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 Carolyn Graham and Fiona Clark:
Carolyn Graham, Director / Health & Family Producer:
I have just started The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (Doubleday Canada). This is the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. Set mostly in Paris, in the 1920s, this story is told written from Hadley’s point of view.
Hadley is a 28-year-old who has all but given up on marriage. She meets Ernest Hemingway and is drawn to his good looks and passion for life. They marry and move to Paris, where they fall in with a group of expatriates that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
I am thoroughly enjoying the rich characters, smart dialogue and the descriptions of Paris in the ’20s.
Fiona Clark, Home Day Producer:
Since buying my iPod Touch a few months ago, I’ve started downloading books and audio books from the public library and I’m hooked!
The latest one is a true story: We Bought A Zoo by Benjamin Mee (Doubleday Canada) – it’s about a family who buys a rundown zoo in Devon, England, and, in a race against tight deadlines and red tape, restores it and manages to open to the public.
The audio book is read by Gildart Jackson – and he has the perfect voice, as the book is full of dry English humour. It’s also tinged with sadness as Benjamin’s wife is diagnosed with a brain tumour.
A BBC documentary crew followed the zoo’s purchase and restoration and the story is now a movie starring Matt Damon.
What are you reading this Friday? Tell us in the comments what books are currently residing on your bedside table!