologically but four pieces in particular drew my attention: “The Gift of Being Read To” by Horatio Clare, “Picture Reading” by Nicola Davies, “Perchance to Dream” by Michael Morpurgo and “(There Are No) Rules for Reading” by Nikesh Shukla. Tthe following passages serve as thoughtful gems that foster the love of reading in the young people in our lives.
“The National Literacy Trust’s Young Reader’s Program found that children and young people were more likely to read if they had support from role models who read and loved reading, access to books, and a ‘quiet place to read in’.”(Robert Macfarlane, p.3)
“Read the world. It is the most mysterious book of all.” from Ben Okri “Ten and a Half Inclinations” (2022)
“When you read aloud to your partner or your child (children?), the room and the world byeond it seem to still, and the spirits gather to hear the story. Words uttered are more than words heard in the silence of the mind; they are things in the world, and the world responds (Horatio Clare, p., 45)
“… young children may not have much command of language, but their inner lives are complex and epic, with big ideas and emotions shifting like waltzing tectonic plates. I am motivated by wanting to write to that complexity, to honour and acknowledge it. That’s why I love he challenge of writing picture books, writing important big stuff but doing it with little words, carefully placed, accessible to small vocabularies. This doesn’t mean tha these texts are superficial; the right small words can suggest deep rich, hinterland that opens under the gaze of a child and is expanded, deepened and set alight by the pairing of words with illustration.”(Nicola Davies, p. 57)
“We will because of these sgtories, go on learning, wondering, dreaming, and searching for wisdom and truth. And if he search for wisdom and truth and creativity is not at the heart of the education of our children, hen surely we are wasting our tie and ours, and we are most certainly not enriching their lives. That is why stories and storyelling of all kinds should be at the centre stage of education. ” Michael Morpurgo, p. 157)
While preparing to write his essay “The Words Made Flesh”, National Book Award-winning author, Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin) asked his son, JohnMichael, what sort of books he thought young people should be reading, his son was quick to answer – ‘”whatever the hell they want.” (pp. 8-9)
HOW TO SHARE AN EGG: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty by Bonny Reichert / memoir
Bonny Reichert is the youngest daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Stories of her father’s starvation and ultimate survival in Auschwitz-Birkenau were woven throughout her childhood, teenage and adult years, but Reichert found herself unable to confront her legacy. The author recounts life events with her friendships, education, a crumbling marriage, a beautiful second marriage, motherhood and a quest to find a satisfying occupation that included journalism, training to be a chef. It was a life-altering visit to Poland where she came to absorb the truths of her father’s past. Food is an essential character in Reicharts’ life story. (So many of the 56 chapters of the book are titled with the name of a food (e.g., Lox, Blueberries, Noodles, Waffles, Strawberry Butter, Coconut Cream Pie, Sour Cherries, Scrambled Eggs etc. ). Her father, who ran a successful restaurant businesses and her cherished time cooking with her grandmother planted the seeds for Reichart’s joy and commitment to cooking and to becoming the best chef she could be. This memoir is a story of heritage, inheritance and looking hard into a mirror to discover an authentic identity as a loving daughter, a devoted wife and a strong woman. Her father knew that one day, his daughter would have the courage and strength to tell a story of how the Holocaust impacted one family. How To Share An Egg is that beautiful, honest story.
