Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley
Many Canadians around my age first knew Sarah Polley as the “Story Girl” in CBC’s Road to Avonlea. More recently, she’s known for her work directing Alias Grace and Women Talking, movies based on books by Margaret Atwood and Miriam Toews. Sarah Polley’s memoir touches on major events in her life: her experiences as a child actor; her family history; her invisible illnesses; how she overcame her head injury; her experience with Jian Ghomeshi; and her endangered pregnancy. I had no idea Sarah Polley had been through so much. Through it all, she has remained so cool!
The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate
I had to borrow this twice to get all the way through it – it’s a big book that tries to get to the bottom of why, when our doctors have more at their disposal than ever before, is our society sicker than ever? This is a question that interests me, so I was all in for the whole book. The author uses personal stories, including his own, to illustrate many of the ideas, as well as bringing in work done by other doctors and researchers.
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
We can probably all think of times in our life when we were near death. There was that time I was crossing the road with my children and a speeding car came out of nowhere and missed us by a hair. Or the time, as a child, my sister and I were being chased by an angry cow and we had to climb a tree and wait her out. O’Farrell talks about 17 such instances when her life was in peril and how these experiences define who she is today.
Ultraprocessed People by Chris van Tulleken
I read a lot of stuff on this type of thing, but I still got a lot out of this book. I was able to spout off scary stats and interesting anecdotes to my family as I listened, which is something I love to do (and feel sure they love it just as much). Although there was a lot of interesting science in here, the bottom line is not hard to understand: eating processed foods is bad for you – if you don’t know what’s in it, you probably don’t want to eat it. It’s always good to be reminded – it’s so easy to stray off the path and from there it’s a slippery slope!
Pageboy by Elliott Page
I had no idea Elliott Page had such a hard life. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to read this; that he bared his pain for us all to read about. I wish him all the happiness from here on in.
Truth Telling by Michelle Good
I wish I could remember this one better so that I could impress upon you how powerful I found it. Michelle Good uncovers the myths of colonialism and emphasizes the necessity of telling the truth about what really happened (and continues to happen) if we’re ever going to be able to move forward and heal. I would listen to this one again.
Acadian Driftwood by Tyler LeBlanc
Tyler LeBlanc went from not knowing he had an Acadian heritage to being able to trace it all the way back to before the Acadian Expulsion in 1755. Tyler tells the story of many of these ancestors, where they came from and when, and what happened to them after the Expulsion. I found LeBlanc’s storytelling compelling and enjoyed every minute. Very deserving of the double-award win at the 2021 Atlantic Book Awards.
1000 Words by Jami Attenberg
Inspired by Jami Attenberg’s #1000WordsofSummer, this book contains motivational essays and letters–written by a variety of writers in addition to Attenberg–for writers who might or might not be experiencing “writers’ block.” Probably works best in print so you can open it up randomly whenever you’re looking for a little inspiration.
The Road Years by Rick Mercer
The Road Years is the follow up to Talking to Canadians. It focuses mainly on The Rick Mercer Report, which ran for 15 seasons. Mercer talks about some of his favourite experiences he and his team had while working on the show, the places they went, and especially the people they met. It’s good, clean fun, and it had me googling a lot of Mercer Report clips on Youtube. This is a great book to listen to, obviously, because it’s Rick Mercer talking right to you. Check out this “rant” from 2018.
Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier
Reading this was probably a mistake, but it still gave me something to think about. Can any parent resist the subtitle “Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up”? I had to know if I had made any big mistakes!
The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell
Reading this was probably also a mistake. It terrified me. For weeks after reading it I went around reminding my kids not to be out long in the heat and to make sure they had lots of water with them and not to go for long hikes in the woods in the heat of the summer without telling someone. Oh, and don’t forget your hat!
Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie
Luckily, I read this one next and it made me feel so much better. It’s still realistic, but it’s also hopeful. I’ve been recommending it to everyone. Here’s her TED Talk from 2023.
What have you been listening to lately?
Consumed by Ink 
thank you for including the TED talk link for Hannah Ritchie’s book. Very interesting.
You’re welcome! 🙂
The Ritchie appeals. I could do with a dose of realistic optimism. I’m a big Tim Spector fan – his view on nutrition is very similar to van Tulleken’s. His cookbook became our go-to this winter: quick, easy and tasty food.
Now I’m going to have to go look up Tim Spector!
Just put his Food for Life on hold. Thanks, Susan! 🙂
Brilliant! I hope you find it as useful as I do.
