The Bulletin Page 1July 12, 2012

summer reading blockbusterAmericAn-born, english writer henry JAmes’s declArAtion, “Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language,” never feels more true than when one of those afternoons is spread out before you and the solitary item on your agenda is to sit in your backyard and dip into the book saved for that very moment. This summer, I’ve finally taken the plunge into James’s works, and I am also reading those of his great admirer and interpreter, the wonderful Irish writer Colm Tóibín, whose book The Master imagines James’s life through his lowest points and his soaring literary successes. Other worthy reads recently encountered include Fransesca Segal’s lovely debut, The Innocents, a contemporary re-imagining of Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, and sun-dappled and swoon-worthy Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (this one is stocked by the bookstore, I noticed). Walter’s sixth novel places Old Hollywood alongside new, and weaves a story set on the Italian coastline visited by a dying American actress in 1962 with a contemporary one that boasts unforgettable characters you don’t want to leave behind. Just begun are the so-far delicious and unconventional novel-cum-literary speculation, A Monster’s Notes, by poet Laurie Sheck, which revivifies Mary Shelley’s “monster” from Frankenstein, and the blackly funny and fierce, Pulitzer Prize-winning play, August: Osage County, by American playwright and actor Tracy Letts.

To launch your own summer reading right and for fun, we’ve added multiple “Top 10” lists to our summer book recommendations from members of our university community. In fact, we received so much great material, some of it has overflowed to U of M’s Facebook site, and you can join the conversation there. Also stay tuned next issue for an interview about his favourite books with the always-fascinating George Toles, distinguished professor in the department of English, film and theatre at the U of M. Happy summer afternoon reading, everyone! - Mariianne Mays Wiebe

Summ

er rea

ding t

op 10

s Sum

mer r

eadin

g top

10s S

umme

r rea

ding

top 1

0s Su

mmer

readin

g top

10s S

umme

r rea

ding t

op 10

s Sum

mer

Jim Blanchard’s top 10 local history books for summer reading

Rural Life: Portraits of the Prairie Town, 1946 by Gerald Friesen. Friesen has taken a study done for the Royal Commission on Adult Education in 1946 and reprinted it with his own introduction and notes. Fascinating look at 3 small Manitoba towns in 1946. Among other things you can find out about wife swapping in Carmen!!!

Community and Frontier by John Lehr. John Lehr has spent his career as an historical geographer studying Ukrainian settlement in Manitoba. This book is the crystallization of his thinking on the topic.

Winnipeg Beach by Dale Barbour. A good choice for summer reading – a wonderful history of Manitoba’s most famous summer resort.

The New Northwest Passage Cameron Dueck. The best kind of travel book – the author describes his trip by sailboat through Canada’s arctic and at each stop he gives a history of the port of call.

Going Downtown by Russ Gourluck. I think this is the best of Gourluck’s Winnipeg history books. Very nostal-gic and full of great detail.

Every Stone a Story by Charles and Dale Braun. I have reached the age where I spend a lot of time in cemeteries and this book answers the question that often comes to mind – who was that person buried under that stone?

Finding a Way to the Heart: Feminist Writings on Aboriginal and Women’s History in Canada by Robin Jar-vis Brownlie (Editor), Valerie J. Korinek (Editor). This book is a collection of essays in honor of Dr. Sylvia van Kirk, one of the first academic historians to focus on Aboriginal women in her research. Interesting collection of essays and, in the introduction, a rare look at academic politics as they have been experienced by women researchers.

Politics in Manitoba by Chris Adams. If you are a political junky this is a good summer book, full of interesting facts to impress your friends with while hanging out at the beach.

Keep True: a Life in Politics by Howard Pawley. Another one for political junkies, Howard Pawley’s recently published memoirs.

Prairie Metropolis by Gerald Friesen and Esylt Jones, eds. A collection of historical essays about a wide vari-ety of Winnipeg topic. Good for dipping into when you need a break from lazing around.

Jim Blanchard is head of reference services at Elizabeth Dafoe Library. He has authored several books on local history, including Winnipeg’s Great War: A City Comes of Age (2010) and Winnipeg 1912 (2005).

add your picks to the top ten lists, contribute your summer reading picks and reading placeshere: Facebook.com/umanitobaor here: twitter @umanitoba

email your suggestion for a “top 10” books list to:bulletin@umanitoba.ca

Have an all-time Favourite Book or an engroSSing read to recommend?

You and you, members of the U of M Book Lovers Club

Join our summer reading conversations on twitter and facebook!

>>

>> see the issue in its entirety here: http://bit.ly/Nmv7Ay

Jim blAnchArd. reading places: My own favorite place to read is on the living room couch, which is where I read in the winter too. to read: Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money. This British historian has become a star in recent years. His books, including this one about the history of money and banking, look at topics from an interesting point of view and there is

always something you have not heard before. Secondly, Sir John Stephen Willison’s memoirs, Reminiscences, political and personal from 1919. This one is kind of obscure (though available online at The Internet Archive) but Willison was the editor of the Globe for many years and was in the press gallery when John A. Macdonald was still prime minister.

Jim Blanchard, head, reference services, Elizabeth Dafoe Library, in Paris.