Musings
5 Books to Read on the Road
Jul
Road Trip!
It’s summer! Grab the cooler and drop some paper towels over last season’s dried-up corn silk. Pack up the car, borrow a car, take the streetcar to the end of the line, or refashion your couch into a staycation-mobile. Whatever the vehicle, it’s time to hit the road…and read!
We present “5 Books to Read on the Road,” titles to take you beyond and home again.
I Am a Truck by Michelle Winters (Invisible Publishing): One page in and you won’t be able to resist counting the Chevy Silverados as you speed along to your destination. A few chapters in and you’ll be asking someone else to take your coffee order while you stay in the car to read. Upon closing the book, you’ll understand while this slim read was a finalist for the biggest literary fiction prize in the country.
Dear Current Occupant by Chelene Knight (Book*hug): From “one of the storytellers we need most right now,” this creative non-fiction memoir about Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in the 80s and 90s is structured as a series of letters to the occupants of the dozens of homes Knight once lived in with her family. Peering inside, into remembered spaces, Knight writes her way home.
Sweet Affliction by Anna Leventhal (Invisible Publishing): These standalone short stories from Journey Prize nominee Anna Leventhal are so cinematic, intimately cutting through communities, that it’s no surprise that one of them was adapted to the screen. A perfect companion as you look to be inspired by new places and faces.
The Cloud Artist: A Choctaw Tale by Sherri Maret, Illustrated by Merisha Sequoia Clark (RoadRunner Press): What road trip is complete without a pause to stop and consider the clouds? This picture book was selected for the First Nation Communities Read program and tells the story of Leona, a little Choctaw girl and Cloud Artist, who uses the Oklahoma sky as her canvas.
Let’s Go Exploring: Calvin and Hobbes by Michael Hingston (ECW Press): A fascinating investigation of what may be one of North America’s most beloved comic strips, surveying the development of the artist (Bill Watterson) and the comic-strip medium itself. And when you’re not absorbed in your childhood, you can look out for urinating-Calvin decals.