Our board and staff share their favourites
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While Thanksgiving is traditionally a time when families big and small get together, the holiday weekend is also an opportunity to catch up on reading. Diving head first into a great book offers you an escape when you need it most—respite from an overbearing in-law, or your uncle’s politically incorrect “jokes”. Once the plates are stacked in the dishwasher, a few hours curled up reading will aid the digestion of too much turkey too!
If you can’t decide on what to read, fear not. We’ve asked the MCWC’s board and staff for a few suggestions of books they’ve loved:
Board member Georgina Marie says: “As a poet, I spend much of my reading time diving into collections of contemporary poetry and the occasional classic. However, over the past few years I have found a new love for memoir and creative non-fiction. Here are two of my top recommendations:
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch: In 2018, my sister passed away and I thought I’d never read another book or write another poem. Both made me sick to my stomach when I tried. Then I found myself in a bookstore in San Diego and this book caught my eye. When I read the back cover, it was almost as if my sister had picked this out for me. It held me in my grief and motivated me to embrace words again.
I Hate to Leave This Beautiful Place by Howard Norman: My second recommendation was a toss-up between The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and this book by Howard Norman. Both, again, found their way to me in a time of grief. I met Howard Norman in 2019 at a writers’ conference. He was down-to-earth, autographed my copy of this book, and complimented a bird poem I read at an open mic. After reading this book, I can see why the bird poem stood out to him, among the many birds of Point Reyes he wrote about in this memoir of life, exploration, and unexpected events.”
Board member Anna Levy writes: “It's hard to recommend books for others—it feels like such a risk—but one that has really stuck with me is How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones. It's an intense book—about racism, sexuality, identity development, trauma, and so much more—that really impacted me; I think about it often. If you're in the mood to dive deep this holiday, this might be the one for you.”
Board Vice-President Laura Welter says: “For you fans of biographies, I highly recommend The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies by Jason Fagone. Elizebeth Friedman was a brilliant woman, but due to the secrecy surrounding her work during both World Wars, her stunning accomplishments weren't widely recognized during her lifetime.”
Board President Kara Vernor shares: “For those in strained, blended families, I would recommend Thomas Savage’s The Power of the Dog. It's a brutal portrait of family dynamics in 1920s Montana that is so harsh, it's bound to make you feel better about your own struggles with family. Now is a great time to read it, both with Thanksgiving approaching and with the movie’s impending release. Directed by Jane Campion (my favorite director), the movie adaptation will be released on Netflix on December 1.”
Executive Director Lisa Locascio Nighthawk says: “I'd like to recommend The Round House by Louise Erdrich, White Magic by Elissa Washuta, and Heart Berries by Therese Marie Mailhot. Thanksgiving is an important time of year to read Native writers, listen to their stories, and challenge mainstream narratives about American history.”
Find out more about the MCWC’s board and staff on our website.
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