Fancy a read?

I’ve got another great book to add to your summer reading list…Someone Else's Shoes by JoJo Moyes.

Pure chance in a gym locker sends Nisha and Sam home with the other's gym bag; these contain an expensive pair of stilettos and a plain, discount pair of flat shoes with frayed seams.

What happens next dramatically changes each woman's life in many ways, especially in their relationships with and attitudes towards others.  

The plot twists and turns as more characters flesh out the worlds of these two women who literally walk in each other's shoes. ENJOY!

-Jackie Potters, csj Associate

A Summer Read

The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb

Travel back in time to the early 1900s when waves of European immigrants arrive on Ellis Island.  Each group has its own language, culture, and background; yet each person is an individual fleeing untold hardship, hoping to build a better life in America.

Most of the activity takes place on Ellis Island or in nearby New York, a starting point for many.  The realistic situations and the varied cast of characters make for a good story, about the times and human nature.  

It is an engaging look at a time that may have been an early rendition to both the intolerance and warm welcome that Americans offer 'the other'.

- Jackie Potters, csj Associate

Summer Reads

A Recommended Summer Read from a Self-Identified Bookworm

Dear Readers,

If you are on the hunt for an entertaining page-turner to enjoy this summer at the cottage, by the pool, in your backyard or on your porch may I suggest the novel, Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult.

I might be speaking to the converted. Professor Google informs me that this well-known author’s works are translated into thirty-four languages in thirty-five countries, and she has authored twenty-eight novels three of which are, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes and Harvesting the Heart. In addition, five of her novels have become movies: The Pact (2002), Plain Truth (2004) The Tenth Circle (2008), My Sister’s Keeper (2009) and Salem Falls (2012). Even before her latest book had been released, Netflix announced it had acquired the rights to Wish You Were Here, anticipating turning it into a feature film.

I have found each of Jodi Picoult’s novels to be an excellent read. She skillfully tackles current and thought-provoking issues through her thorough research. This captivating author’s riveting writing style is peppered with interesting twists and unexpected turns, which hold the reader’s rapt attention.

If you doubt my recommendation, here is Jodi Picoult in her own words introducing you to her latest book, Wish You Were Here

Happy Reading,

Sister Nancy Wales, csj Avowed Bookworm

In Praise of Walking: A Book Review

In Praise of Walking (A new Scientific Exploration) by Author: Shane O’Mara 2019

Before, and especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, I have acquired the habit of daily walking outdoors. I was not totally aware, however, of the benefits that walking provides until I read Shane O’Mara’s book.

O’Mara entitles one of his chapters “A Balm for Body and Brain”. He asks: “How does walking affect mood, mental health, and brain function? Regular walkers claim that being deprived of the opportunity to walk for even a few days, makes them feel sluggish and tired, and often a little bit down, and that the self-administered cure is simple – to go out for a good walk”. Exercising the heart by walking brings benefits to the head-heart axis. About 20% of the output of the heart goes to the oxygen-energy hungry brain.

A very interesting point that O’ Mara underscores is that when in a study he conducted, the participants were asked to estimate how they currently felt, then estimate how they would feel after a seventeen -minute walk outdoors compared to the same walk indoors in an underground tunnel. The effect of walking outdoors was compelling. Self-rated mood scores improved by about one-third.

“the self-administered cure is simple – to go out for a good walk”

Regular exposure to nature, which is backed up by scientific evidence, has effects on human health and welfare which are positive, measurable, and enduring.

O’Mara states “that the core lesson of his book is this: walking enhances every aspect of our social, psychological and neural functioning. It is the simple, life-enhancing, health building prescription we all need, one that we should take in regular doses, large and small, at a good pace, day in, day out, in nature and in our towns and cities.”    

-Sister Valerie Van Cauwenberghe, CSJ

The Choice - A Book Review

The Choice was acclaimed a Best Seller by the New York Times and came to me highly recommended.  Dr Edith Eger is the 90-year author and an internationally known psychologist.

It begins with her Hungarian Jewish family living in an active neighbourhood and then eventually the rumblings of war, the Nazis, restrictions imposed, and eventually the movement of family and neighbours to Auschwitz in the cattle car of a crowded train.  At arrival into the camp separation of parents and children occurs.  Edith, a teenager excelling in ballet and gymnastics is allowed to remain with her sister while her dear Mom and Dad are separated and faced immediate death.  

“Hope is the boldest act of imagination I know”

— Edith Eva Eger

Edith and her sister are courageous survivors of horrific trauma. However, throughout their years of concentration, they maintained that hope was essential.  Hope for another day urged them on each day.  “Hope is the boldest act of imagination I know,” Edith writes.  In 1945, the prisoners in the camp are liberated by the American soldiers.  Edith is discovered among the dying prisoners. In her study and work as a psychologist, Edith discovers a valuable way to use her personal traumatic, experiences to assist others: 

“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability, they are a gift.”

 -Sister Mabel St. Louis, csj

““Change is about interrupting the habits and patterns that no longer serve us” ”