For me, the time spent cruising a bookstore, settling down with a latte, and thumbing through a cornucopia of books and magazines is a great date with self.
Crouching and digging through the poetry section (yes, bookstores still have those much to the honest amazement of a friend), finding that new book simply by the perfect combination of words on the back jacket, or that collection of poems that fits your mood at that given moment is a soul-feeding treat.
As luck would have it, I walked into the Shawnessy Chapters this past Friday, and straight into a conversation with G.E.M. Munro, author of South Asian Adventures with the Active Poor.
As an active member of the Amorok Society, Munro has spent a large portion of his life working with the severely disadvantaged, first in Northern Alberta at an isolated First Nation reserve, and most recently Bangladesh.
His new book is filled with tales of his encounters with some of South Asia’s poorest mothers and children, all touching and funny, and as you might figure, inspiring. Working with a very simple yet motivating mantra—you teach a mother, you teach a family. You teach five mothers, you teach a neighbourhood—Munro does what most of us only wish we could do in another life—(cliché moment alert!) make the world a better place.
I of course walked away with a copy of the book after our conversation, knowing this would be one of those reads that would, at the very least, make me think. (And maybe cry. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve tear-stained a page or two.)
With book (and requisite latte) in hand, a little bit of E.E. Cummings (who made it home with me that night) and Dylan Thomas, I settled in to the first couple chapters.
There just may have been a tear. (Or two.)
*All profits from the sale of South Asian Adventures with the Active Poor are donated to charity. Available at www.amaroksociety.org