One of my favourite parts of summer is the availability of so much fresh produce. The Edible Flower includes not only 50+ recipes, but details about a wide variety of different edible flowers: how to grow them, how to harvest them, what to use them for in cooking. My salads will be more beautiful than ever this year - I can’t wait!

Thirty is the diary of a 29-year-old woman convinced that she will die before reaching 30. I read the original French (Trente, published by Éditions du remue-ménage) earlier this year and since then have been recommending it to everyone I can. It feels like the most perfectly Montréal novel, filled with local references and written mostly in French but partly in English. I am very excited that this English translation is available now, both so that I can recommend it to more people, but also because I’m curious to see how the original’s mix of languages is handled in the translation.

In Astra Nova, a woman reluctantly attends a good-bye party with some friends from her past in order to fulfill a requirement prior to her departure on a space mission from which she will not be able to return. Lisa Blumen’s message about the importance of human connection is as beautiful as her drawings.

Work-Life Balance is the latest graphic novel from German artist Aisha Franz. The story focuses on an artist, an administrator, and a tech worker who independently find themselves seeing the same bizarre therapist due to the problems they’re experiencing in their work lives. As a growing number of people these days feel that their work is undervalued, Work-Life Balance is as relevant as it is fun.

Pageboy was one of my first reads of the summer, and in brief: I think I finally understand why people like celebrity memoirs!

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, photographer and writer Yevgenia Belorusets decided to keep and publish a diary of her experience. Initially assuming the invasion would end within a couple days, her diary provides fascinating insight into how daily life can and cannot continue in a warzone and how surprisingly difficult it can be to decide whether to stay or leave such a situation.

Originally serialised in Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve, Shortcomings follows 30-year old Ben as his relationship disintegrates. Between the upcoming film release and the upcoming book club, if you haven’t read Shortcomings yet, now is the time! 

Post-Modern Mini-Comics compiles 10 issues of Colin Upton’s autobiographical mini-comics, chronicling his daily life in Vancouver. These comics have a strong sense of place, which is something I love, especially when it’s a place I’m familiar with.

… and that’s part of why I’m so excited for Les Enragé·e·s to be published in English in August! These interconnected stories about Black queer and trans friends in Montréal and elsewhere seem like the perfect thing for some outdoor reading at the park next month.