The Current - What should you read this summer?

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

We have a tradition at The Current of helping you build your summer reading list. Our panel of book experts is here to help. Penny Warris owns Analog Books with her husband Scott in Lethbridge, Alberta. And Josh Cockerill is a Manager at Type Books in Toronto. They talk through their picks for best beach reads, hidden gems, non-fiction, kids books, and more. 

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Personally, discount Dave and the Fix. Available now on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. Summer is finally here. Many of us are making plans to start slowing down. You might be plotting your vacation, heading to the beach, maybe a cottage, a park, just your backyard.

For so many of us, summer is a time to dive into books. The question is, what should you read this? summer. We have a bit of a tradition here at the current. We build a summer reading list and to help us make that list, I'm joined by two people who know books. Penny Warris and her husband Scott own analog books in Lethbridge, Alberta, and Josh Cockrell is a manager at Type Books in Toronto. Good morning to you both. Good morning. Josh, what makes a good book to read in the summer? I mean, you could read books throughout the year. Summer is different. What makes a good summer read? Well, summer lifestyle being different, you know, sometimes the intense convergence of downtime, but also, you know, having to

light the barbecue. So I think there's lots of things competing for our attention. So I think a good summer read, it's good when it's when it's punchy. It's something you can pick up and put down, so maybe not too intricate. And it also has that feeling carry some of those summer feelings, which is maybe just fun or joyful or hopeful books. they can make for great summer reads. Penny, what do you look for in a summer read?

Yeah, very similar. We often think about when people buy a book that they think that they're buying the time to read it. And, of course, that's not always the case. But sometimes in summertime, we have the excuse to just sit and read the book. So I think a book that's really compelling, it gives you the feeling that you didn't actually have to accomplish something today more than reading the book and that you can escape into a different world. I think that that's a really important summer read.

Okay. So we're building a list, and there are a lot of great books, and we'll hear about a lot of them. But Penny, is there one book that you think everyone will be reading this summer? That if you're on the bus or at the beach or walking around, you're going to see a lot of people with that book in their hands. Well, I'd certainly say for us that would be yesteryear by Carol Claire Burke. Okay. This is the one about the Tradwife influencer. She has the perfect life.

She's an influencer. She has perfect kids. And, of course, none of that's true. And you really, really hate her. And then she wakes up one morning. She's in 1855, and she's actually living the traditional life. She doesn't know why, and neither do you. So the book really works best that if you just don't think about it too much and you just enjoy the ride.

But it's going to be one that people are going to be talking about a lot. And it's definitely one that's high on most people's list. Josh, is there a book of the summer? Looking into My Crystal Ball, there is a book by Dan Werb, who's a previous winner of the Writers' Trust Award for Nonfiction, called Our Wild Familiers. His new book, it's about animals adapting to and living in cities alongside humans. So I think it's super interesting for a nonfiction book or nature writing, I read it for reasons of those tidbits that are going to, you know, expand my thinking or to say it a different way, blow my mind.

This book is full of them and it's a international scope, you know, like Bengal Tigers in India, raccoons in Toronto, giant Pacific octopus. in the Puget Sound, and it's just a great kind of hopeful book talking about, you know, living in these changing climates. Why do you think people will pick that up now? I think people are looking for new ways to think of the world. So whether that's finding hope in looking at ecosystems that are in flux, but also to just be able to rethink the way their position in the world and look for hopeful ways forward, you know, cities are often bemoaned for being not very biodiverse, but something that Dan taught me with this book

is that cities are amongst the most biodiverse places on earth. So I think it's these kinds of reframing of our own narrative that people are drawn to. Fabulous. Penny, give us more books. Tell us about some other things that you already know people may be reading or may want to read this summer. Well, my favorite, and we've been selling tons of this,

is Theo of Golden by Alan Levy. So it's the story of an older man. He's 87 years old. He moves to a new town. And he goes to the local coffee shop. And there are portraits of the local people that have, it's been drawn by an artist. And the portraits are up on the wall. And they're all for sale.

