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My Summer Reading List

Summer is here, and I am about to head out on vacation. For me that means lots of camping and, this time around anyways, beaching. When  I'm not eating marshmallows or exploring the rugged British Columbia coast line, I will be reading.

Here's the three books I will be reading:

The Game by Ken Dryden. It has been a few years since I've read this book, so it is time to revisit this old friend. It is hailed without much disagreement as the best hockey book ever written. When I interview authors I always ask them what their favorite hockey book is and unfailingly they all - Jack Falla and Michael McKinley most notably - say Dryden's The Game is hockey's greatest piece of literature. This title also available on Kindle.

Speaking of Michael McKinley, I definitely plan on reading his first novel, The Penalty Killing.. For all of it's unmistakable place in our culture, hockey has failed to catch on in the world of fiction (outside of the Young Adult category anyways). This has not been a problem for other sports, especially baseball of course. McKinley's offering has had great reviews so perhaps this is the book that spawns a golden age of hockey fiction? As a rule I do not read fiction, but I will stretch my boundaries and tackle Michael McKinley's The Penalty Killing. This title is also available on Kindle.

I will also pack a non-hockey related book with me. Trust me, I don't get a lot of time to read non-hockey titles, but there are quite a few I would like to. I'm going to read Bastards And Boneheads by Will Ferguson. It is a look at Canadian history specifically through the actions and legacies of Canada's Prime Ministers over the years, all of whom are neatly categorized either as a bastard or bonehead by our comedian author. Ferguson certainly had a unique outlook and a funny text, but his book is also overflowing in history that I, as a Canadian, think I should know. Ferguson is without a doubt my favorite non-hockey author, and he very possibly could rank on top of a list that included hockey authors if I were to really think about it. This title also available on Kindle.

Tell me what's on your reading list. Or suggest other books I should add to mine. Use the site comment form, or chat with me on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

Comments

Kent Morgan said…
While I enjoyed McKinley's mystery, I felt that Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley was much better. He's the Chicago bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, but it's clear he knows his hockey. The second book in the series, which is set in Michigan, is titled The Hanging Tree and is just out. The plot revolves around the building of a new rink in Starvation Lake, a community that lives and dies for its hockey team.
August 13, 2010 at 8:32 PM
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