The Next Chapter·Summer Reading

What books Kim Thúy and Michael Kaan plan to read this summer

A short story writer and a poet make their list of summer must-reads.
Kim Thúy and Michael Kaan share their summer reading list. (Benoit Levac/Leif Norman)

What books are you looking forward to reading this summer? The Next Chapter has been asking writers what's at the top of their reading list. Kim Thúy, author of the novel Vi, and Michael Kaan, winner of the 2018 Amazon.ca First Novel Award for The Water Beetles, share their selections.

Kim's selection

Edwin Morgan's poetry collection A Book of Lives was originally published in 2007. (Carcanet Press)

Kim says: "I'm looking forward to reading more from Edwin Morgan, a Scottish poet. I fell in love with his poems after a young man from Edinburgh read one to me with a Scottish accent. Now I want to read more!"

Michael's selection

Matt Lennox's novel was originally published in 2015 and was on the Canada Reads 2017 longlist. (HarperCollins Canada)

Michael says: "This summer I'm planning to read Knucklehead by Toronto-based writer Matt Lennox. I hadn't heard of him before, but I met someone who had read Knucklehead and said it was absolutely extraordinary and deserving of a lot more attention. So I'm going to pick up a copy and I hope to spend this summer or even sooner reading it."

Kim Thúy and Michael Kaan's comments have been edited and condensed.