Summer is a time to rest and recharge, and this year we need it more than ever. Whether you’re staying close to home this year, heading to the cottage or driving an RV across the country, it’s a great time to catch up on all that reading you meant to do over the past year but never seemed to get around to, even if you were home. All. The. Time. Whether you’re looking for a breezy summer read to escape to far-flung locales, want to learn some new leadership skills to help you land a promotion at work or feel like pondering some of life’s deeper questions, we’ve put together a list of summer reading picks, including some recommendations from the Allstream team. Happy reading! Think Again By Adam Grant If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past year and a half, it’s that there’s a lot we don’t know. Michael Susara, technical sales engineer at Allstream, recommends this book on mastering the art of rethinking. While we spend a lot of time trying to learn new things, it’s much harder to unlearn, favouring the “comfort of conviction” over the “discomfort of doubt.” Organizational psychologist Adam Grant shows us how to embrace the joy of being wrong and let go of views that no longer serve us — helping us generate new solutions to old problems. Why Fish Don’t Exist By Lulu Miller “Why Fish Don’t Exist is a great story about the hidden order of life,” says Jennifer Rutherford-Moffat, Allstream’s alliance partner sales leader. David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist who discovered nearly one-fifth of the world’s fish species in the early 1900s, but his collections were repeatedly demolished — by lightning, fire and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Instead of giving up in despair, he simply began to rebuild his collection. His story intertwines with NPR reporter Lulu Miller, who first took Jordan for a fool, until her own life slowly unravelled — and she needed to learn how to persevere in a world of chaos. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art By James Nestor We breathe 25,000 times a day. And yet, according to journalist James Nestor, we’ve been doing it wrong for a very long time. Recommended by Nancy Taylor, carrier escalation specialist at Allstream, this book is a history of the way humans breathe and how we’ve lost the ability to breathe correctly. Nestor travels the world to find answers — in ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities and New Jersey choir schools — and finds that even slight adjustments to the way we breathe has unimaginable benefits, from rejuvenating internal organs to halting autoimmune disease. Can’t Hurt Me By David Goggins U.S. Armed Forces icon David Goggins is the only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger and Air Force Tactical Air Controller. But this biography, recommended by Allstream’s marketing director, Jennifer Gordon, is about Goggins’ triumph over a nightmarish childhood of poverty, prejudice and physical abuse. Through self-discipline and hard work, he transformed himself into one of the world’s top endurance athletes — and an inspiration to others. He shares his life story and his ‘40% rule,’ explaining how anyone can push past pain and fear to reach their full potential — even if you’re not a Navy SEAL. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success By Carol S. Dweck The updated edition of this best-selling book “discusses the power of mindset and the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset,” says Kelly Pitaoulis, accounts manager - major accounts, with Allstream. Through decades of research, Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck shows how success in almost every area of human endeavor can be influenced by how we approach our goals. People with a fixed mindset are far less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset — those who believe that abilities can be developed through hard work, good strategies and mentorship. World Travel: An Irreverent Guide By Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever For those who want to escape to fascinating places (if just from the comfort of an armchair), go along for the ride with the late writer, television host and relentlessly curious traveller Anthony Bourdain. His travels for CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown took him from cosmopolitan cities to a tribal longhouse in Borneo and the desert solitude of Oman’s Empty Quarter — to name just a few exotic locales. This entertaining, yet practical, travel guide introduces readers to some of Bourdain’s favourite places, with advice on what to eat, where to stay and what to avoid.

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