What greater luxuries are there in life than warm weather, a comfortable place to kick back, and a good book to read? These simple things are the trappings of a good summer. Assuming that you’ve got the cozy deck chair ready to go (and that Mother Nature cooperates), we’ve got the reading list. Great Canadian books from independent Canadian publishers, for a summer well spent.
This installment features three captivating books from Toronto’s ECW Press.
Summers in Supino
By Maria Coletta Mclean
Memoir
The heartwarming story of the summers Mclean and her husband spent in a little town in Italy, where the pizzeria sits in a sheep pasture and neighbours share extension cords across alleyways.
At first, she has to adjust to the quirks of the town her father grew up in, but over time she comes to love the place and its people, who celebrate the first figs of the season and stop to appreciate the magic of a star-filled sky.
Mclean wields humour and heart to tell her stories of grief and the restorative powers of community.
Read it: On the deck at sunset, with a glass of Italian wine in hand.
Heart of a Tiger: Growing Up With My Grandfather, Ty Cobb
By Herschel Cobb
Biography
The moving account of a baseball legend – and a fierce competitor – who retires from the sport only to realize the mistakes he’s made as a father. In his absence, Ty Cobb’s two sons have grown up troubled, and both die before he’s able to bridge the distance between them.
However, Ty is given a second chance with the next generation. He becomes the father his grandchildren never had; they become the children he wasn’t there for.
Herschel recalls days of discovery and adventure with his grandfather at his Lake Tahoe cabin, and remembers Ty Cobb as a hero – on the field, and off.
Read it: On an old blanket on the grass on a sunny afternoon.
The Drowned Man
By David Whellams
Mystery
Veteran detective Peter Cammon is called out of retirement for a delicate mission: travel to Canada to retrieve the body of a murdered Scotland Yard colleague. But the odd nature of the crime has him delving in to find out more. Who would murder a man for stealing three Civil War-era letters? Even if one of them is signed by the assassin John Wilkes Booth.
Complicating matters further is the devastatingly beautiful girlfriend of the victim. Soon, solving the crime becomes so complicated that Cammon must call upon the amateur sleuthing of his daughter-in-law back in England to crack the case on this clever whodunit.
Read it: On stormy summer nights, tucked safely in bed.
