Hockey Card Stories - Ken Reid

I have listened to the sports reporter Ken Reid on many podcasts, primarily on Prime Time Sports, and that is how I became aware of this book.  An interesting concept, the author introducing every short chapter with a picture of a player's hockey card, almost always a 70's OPC, introduces the player, and then discusses aspects of the card with the player.

I enjoyed it as a hockey fan and a former hockey card hobbyist.

Wet Prairie - Shannon Stunden Bower

Wet Prairie - Shannon Stunden Bower
People, Land, and Water in Agricultural Manitoba

This is an amazing work of scholarship, but readable by the lay person.  Despite living in  Manitoba for the past 50 years, I had no idea that serious attempts at drainage goes back to the mid-1800s.

 From the back cover:
"Shannon Stunden Bower brings to light the complexities of surface water management in Manitoba, from early artificial drainage efforts to late-twentieth-century attempts at watershed management. She engages scholarship on the state, liberalism, and bioregionalism in order to probe the connections between human and environmental change in the wet prairie. This account of an overlooked aspect of the region's environmental history reveals how the biophysical nature of southern Manitoba has been an important factor in the formation of Manitoba society and the provincial state."

Not for everyone - but recommended to those with in an interest in Manitoba history, agriculture, or background on our continual flooding woes.

Canada

The Cure for Everything - Timothy Caulfield

The Cure for Everything - Timothy Caulfield
Untangling the Twisted Messages About Health, Fitness, and Happiness

If you are concerned about your health, you must read this book. Not only will you be better informed about improving your health, you will obtain the knowledge to avoid some costly mistakes.
I don't want to give away the main takeaways. But be assured this may be one of the most important books you read this decade - unfortunately the title will turn off those that don't realize it is sarcastic.

Highly recommended !

Canada

I Love Your Laugh - Jessica Holmes

I Love Your Laugh - Jessica Holmes Finding the Light in my Screwball Life I knew little of Jessica Holmes, except that she does a killer Celine Dion impression. I may have seen her on Air Farce years ago. In this book, Jessica recounts her formative years, including a stint as a Mormon missonary, through to her somewhat accidental career in comedy. Holmes' openness and willingness to show her vulnerabilities, mixed in with humour, makes this an enjoyable read.

Canada

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts - Simon Garfield

I have been fascinated with letter forms and fonts since I was a wee lad. Later, in 1984, I purchased a Macintosh - likely the ability to render WYSIWYG fonts had something to do with the purchase decision. This books explains the history of font design, introduces to us to many of the creators. It was quite an education for me; I didn't realize the many of the popular 'modern' fonts date back to the 1920s. Highly recommended if you have an interest in fonts and/or print design in general.

Canada

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World - Michael Lewis

An entertaining and educational tour of some of the countries that were amongst the first to publicly feel the hurt of the debt crisis.  The economies of Iceland, Ireland, Greece, and Germany amongst those discussed.  The sidebar discussion with Michael's German driver is icing on the cake. Highly recommended.



Canada

Stellicktricity: Stories, Highlights, and Other Hockey Juice from a Life Plugged into the Game by Gord Stellick

Stellicktricity

Gord Stellick, current broadcaster, and a former insider at the GM level in the NHL,  provides dozens of hockey anecdotes from his personal experience, and others he has picked up along the way. Most of these stories are two to four pages or so; thus it's a great book to pick up and read when you have just a few minutes