by Erica Huntley

Social Chemistry: Decoding the patterns of human connection by Marissa King, 2020

Marissa King, professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management offers insight into the forms of networking common in our era. Social Chemistry: Decoding the elements of human connection classifies three styles of networking; Expansionist, Broker and Convener. Using examples of well-known and successful celebrities, the book offers more than just quick tips on social networking. Offered instead are broader sociological and psychological concepts of social networks and their impact on the job elsewhere.

 

 

Exercised: Why something we never evolved to do is healthy and rewarding by Daniel Lieberman, 2020

Evolutionary biologist, Daniel Lieberman shares some of his life’s work studying running  and exercise while busting common myths about it. Both entertaining and informative, Exercised steers away from the blaming or shaming mentality, offering up helpful tips to get you fit. Read this book and be inspired to keep up your own exercise routine, or start one!

 

Making it personal: algorithmic personalization, identity and everyday life by Tanya Kant, 2020

A critical analysis of the personalization of the internet, Making it personal: algorithmic personalization, identity and everyday life explores the implications of personalized content on selfhood and identity construction. This book is for anyone studying or wondering about the impact of algorithmic personalization on knowledge production, autonomy, cultural capital, and formations of self.

 

By Jarrett Seto

Alchemy for the Soul

In the midst of a global pandemic, the monotony and horror of our day to day lives can be overwhelming, and understandably so. Sometimes it’s pleasant (ad infinitum) to escape from the endless cycle of Covid, conspiracy theories, and climate change (and let’s not forget the global resurgence of authoritarianism and fascism).  It is exhausting. But what’s not exhausting, is diving into new worlds and realities where we can leave the unwanted mess of our own planet behind. Each of these fantasy novels brings something unique and different to the table, and hopefully you’ll want to read other books by these wonderful authors after you finish The Empire of Gold, The Rage of Dragons, and The Essex Serpent.

 

The Empire of Gold By S.A. Chakraborty (2020)

The dramatic final book of the SA. Chakraborty’s renowned Daevabad Trilogy. You’ll enjoy the intelligent characters who are able to talk things out without the average doses of miscommunication or comedy of errors. The characters have evolved from the first book, and the expansive world building does not take away from the plot. The Empire of Gold is a solid mixture of fantasy, romance, and politics, so readers will enjoy this amalgamation.

 

 

The Rage of Dragons By Evan Winter (2019)

Book One of the Burning series by Canadian author Evan Winter is unlike traditional fantasy narratives. Containing African revenge fantasy influences, this installment thrusts you into a society living in a state of perpetual warfare with a brutal caste system. Join our young protagonist Tau Solarin as he prepares for his warrior trials. The stakes are incredibly steep and his choices aren’t great, and things do not go according to plan. Be prepared to stay up late, reading page after page of this epic revenge fantasy.

 

The Essex Serpent: A Novel By Sarah Perry (2016)

In 1893, after the death of her abusive husband, Cora Seaborne retreats from bustling London for the coast to take up amateur paleontology. When a nearby earthquake occurs, it’s rumoured to have woken up the mythical Essex Serpent. Is it a myth? Is it a long lost dinosaur, somehow surviving undetected? Or is it a gigantic serpent? Perry uses the Gothic novel to frame concerns about morality, medicine, science, and religion. The Essex Serpent is an empowering novel, about a strong female character who plays by the beat of her own drum in an excessively patriarchal society.

 

 By Jarrett Seto

Leabhair iontacha

Ireland. The Emerald Isle. Erin Go Bragh, and Slainte. The Luck of the Irish and the gift of the Gab. Joyce, Yeats, Stoker, and Wilde. Pastures, rolling hills, two hundred year old pubs, and national tragedies. There are many reasons why Ireland lies in writers’ hearts. My favourite Irish whiskey is aptly named Writers Tears. Copper pot, single malt, and with notes of honey, vanilla, and oak.

The names of its counties are popular in song and verse “It’s a long way to Tipperary” and in Whiskey in the Jar “We’ll go rovin’ through Kilkenny.” Even when I recall the first line (in terms of when it’s presented on the page) of Finnegans Wake “riverrun, past Eve and Adams, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth, Castle and Environs” my mind immediately goes to the Donegal coast and its lolling ocean waves, land overrun with heath, green hills dotted with sheep, and timeworn stone walls between the narrow road lined with a spackling of gorse shrubs and alder trees. In the mornings a thick pewter fog blankets the bay, though you can still hear the cries of gulls. Half nine the fog peels away, revealing the ocean, with white tips hurriedly birthing, before collapsing in the slushing grey kelp soup of the North Atlantic. I know it’s meant to be in the Dublin vicinity that the first line is describing, but my association persists regardless. The romantic thoughts I conjure overcome my rational analysis of the words.

