Some of 2021’s hottest reading picks

Grab a book, warm drink, sweater and hop right into fall! Check out some of these great reads. By Julia Marchionda.The calendar says the first day of fall is September 22nd, but we all know the real first day of the season is when Starbucks drops their fall drinks… specifically the PSL. A fall drink so iconic that we don’t even have to tell you what PSL stands for.

This isn’t a particularly unique take on the internet, but there’s just something about fall that makes it special. Maybe it’s the pumpkin patches and apple orchards. Or the satisfaction of stepping on that first crunchy leaf of the season. But one thing we really love to do is curl up with a good book on a grey fall day.

Some of our amazing speakers are also authors, which is great for us because we are book nerds. Here are some of the titles on our reading list this season.

Teachers These Days: Stories and Strategies for Reconnection by Dr. Jody Carrington and Laurie MacIntosh

Dr. Jody Carrington and Laurie MacIntosh’s new title comes just in time for back to school season. Or maybe back to the virtual school season? Teachers play a significant role in their students’ lives, sometimes having to help them navigate really tough life lessons beyond long divison. Teachers These Days explores the impact teachers have on our children, and how the experience of a global pandemic has affected the education system. Carrington and MacIntosh interweave stories from real life teachers and tangible strategies that reaffirm the importance of their role in shaping our world.

Learn more about Dr. Jody Carrington’s work on resilience and pick up your copy of Teachers These Days

Beauties: Hockey’s Greatest Untold Stories by James Duthie

After spending more than 20 years in sports media, we know James Duthie has a plethora of stories to share. Especially the ones that didn’t make it to his Twitter account. His latest book, Beauties, is a collection of 57 of the best stories that the players tell each other. Kick back and read about how Paul Bissonnette nearly got the Arizona Coyotes kicked out of a hotel, or get the full scoop on the night Hayley Wickenheiser went blind. Beauties will certainly tide you over until the start of the next NHL season.

Order Beauties: Hockey’s Greatest Untold Stories

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

Five Little Indians sheds light on a dark time in Canada’s history. Michelle Good’s Scotiabank Giller Prize longlisted book follows five First Nations children who are taken to different residential schools and their lives after they are released. Good began writing her debut novel in the 1990s and was greatly informed by the stories her mother shared of her own experience in Canada’s residential school system. The paths of the five children cross and crisscross over the course of their lives, telling a compelling story about friendship, resilience, and survival.

Get your copy of Five Little Indians

Crossroads by Kaleb Dahlgren

You never know what cards life will deal you, but it’s important to play the game with strength and resilience. Crossroads is the story of Kaleb Dahlgren, one of the thirteen Humboldt Broncos players who survived the collision of their bus with a transport truck in 2018. From an early age, Dahlgren has had no choice but to be resilient. His hockey career was threatened by a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, but Kaleb proved his doctors and coaches wrong by going on to play elite-level hockey. Crossroads is the story of Kaleb’s life so far, and if this is just the beginning, we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Order Crossroads

Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada’s Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic

The last year-and-a-half brought a lot of societal shortcomings to the forefront. Few are as glaring as the state of long-term care facilities across Canada. Neglected No More details the inhumane working conditions, overworked and underpaid staff, and lack of oversight that contributed to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. André Picard, one of Canada’s top health and public policy reporters, reveals just how broken the nation’s eldercare system is and proposes a remedy for the problem.

Purchase Neglected No More

Let’s Do Dinner by Antoni Porowski

There are few conversations more irritating than when you ask someone what they want to do for dinner and they say “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” Antoni Porowski’s second book, Let’s Do Dinner, can help you never have that conversation again. Even the most frequent take out orderers can become home cooks with Antoni’s easy shopping lists, simple recipes, and minimal kitchen equipment. With a release date set for September 14th, this book is almost out of the oven. We have plenty of time to perfect some of his recipes before the next season of Queer Eye comes out!

Pre-order Let’s Do Dinner

We’re going to have to schedule time in our calendars for drinking PSLs and walking on crunchy leaves because we have a lot of books we want to read.

What’s on your reading list this season? Tell us in the comments.

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