Not everyone makes New Year’s resolutions -- but those who do often aim to spend a bit less time reading news clippings and social media, and a bit more time reading books. Before you go and restock your shelves or e-readers/audiobook libraries, we thought we’d continue our tradition of asking leaders from across the public sector to share some of the books they look forward to reading or revisiting in the weeks and months ahead.

This year we've collected titles from Ava Czapalay, Paul Lafleche, Jennifer Church, Andrea Anderson, CAO Victoria Brooks, Michael Wernick and more.

Government of Nova Scotia - Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration

Ava Czapalay
Deputy Minister

I travelled over the holidays and managed to read a lot while waiting for flights! Here’s what I read (all fiction - my preferred genre - on holiday):

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr. I re-read the ending of this 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner three times.
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout. I have read all of this author's books; I love her clear prose and characters who appear throughout her novels. This is her most recent novel (2022).
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny. I was so happy this author's latest mystery was in bookstores just before I departed. I barely lifted my head out of the book during an entire day of travel.

Government of Nova Scotia - sENIORS & lONG-tERM cARE, Municipal Affairs and Housing

Paul lafleche
deputy minister

The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future by Stephen Poloz
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman (recommended by several female Deputy Ministers, particularly for me).
Ringette Canada - Official Rules and Case Book -
“Recommended by the referee testers given my on ice performance.”

Government of NOVA SCOTIA - Office of Strategy Management and Department of Inclusive Economic Growth

JENNIFER CHURCH Associate Deputy MInister

Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald. I’ve loved all of hers that I’ve read.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Up next - book club selection.
The Winners by Fredrik Backman. Because I need to know what happens next.
Humanocracy: Creating Organization as Amazing as the People Inside Them by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini. My friend said we must read. So I shall.
Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Cass R. Sunstein, Daniel Kahneman, and Olivier Sibony. Off and on reading since last year :) Who doesn’t love some behavioural science?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Not reading it personally, but briefed nightly on the shenanigans of Greg and Rowley and others…

Given a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a photo of the current pile on the bedside table…

public service commission

ANDREA ANDERSON
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER

Lead with LUV by Ken Blanchard and Colleen Barrett
The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future by Stephen Poloz
Action Research by Ernest Stringer

Government of Nova Scotia - Government House

Christopher McCreery Executive Director

Controversies in the Common Law: Tracing the Contributions of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin by eds Vanessa Gruben, Graham Mayeda and Owen Rees
Such Splendid Prisons: Diplomatic Detainment in America during World War II by Harvey Soloman
Salazar: The Dictator Who Refused to Die by Tom Gallagher

Municipality of the district of Yarmouth

victoria brooks
CAO

Here they are in no particular order. The mega theme is around the importance of the person in who we are and in those with whom we interact. I believe every human has incredible potential and value. Most of my reading, that I chose, will relate to that core belief in some way. In addition to that mega theme, each book in some way addresses a core skill/ability of a public administrator.

In The Go-Giver (by Bob Burg and John David Mann), the focus on serving and putting something ahead of self (revolutionary right!?).
Humanity at Work (by Pierre Battah) is really about workplace culture. I’m expecting some tough self reflection though as the text is as much about that work as it is about applying ideas to help inspire, motivate and build accountability for others.
Finally, Making Things Right (by Gary Chapman, Jennifer Thomas & Paul White) speaks to my constant hope that we can take responsibility, forgive, learn and move on from relational conflict.

Government of Nova Scotia - department of health

PETER VAUGHAN
DEPUTY MINISTER (2014-2016)

I plan to re-read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, mainly because it’s such a timeless story of discovery; well suited to the times.
Then there's The Second-Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall-Smith because it’s light, and AMS is always good for a chuckle. And God knows we need more of that these days.
Finally, a book I’ve been meaning to crack open is Rebecca West’s The Court and the Castle. A monumental work of literary criticism. Why? Because she’s such a wonderfully articulate writer, and her surgically precise dissection of universal themes in Shakespeare and Kafka warrants one’s serous attention in this… well, Shakespearean/Kafkesque time of ours.

GOVERNMENT OF cANADA

Michael wernick
23rd Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet (2016-19)

The Next Age of Uncertainty by Stephen Poloz: my best book of 2022.
The Age of Crypto Currency by Paul Vigna and Michael Casey is a superb primer that shook up my prejudices. The origin stories are fascinating.
A History of Canada in Ten Maps by Adam Shoalts was just fun. If one is a history buff or map geek as I am it was a delight.

I just ordered The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. Fiction centered on climate warming that comes highly recommended but I can’t vouch for it yet.

