Arab News writers select some of their favorite books to add to your summer reading list. ‘Cannery Row’ John Steinbeck Critics haven’t always been kind to Steinbeck’s short 1945 novel. “Sentimental” and “trivial” are two accusations sometimes thrown at it. The first it may be. The second it definitely isn’t; the seeming simplicity of the language and the book’s nostalgia and humor shouldn’t obscure its depths.