Excerpts
“The most important thing is to enjoy life. Just marry a nice boy and be happy. That’s all. That’s the secret.” (p. 68)
“I climbed into bed feeling like I swallowed a lead anchor. I couldn’t get rid of the sensation that I was sinking into the ground. Dad couldn’t have known what his stories ere doing to me because I didn’t tell hem. Just like when I was little, I thought absorbing what he had to say was simply my job.If I’d shown him my distress, hje would’ve changed the subject immediately.” (p. 75)
LET ME GO MAD IN MY OWN WAY, Elaine Finney / fiction / Irish
When Claire O’Connor’s mother dies she is distraught and decides to leave her life (and her boyfriend) in London and move back to her family home in West Ireland, where she is soon faced with the death of her father. Alas, Tom has decided to unexpectedly moves nearby and Claire finds herself in love with Tom once again. This Second Chance love story, and Claire’s adjusting to a new ‘normal’ life in Ireland, takes up much of the novel’s narrative, but the author drops in narratives from the past where we learn of Claire’s family history: 1920 = violence on the family by the Black And Tans during the Irish War of Independence; 1990 + the potential sale of the family’s Black Mare to the Queen of England and recounting Hunt Day that young Claire experienced. The back and forth telling was at times distracting, but if it were a movie, I suppose flashback scenes would make better connections of past to present. This book didn’t match the emotional punch that I had anticipated, but I rather admired reading about descriptions of life rural life in Ireland, family tensions, romantic encounters, working at a university, a Christmas celebration. Elaine Finney has written a multi-layered novel about women living with guilt, about memory and madness (“We had been taught, generation after generatiuon, to internalize our madness. We were experts in quiet suffering.”)
MY CHILDHOOD IN PIECES: A Skokie Elegy. by Edward Hirsch / Memoir
Edward Hirsch, author of ten poetry books, has written a unique memoir about his life growing up in a middle-class Jewish family around the area of Chicago. The book is subtitled “A Stand-Up Comedy” and if said/ performed out loud this is exactly what this book could be – a comedy routine. Hirsch brings to life memories of people, places and things, each remembrance told in short pieces, sometimes one sentence, sometimes one page in length. Each piece is labelled with a title that encapsulates a snapshot of Hirsch’s life (e.g., Portrait of My Granfathr, Marriage Proposal, A Competitive Sport, Uncle Harry and Aunt Moly, Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair). Recounts add up to a deadpan, sharp and funny collection ‘steeped in Yiddishkeit’. This stream of consciousness collection of recollections stands on the shoulders of Joe Brainard (i.e., I Remember). David Sedaris (funny) essays and Woody Allen (funny films). Everyone has memories that light the corners of their mind, but as a writer Edward Hirsch is able to illuminate his world of divorced parents, siblings, school, dating, summer jobs, baseball, having a Bar Mitzvah and a cast of crazy relatives and neighbours that we all know. I really admired the ‘pieces’ format of this biography and enjoyed when Hirsch’s tellings reminded me of stuff lingering inside me. Maybe I should write a book!
Some pieces
>Brain Sale (p.33)
“if we sold everyone’s brains,” my grandmother said to me, “I’d charge the most for yours. / “Why, because I’m he smartest one in the family?” “No, because yours have never been used.”
> Back-Alley Anti-Semitism (p., 51)
“The insults flew over my head. Why would someone call me a kite?”
> How to Get Sent to Detention (p,. 193)
“Write on the board: “The difference between a comma and a period is that your girlfriend does not have a comma every month.”
> My Feelings (p.205)
“My feelings were so srong I couldn’t control them. They did what they wanted. Sometimes we traveled in different directions. Whenever they got too far away from me, I ran after them.”
THE NAMES by Florence Knapp / fiction / British
The names centres on one boy’s life story which unfolds over 35 years. The book is sectioned off into 7 year time periods and within each period the boy’s story is determined by a different name he was given by his mother at birth. The father is set on having the baby named Gordon because the name has been passed on from generation to generation. Cora, the mother prefers Julian which means ‘sky father’. On the way to the registrar, Cora asks her daughter Maia what name she prefers and the young girl suggests Bear because it sounds soft and cuddly, brave and strong. The Names is fascinating reading, especially because of the original , intriguing format in which the story unfolds over decades Bear, Julian and Gordon. The names is essentially three stories in one with the premise that a name can change the course of a life? This novel is essentially story about family connections but still, is a grim story about wretched spousal abuse and the capacity for a mother and children to endure and move forward. This book was a “Read with Jenna” (Bush) book club choice for May 20125. It is a Larry choice for the summer of 2025.
