{"id":71952,"date":"2026-07-28T08:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=71952"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:10:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:10:04","slug":"new-issue-summer-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2026\/07\/28\/new-issue-summer-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW ISSUE: Summer reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dylan<\/a><\/p>\n

Summer is the season to pause, to take a break, to refresh body and mind. It\u2019s generally understood that not as much will get done (with the exception of construction), that people may be absent in the flesh or at least in the spirit. The most fortunate may escape to the countryside and a cottage, others to a front porch, back yard, or balcony, or if those are not available, to parks, beaches, and patios.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the time between the busy seasons of spring, when we emerge from hibernation, and fall, when we get back to business or school. This year in particular, for the city and for Spacing<\/em>, it\u2019s a pause between intensive events \u2013 hosting the World Cup, featured in our \u201cToronto Soccer Issue,\u201d and the upcoming municipal election in October, which as always we\u2019ll be covering in its own dedicated issue.<\/p>\n

So for our summer issue, we thought we\u2019d take a deep breath and revive our summer reading notion, which we last featured a decade ago<\/a>. Getting away from the hurly-burly of everyday civic life, it\u2019s a chance for us to feature longer deep dives and more contemplative explorations of the city, without being tied to a specific theme.<\/p>\n

The ancients of Greece and Rome had a concept of the contrast between the active and the contemplative life. The active life was that of the city \u2013 politics, business, networking, debate, deal-making. The contemplative life \u2013 for the members of the elite who wrote about such things \u2013 was to retreat to their villa in the countryside, for leisure and relaxation that gave time for thinking deep thoughts and philosophizing. In theory, they most prized the contemplative life \u2013 the Romans called it otium<\/em>, leisure, whereas the active city life was negotium<\/em> \u2013 the lack of leisure. But really, the two were, and are, complementary \u2013 each one is necessary to feed the other. The active life gives you the material to think about, while the contemplative life gives you the time to process that material.<\/p>\n

But we should not have to have the ability to escape to a countryside villa in order to find relaxing spaces to think during the hazy days of summer. As Jake Tobin captures in his cover illustration for this issue, Toronto is fortunate to have spaces within its boundaries that enable peaceful contemplation \u2013 parks, ravines, the lakefront, patios, as well as private outdoor spaces for those fortunate enough to have them.<\/p>\n

Between the private and public, meanwhile, are front porches and balconies — liminal spaces that our summer intern Kaede Ashizawa explored with filmmaker Perry Walker<\/a> as he talks to people who are enjoying those spaces for his documentary From Where I\u2019m Sitting<\/em>, whose goal, Walker says, “is to try to capture that essence of summertime in Toronto.”<\/p>\n

So this issue is designed to encourage us to take a break, let the mind wander, and explore the city in spirit, guided by curiosity and wonder. Our writers take you out on the water and onto the islands, to cat colonies in inner suburbs, along sidewalks and benches, tracing the steps of history and imagined futures, drifting through the city in all its beauty and its troubles. They contemplate and philosophize in the city itself.<\/p>\n

But our writers also provide the incentive to get out and explore the city physically, to find the synthesis between the active and the contemplative by getting out into the streets and parks and observing what one encounters. The heat of summer is the perfect time for a stroll, for being out in the city not aiming for a specific goal, but rather moving at an unhurried pace that lets us absorb our surroundings.<\/p>\n

Carry this issue with you as you venture out to experience what our writers share. Seek out the boundaries of Toronto\u2019s great fire, or the architectural carvings of Toronto\u2019s \u201cgirl sculptor.\u201d Keep an eye out for stray cats, stray rowers, stray drifters. Pay attention to the sidewalks, the benches, and the people who shape our experience of public space. Visit the island and imagine its shifting shorelines and competing visions. And then settle in a park, on a bench, or wherever you like, and read the next story in the issue.<\/p>\n

Summer reading is often presented as romance or mystery, material that is light and escapist, that carries you away from the everyday. But we invite you to be carried away not by star-crossed lovers or troubled detectives, but by the stories of the city itself. Find a place to sit back, relax, and enjoy these meditations on city life.<\/p>\n

This issue is available now at the Spacing Store at 401 Richmond St. W., and soon at fine book and magazine stores, as well as arriving soon in subscribers\u2019 mailboxes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer is the season to pause, to take a break, to refresh body and mind. It\u2019s generally understood that not as much will get done (with the exception of construction), that people may be absent in the flesh or at least in the spirit. The most fortunate may escape to the countryside and a cottage,Continue reading “NEW ISSUE: Summer reading”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4006,"featured_media":71954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spacing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNEW ISSUE: Summer reading - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2026\/07\/28\/new-issue-summer-reading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NEW ISSUE: Summer reading - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summer is the season to pause, to take a break, to refresh body and mind. 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