So he buys them. And then he goes and finds the person and bestows their portrait on them. And when he does this, he finds out their story. So it's an amazing story of community and it's amazing story of Theo. And you don't really, there's a mystery behind him. You don't really know who he is and why he's doing this. It's really a fabulous story and it's a perfect summer read. Most people that have come back that have read it have said that it was definitely one of their favorite books of the year.

Give us another one. Canadian, I really loved the infinite sadness of small appliances. This is for people that loved the Brave Little Toaster. It's very witty and quite profound, actually. It's a story from Glenn Dixon. He's actually a Calgary writer. And it's a bit of a soft 1984. All the appliances are sentient.

And they take care of the humans that live in the house. And the Rumba is listening to the gentleman read, To Kill a Mockingbird. and she decides that she wants to become like scout and save the family that lives in the house. So you fall in love with this little Roomba and the appliances. And it's a very witty, well-told book. And it's quite an enjoyable read, even though the appliances are taking over. I don't want my Roombie to take over.

I'm not interested in my Roomba taking over. You don't want your roommate to take it over, but you would want Scout to be taking over. Yeah, she's watching out for the humans. That's a really fun one to enjoy this summer. Josh, what else is flying out of the bookstore these days? What are people grabbing? Summer's just starting, and so people are thinking about the break. What else are people grabbing?

Well, that kind of surrealist thinking about the Rumba taking over the house does remind me of there is a book called City Like Water from a writer from a Hong Kong called Dorothy Tse. And it's a surrealist, absurdist at times look at, life under authoritarian rule. It's the, you know, here we are, what, almost six months into the new year. I've already read this book twice. What? City like Water.

Really? Well, it's only 96 pages. But you read it twice? I've read it twice. I love it so much. Because it's, I think it's kind of prescient in, uh, in just, uh, the life and in the language, you know, erosion of civil liberties and so forth. Um, it's also very funny.

It's got short chapters. It's very kind of tightly plotted. It's a hit for sure. And we're selling lots of it. Can I ask you about a couple of just names that people have mentioned to me because I'm going to take some time off? People are like, oh, have you read this? Have you read this?

One is the new Meggeo Farrell book? Land, yeah. That's a big one. She wrote Hamnet, which all the Oscars and what have you. What do we know about this book? So I'll just say quickly about Hamnet. That's the only book that's ever made me weep, okay? And I and I see.

Yeah. And I say that proudly. I'm happy that Ahamonet made me weep at the end. And this new book, Land, I think it's really typing. It's really getting into the zeitgeist thing that I feel is happening right now, which is the idea of like the bog being a place that's restorative. I kind of feel this. I can't explain it, but I do feel it this idea that people are going back to the land,

they're going back to these bog areas, finding answers to the future by, you know, peering into the past. And I think that Meggio Farrell has done this with land. And it is really exciting. There's a new book as well by Anne Patchett, Whistler? This is, this is, people keep telling me about this book. I don't know anything about it, but people keep saying, well, you should add that to your file as well. Yeah, you absolutely have to.

Whistler, it has a horse on the front of it, but it's not about a horse. It's about a woman that is in New York that is meeting up with her stepfather. She hasn't seen him since she was. nine years old and they reconnect. So in typical Ann Patchett style, there's grief, there's looking back at their past life and a new connection. So it's definitely going to be the hot book of the summer as well. And I totally agree with land. I think that any books about Ireland are hot now, but I think that Megio-Ferro will definitely hit it out of the park with this one. What about the correspondent, Penny? This is another book that people keep talking about, in part

because of what it's about, but also what it's got people thinking about, right, in terms of how they might want to communicate with other people? Absolutely. So the correspondent is written, again, it's an older woman. She's 87 or 85, and she's looking back at her life, but she has always written letters. So the whole book is written in letters to her and from her. And it's just an amazing way of creating these characters through these letters. and she is going to lose her eyesight.

