Although this week’s theme is your favourite book, it’s tough to choose just one book, so today I’ll briefly introduce some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading recently.

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama explores Obama’s rise through politics to become president of the United States and his subsequent struggles to manage both domestic and international crises while still trying to be present as a father and husband. It provides an inside look at the American political system and what it’s like to be president from a very human perspective.
• The Vinyl Cafe Celebrates by Stuart McLean is a collection of short, simple, and carefree stories about ordinary life in Canada. McLean’s stories are very relatable and contain an equal measure of humour and touching sentiment, and McLean himself is considered something of a national treasure in Canada. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, but his stories live on. 
• African Samurai by Thomas Lockley & Geoffrey Girard is about Yasuke, an African samurai employed by Oda Nobunaga in 16th century Japan. It tells the true story of a man who came to Japan by chance and, against all odds, found a place for himself in samurai culture. 
• Stolen Focus by Johann Hari explores the reasons behind modern society’s increasing difficulty with focusing and the forces that are stealing our attention. As you might expect, technology is a big part of it, but Hari delves into some other, perhaps unexpected, areas as well, and offers some suggestions for improving one’s ability to focus. 
• Children of Ash and Elm (A History of the Vikings) by Neil Price is the book that I’m in the middle of reading right now. It is a fairly extensive summary of what is currently known about Viking culture and the people of ancient Scandinavia, and it shows a more complex society than what has traditionally been portrayed in the media. (To add a little excitement, I’ve been watching the Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla as well!)