We like consuming words on the page almost as much as we like consuming food on the plate. Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we’re reading, what’s staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we’ve already read and recommend.

Currently Reading & Recommended

All Fours, by Miranda July | Fans of the LA-based weirdo/artist/filmmaker/author, rejoice! July’s sophomore novel – an unconventional mid-life crisis story centred on a 45-year-old perimenopausal bi-sexual woman/artist/mother/wife character – is at least as explicitly brilliant and unabashedly honest as precedented by her previous projects. Although July remains as quirky and astonishing of a thinker and writer as you’d expect, All Fours (Penguin Random House Canada) is a decidedly more mature and sophisticated expression, lending a unique and attention-grabbing voice to a (sadly still) “taboo” topic. A simultaneously thought-provoking, sexy, distressing, and loud-and-proud second-coming-of-age tale that, while timeless in much of its subject matter, is also incredibly timely in its telling. — TS

Order your copy from local independent booksellers, such as Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, by Dr. Georgia Ede | Health and lifestyle choices have become more ubiquitous in our culture, in part due to the popularity of Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Peter Attia and their respective Huberman Lab and The Drive podcasts. Adding to this already crowded field is Dr. Georgia Ede’s new book, Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind (Grand Central Publishing). With incredible information on nutritional quality, metabolic health, and mental health, Dr. Ede offers a wide berth of knowledge and expertise about food and brain health, and the connections they share, via a narrative that is compassionate yet revelatory. Read it yourself and you’ll walk away with a greater understanding of how food works for brain health and how best to achieve optimal results. — JM

Special order your copy from local independent booksellers, such as Iron Dog Books, Massy Books and Upstart & Crow.*

UP NEXT: The Wendy Award, by Walter Scott | The fourth graphic novel featuring fictional party-girl-slash-aspiring(flailing)-artist, Wendy, is hitting bookstore shelves on July 9th, 2024. Whether you’ve followed Montreal-based cartoonist Walter Scott’s infamous character since she came onto the scene, via Wendy, several years ago or are just hearing about her now, take heed! The Wendy Award (Drawn & Quarterly) is full of timely cultural criticism, on-the-nose art scene satire, dark humour, and all-too-real personal revelations, contradictions and humiliations.

Pre-order your copy from local independent booksellers, such as Iron Dog Books, Massy Books, Upstart & Crow and Lucky’s Comics.*

*It would be remiss for me not to mention Vancouver’s various other independent and used book stores, and encourage you to pay them an in-person visit to seek out these and other titles.

Supplementary Reading

The secret to modern friendship, according to real friends | A fun conversation between two friends discussing what they feel is most important in developing and maintaining a close bond. Cute! Via Vox. — JM

Fudgetown, USA | A small town in Michigan has a long and unusual connection to a chocolate-y sweet that’s proven irresistible to tourists. Via Taste. — JM

WORD: S’more | Camping season is a-coming, which means the return of the s’more! What’s outdoors camping without a perfectly gooey, charred-to-perfection chocolate-and-marshmallow graham cracker sandwich (or a few?) If you’re a proper food dork, and want to add some extra context to your next campfire indulgence, check out The History of the S’more: The Origin Story of the World’s Best Campfire Snack, a timeline of the famous treat’s origins tracing the origin of each integral ingredient all the way back to 2000 B.C.E. Via Wildsam. — TS