While the long days of summer may be shortening, you can still enjoy a summer read. Stephen Vance, editor of our local online newspaper, The Meaford Independent, has been hard at work reading (and interviewing) local authors this summer. Here are a couple of the books and writer’s he’s profiled recently.

Surviving Well is the Best Revenge, by Patric Ryan

The Owen Sound author has penned a tale that will “transport you to 1950’s Cuba to heat things up,” writes Stephen. “If the dust-jacket blurb doesn’t hook you, a page or two of the first chapter certainly will, and once immersed, each of the 340 pages that follow will nearly turn themselves.” Stephen interviews the prolific Patric Ryan and discovers more about his tale of an expat in pre-revolutionary Cuba here.

My Strong Sturdy Scarecrows and other books, by Linda Hamill, illustrated by Karen Bannister Rosie

The former English Teacher at Georgian Bay Secondary School in Meaford has turned her love for writing and for our community into a trio of children’s books (so far) dramatizing the adventures of Meaford kids. She works with Karen Bannister Rosie, an artist, landscape architect and award-winning gardener who lives in Ballinafad, Ontario. And you can find her at the Meaford Farmer’s Market every Friday. Stephen’s writeup. And here’s a story from the Scarecrow website.

More next week.