The Very Best! Book Awards are awarded to CanLit books we have read and reviewed within the preceding year and are announced in early September (our reading ‘season’ goes from September 1st to the end of the following June when the shortlist is revealed). These are books that we consider exceptional in some way; books that we enjoyed reading so much that we didn’t want them to end. Or, if it was a non-fiction title, one that is well researched and the author has made it interesting to read, not just pages of facts. Those are just some of the qualities that make a book ‘special’ and worthy of being considered for the award. The longlisted books are those written by a Canadian author and published by a Canadian publishing house.
Full disclosure: the books on this list may appear to be heavily weighted toward Atlantic Canada. This is due to the fact that Atlantic Canadian books, authors and publishers have always been the focus of The Miramichi Reader. “First Book” means that the author has never had any of their previous works (poetry, short stories) published in a book form. An author or a book cannot be listed in two categories unless one is for Best Cover Art/Design.
The 2020 winners are here: https://miramichireader.ca/2020/08/all-2020-winners/
The 2020 Shortlist is here: https://miramichireader.ca/2020/07/announcing-the-2020-shortlist/
2020 Longlist
Best Fiction
- Side by Side by Anita Kushwaha
- The Afrikaner by Arianna Dagnino (Guest post at Consumed by Ink)
- Melba’s Wash by Reesa Steinman Brotherton
- Broken Man on a Halifax Pier by Lesley Choyce
- The Little Fox of Mayerville by Éric Mathieu
- Blue Bear Woman by Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau
- Butterfly by John Delacourt
- The Tender Birds by Carole Giangrande
- Things Worth Burying by Matt Mayr
- A Song From Faraway by Deni Ellis Béchard
- Some People’s Children by Bridget Canning
- Lay Figures by Mark Blagrave
- Skin House by Michael Blouin
- All I Ask by Eva Crocker
Best Historical Fiction (Back for 2020!)
- Exile Blues by Douglas Gary Freeman
- A Roll of the Bones by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole
- Two Crows Sorrow by Laura Churchill Duke
- The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham
- The Liars by Ida Linehan Young (Flanker Press)
Best Short Fiction
- A Dark House and Other Stories by Ian Colford
- Send More Tourists…The Last Ones Were Delicious by Tracey Waddleton
- The Group of Seven Reimagined, edited by Karen Schauber
- In Progress: Stories by Catharine Leggett
- Watermark by Christy Ann Conlin
- Half-Sisters & Other Stories by Ryan Turner
- Winter Road by Wayne Curtis
Best First Book (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
- Even Weirder Than Before by Susie Taylor (Fiction)
- Blindshot by Denis Coupal (Fiction)
- Daughters of Silence by Rebecca Fisseha (Fiction)
- Claremont by Wiebke von Carolsfeld (Fiction)
- The Daughter Who Walked Away by Kimia Eslah (Fiction)
- The Transaction by Guglielmo D’Izzia (Fiction)
- Lightness by Fanie Demeule (Fiction)
- The Imperilled Ocean by Laura Trethewey (Non-Fiction)
Best Non-Fiction
- First Degree by Kayla Hounsell
- Sea Trial: Sailing After My Father by Brian Harvey
- Black Cop by Calvin Lawrence
- A Medic’s Mind by Matthew Heneghan
- Finding Fortune by Brenda J. Thompson
- Silver Linings by Janice Landry
- Around the World in a Dugout Canoe by John M. MacFarlane and Lynn J. Salmon.
Best Poetry (New for 2020!)