So she decides that maybe she needs to experience some things before that. So her whole book has been written almost as a third person and, you know, through these letters. And then she starts to experience her life. It's been huge for us for selling it. But also it's created a whole sort of resurgence of letter writing. And at Analog Books, we've actually started letter writing nights and people are coming in and we're discussing the correspondent. and we're writing letters to pen pals and to people that we've never met. It's quite incredible.

This feels like a very analog thing for analog books. That's perfect. Absolutely. And in the correspondent, she actually writes to Anne Patchett. So Anne Patchett has asked for people to stop writing to her because she gets so many letters. So, yeah, there's a tie in there, too. Josh, tell us about something Canadian. Is there anything on your list that's local that we might know about?

Yes, absolutely. There's so many great Canadian books out right now. There's one specifically that comes to mind, a Cherry Beach by Don Gilmore. And it's a detective story. So set in Toronto, you know, muggy, summer, atmosphere deals with the murder investigation around two girls found murdered, deals with issues of class, corruption, policing, race, all the good stuff.

Anything else? Canadian? Totally. There's a book, True Crime this time. It's called Murder in Paris, 1968 by Edward Chisholm. So this is, well, as the title suggests, it's set in Paris of 68, and who doesn't love that. And it's kind of like two stories. There's the story of the body and the investigation and trying to unravel the details of this murder.

And then the second story is of this French film star and him living his life with his entourage and his opulence. And then eventually the two storylines converge. So that's a real, again, short chapters, real kind of punchy, true crime read that reads like a novel. As you said, too, doesn't want to be in Paris in 1968 as well, right? That's right. Yeah. We'll be right back with more of the current podcast. If you sold somebody a loaded gun who you knew was in a vulnerable state and they shot themselves.

I think it is murder. Just because you're using the internet doesn't mean you get away with murder. I'm Damon Fairless, host of Hunting Warhead. This season, I take you inside the business. of suicide and the places desperate people go when they can't find what they need in the real world. Hunting the Suicide Salesman. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. What about for you, Penny?

What's good Canadian on your shelf? Well, I don't think we'd have this conversation about talk about the last Mandarin. It's Louise Penny's new book along with Melissa Fung from CBC. It's a political thriller. It's a total standalone. You don't have to have read the rest of Louise Penny's series. Definitely a page turner. It's about, again, sentient and AI in China.

So it's sort of the things that would keep you awake about terrorism in China. But it's amazingly written. Melissa did a great job bringing all the Chinese part of it to it. And a huge page turner on that one. Another Canadian one that I really, I just finished, I really enjoyed is called Wild People Quiet. It's the story of the Métis in southern Saskatchewan in the late 40s. And it's a historical fiction.

And it's written about Florence Banks, who she has asked as white as an adult, even though she's Métis. So she's created this sort of perfect life for herself in a small town. And then one day after 25 years, her brother shows up and he's darker than her and they call him a half breed. And so then she gets outed because of that. And so then slowly she has to start to figure out this persona for herself that she's created that she has to question if anything that she believes about herself is actually true. And she loses a lot but gains a lot in the end. So it's just an amazing story about a time period. I didn't even realize was happening so close to home here in Alberta.

Is this a good time, Josh, to read nonfiction? I mean, again, it's not, it can sound like work to some people. You're reading about something that happened in history. It's not perhaps going to transport you off to life on the beach, or what have you, but there are people who can write nonfiction. We just had Patrick Radin-Keefe on the program. Writes it like a novel. Do you know what I mean?

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, and that's very much the case with murder and Paris 68. I think people are looking to nonfiction to speak on our current moment. And that's not new, but I think what is new is maybe turning a new leaf in terms of like celebrating Canadianness too. So I think there's lots of underappreciation of certain aspects of our Canadian identity, right? Coming to mind is an upcoming book called A Nation of Tinkerers, and it's about the history of electronic music in Canada. Cool. From 1945 to 1965, 65, let's say.