CATHERINE BLEWETT
DEPUTY MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, Innovation, Science And Economic Development Canada

With four Ministers, my ‘to do list’ is long. However I did want to share the three books that I have started 2023 with!

No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot: My rise from a Jamaican plantation shack to the boardrooms of Bay Street by Wes Hall
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
The Rural Entrepreneur John Bragg: The Force Behind Oxford Frozen Foods and Eastlink by Donald J. Savoie

JENNIFER FOWLER

Senior Director for Atlantic Science Enterprise Centre project, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Love, Loss, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
Part biography, part memoir, and a touching and thoughtful reflection on making sense of chaos and loss. Lulu’s voice feels so personal throughout, it was a treat to read.
How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
It took me way too long to get around to this 2020 award-winner, but I’m so glad I did. The are these small portraits that feel really generous in their intimacy and the details they share. Each one was a gem.

BARBARA SCHNEIDER

Atlantic Regional Lead, National Managers Community

In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate by Nancy Gertner.
A great memoir about success in the face of adversity and navigating the challenges of career and family.

With so much screen time the last few years, I am now addicted to audiobooks.

One great one is The Song of Achilles by Madelaine Miller who has provided a very readable version of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan war that I could not put down.
Also an audio book: The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan. This is a great example of historical fiction (my favourite genre) – a gripping spy novel set in 1946 in Vienna. I really felt like I was there!

KATHY LUSK

A/Director General, Strategic Services Branch, Atlantic Region, Service Canada

This has likely already made the list but I am reading it for the third time as I find it helpful professionally and personally.
The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and Business by Charles Duhigg, Random House

NOVA SCOTIA FEDERATION OF MUNICIPALITIES

Dani coffey
Director of Policy & Government RElations

On Becoming A Person by Carl Jung
No Second Chances by Kate Graham
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

DALHOUSIE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (PROFESSOR EMERITUS)

DR. PAUL PROSS
IPAC VANIER MEDAL WINNER

I tend not to make up a 'must read' list. I find that when I 'must' read a book it tends to get pushed to the bottom of the pile! So I pick up whatever appealing reading material that I come across.

Currently I am reading Haligonian author, Sheila Johnson Kindred's biography of Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017). Fanny Austen was born in Bermuda where Charles Austen, Jane Austen's youngest brother, met and married her in 1806. Their life together was short – she died after childbirth in 1814 – but in that period there were opportunities to accompany Austen to Halifax, London and other ports, and even to live aboard ship with their family for two years. Her correspondence is lively and an important source of information about the lives of naval wives and their families during this period. It also enables Kindred to speculate on their influence Jane Austen’s novels. Kindred herself is an engaging and perceptive commentator.
The only book I've committed to read in the near future is Bill McKibben's The Flag, the Cross and the Station Wagon which I decided to order after listening to his recent CBC interview with Matt Galloway. He claims some sense of optimism about the impending climate crisis. I hope he is right. At the moment the outlook is decidedly bleak.

As I look for further reading material I shall probably find some inspiration in The Literary Review of Canada. We started subscribing to this half a dozen years ago. Through it we have found a number of books about our country and our fellow Canadians that otherwise - given the sparse coverage such books get in our mainstream media - we would have missed. Check it out at Literary Review of Canada | A Journal of Ideas (reviewcanada.ca).

Government of Nova Scotia - Premier’s Office

Dan O’Connor
Chief of Staff (2009-13)

A Journey of Love and Hope; The Inspirational Words of a Mi’kmaw Elder by Elder Sister Dorothy Moore. The recent documentary about Sister Dorothy Moore whetted my appetite to learn more about her, particularly because time in the public service formed part of her life-long service to Mi’kmaw language and culture.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson was a gift from our 28-year old son. His generation seems keenly aware of Earth as part of the cosmos, viewing climate change as an urgent issue in that context. I hope it will fill some of the gaps in my scientific knowledge. I really like slender volumes.
The third is a book of equal interest to my wife Sharon Fraser and to me: The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel was released in the UK late last year, and will soon be available in North America. We plan to buy it as soon as it reaches the local bookseller. While I like slender volumes, I am also drawn to big surveys that deepen our understanding of the past. This book covers 500 years of art and is the 2022 Waterstones Book of the Year. I anticipate gaining better knowledge of how women and men see the world – a basis of public policy formation.

Want to share your 2023 reading list with the public administration community?
Send us a note at novascotia@ipac.ca and we’ll add our favourites to this list.

Compiled by Matt Campbell and Katrina Campbell (no relation!) for the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

What senior leaders in government are reading in 2023