- Cold Fire: Selected Poetry by Donna Allard
- New Brunswick by Shane Neilson
- Inquiries by Michelle Porter
- Devil in the Woods by D.A. Lockhart
- Signs of Life by Gerri Frager
- Squall: Poems in the Voice of Mary Shelley by Chad Norman
- Narrow Cradle by Wade Kearley
- Waiting for the Small Ship of Desire by Allan Cooper
Best Cover Art/Design
- Val Fullard for Blue Bear Woman, The Tender Birds
- Maison 1608 by Solisco for The Art of The Fall
- Lay Figures cover design by Jenn Embree
- The Transaction
2020 Virtuous Love Award for Publishing
- TBA
2020 Promising Authors
- TBA
2019 Shortlists:
Best First Book Fiction:
- In the Wake by Nicola Davison (Vagrant Press)
- Deli Meat by Tom Halford (Crooked Cat Books)
Best First Book Non-Fiction:
- Cops in Kabul: A Newfoundland Peacekeeper in Afghanistan by William C. Malone (Flanker Press)
- Airborne: Finding Foxtrot Alpha Mike by Jonathan Rotondo (Goose Lane Editions)
Best Fiction:
- Circle on the Surface by Carol Bruneau
- Fog by Rana Bose
- Celtic Knot: a Clara Swift Tale by Ann Shortell
- Land Beyond the Sea by Kevin Major
Best Non-Fiction:
- In the Court of Better Fiction by Debra Komar
- About Face: Essays on Recovery, Therapies, and Controversies of Addictions in Canada Edited by Douglas Gosse
- A Wholesome Horror: Poor Houses of Nova Scotia by Brenda Thompson
- Fishing the High Country: A Memoir of the River by Wayne Curtis
2019 Promising Authors:
- Alison DeLory, author of Making it Home
- Philip Huynh, author of The Forbidden Purple City
- Melissa Barbeau, author of The Luminous Sea
2019 Longlists
Fiction
- Explosions by Mathieu Poulin (Translated by Aleshia Jensen)
- In the Wake by Nicola Davison (also Best First Book: Fiction)
- Circle on the Surface by Carol Bruneau
- The Madrigal by Dian Day (guest-hosted review at Consumed by Ink)
- Hutchison Street by Abla Farhoud
- The Small Things That End the World by Jeannette Lynes
- The Crackie by Gary Collins
- Ramya’s Treasure by Pratap Reddy
- The Philistine by Leila Marshy (also Best First Book: Fiction)
- The Death and Life of Strother Purcell by Ian Weir
- At The Mountain’s Edge by Genevieve Graham
- Fog by Rana Bose
- Celtic Knot: a Clara Swift Tale by Ann Shortell
- Land Beyond the Sea by Kevin Major
- A Joy to Be Hidden by Ariela Freedman
Short Fiction (Tie!)
- You and Me, Belonging by Aaron Kreuter (Short Fiction)
- Use Your Imagination! by Kris Bertin (Short Fiction)
Best First Book, Fiction or Non-Fiction
- The Luminous Sea by Melissa Barbeau (Fiction)
- In the Wake by Nicola Davison (also Fiction)
- The Philistine by Leila Marshy (also Fiction)
- Deli Meat by Tom Halford (Fiction)
- Peacock in the Snow by Anubha Mehta (Fiction)
- Under the Floorboard by Wendy Ranby (Fiction, YA)
- La Brigantessa by Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli
- Cops in Kabul: A Newfoundland Peacekeeper in Afghanistan by William C. Malone (also Non-Fiction)
- Airborne: Finding Foxtrot Alpha Mike by Jonathan Rotondo (also Non-Fiction)
Non-Fiction
- Hiking Trails of New Brunswick by Marianne Eislet and H.A. Eislet
- Fishing the High Country: A Memoir of the River by Wayne Curtis
- A Wholesome Horror: Poor Houses of Nova Scotia by Brenda Thompson
- Cops in Kabul: A Newfoundland Peacekeeper in Afghanistan by William C. Malone (also best First Book: Non-Fiction)
- A Family of Brothers by J. Brent Wilson
- Canadian Confederate Cruiser: The Story of the Steamer Queen Victoria by John G. Langley
- In the Court of Better Fiction by Debra Komar
- The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster by Bruce Campbell
