Posted at 8:00 a.m.
My junior encyclopedia of Quebec
“ I have two young children, 2 and 4 years old. And when I arrive on vacation, there is a part of me that wants to read about politics, but there is a part of me that wants to completely escape, to preserve a bubble where politics no longer inhabit me. And it’s not always easy to balance. During my vacation this summer, I am going to Témiscamingue because I bought agricultural land on which there is an abandoned ancestral house. With the friends with whom I bought the land, we are going to try to patch up the house. So that’s kind of what’s going to take care of me. In this context, the readings that I have are not spectacular, but are the reflection of my life. I have already purchased My junior encyclopedia of Quebec and My big animal from Quebec and I started reading them with my children. They love animals. They are very curious to know where we are and what is Quebec, because their dad spends all their time talking about Quebec and then walking all over Quebec, so they are very fascinated. When I tell them that I’m going to Gaspésie, they want to know what it is and the book allows me to show them the plants, what it is, the tundra, the deciduous trees, the animals found in each place. And that, for sure, is one of the readings of my summer because these are times with my children. Reading before bed is half an hour when my children are glued to me – or lying on me sometimes! – and we answer all their questions. »
My junior encyclopedia of Quebec
Collective
Editions Petits Genies
René Lévesque: Something like a great man
“On my side, I’ve had this comic literally lying around with my stockings and my boxers in my first drawer for several months, but I couldn’t [à la lire]. I just delivered a speech [la semaine dernière] on the 100e [anniversaire de naissance] by Rene Levesque. So this summer, I want to fly over it to get perspective, an overview of what I’m doing with my life in light of what others have gone through for the same cause. »
René Lévesque: Something like a great man
Collective
Marrow Graphic
History of Ukraine, from the origins to the first years of independence
“This book, I think I’m going to read it to escape, precisely. It detaches me from Quebec politics while being in my favorite subjects. In other words, it’s not active politics because it’s not Quebec, but it’s still very interesting. I have already visited Kyiv, in 2017, and I am very interested in the history of the Vikings, European migrations (because I lived in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, for a total of more than three years in Scandinavia), to the whole migration of what became the Russian people, the Russian claims about the connection between Ukrainians and Russians and the – in my opinion, more accurate – claim of the Ukrainians that they are in fact a people distinct and, above all, that they have the right to self-determination. What we are going through at the moment gives me a lot of curiosity to understand. When I visited Kyiv, it really didn’t look like a place that could ever be attacked. It looked like an emerging European city like other cities I visited, Riga, Tallinn, Budapest. It’s as if the armed conflict piques my curiosity about the fate of this Ukrainian people, especially since we are going to welcome them in large numbers in Quebec. Our destinies will henceforth be linked. »
History of Ukraine, from the origins to the first years of independence
Arkady Zhukovsky
Dolphin Editions