STREAMING
SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE (Crave/ HBO)
I recently watched the three-season series and loved it. A lot. I loved the characters struggling to find love and acceptance and honesty.. I loved the rural community (Manhattan, Kansas). Great writing. Great ensemble acting. Great depiction of gay and trans lives finding happiness. Each episode dealt with characters struggling to fit the hometown mold and family and community expectations. Season 2 was a bit better than Season 1. Season 3 was even better than season 2. I laughed and yes, I wept. I’d give this series awards all around. (Alas, it hasn’t been renewed for a fourth season.) Hats off to leads, Bridget Everett (Sam) and Jeff Hiller (Joel).
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SHOUT OUT! SHOUT OUT!
MY FRIENDS by Fredrik Bachman
One day, this summer, my good friend, Adrienne, told me that I ‘must read’ MyFriends. That night I turned on TV to watch The Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon declared My Friends to be his summer book club read. The book had been on my ‘to-read’ pile( I loved Backman’s A Man Called Ove) and so decided to finish off my summertime reading by picking up this Swedish writer’s newest publication. I loved loved loved this book. A lot. I’ve read some great books in the last few months but My Friends is at the top of the list and will likely be so by year’s end. I’d make this a desert island choice, a book that I want to read again. And again. I loved this book.
The narrative unfolds in two time frames. We learn about the life of four teenagers about twenty-five years earlier and the deep loyal friendship that helped them to cope from their bruised lives at homes. In the present a senior citizen, Ted, encounters a bold, feisty, troubled and loveable character, Louisa , who just inherited a famous painting (but that’s another story). Much of the book unfolds on a train ride with Louisa hounding Ted to tell her the story of the infamous painting and she listens to the special time where Joar, Kimkim, Ali and Ted played together and kept each other together. My Friends is a story of profound friendship. of dreams, of fate, of spousal abuse, of taking dares of being an artist, of fitting in and not fitting in of how the past informs our present and future lives. That is just an encapsulation of this brilliant book. It is Backman’s great humour, description of wild and brave mischievous s adventures, philosophical statements (hundreds), a microscopic look at everyday events, a microscopic look at what fills our hearts, unparalleled depiction of a special adolescent friendships, and critical insights about the meaning of art that made this a very special read. I shall soon be gifting book to my friends and I thank my friend Adrienne (and Jimmy Fallon) for their high praise of this novel.
I found myself folding down page after page with brilliant, moving storytelling and precepts. I will re-read this book, perhaps with a highlighter marker in my hand to help shine a light on Backman’s wordsmithing. I will need n bucket of markers. I laughed. I wept. I loved this book. JUST READ IT!!!
Some excerpts from so many turned-down corners of the pages of this book. So many gems!
“Art isn’t chronological, Everything the artist drew from a place in his head that could only get to if he wasn’t looking for it.” (77)
“A lack of self-confidence is a devastating virus. There’s no cure.” (p. 77)
“You’re an artist if you create something! You’re an artist if you don’t see the world the way it is, if you hate white walls! No one else decides what art is, no one can stop you from loving whatever you like, the cynics and critics can have control of all the other crap on the planet.. but they can’t decide how your heart beats.” (p.212)
“You can’t love someone out of addiction, all the oceans are the tears of those who tried. We’re not allowed to die for our children, the universe won’t let us, because then there wouldn’t be any mothers left.” (p. 215)
“Human beings are capable of such unbelievable stupidity. We speak of the birth of a child as a miracle, but really the miracle is everything that comes after.” (p. 275)
“It isn’t like it is in the movies, Ted. It’s different in real life. But Dad once told me, when he was really fucking drunk, that he and Mom weren’t like two magnets. They were like two colors. Once they were mixed together, there was no way of separating them.” (p. 319)
“It’s hard to tell a story, any story, but it’s almost impossible if its your own. You always start at the wrong end, always say too much or too little, always miss the most important parts.” (p. 323)
SHOUT OUT
THIS BRIGHT LIFE by Karen Campbell / fiction / Scottish
