The Pacific Northwest loves reading, and what better way to get suggestions for books than asking around? In this monthly issue, we ask prominent residents of the Northwest which books they read, re-read, and recommend – and why.
This month: Mark Canlis, Co-owner of Canlis in the third generation – the loyal representative of fine dining in Seattle who is not afraid to reinvent itself during the pandemic – gives us his reading tips.
Which book are you reading at the moment?
“Wind, Sand and Stars” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; it is so good.
Which book have you read the most?
I don’t read any books again, except “Can you drink the mug?” By Henri JM Nouwen. It’s tiny and remarkable.
Which book would you recommend to everyone and why?
Everyone should read a book that will bring them joy and take away. I believe there are only two ways of reading. There is reading that restores you and reading that informs you. All of my professional stuff is really informative. It is reading about the world, what is going on and how we can be active and sensitive conscious and apart from it. So if I go home to crash I need a true story. A novel, something beautiful and wonderfully written. These books stream inside us and teach us lessons that we need better than those that inform us. I have just re-read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with my kids, Mark Twain. If the whole world read this and learned these life lessons, the world would be a better place. Mark Twain knew what was going on.
– compiled by Jackie Varriano