- ABOUT FACE: ESSAYS ON RECOVERY, THERAPIES, AND CONTROVERSIES OF ADDICTIONS IN CANADA Edited by Douglas Gosse
- Airborne: Finding Foxtrot Alpha Mike by Jonathan Rotondo (also First Book: Non-Fiction)
- The Great Trees of New Brunswick (2nd Edition) by David Palmer and Tracy Glynn
2018 Longlist
Here are the 2018 winners:
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Fiction
- No Fury Like That by Lisa de Nikolits
- Once Upon a Time in West Toronto by Terri Favro
- This Side of Sad by Karen Smythe (also First Book: Fiction)
- Finishing the Road by David Cozac
- The Honey Farm by Harriet Alida Lye (also First Book: Fiction)
- Arrow’s Flight by Joel Scott
- Quarry by Catherine Graham (also First Book: Fiction)
- Watermark by Jennifer Farquhar (also Best First Book: Fiction)
- The Land’s Long Reach by Valerie Mills-Milde
- Through Sunlight and Shadows by Raymond Fraser
- Nirliit by Juliana Léveillé-Trudel (Translated by Anita Anand) (also First Book: Fiction)
Short Fiction
- First Things First: Early and Uncollected Stories by Diane Schoemperlen
- Outside People by Mariam Pirbhai (First Book: Fiction)
- This Time Might Be Different by Elaine Ford
Historical Fiction
- The Last Beothuk by Gary Collins (Historical Fiction)
- Amah and the Silk-Winged Pigeons by Joyce Cullity (Historical Fiction)
Non-Fiction
- Death at the Harbourview Cafe by Fred Humber
- Game Misconduct by Nathan Kalman-Lamb (Non-Fiction)
- The Art and Passion of Guido Nincheri by Melanie Grondin (Non-Fiction, also First Book: Non-Fiction)
- The Homing Place by Rachel Bryant (also First Book: Non-Fiction)
- Tappan Adney and the Heritage of the St. John River Valley by Keith Helmuth
- Patriots, Traitors and Empires by Stephen Gowans
- Following the River by Lorri Neilsen Glenn
- The Boy on the Bicycle by Nate Hendley
2017 Longlist
These books are the ones I have read that deserve consideration of a “Very Best!” Book Award for 2016/17. There are 10 in the Fiction category and 6 in the Non-fiction category. (They are in no particular order.)
Fiction
- The Spanish Boy by C.S. Reardon (Fiction)
- Weaving Water by Annamarie Beckel (Fiction)
- The Inward Journey by Kate Evans (Fiction)
- All That is Solid Melts Into Air by Carole Giangrande (Fiction)
- Listening for Jupiter by Pierre-Luc Landry (Fiction)
- The Money Shot by Glenn Deir (Fiction, Humour)
- Art Love Forgery by Carolyn Morgan (Historical Fiction)
- Desperation by Gary Collins (History, Historical Fiction)
- Promises to Keep by Genevieve Graham (Historical Fiction)
- A Bird on Every Tree by Carol Bruneau (Fiction, Short Stories)
Non-Fiction
- Bearing Witness by Michael Dupuis (Non-fiction, History)
- Shadow of Doubt by Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon (Non-fiction, History)
- A Boy From Botwood by Pte. A.W. Manuel (Non-fiction, History)
- Redemption Songs by Jon Tattrie (Non-fiction, History, Social Issues)
- Refuge in the Black Deck by Nicola Peffers (Non-fiction, Memoir)
- New Brunswick Was His Country by Ronald Rees (Non-fiction, History)
2017 Winners
Here are the six standout books from 2017. You can read more about each book in this post here.
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2016 Winners
Here are the seven books that I considered “The Very Best” reads of 2015/16. You can read more about them in this post.
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2016 Long List
This year’s list is composed of 18 outstanding titles (11 fiction, 7 non-fiction), each one unique in its own way.
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Past Winners
2015:
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