And, you know, when we think of Canadian culture, Canadian music, we think a lot about the impacts of Neil Young and Johnny Mitchell, but we think less about, you know, those undercurrents that brought us to, you know, acts like The Weekend and Bieber and Drake, you know. So I think this is a niche thing that will tap into, you know, people's Canadian pride and also teach them a little bit. about, you know, conversing about parts of our country that we didn't know about or that we under know, underappreciate. People are looking for recommendations. And so they come into your shop or your shops and they're asking for, you know, what should I read? They'll also go online and they'll go to the book talk and see what's there.

Do you hang around the book talk? Do you pay attention to see what people are talking about on book talk, Josh? I've heard of this book talk and I am not familiar. Tell me about this internet. Uninitiated. You are. Yes. Really?

Yes. Entirely uninitiated. entirely uninitiated. I'll know if something's up, if, you know, four people in a day come in asking about for the count of Monte Cristo, for example. Is that what happens? Is that people will come in and they will have read about this and they want that book right away? That's right. What about for you, Penny? Has social media changed people's reading habits in that way in your shop? 100%. Yeah. And I'm 100% with Josh. I like the more popular books. Analog recommendation engine?

Exactly compared to Josh. But yeah, we are, so many of the books in our store are driven by TikTok. And like the County Monte Cristo is a perfect example of that. It just all of a sudden came out of nowhere. And, you know, 18-year-olds are coming in and buying it. You can definitely see that rise, but I don't, I don't pay attention to that and I don't purchase books based on that. We're always a little late on catching up on that one.

But we do have a lot. lot of reps and things that tell us what's going to happen. So I'm completely analog on that one. So the opposite of that then, Penny, how do you recommend a book to somebody that you don't know? If they're just in the shop and they're wandering around and you say, can I help you? And your job is to help them. How do you do that? Yeah. So usually the first thing we ask them is what they've read that they enjoyed or what TV shows they enjoy. And then hopefully one of us will know something that we can give them. Our staff picks are super popular and people come back. They get used to reading the same person's staff pick. But it's definitely an art that takes a long time to figure out and we're still

working on that every day. Josh, what about for you? Because your taste may not be their taste, but you know more in some ways than I do when I come into the shop. You know what's there. I don't know. I want you to tell me what I should spend my time on. That's a big responsibility. How do you do it? It is a big responsibility, but it's really the romantic aspect of the job, of the bookselling. What do you mean romantic? Well, is that you can introduce people to something that they wouldn't necessarily find elsewhere. Definitely not maybe on the internet, but something that you know is of quality. So it's romantic and that booksellers in a way can be tastemakers.

But everybody that I work with, all my coworkers, we all read deeply. We all read passionately. And there's something really special about being able to put a book in somebody's hands, maybe a book that has changed your own life and that has the potential to change somebody's life or just entertain them. Can you think of an example when you've done that? And perhaps the person has come back into the shop and said, like, this blew me away. Like, you end up with a book hangover after because you've read the book and you can't think of anything else that you wanted to read other than the book that you just read. Has that ever happened in terms of the recommendation that you've given to somebody?

I don't want to sound immodest, but it happens all the time. Yes. It's okay. Give me one example of one of those books. Oh, sure. I mean like, even though this is, this was a really big book, but I think everybody that I hand sold Percival Everett's James to has come back to talk to me about it. For people who, this is an incredible book, but for people who have never, they don't know

anything about this, this book was remarkable. Just explain what the book is. So it's a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim the Slave. So it's about language, it's about community, but it's also, you know, an adventure story. And, you know, when I started reading, it's like, you know, you're back into Antebellum South. And I said, oh, man, I don't want to be here. I kind of don't want to read this. But you're in such caring and capable hands in the hands of Percival Everett.

