Author: Justin Halpern

“Basic principles of being a man: you get up, shower, shave, brush your teeth, go to work, come home, do what you have to do, then go to bed. Life isn’t that complicated.”

That’s a direct quote from my dad growing up and while I always thought his sayings were memorable, Halpern’s dad takes it to a new plane of existence.

The book, which had its genesis in a bunch of tweets, attempts to encapsulate the relationship between a father and a son. While it veers towards the hilarious side, it was obvious the two loved each other.

At the heart of it, Halpern’s dad is every dad without a filter and like every loving parent, it’s obvious he’s doing the best he can. These off-handed moments are just the ones that stick out (and make for good media).

After all, when we think of our own parents, what do we remember?
Them getting up every morning, working to put food on the table and supporting us in our extra-curriculars?

We acknowledge them, appreciate them, but don’t consider them memorable.

It’s the conversations, the gatherings, the car rides, the dinner table comments and the attempts to be handy at tasks out of their league.

This book doesn’t stretch itself thin and its length perfectly encapsulates the message. It’s a fun afternoon read for those wanting a glimpse into the viral Twitter sensation.

Author: Rupert Ross

My awakening to the history, abuses and culture of our Indigenous population started my first year as chaplain.

It was a crash course in ignorance.

I discovered how very little I knew. My perceived knowledge was only a sterile drop of water in an ocean. My eyes were opened in a wide way.

Ross has expanded my horizons further and opened my eyes wider. Even though I was taking notes along the way, I feel this book needs to be read a few times.

In addition to the broad range of issues the indigenous people face, there’s a historical account of why and many gems of healing. Although you read this through a historical account, it’s easy to place yourself in the healing process.

The writing is also accessible and feels like someone having a conversation with you, rather than the usual rigid writing found in texts dealing with historical accounts. It’s a story wrapped around a story, but you feel connected the entire time.

An important book dealing with critical subject matter on the truth and reconciliation of the first peoples of our country.

Author: Michael Scott

After thoroughly enjoying The Alchemyst, I’ve had it in my buffer to finish this series. At the very least, I needed to finish the second (this one) to see if it holds up to the expectations of the first.

With a little more buffer time to get through my bottomless reading list, it finally came up.

The second picks up right where the first left off and it accelerates all the way through. Each chapter building tension and excitement. To me, this series is Percy Jackson for mystics.

The references to historical figures and documents, mixed with the possibility of their literal truths, makes this addictive.

Which character will be introduced next?
Will Scott reference The Greater Key of Solomon?
Who will turn first? Josh or Sophie?

I’m excited and prepared to do something this month I haven’t done in a long time:

finish the series.

Author: Megan Gail Coles

Coles warns you at the beginning this might hurt a little.

The many reviews posted warn you this will be dark and painful.

Within fifty pages, it was obvious this was going in a depressing direction and while it did take some time before the book really hit its stride, I kept going.

Had I heeded the warnings, I probably wouldn’t have started this book just as a global pandemic reached my home. It probably wasn’t the best idea to continue reading while we were in crisis mode and my headspace was still adjusting.

Yet, I kept going.

There was a point in my reading when my emotions ran high, my blood boiled and despite my physical exhaustion from lack of sleep the previous night, I stayed up late to read.

I woke up angry.

Angry at the fictional characters knowing full well this isn’t fiction for many. I powered to the end… the end… which gutted me.

I was warned.

And now you are, too.

“This might hurt a little. Be brave.”

Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

I really didn’t think I would like this book. Avant-garde writing isn’t my cup of tea, but I gave it a chance under the recommendation of a trusted colleague.

I’m glad I stuck with it because I was treated to a heart-warming story that hooked me by the halfway point.

You get used to the stream-of-writing style and a large part of that is the crafted execution of Foer. Believing the main narrator is nine-years old? Yeah… I can suspend some semblance of reality on that one.

The style? Yes.
The language and thinking? Not so much.

Maybe I forgot what it was like to be that age or perhaps that is the mind of a nine-year old, but not one I’ve met.

Still, the book comes together in a satisfying way and I’m happy to have been there the whole way through. It’s opened up a gateway to other books like it.

Author: Christopher Moore

There is something irreverent, but oh so entertaining, about reading a fictional account of religious history–especially when it’s attempted as a humorous one.

Kevin Smith gave us Dogma, complete with Rufus the 13th Apostle and Alanis Morissette as God. Highly entertaining.

And here we have Biff: Jesus’ childhood pal who can fill us in on those missing years (12-30).

“Are you okay?”

My wife would often ask me this as I was reading because my chuckles would turn to snorts, and then full on belly laughs. The last time a book caught me off guard with this amount of tear-inducing humour was Year Zero by Rob Reid… and I read that before I was married.

