Always a lover of books, turning the pages of a novel takes me away to a story and a world that interests me. From stories of real life to adventures from the mind and beyond the words engulf me and take me away. I can’t wait for the next page I turn.
The Best Books I’ve read in 2021
My last look at the books I’ve been reading came in the start of Jul.
In that July post, you can read it here https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2021/07/04/more-page-turners-my-2021-q2-books/:. I recommended Wade Davis’s “Magdalena”, “The Fight for History” by Tim Cook and Celine Caesar Chavannes’ post Parliament biography “Can you hear me know?”.
Last April’s page turners post I recommended books by Sir Winston Churchill, “The Great Republic” and Anne Applebaum’s “The Twilight of Democracy”. Read about them here, https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2021/04/01/pages-turners-for-the-2021-so-far/
In Fiction, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings, The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett and the latest in Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series The Bone Code were all good entertaining reads.
Most of 2021 was a non-fiction read. I’ve read a couple based on Munk Dialogue presentations; “The Madness of the Crowds” by Douglas Murray and “We Need new Stories” by Nesrine Malik. Both authors look at societal changes from opposite political views but within a Ven diagram both stand for understanding, listening while being able to speak our views peacefully. They both challenge you but are worthwhile if you can fight the urge to put it down because of their personal views.
Peter Mansbridge published “Off the Record”, an accounting of stories and events in his life from his arrival in Canada from the UK, to the overseas postings his father held and his career in journalism. Mansbridge has had a great career in media and his work in the CBC has given many opportunities and he gladly share these with his readers. Overall, this was a good book. Where I felt challenged was with the length of entries. As a reader I like the longer reads, I can treat them like a run, with a warmup, keep a good pace and race to the finish. Many of the stories were done before my warmup was completed. I gave this advice to Bob Wiseman with I reviewed Music Lessons, breaking the stories into themes, and creating chapters would have created a more cohesive read of Off the Record, although hearing Mansbridge in your head while reading is a thing of joy.
The second half of the year saw me pick up two political books, “Lucky” by Jonathan Allen and Ami Parnes, the same pair that brought us Hilary Clinton’s 2016 election postmortem. It describes the unlike path to victory, one that cannot be replicated in 2022 for a Biden second term.
I had “An Inconvenient Indian” on myself for a while and made it a point to read it in 2021, especially after the discovery of buried bodies property of Residential Schools in May. Thomas King, the author gives a chronological accounting of North American Indigenous Peoples, it is very interesting that treatment of Indigenous people hasn’t really changed in the many generations since The British, French, and Spanish came to North America. I think back to that book often and now feel that it needs to be reread. I’ve since lent it out to others and when it finds its way back, I’ll give it a rare, for me, second read.
Lastly, Jody Wilson Raybould’s “Indian in the Cabinet” is a great read, yes, you get right ot the point of her relationship to the Prime Minister in the opening pages, but more importantly give Canadian’s an insider view of government and cabinet that isn’t lightly glossed over. JWR gives as much information as she can on the issues that were huge to her political career. She makes important disclosures to Cabinet confidence. It really is a tell all book, telling about as much as she can without leaving us wondering too much. Like Caesar Chavennes, JWR’s run into and then out of politics was fraught with pain and turmoil brought on by actions of others. I don’t recommend this book to read about the failings of the PM, but rather on the strength and abilities of JWR. We can all be a better nation if JWR decides to seek political office again.
What were your favourites of 2021? Leave a comment or email me at rdmedia@bell.net your best reads of the year.
The Best Books I’ve read in 2020
2020 was a good year for me, in books. I finished 22 books and started my 23nd of the year in December, which will be the first I complete in 2021. Most of the 22 books I’ve enjoyed, only one rubbed me the wrong way. I wrote about it early 2020, here is the link. That post also is about the best books I read in 2020. I also decided to jump into a couple of series; Kathy Reichs’s ‘Bones’ series, I read the first and the latest in the series of 27 books and Mark Burnell’s thrilling Stephanie Patrick four book series. To read the entire post click here: https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2021/01/16/the-best-books-that-i-read-of-2020/
Beyond the Trees by Adam Shoalts (posted March 7, 2020)
Yep, I read what will be my best read in 2020. So I can pack away my library card and put away all the books I am planning on reading this year just because none of them will be any better. I should also add in the few weeks of this year I have also read what will most likely be my worst read of the year. To read the rest of this review please click here https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/3019
Open Look by Jay Triano (Posted April 30, 2019)
The NBA playoffs are in full swing; the Toronto Raptors are in the second round and fans are hoping for a championship come June. Though this book was published November of 2018, the NBA playoffs are as good a time as ever to tell Jay Triano’s story and his rise through in the world of basketball, his dreams of playing for Canada’s Nationals team, winning championships and coaching in the NBA.
To read the rest of this review please click here: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2856
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff define every Presidency by Chris Whipple. (Posted January 20, 2019)
Since the creation of the position of “White House Chief of Staff” in 1946, thirty-three men have had the ear of the President. In the years since there has only been one extended period where a President did not have a ‘Chief’, for 909 days President Carter chose to not name a Chief of Staff (Cos), or rather HE acted as his own chief. For over 60% of his presidency, because of his decision, Jimmy Carter could not focus 100% on his job as he was doing a job that should have gone to someone else. Pundits feel he didn’t get it right until the last 7 months of his term, too late to avoid defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980.
To read the rest of the review click on this link: https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2019/01/20/the-gatekeepers.
How the Scots Invented Canada by Ken McGoogan (Posted April 7, 2019)
April 6th is Tartan Day in Canada, how appropriate that I sit and write a few words about a book I first spotted in the office of a Senator when I toured the new Senate building a few weeks back.
To read the rest of the review click on this link: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2850
The Wayfinders by Wade Davis (Posted April 22, 2018)
There is a saying, ‘a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing’, it is derived from English poet Alexander Pope’s poem “A Little Learning”. The earliest known printing of the poem is 1709. For the full poem click here: https://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Pope/a_little_learning.htm. I think of this after reading the CBC Massey Lectures, a collection of five lectures entitled “The Wayfinders” by Canadian Anthropologist and explorer-in-residence of National Geographic Wade Davis. Click here to read the full review: https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2018/04/22/ancient-wisdom-and-knowledge-is-it-forever-lost
Saving Capitalism by Robert B Reich, The Darkest Hour by Anthony McCarten and The Wayfinders bt Wade Davis (Posted April 15, 2019)
I recently took a week to relax and catch up on some books that had been awaiting my attention. In this edition of #RedHeartBlueSign I present three short reviews of those books. The books reviewed are Saving Capitalism by Robert B. Reich; The Darkest Hour written by Anthony and The Wayfinders by Wade Davis. Tread the full post of these three mini reviews click here: https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2018/04/15/3-books-3-reviews
On the House by Rob Walsh (Posted January 14, 2018)
In a year of living politically, it challenges me to read more so I know and understand more. The first challenge was to learn about what my political reality really is. As a ‘staffer’ on Parliament Hill I had knowledge of the happening of the activities of how Parliament Hill “works. What I needed was an understanding of why it works the way it does and the historical and constitutional contexts that Canada is governed by.
To read the rest of the review click here: https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2018/01/14/on-the-house-by-rob-walsh
No is not enough by Naomi Klein (Posted January 20, 2018)
The Leap Manifesto brought down a federal NDP leader and left the same party with a void in its leadership until late 2017. Following the 2015 Canadian election at the post election leadership review convention of the New Democratic Party (NDP) the membership passed a motion to adopt the Leap Manifesto as policy. The full review is right here: https://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/naomi-klein-the-leap-manifesto-and-de-trumping