Looking for something to read to take your mind off this awful world? I have some suggestions, based on my readings of 2022. A word of caution for fiction fans – I read nothing but non-fiction; I just find the real world so much more amazing than anything any writer can create. So, with that warning, here are some of my favourite books I read in 2022.
We begin with history (please don’t turn away!) Let’s start with that most elusive of creatures, interesting Canadian history.
The Fight for History by Tim Cook looks at Canada’s post-WWII history and our often conflicted relationship with it (did you know that we never built a memorial to the dead of the Second World War?). If you care about our history, this book will make you angry. Also by Prof. Cook, The Madman and the Butcher takes a comprehensive look back at the two most important Canadian figures of the First World War, politician Sam Hughes (the madman), and military man General Arthur Currie (the butcher). It’s a little heavy on military manoeuvers, but well worthwhile.
Moving along, Churchill & Son by Josh Ireland details the relationship between the great man and his only son, who proved to be a spoiled, self-indulgent, argumentative, trouble-making, philandering, alcoholic jerk, thanks to his indulgent father. The Confidence Men by Margalit Fox is an insane prison escape story from WWII, where two prisoners devise a bizarre plan – they convince their captors that there is buried treasure outside the prison, and only they can tell their captors where it is. No fiction writer could create something as weird as this.
Digging into vintage history books, The Winter Years by James H. Grey (1966) is the most comprehensive document about life on the Prairies during the depression, written by a man who lived through it all. I had to get this one from an out-of-town library, since the Edmonton Public Library, to its shame, does not have it on its shelves. It’s a must-read for Canadian history buffs, as is And No Birds Sang, (1979) Farley Mowat’s classic memoir of WWI.
And now for something completely different, Sex With Presidents by Eleanor Herman is a juicy and highly readable compendium of U.S. presidential sex scandals that are surprising, even shocking. Some of these guys were straight-up dirtbags.
Contemporary history: I really enjoyed In With the Devil (also known as Blackbird) by James Keene (guy turns informant in prison to earn his release), the basis for the excellent Apple TV series Blackbird. I also enjoyed The Greatest Beer Run Ever, by John Donahue (guy makes a beer run – to Vietnam) is the basis for the Apple TV movie of the same name. Continuing with my habit of watching a TV series then reading the book it is based on, Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein – yep, an Apple TV series – is an eye-opening memoir by an American reporter working the crime beat for Japanese newspapers. Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath by Bill Browder says it all in the title (one warning: Browder’s writing is pretty bad, but the story is great). Black Ops by Ric Pardo goes deep into the CIA, the most secretive, least understood agency in America. Off the Record, by former CBC reporter/anchor Peter Mansbridge, is OK, but almost entirely free of juicy behind-the-scenes tidbits.
Entertainment: Two books by music journalist Phillip Norman – Rave On (the Buddy Holly story) and Wild Thing (Jimmi Hendrix) are outstanding; I never thought the Buddy Holly story would be so interesting. The Boys by Ron Howard (Opie from the Andy Griffith Show, and of course later a director of much acclaim) and his brother Clint (he played the kid on Gentle Ben, but struggled after) is one of the best Hollywood books I’ve ever read. Paul Newman: A Life (from 2009, not the new 2022 bio) by Shawn Levy is excellent, as is Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama by Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul). A big disappointment was All About Me!, by the great comic filmmaker, Mel Brooks. (He really has no interest in telling his personal story; his first wife is only introduced in the book when he mentions his DIVORCE from his first wife, who remains nameless.) And the writing is shockingly poor.
Sports: Ice War Diplomat by Gary J. Smith lifts the curtain on the political machinations behind the Summit Series of’ 72. And 1972, The Series that Changed Hockey Forever, by Scott Morrison, is a comprehensive look back at the epic series, if a little dry. Still with hockey, I can’t believe it has taken me this long to read Searching for Bobby Orr, Stephen Brunt’s brilliant biography of one of hockey’s all-time greats. (Avoid Bobby Orr’s biography; it’s terrible.) Perhaps my favourite book of all 2022, Football for a Buck, by Jeff Pearlman, is about the rise and fall of the USFL. It’s absolutely nuts, and hugely entertaining even if you don’t know a punt from a pass.
And in a category all by itself, 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet by Pamela Paul is a delight.
There, that ought to keep you busy for 2023.
In This Corner 