When I finished reading The Names by Florence Knapp I theb turned to the novel This Bright Life and was surprised to read the opening lines, “He hates his name. Flucken hates it. Hates the way it plops like an old turd.” In this way, we are introduced to 12 year old Gerard, who if truth be told, has a life that ‘plops like an old turd. Gerard a dyslexic, twelve year old with anxiety disorder and anger issues who is responsible for taking care of his younger two siblings because his mother is a down-and-out druggie who is useless as a mother. An incident that injures a senior citizen (he robs her purse) is a turning point early in the novel as Gerard is forced to deal with the consequences (and he guilt) of that event. We learn that the elderly lady is Margaret, a widow is dealing with grief, regrets, living alone and dealing with symptoms of being a senior citizen. Another character, Claire, a divorced lawyer is responsible for Gerard’s arrest, becomes part of the story when, after returning Margaret’s lost false teeth, she comes to provide comfort and care for Margaret. As the novel unfolds, the narrative switches from Gerard to Margaret to Claire and we come to learn about their connections, But it is Gerard who is at the centre of the story who is forced to live with foster parents but is desperate to be reunited with his younger brother and sister and his hopeless mother. It seems that the lives of these characters are anything but ‘bright’ but Scottish authorKaren Campbell brilliantly tells a heartbreaking story, set in Glasgow, layered with compassion and hope.
I am fond of novels with young characters which is what drew me to this book in the first place. In recent years there have been a number of resilient characters in novels for young people whose lives deal with anxiety and or troubled family circumstances (e compare to Gerard’s (e.g., And Then Boom.. by Lisa Fipps Tig by Heather Smith, Popcorn by Rob Harrell, and Finding Harmony by Eric Walters). Gerard is one of the most unforgettable characters I’ve spent time with in adult fiction. Following along with his gloomy life, his survival skills, and his dreams makes for a compassionate read some mighty fine novels this year. This Bright Life is a mighty fine novel that is at the top of the list of 2025 favourites. I flucken loved it. I highly recommend it.
Excerpts
“And Margaret knows how to live unseen. When nobody knows hat you know these things. How we dwell alone. Because you can never truly know how this world feels for anyone else. You, looking out of your cage, all the bony vast hollows of your skull, your achig lumpy legs, the curvature of your sine, the frame of you brittle grey hair which rims your vicion. Peering at folk, thinking: what makes you, you? or me, me? / How do we ever know?” (p. 5)
“Oh, it’s fatiguing being old. Too quiet, and you are ignored entirely. Too loud and ;you are irritant. Too dribbly, slow or unfragrant and you’re a harbinger of death.” (p 132)
“He wonders how it would feel just to give in to it. He kept trying to be good, he does. But he’s so tired. It would he a relief to stop fighting it. Because it feels so brilliant, when he lets his fists fly. To spit and scream and feel his feelings, and not just not care.” (p. 233)
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SPOTLIGHT
DANIEL PINK’S TIPS FOR BEING A BETTER READER
YouTube link
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhZ6QAYlA_g
Active Engagement & Retention
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“Torture” your book:
Crack the spine, underline, dog-ear, and scribble in the margins to create a deeper connection with the text.
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Summarize + Harvest:
After each chapter, write a few sentences in your own words. At the end of the book, answer what the big idea is, how the author proves it, and what action you should take.
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Build a “second brain”:
Keep all your summaries and highlights in a digital system (like Google Docs, Notion, or Obsidian) and use AI to surface key quotes, stats, and themes.
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Reread strategically:
Rereading the same book at different points in your life can teach you more about the text and yourself.
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Become a T-shaped reader:
Go deep in your field and broad outside of it to spark new, original ideas.
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Know when to quit:
If a book isn’t engaging you after a reasonable amount, put it down. It’s the author’s job to hold your interest, not yours to struggle through.
- Don’t stress: Reading should be a privilege and a joy, not a performance or a source of anxiety.
- Read with intention: Be deliberate about your reading choices and focus on engaging with the material.
- Embrace diversity: Read widely and divergently to gain a broader perspective.