Friday Reads is a new weekly feature here on
Cityline.ca, where we give you a behind-the-scenes look at what
Cityline guest experts and staff members are reading. Each week we’ll
put the spotlight on the “Friday Reads” of two of our crew. This week,
we’re taking a peek at the bookshelves of Sarah Gunn and Carolyn Graham.
Sarah Gunn, guest expert:
When I first heard what the book, Room by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins), was about I was reluctant to read it; I was afraid it would be too upsetting to read a story about a woman, Ma, and her young son, Jack, locked in a room by an evil man they call Old Nick. It was upsetting but it was also beautiful.
Emma Donoghue wrote the story entirely from five-year-old Jack’s perspective, in Jack’s sweet, sometimes made-up, words. It is charming, heartbreaking and, even, sometimes, funny. The way that ‘Ma’ created a world for Jack to learn and grow in the confines of a room where they are held captive is amazing. The way the story unfolds feels real; happy endings aren’t always as happy as you hope they will be. For these reasons and more, Room is on my top ten must-read list.
Carolyn Graham, director / health & family producer:
I need to start this review of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House) with a disclaimer. This is a non-fiction book – not the genre of book I usually read. I normally read only fiction. In fact, I cannot name the last non-fiction book that I have read. I was given the book more than a year ago. One day, in between books, I picked this up and I am still reading.
This book is a true account of Italian-American Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete and World War II bombardier. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, escaping trouble with a talent for running fast. He uses this talent to take him to the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
During World War II, his plane crashes in the ocean and he endures 47 days drifting in the ocean on a small raft with only one other survivor, and almost no provisions. They both are captured and sent to a POW camp. Louis’ personal courage and ingenuity in the face of horrific events have kept me turning the pages. This is a well written narrative of one man’s resilience, a story of the trump of the human mind, body, and spirit. I have not finished this book yet, but it may change my previous avoidance of non-fiction books.
What are you reading this Friday? Tell us in the comments what books are currently residing on your bedside table!