I LOVED the O’Farrell. As I’ve read all her novels, it was especially interesting to see how these incidents had influenced her writing.
I’m rereading the O’Farrell for book club this month. Such perfect crystallizations of moments from her life. I love memoirs in essays because they can miss out all the boring bits!
So true! And they’re easier to pick up and put down. (Unless you’re listening to the audiobook. Lol)
I feel like she must have a really good memory. Or she’s been journaling her whole life.
That’s one of the things I liked about it, too. I also hadn’t known very much about her personal life – I enjoyed hearing about her childhood and her children.
I suspect the second last one makes the last one redundant. We babyboomers thought we were the generation to build a sustainable planet, and look how that worked out.
Right now I’m listening to The Inconvenient Indian. If I retain it, always doubtful, I’m going to be full bottle on N American colonialism. Do you think Michelle Good covers the same ground?
I loved The Inconvenient Indian! Michelle Good’s is very different, in content and in tone. Both are so good!
I’m always interested to see the variety of nonfiction you’ll consume on audio! Were these all borrowed via your library? I’d be happy to link to your reviews in my next Love Your Library post (the 31st). The Gabor Mate book has been popular in my library system; I’ve taken it off the shelf to fill reservations several times recently. You’re brave to even attempt books with titles like The Heat Will Kill You First; I would wimp out. Re: processed foods, I always remember Michael Pollan’s pithy advice: if your grandmother wouldn’t recognize the ingredients, it’s not real food.
Michael Pollan has had some good, easily remembered advice over the years. The one I always think of is: “Eat food. Mostly plants.”
I’m always interested in seeing the variety I’ve consumed, too. I don’t really notice it until I make my posts.
They are all from the library! 🙂
#LoveYourLibrary
I have Sarah Polley’s book but was also thinking of listening to it. I definitely grew up with her on TV and her adult success makes me happy, as if she’s an old acquaintance! I’d like to read the Hannah Ritchie book too.
Both are well narrated! You have to pay close attention to Hannah Ritchie, though, if you’re not used to hearing Scottish accents.
You read a couple scary books here – the heat one? Yikes. I’m already paranoid about drinking enough water haha and the ultra-processed foods? Also yikes 🙂
I saw Michelle Good speak a few months ago and she was great. I also just read a book by Marie Wilson called “North of Nowhere” – it’s about her time as one of the three Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners. very powerful read too.
I had no idea that the heat book would be so scary. It’s a good warning to outdoorsy people who live in warmer climates. It’s bad enough here in the summer sometimes… I don’t know if I could live much further south – it must get so hot.
Thanks for the recommendation for North of Nowhere!
I’ve got a copy of Ultra-Processed People checked out now. It’s been a minute since I read a ‘food’ book and I hope I will also get a lot of it. Rick Mercer’s book sounds like it might be a fun summer reade.
I liked how in-depth Ultra-Processed People went into the science and psychology of eating processed foods.. Food fascinates me. And I like to eat! Lol
Gabor Maté is awesome. It took me ages to read this one (in print) but I never thought of quitting…it was all so interesting and different. And what an enticing read alongside/near Shrier’s book. I think she makes a lot of great points in her journalism, but I feel like the marketing is deliberately provocative and I suspect that puts off some readers. But what have I been listening to? Nothing. Nothing! lol And I know I mentioned to you that I had been scrolling through the Libby options recently and just couldn’t settle on anything, and that’s still the case. My podcast listening is keeping me so engaged that adding audiobooks in right now feels like an overload. But, at the same time, I feel like I’m missing that sense of “something to return to” in my listening, rather than simply the “next episode” in a podcast series, if that makes any sense. Maybe I should go for another Libby-browse…
And I feel so engaged by my libby books that I don’t know how I would be able to fit more podcast listening into my schedule. Especially now that I’ve gotten good at listening to fiction as well as nonfiction! (And now I’m worried that I’ll be back to mostly fiction in audio as well as in print form. Lol)
Shrier did make some good points that got me thinking, but her narration was off-putting the way she was mocking any opinion that went against her own ideas. Maybe better to read that one than listen to it.
Gabor Mate has had quite a remarkable career, hasn’t he?
I really enjoyed The Myth of Normal. I bet it was a good audiobook. Truth Telling sounds really good. Lots of good stuff here, Naomi!
It took me two different borrowing periods to finish the whole book, but it was totally worth it!