Perhaps Ireland resonates so romantically with me because I grew up in the Maritimes, in a family with a salient Irish heritage. After all, parts of the Maritimes are more Irish than Ireland, one could argue. Anyone in Miramichi or the Shamrock City Pub or Mrs. Liddy’s in St. Johns or Glace Bay right in the heart of Cape Breton Island could tell you that. Maybe that’s why I tried to read all of the Irish authors that ever lived. That includes living authors too, and you’ll be at a loss if you don’t check out these newer, twenty first century novels. Pádraig Pearse, the poet, writer, and revolutionary wrote that “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.” That translates to “A country without a language is a country without a soul.” These books are full of soul.

 

Love By Roddy Doyle (2020)

Two older friends reconnect in the many pubs of Dublin. They’re from a time when people were more reserved, and it takes a few drinks for truths to be told and revelations to be made. They discuss love and the decisions that they’ve made in their lives because of it. With each pint, another part of their past is revealed.

 

Normal People By Sally Rooney (2018)

Connor and Marianne are polar opposites, so much so that they pretend to not know one another in school. He’s popular and well liked, and she has no friends and her classmates think she’s strange. Fast forward a year and they’re both attending Trinity College in London. Marianne is popular, well liked, and surrounded by friends. She comes from money. Connor has very few friends and is lucky to be there. He comes from a very humble background. Class, love, self-destruction, and an inseparable bond between two people melt together to give you Normal People.

This Is Happiness By Niall Williams (2019)

In the tiny parish of Faha nothing ever changes. The pace of life is very slow. Then the rain stops. It’s strange because rain has always fallen on Faha. Electricity is supposed to soon be connected. While local teenager Noel Crowe is basking in the new found sunlight, a mysterious stranger arrives, and with him, change. Tradition, community, and the Irish countryside are weaved together in this coming of age tale.

 

 

By Jarrett Seto

Nose, Heart, Eyes

On first glance, none of these books appear to have much in common. At all. However, I noticed a theme of sorts. They all deal with our senses and intuitions. Ok, so our heart and/or soul isn’t a sense per say, but there’s still a feeling you get from it. Each of these books varies in theme, but there’s smell, sight (through dry observation), and heart. Think of these three books as those See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no Evil monkeys but altered. So monkey number one has their hands pointed towards their nose, number twos hands are away from their eyes, and three has their hands over their hearts. I name them the three monkeys of proverbial emotions. Or for a band name, the Olfactory Cortex Heart Club Band.

The Scent Keeper By Erica Bauermeister (2020)

Memory and family relationships are masterfully explored in The Scent Keeper. The novel follows Emmeline, a person who can read the history and journey of an item simply by its scent. Her father teaches her about the natural world using her senses as she grows up on a remote island off British Columbia. She discovers mysterious scents closed in little bottles that line the walls of her home. There comes a time where she must leave the island, and with it comes growing up, friendship, love, grief, and family. The Scent Keeper goes great with a reading nook and a cup of peppermint tea. Do you remember the first time you smelled peppermint tea?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation By Ottessa Moshfegh (2019)

A young, talented, and beautiful Columbia graduate has endless possibilities. She’s got an easy job and has lots of inheritance. She should be having the time of her life. But something doesn’t feel quite right. Could it be personal loss, an unhealthy relationship, or perhaps another issue? Ottessa Moshfegh’s second novel is, if anything, bold. It doesn’t shy away from any of life’s unpleasantries. You’ll find out that Moshfegh certainly has a way with words in this darkly humorous story of a woman who is trying to sleep for an entire year with prescription medications. The wry observational wit will cause you to chuckle, even when you know that you shouldn’t.

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg By Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik (2015)

Lawyer. Jurist. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Feminist Icon. There are many roles one thinks of when RBG is mentioned. Her mark on history is undeniable, and her support for gender equality and human rights inspires people across generations. It’s well known that she was a role model for millions of people across the globe and that she possessed noble convictions. Notorious RBG gives you a look into her life’s work, her struggles, and victories.