Each week, Globe and Mail staffers and readers share what they’re reading now, whether it’s a hot new release or an old book they’re discovering for the first time. Tell me about a book you loved and we might publish your recommendation. Fill out this form, or send your book recommendation to Lara Pingue at lpingue@globeandmail.com
George Plimpton’s 1961 classic, Out of My League.Supplied
I recently acquired an old pocketbook edition of George Plimpton’s 1961 classic, Out of My League, about his nerve-racking afternoon pitching against all-stars including Willie Mays in an exhibition game at Yankee Stadium. The first thing one notices on the front is the blurb. It takes up a good fifth of the tiny book’s cover: “Beautifully observed and incredibly conceived, this account of a self-imposed ordeal has the chilling quality of a true nightmare. It is the dark side of the moon of Walter Mitty.” High praise. Who knew Ernest Hemingway was a blurber? Writing for Sports Illustrated, Plimpton was professional at being an amateur posing as a professional in a variety of sports. His elegant works succeed because he takes his stunts seriously – the anxiety is real. Fear strikes out, and Mays popped out.
-Globe writer Brad Wheeler
The Place of Tides, by James Rebanks.Supplied
In The Place of Tides, author James Rebanks recounts his struggles maintaining a traditional sheep farm, which leads him to a summer visit to a small island off the coast of Norway. Here, he learns and works alongside the mysterious Anna, one of the last remaining “duck women.” Anna carries on the dying craft of caring for eider ducks who each year nest on the island and leave behind their precious down. Rebanks provides a loving portrait of Anna’s dedication to her work and a life that is guided by respect for her family, her environment and her community. This is a compelling story about the power of connection to the natural world and Rebanks’s own personal transformation and rebirth after visiting Anna’s island. With clear, insightful, tender and inspirational writing, this is a great book to read while wrapped in your own duvet.
-Globe reader Stephen Golub, Red Deer, Alta.
Gordon Hempton’s One Square Inch of Silence.Supplied
I just finished reading Gordon Hempton’s One Square Inch of Silence, which is partly a memoir and partly a road-trip story that exposes the dangers of noise pollution. The book follows Hempton’s travels across continental USA, looking up eccentric old friends, making new ones, tracking sound levels and searching for landscapes undisturbed by man-made noise – all while trying to keep his beloved VW camper van running. Along the way, the reader will learn much about the negative impact of noise pollution on our health and the environment. Given the growing inescapable clatter of modern life, Hempton’s book is more relevant today than ever. (Full disclosure: Gordon, an internationally known soundscape recordist, is a friend of mine and I was lucky enough to accompany him on a recording adventure in the deepest Amazon jungle. But I still wholeheartedly recommend this book.)
-Globe reader Dan Parle, Oro-Medonte, Ont.
George Abbott’s Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now.Supplied
The question of Indigenous rights and title is much in the news these days, often for all the wrong reasons. George Abbott’s new book, Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now, is a clear, useful and interesting account of how and why “the land question,” as it has been called, remains unsettled in British Columbia. Drawing on primary sources, he traces the decisions that have been taken with respect to Indigenous lands since the establishment of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1849. While he writes from a clear moral stance and a strong desire for reconciliation, this is not a harangue but rather a compelling and highly readable – if often infuriating – reconstruction of events. All British Columbians would benefit from refreshing their knowledge of their province’s history through the pages of this well-researched book.
-Globe reader Liseanne Forand, North Saanich, B.C.