It's really an amazing book and a slump buster, if anybody's looking for one. A slump buster. Penny, is somebody who isn't a big reader or. life is busy and the phone took all their attention and they have no time and suddenly they think, you know what, I've got a few days off and I need something great. What is a slump buster that you would recommend? A slump buster. Well, one of the ones that affected you, like what Josh just said, for us, was horse and by Geraldine Brooks. And definitely the same kind of time period where it takes place during two time periods. One is during the Civil War and the second one is in modern times. And

just the way she weaves the story about this horse and the slave that takes care of it and the artist that draws the art of it. It's just, it's amazing how she just ties everything in. And it's definitely one that when people came back, they were just like, I need another one like that. That's the best kind of feeling. Forced by Geraldine Brooks. To be able to give the people something that they love. Yeah. Absolutely. It's just, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, It's such a high when someone comes back and says, I read that book and I just thoroughly enjoyed it. And it was the best book I've ever read. There's nothing better than that. That's what keeps us going every morning.

We'll ask you a couple of quick things before we'll let you go. One is for young people, kids and maybe their parents, they want to get them off the phones this summer. Josh, anything that you would recommend for a younger audience? Absolutely. I mean, in terms of picture books, and these are all going to be Canadian picks, the Wise Pickle is a picture book by Sarah Howden. think like Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, but with a pickle and with more laughs. So the Wise Pickle is a great picture book. How does it like pickles? Come on.

I'm sure some people don't, but I don't know. The Wise pickle, that We're going to broke my heart. I was like, that's horrifying. I hope you had some laughs along the way, though. It was very funny. Yeah. And heartbreaking. And then in the Y.A. space, June Hewers behind Five Willows, which is

is a recounting of pride and prejudice, but in historical Korea. That's fantastic. Also, Curtis Campbell's lying, stealing in other ways to save the planet about a high school journalist gone rogue in terms to save a bird conservation area. So lots of things to get excited about with YA and young people's literature. Penny, anything in that category for you? Yeah, First Crush by, it's a graphic novel by Cassandra Callan and Ready Cassette Go by Jared Sitter. So both of those are graphic novels, which are excellent Canadians. And I heard that you're a huge birder, Matt. And in Alberta, we have a new field guide to the birds of Alberta written by David Scott and Gavin McKinnon.

And so David is here in Lathbridge and Gavin's in Calgary. And it's the first time we've had a new. birding book in Alberta for 20 years. So it's a big, it's a big seller for us. So anybody looking for something regional, a field guide to the birds of Alberta. And because, as we know, with climate change, there's different birds here than there was 20 years ago. What is the one thing, Penny, that you want to read? Oh, I've got a couple queued up. I've got the Keeper by Tiana French. She's an Irish writer. That's part of the series with Cal Hopper. And, um, I've got a couple. And, um, Eliza Reed, she has a new one out.

It's called The First Lady Next Door. And she was the president's wife of Iceland. And so that's, I've really enjoyed her books. What about for you, Josh? What's on the pile? I mean, the thing, you guys have the best jobs in some ways that you get to read and tell other people what to read. But what are you telling yourself that you need to make time to read?

I'm really excited for Corey Doctor O's new book. It's called The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI. Big fan of Corey. We just read that. Yeah. It's amazing. So, yeah, don't, no spoilers. No. I'm excited to read that. Also, Madeline Tian's last novel. It's called The Book of Records. It's fabulous. I have actually read that and it's incredible.

Wonderful. I can't wait to dig into that. I love Madeline Tian. We have a big long list. We're going to post it on the website and we're going to ask people for their contributions as well. In the meantime, as I said, the algorithm is overrated. It's better to ask people what we should read and you both have been very generous with this. Penny, thank you very much. Thank you so much. And, Josh, thank you. My pleasure. Penny Warris and her husband, Scott.

Own analog books in Lethbridge, Alberta. Josh Cockrell is a manager at Type Books in Toronto. You can find our summer reading list with all the books that Penny and Josh recommended on the website, cbc.ca.ca. But we need your help in building the list. How do you define what makes a good book, a good summer read? But also, what are you reading this year? What is on your list of things that you want to read?

You can email us the current. at cbc.ca. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca. slash podcasts.