When Relaxation and Education Go Hand in Hand

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By Elli Davis, June 9, 2011

Photo by Zitona

Unless you are still a student, I bet you will agree that reading books is one of the best ways to relax peacefully in our busy lives. Books are compact and widely available; they come in many forms and sizes and offer food for thought for people of any cognitive capacity.

A book is one of the few things that we can consume at our own pace and in our own style. You can return to passages that interested or perplexed you, you can spend as long as you like pondering an interesting statement, or you can skip ahead if you are bored with the current chapter. You can stop and research a topic that caught your attention and then resume where you left off whenever you like. This flexibility is becoming quite a luxury in these days of 90-minute films, 45-minute lunch breaks, and 25-minute news broadcasts.

What’s more, books often offer quality education to their readers under the guise of entertainment. And because books are so great, we decided to seek out good books related to Toronto and acquaint you with our impressions of them.

Let me introduce to you the Toronto Book Reviews section of the Elli Davis website. Here you can find interesting books written by Torontonians, fact books and guide books about Toronto itself, and books of fiction that are set in the GTA.

Have you ever wondered what sets Toronto apart from other metropolitan areas of the world? Check out Sarah Elton’s “City of Words: Toronto Through Her Writers’ Eyes to learn about our largest city’s past and present. If you or a family member are interested in architecture, find out whether “A Guidebook to Contemporary Architecture in Toronto” could be of interest. (I would say it’s a safe bet.) And if you have a family that you hope to entertain every weekend, check out Nathalie Prézeau’s smart ideas in her best-selling book, “Toronto Fun Places.”

These and more books have been reviewed by Elli’s wonderful team and you can read their opinions in our Toronto Book Reviews section.

Please stay tuned for more, and submit your own suggestions on great books related to Toronto in the comments.