Moore manages to take some common theories of Jesus and interplay them with a narrative told through an unlikely narrator.

While religious scholars may scoff at the brazen attempt of a quasi-historical account of Jesus’ life, you can’t miss the forest for the trees on this one. It’s not mean to be a history book, or a thought provoking manifesto (although it is thought provoking in many ways).

Instead, it’s a highly entertaining book meant for those can roll with its ridiculousness.

Author: Sönke Ahrens

The consummate academic personality of mine urged me to pick this up. As someone who constantly reads books and immerses himself in journal articles, I always feel like I’m missing something in the end.

I read, good ideas trigger in my brain, a few stick and I’m disappointed I can’t remember the rest. I’m always going back to books to mine those ideas again.

This book is more than just a note taking technique–it’s an entire learning system.

It will take discipline to put it in place (I’m still working on it) and I want to revisit in a year to see how I’m doing. However, Ahrens fills the gap on why so much learning is lost or forgotten.

The section on the mere-exposure effect and doing the hard work of making connections is priceless. It was a concept explained to me years ago, but this gives the idea practical execution.

While this book revolves around building a Zettelkasten (German word for slip-box or card index) in a paper or digital form, it’s the ancillary information that brings it all together.

From a personal standpoint, this was exactly what I needed.

Author: Patrick Ness

I love Ness’ writing and enjoy his books, but this one… this one… was perfection all the way through.

The writing, artwork, pacing–everything.

I’ve gushed over books and declared my undying love for some, but this one is on the highest pedestal. It says it’s young adult, but that is just the entry audience.

This book is for everyone.

It deals with loss, grief and the stages one goes through before acceptance. I couldn’t stop reading it and by the time I got to the last sentence, there were tears in my eyes.

Yes, this book brought me to tears.

For me, as everyone brings their own experience to a novel, this book hit me multiple levels. It targeted my own grief, while also pulling at my heart strings for the protagonist. I wanted to reach through the book and let him know the monster who calls him is the same monster that calls us all.

Some books keep you hooked because they skim you across the water at a rapid pace. Others pull you beneath the surface where you see a whole new world.

This one pulls you to the bottom of the lake until you drown in it.

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Writing a sequel is tricky.

There’s an expectation setup from the first book, which readers take with them as the starting point for the second. It’s a nervousness about whether this second one is going to be “as good,” which can lead to disappointment.

This is compounded by the fact Sanderson writes his first books as a complete package, making you feel you’ve already gotten your fill by the end.

Skyward was a ton of fun and addictive to read, which made me a bit nervous. However, within ten pages, I remembered this is being written by a master author who plans his books as a series and not one-off attachments.

Starsight does not disappoint in any way. It gets right into it, then veers the story in a different direction afterward. I was happy with this sudden pivot because had it not done that, it would’ve been nothing more than a drawn out vapor trail of the first.

The ending was curious–not unexpected, but a little surprising. It sets the expectation the third will move in a much different way than the first two. I’m already excited to read it.

Author: Michael Hurd

I entered teacher’s college a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young sap who was (erroneously) convinced he had the chops to be a great teacher.

Lucky for me, my first assignment as a student teacher was to be mentored by Mr. Hurd who showed me I was nothing more than a young kid with a big mouth and large ego. And he did it all without having to say a word because the depth and creativity of his classes humbled me.

Truly humbled me.

Since then, I’ve had the honour of being his colleague and to be in the front row of his writing career. This, being his third book, has been my favourite work of his.

However, I will caution that this book follows his Enter the Witness series and if you’ve never touched the waters of spiritual depth, you will be lost. This book is for those who have journeyed through Enter the Witness, Reference Point and are ready to make the next step.

This is what I love about it the most.

We are flooded with literature, posts and cute pictures that give a surface level taste of spirituality. It’s a fine enough entry point, but ultimately shallow for any type of growth. They become nothing more than pats on the back and words of encouragement.

This book will take you from the surface of the water and pull you right in.

This is not something you halfheartedly read as you fall asleep at bedtime. It requires your focus and commitment to entering into something more than just words on a page.

As a scholar of Religion and ardent student of it since a young teenager, I can tell you that many published pieces into in-depth topics can work itself into highly convoluted and confusing language.

Not here.

You won’t get lost in the writing because it’s top notch. I say with sincerity this is Hurd’s best writing to date. He’s managed to take very high level mystical concepts (many of which are barely translated into English) and present them in an extremely accessible way.

Mr. Hurd–you’ve once again humbled me without even knowing you did.

For the rest who are looking for something more than a superficial look at things, please work your way through this series and absorb the wisdom of a true craftsman.