Meaghon Reid

A must read for people in the ‘shifting mental models’ space. Change: How to Make Big Things Happen is one of those books that disrupts our patterns of how we think about everything from the simple to the complex so that we can be the signal through the noise. Thank you for Steacy Pinney for the recommendation! 

Jaclyn Silbernagel

Given that we're operating in a time of divisiveness and increased fractures within society, I thought it would be good to re-read Adam Kahane's book Collaborating with the Enemy. It's endearingly penned "To my enemies and teachers." My recall of this book came from thinking about how collaboration functions, how to be more curious about opposing opinions, and what's possible when we dig our heels into the messiness of discourse. Kahane emphasizes that collaboration doesn't require agreement or trust but rather a willingness to work through differences to achieve common goals. I also like that the book encourages a mindset shift from seeing collaboration as a harmony-driven process to one that embraces conflict and uncertainty for innovative solutions. 

Lee Stevens

I chose Stolen Focus by Johann Hari because the title intrigued me. As someone whose job involves a lot of writing I wanted to understand what was happening to our attention spans. Johann Hari delves deep into the alarming trend of our shrinking attention spans, a phenomenon that began long before the advent of the internet. Hari paints a comprehensive picture of how our ability to focus has deteriorated over time. His pointed criticism of the attention economy and technology giants like Meta and Google is both eye-opening and compelling. He argues that these companies must acknowledge their role in this crisis and take steps to mitigate its negative effects. Hari doesn't just identify the problem; he offers actionable solutions to reclaim our attention in a world filled with distractions. 

I highly recommend you put away your phones and devices and settle in for this mind-blowing and captivating read. Stolen Focus is not just a book—it's a necessary wake-up call for anyone feeling the impacts of our increasingly distracted society. 

Ameera Shivji

I’ve never read a graphic novel before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. But it was highly recommended, and I can see why. Ducks is about Kate Beaton’s experience as a young woman working in the oil sands in Fort McMurray. It explores themes like social and gender inequality, misogyny, trauma and depression; while acknowledging the immense opportunity that this type of work provides. It was an engaging read. 

Tessa Penich

I love reading fiction during the summer, and my favourite genre is science fiction. Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem is having a bit of a cultural moment since it was adapted into a Netflix show earlier this year, but the original novel is one of my favourites. How does humanity react when it is revealed that an alien invasion is on the way – but not for 400 years? This is the first book in a trilogy spanning billions of years, from the Chinese Cultural Revolution to the end of the universe. I would highly recommend it for fans of science fiction with a strong emphasis on science.  

Hafsah Umer

Written by George Orwell, Animal Farm tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before. 

I chose Animal Farm because it's a captivating and insightful story that uses farm animals to cleverly expose the dangers of power and corruption, making it both entertaining and thought-provoking. 

Lizzie Rajchel

The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan paints the picture of a dystopian Toronto, the result of climate change and how our built and natural environment is a living thing that will consume us if we don’t honor it accordingly. This book explores the precarity of the gig economy, the bloated cost of housing in urban centers and the disparities of wealth that are exacerbated by climate change. While this book is eco-horror dystopian fiction, it makes you sit with the question – could this be our future if greed goes unchecked? 

Noor Abdulbaki

Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi is about three Nigerian women—Kambirinachi and her adult twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye—who become estranged due to childhood trauma but must confront their past to heal their family. It explores themes of identity, motherhood, love, and reconciliation, making it a compelling read for fans of diasporic literature.   

"Life is an ambivalent lover. One moment, you are everything and life wants to consume you entirely. The next moment, you are an insignificant speck of nothing. Meaningless. But I am not insane. Imagine this: You are made unbound, birthed from everything glorious and fermented and fertile and free. Unbound. You visit this binding, this flesh cage. It's sacred and robust but a cage nonetheless. You visit because it's your nature." 

Cameron Heenan

A Gentleman in Moscow: A beautifully transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel. 
 
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.