MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE AND EMBODIES ALL THAT I
BELIEVE IN:
"Me to We: Turning Self-Help on its Head" by Marc & Craig Kielburger. It's
awesome. I just can't say enough about it. It's mandatory reading for
anyone who takes on a leadership position in LEAP, but it's something that
EVERYONE should read, period. There's also a website: www.metowe.org
Pass it on!
In May 2009, I read Red China Blues by Jan Wong. What a fascinating book!
Wong is a Canadian citizen of Chinese heritage. In the heydey of the 1960's,
she decided to go to China to join Mao's Cultural Revolution. Believing that
communism was the best political system, she threw herself into the life of a
true revolutionary, only to find that...well, I won't spoil the book. Let's
just say that things don't quite go as she expected. The book follows her
through the 70's and 80's and right into the 1990's, including the Tiannamen
Square Massacre. A great book if you want to understand recent Chinese
history, or if you're interested in the life story of one of Canada's most
respected journalists.
During the winter, I read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It's about a
mountain climber who becomes a philanthropist. I loved it! Here's a summary
from the website, www.threecupsoftea.com
"In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak
of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the
most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or
shelter he stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was
nursed back to health.
While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors,
scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor
that it could not afford the $1-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left
the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From
that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian
campaigns of our time."
FUN FACT: every summer, I ask Mrs. Fry for her recommendations and I let her
tell me what to read. She's never given me anything I didn't absolutely
LOVE. For summer 2008, I specifically asked her to send me to far away
places--I wanted to read fiction that would take me to other times, places,
and cultures. I loved the books she recommended!
First, I read Their Eyes were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. This is
my top pick for a black history month-inspired book. It's a rare book--the
female heroine totally defies all that was expected of her and choses a
remarkable life for herself, against some pretty remarkable odds. The
language is fascinating too: she writes phonetically, forcing you to listen
to the sounds of the words, which helps you pick up the accent of the times.
For example, characters say "tuh" instead of "to" and "Ah" instead of "I"
(Ah went tuh the store.) You'll read about love, marriage, race relations,
the founding of the first all-black town in the US, a hurricane and a murder
trial. The book has plenty of critics, but I enjoyed it.
I could not put down "The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B." by
Sandra Gulland! In this book, I was transported to the courts of France
before and during the French Revolution. Beautifully written, the author
paints vivid mental pictures of exciting events from the past and allowed me
to re-unite with an old love: historical fiction. I can't wait to read the
next book in the triology!
The Kite runner, by Khaled Hosseini, absolutely broke my heart. Set in
Afghanisan and later in the US, it is the haunting story of a boy who grows
up watching his country as it falls apart. In many ways, he falls apart with
it. It's also about love--between father and son, between brothers, and
between husband and wife. It's about cowardice, guilt, and injustice. It's
beautifully written and has been made into a film. It was also the first
book I "read" by listening to the audio version, which was quite the
experience! What a great way to pass the time while driving!
I was very disturbed by but really liked "Stonelight Tour: The Last, Lonely
Night of Neil Stonechild." (authors: Susanne Reber, Robert Renaud) It's
about an Aboriginal teenager who was picked up by the police in Winnipeg,
driven to the outskirts of town, and left to walk home in the dark. He froze
to death. Initially, it was covered up by the police but when two more
aboriginal men died under similar suspicious circumstances, an inquiry was
opened. That inquiry blew the lid off of one of the dirty little secrets in
Canada's legal system--that Aboriginal Canadians are consistently denied
justice and are the targets of systemic discrimination at the hands of those
who are supposed to "serve and protect."
Over the winter break 2007, I read "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirshi Ali. It blew my
mind, and challenged what I thought I knew about Islam (which, admittedly,
wasn't a lot.) Ayaan was born in Somalia into a traditional Muslim family.
She spent time living in Saudi Arabia and Kenya before running away from her
family to avoid an arranged marriage. She wound up in the Netherlands as a
refugee. While there, she went to school, renounced her faith, began
speaking out about how Islam oppresses women, made a film, was elected as an
MP, began receiving death threats, and found herself at the centre of a
political firestorm over immigration, religion, freedom of expression and
the rights of women. This is hand-down the most incredible autobiography
I've ever read.
In the summer of 2007, I read a beautiful novel called "Lovely Bones, by
Alice Sebold. If you've ever thought about life after death, it's a must
read. I didn't want it to end.
I also enjoyed a non-fiction book called "Queen Bees and Wanna Bees" by
Rosalind Wisemean. It's about the ways that girls bully each other as they
organize into cliques--wonder if this happens at Cawthra? Hmm. It's also
the basis of the film "Mean Girls."
My favourite new books related to autism are "Born on a Blue Day" by Daniel
Tammet and "Send in the Idiots" by Kamran Nazeer. My all time favourite
novel about autism is "The Speed of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon. Another
classic, of course, is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" by
Mark Haddon. If you're ever working on a comparative novel study involving
either of these books, come and see me!
I really enjoyed "How to Change the World in Your Spare Time," by Elizabeth
May. She's the leader of the Green Party of Canada and was our keynote
speaker at Social Awareness Day in April 2007! Great book.
I also liked a book by Malcolm Gladwell called "The Tipping Point." It's
about social and economic trends that somehow go from slightly popular to
massive trends. If you're interested in creating social movements or
suceeding in business, it's worth a read. Then check out his next book,
"Blink" which is all about using intuition to make decisions. It also has a
fascinating section on the police and race issues that will really make you
think.
