Mill Rat by Tom Halford
Tom Halford’s chapbook of prose-poems, Mill Rat is an ode to the Loyalist city of Saint John, New Brunswick.
Alison Manley
Last Hummingbird West of Chile by Nicholas Ruddock
A stunning work of imaginative fiction, Last Hummingbird West of Chile spins a tale of adventure that is in turn comedic, violent, poignant and thoughtful.
Anything but a Still Life: The Art and Lives of Molly Lamb and Bruno Bobak by Nathan M. Greenfield
Molly Lamb and Bruno Bobak shot to prominence as war artists during the Second World War. Marrying shortly after the end of the war, they moved first to Vancouver and then, in 1960, to Fredericton, where they settled permanently.
The Pit by Tara Borin
Set in a small-town, sub-Arctic dive bar, this debut poetry collection explores the complexities of addiction and the person beneath, and the possibility of finding home and community in unexpected places.
Alexa! Changing the Face of Canadian Politics by Stephen Kimber
Alexa McDonough’s impact on Canadian politics cannot be measured solely by election victories or seat tallies. As the first female leader of a mainstream Canadian political party, she helped transform Nova Scotian and Canadian politics. In the process, she transcended party affiliation and gender to become simply “Alexa” to Canadians across the country.
Dancing with Chairs in the Music House by Caro Soles
Precocious ten-year-old Vanessa Dudley-Morris knows lots of secrets. In 1949 when she and her family are forced to move into two rooms on the second floor of 519 Jarvis Street in Toronto, a genteel but somewhat rundown rooming house owned by a reclusive pianist, she learns a lot more.
Little Housewolf by Medrie Purdham
Built on the plain pleasure of examining small domestic items and happenings, Little Housewolf by Medrie Purdham is a delightful new image in each line of poetry.
This Is How It Is by Sharon King-Campbell
These poems are unapologetically Atlantic Canadian. Even though King-Campbell’s collection traverses the world, it is centred with these roots in Atlantic Canada.
A Cemetery for Bees by Alina Dumitrescu, Translated by Katia Grubisic
This autobiographical novel traces a woman’s journey from her youth in Socialist Eastern Europe to her transplanted life in Montreal, Canada.
Connection at Newcombe by Kayt Burgess
Post-World War I, the small town of Newcombe, Ontario, is in danger of dying. Remote and with fewer than 200 inhabitants, its future is spelled out: slow, drawn-out, painful death as a community. A chance meeting between Francis Barrett, an employee of the Canadian National Railway (CNR), and Cal Bannatyne, a major on his way home from the front, leads to an opportunity: getting a railway station to Newcombe, linking it to the rest of Canada, and perhaps keeping it from dying.
The Undertaking of Billy Buffone by David Giuliano
The Undertaking of Billy Buffone is the story of friendship: the bonds of childhood friends, the betrayal of trusted adults, and the lengths people go to protect and save their loved ones.
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Every so often, Canada Reads introduces you to a book that you absolutely needed to read, it opens the world to a new voice and story and gives a book that needed a wider platform that boost. Jonny Appleseed is one of those books.
Hour of the Crab by Patricia Robertson
If I had to pick one book that managed to capture the essence of 2020 without trying to speak about 2020 – a year we’ll be processing for decades to come – Hour of the Crab by Patricia Robertson would be up there.
Still Waters – Kamal Parmar
Still Waters is a Poetic Memoir of the sorrows and stress of a loving daughter watching her mother deteriorate into the throes of the dreaded ‘disease of the decades’, Alzheimer’s Disease.
Ode to the Unpraised: Stories and Lessons from Women I Know – Abena Beloved Green
A collection of prose and poetry exploring the practical knowledge, life lessons and personal experiences of women of color in North America and Ghana.
