2017 BOOKLIST
Three of my favourite sisters from Portland inspired me in my first year of university with their year-in-review booklists. I've been trying to make a booklist ever since, and pull as many people down with me as I can. When's your booklist coming out? Send it to me!
Harry Potter 1-6, J.K. Rowling: I was one of those few children in the English speaking world it seems, not to have read the Harry Potter series during childhood. I so enjoyed getting to know the warm characters and world of Hogwarts. This book was like a magic key. People of all life experiences stopped me in coffee shops, on planes, and references to the book even served as an ice-breaker at an awkward party or two! And yes - I did save the first one for my first read of 2017...
The Sun and Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur: I saw Rupi Kaur in person this year. She’s delightfully awkward while in front of hundreds, but a reading of a poem about her mother and father could make me cry. I liked her first book better, but this book is more a point of connection than anything - a reflection of what young women resonate with nowadays.
Devotion, Patti Smith: A beautiful, dreamy reflection on travel, writing, Paris, and Simone Weil. A one-sitting read for a dreamy trip to Washington. Also, the only book I've ever seen a colleague rave over to this degree.
Salt, Nayyirah Waheed: A poet after my own heart. I’d read snippets of her for years, so reading the book cover to cover was a treat. I’ll admit that it was angrier than I’d realized on the whole, but those poems have served as very specific gifts to me over the years.
The Benedict Option, Rod Dreher: This book was my lesson in the utter dissonance between reviews, politics, and what is really between the pages of a book. This was a call to radical community with some ideas that I’m still working out for myself. Read it for yourself. Decide what it is about, for yourself. Let all the other noise fade into the background.
The Orphan’s Tale, Pam Jenoff: A deeply moving story of unexpected connection, war, survival, and friendship.
The Little Paris Bookshop, Nina George: This was a sweet story for a summer’s day when you don’t want to think too hard. A lemonade and hammock sort of story. It made me want to visit France for a glimpse of wine country and the city and the sea. It also taught me that stubbornness should never get in the way of true love.
It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War, Lynsey Addario: This was one of the best books I read all year. In an information-overload age, in an age of post-truth politics, and in an age where a principled media is more important than ever, read this book. This woman is searingly honest, insightful, and gives you a piece of her heart. Learn more about the frontlines of war and the true nature of reporting, from first shot to print.
Hallelujah Anyways, Anne Lamott: I don’t remember much from this book other than the wonderful phrase, “Mercy means, no one bolted.” And if you only read the book for that one line, it will all be worth it.
Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You Want You Want, Maria Goff: This book was written by a friend of a friend, flown across the country to be set, dog-eared and bookmarked on my bed for a quiet moment. I love it for the woman whose heart it holds, and for the woman who gave it to me.
Belgravia, Julian Fellows: A book by the man who wrote the screenplay for Downton Abbey? Yes please! This was an enormous book with a beautiful plot line that I finished on a train ride to Toronto. I remember being disappointed when it was done. Even more disappointed with the realization that I now had to haul a hardcover book all over YYZ…
Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz, Thomas Harding: This was a fascinating read, formulated to foil the lives of two men who share the same name and whose fate, as connected to the Holocaust, would overlap in a way that would change the course of history.
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, Deborah Feldman: This was the story of a woman who was raised in a strictly Hasidic home, and who, through a series of life experiences and circumstances decides to choose a life entirely unprecedented, and entirely her own.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, Cheryl Strayed: This book was both beautiful and deeply hard to read in some places. I loved the piece on Ghost Ships most of all!
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy, Sheryl Sandberg: I think every single person should read this book. What would it look like if you learned from the struggles of others and built pre-traumatic resilience in your own life? This woman is one of the most delightful communicators. She is evidenced based, anecdote heavy, and action oriented. Clear, easy to read, relatable, and empowering.
Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy, Donald Miller: “Hannah, are you still there? Take the book on the plane and then we can discuss it!” My friend yelled into the phone just before I took a trip home for my sister’s wedding. It was a one-sitting read, forever endearing me to Miller in a way I hadn’t anticipated.
Daughter of the Forest, Juliet Marillier: This was the first full fantasy book I’ve read since I was in highschool - I found it beautiful and refreshing. A beautiful story of love that I recommend for a cozy day!
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, Parker Palmer: When I was going through one of the hardest times in my life, a dear friend scribbled this title on a scrap of paper and pushed it across the table to me in lieu of answers as I sat in tears. This book is a gentle encouragement that I think should be required reading for young people of faith.
The History of Love, Nicole Krauss: Casually date someone well enough that they continue to send you books that they think you’ll love in the mail. It will be worth it - Every. Single. Time. I fell in love with this book for the language. The ending was basically irrelevant to me. I was in love with the process of reading it, and the magic it spun all about me.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows: This is one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read. I want to be dear friends with all of the characters. I read this over an utterly magical trip to Charleston. I laughed in my belly and swore to write more letters, and emerged determined to look for the people of Guernsey and the delightful children in my own community to teach me how to love a little better.
I Am David, Anne Holm: This is a story about survival. It was given to me by a dear friend, another book finished on that dreamy trip to Washington. It made me think of all the little children for whom war is a reality, and the game of survival that is no game at all, but rather, all too real life.
A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War, Deborah Campbell: This book was written by a professor from UBC who has done wonders in humanizing the Syrian and Iraqi conflict. Read to experience an astounding story of tenacity and resilience, as told lovingly through the curious and deeply committed eyes of a friend.
Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur: I hadn’t read any Rupi Kaur until this year. I devoured this book, and let the words bring me into a new cadence of summer and womanhood.
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah: This was one of the best works of fiction I have read in a very long time. I devoured this book and was invited to review it for Goodreads, but due to my inconsistent time spent on the site...missed the boat. Don’t miss this book though!
To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, John O'Donohue: Everyone should have this book on their coffee table. I read it on the subway in Toronto this summer and again on the train and again in my home. There are so many photographs of these blessings still on my phone. I carry them with me. I carry them in my heart.
Guests of War Trilogy: The Sky is Falling / Looking at the Moon / The Lights Go On Again, Kit Pearson: This is a trilogy from childhood that I’ve never quite been able to shake. A good re-read about Noah, Gavin, and Andrew always does good to my homey soul.
Boy: Tales of Childhood, Roald Dahl: I received this book as a wedding favour, wrapped up as a mystery in butcher paper. I got the most delightful book of the bunch and read it with glee. What a delightfully disruptive childhood Dahl had. It reminded me of the same air of contented settledness and coziness that comes over me when I read The Wind in the Willows.
The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are, Brene Brown: A dear friend from just down the road lent this to me. It took me so long to read and to copy out all the quotes I wanted to keep with me, but I’m so glad I read it at the pace I did. A book to treasure in my heart.
