65 Canadian works of fiction to watch for in fall 2021
Here are the works of Canadian fiction coming out this season we can't wait to read.
All's Well by Mona Awad
In the novel All's Well, the accident that ended Miranda Fitch's acting career has made her life a living nightmare. She has excruciating, chronic pain, a failed marriage, a dependence on painkillers and she's on the verge of losing her job as college theatre director. She's still determined to put on Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, even though her cast wants Macbeth. She meets three strange benefactors who know a little too much about her past and are promising her the future she wants.
When you can read it: Aug. 3, 2021
Mona Awad is the author of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, which won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Colorado Book Award and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. She currently lives in Boston.
The Second History by Rebecca Silver Slayter
In The Second History, Eban has lived in hiding all his life without ever understanding why. After his mother dies, he goes to live in the northern Appalachians with Judy, the only other woman he's ever known. But after multiple years and multiple miscarriages, Judy wonders about the fate of the cities their parents fled where a strange sickness supposedly spread among those who stayed behind. To stop her from leaving the safety of the hills, Eban convinces her to journey to the fabled colony of the original mountain settlers, promising her the answers she seeks. Expecting a child again, the two of them begin their climb into the mountains. Along the way, they encounter people and uncover secrets that will threaten their lives and ties between them.
When you can read it: Aug. 3, 2021
Rebecca Silver Slayter is the author of In the Land of Birdfishes, which was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. She is the director of the Cabot Trail Writers Festival and is an editor of Brick, A Literary Journal. She lives in Nova Scotia.
The Hunter and the Old Woman by Pamela Korgemagi
In The Hunter and the Old Woman, the "Old Woman" is a cougar who lives, raises her cubs and searches for food in the wild. She avoids the two legged creatures who come into her territory. But she is more than an animal. She is a mythical creature who haunts the lives and dreams of men. One day, Joseph Brandt goes into the forest to seek her out, having been captivated by the legend since he was a kid.
When you can read it: Aug. 3, 2021
Pamela Korgemagi is a writer living in Toronto. The Hunter and the Old Woman is her first novel.
The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill
In The Listeners, Claire Devon is one of a disparate group of people who can hear a low hum. No one in her house can hear it, and this sound has no obvious source or medical cause, but it starts upsetting the balance of Claire's life. She strikes up a friendship with one of her students who can also hear the hum. Feeling more and more isolated from their families and colleagues, they join a neighbourhood self-help group of people who can also hear the hum, which gradually transforms into something much more extreme, with far-reaching, devastating consequences.
When you can read it: Aug. 17, 2021
Jordan Tannahill is a playwright, filmmaker, author and theatre director. His other work includes the dramas Age of Minority and Botticelli in the Fire & Sunday in Sodom, and the novel Liminal.
Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In Velvet Was The Night, it's the 1970s in Mexico City and Maite is a secretary who lives to read the latest issue of Secret Romance. She escapes into stories of passion and danger, ignoring the student protests and political unrest that consume the city. When her next-door neighbour, Leonora, a beautiful art student, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite searches for her, uncovering Leonora's secret life of student radicals and dissidents. Eccentric criminal Elvis, at the request of his boss, is also looking for Leonora. As Maite and Elvis come closer to finding out the truth behind Leonora's disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives.
When you can read it: Aug. 17, 2021
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a Canadian writer born and raised in Mexico. She's the author of novels Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Signal to Noise, Certain Dark Things and The Beautiful Ones. She has previously won the Goodreads Readers Choice Award and the Copper Cylinder Award.
Undersong by Kathleen Winter
In Undersong, James Dixon has never met anyone like writer Dorothy Wordsworth, the sister of famous Romantic Era poet William Wordsworth. Only in her 30s, she has already lived an unconventional life as William's collaborator and has created a seemingly idyllic existence for herself. But when Dixon is urged by William to take on more chores, he realizes his true responsibility is to care for increasingly frail and melancholic Dorothy. This novel explores the lives of the Wordsworth family, revealing the pattern of Dorothy's rich, hidden life.
When you can read it: Aug. 17, 2021
Kathleen Winter is a writer who was born in the U.K., and is now living in Montreal after many years in Newfoundland. She is best known for her debut novel Annabel, which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Amazon First Novel Award, among others. Her other books include Boundless and Lost in September.
The Most Precious Substance on Earth by Shashi Bhat
Shashi Bhat's newest novel, The Most Precious Substance on Earth, is a coming-of-age story about Nina, a present-day high school teacher. When she was 14, she preferred to keep quiet about quite a few things, such as her crush on her English teacher, her mother's attempts to match her up with local Halifax Indian boys, her best friend pulling away and her worried father reciting Hindu prayers outside her bedroom door. And she also won't talk about a life changing incident in high school. Over the years, through struggling through a MFA, online dating and how best to guide her students, she discovers that the past is never far behind her.
When you can read it: Aug. 24, 2021
Bhat is an award-winning writer who lives in New Westminster, B.C. Her first novel The Family Took Shape, won the Writers' Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She has been shortlisted for a National Magazine Award and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award. She holds a MFA in fiction from Johns Hopkins University and currently teaches creative writing at Douglas College.
Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson
In Probably Ruby, Ruby is placed in a foster home shortly after birth. She is finally adopted by Alice and Mel, a less-than-desirable couple who can't afford to complain too much about Ruby's Indigenous roots. After her new parents' marriage falls apart, Ruby ends up in vulnerable and compromising situations — self-destructing on alcohol, drugs and bad relationships — that lead her to search for her Indigenous identity in the unlikeliest of places.
When you can read it: Aug. 24, 2021
Lisa Bird-Wilson is a Saskatchewan Métis and nêhiyaw writer whose book Just Pretending won four Saskatchewan Book Awards. She's also the author of the poetry collection The Red Files.
The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall
In The Spectacular, it's 1997 and Missy's band is touring across America. Every night, she plays the song about her absent mother that made the band famous. As the only girl in the band, she wants to party just as hard as everyone else, but a forgotten party favour strands her at the border. Carola is just surfacing from a sex scandal when she sees her daughter Missy for the first time in 10 years, on the cover of a music magazine. Ruth plans on returning to the Turkish seaside but then her granddaughter Missy crashes at her house. Ruth decides it's time the women in her family try to understand each other again.
When you can read it: Aug. 24, 2021
Zoe Whittall's three novels have won her a Lambda Literary Award, the Dayne Ogilvie Prize and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Best Kind of People is currently being adapted for a limited series by Sarah Polley. Her other novels are Holding Still for as Long as Possible and Bottle Rocket Hearts. She has also written for Schitt's Creek and the Baroness Von Sketch Show.
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
In The Madness of Crowds, the latest book in the Armand Gamache series, the Chief Inspector's family holiday is interrupted by a simple request. He's asked to provide security for a visiting Professor of Statistics who will be giving a lecture at a nearby university. But he soon discovers the professor's agenda, one so repulsive he begs the university to cancel the lecture, to no avail. They accuse Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Before long, the professor's views start seeping into conversations and it becomes nearly impossible to tell truth, reality and delusion apart.
When you can read it: Aug. 24, 2021
Louise Penny is the author of the bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She's won two Arthur Ellis Awards, seven Agatha Awards, five Anthony Awards and three Macavity Awards. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Penny lives in Knowlton, a small village outside of Montreal.
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
In Fight Night, nine-year-old Swiv lives in Toronto with her pregnant mother, who is raising Swiv while caring for own elderly mother. When Swiv is expelled from school, Grandma gives Swiv the task of writing to her absent father about what life is like in the house during her mother's final trimester. In turn, Swiv tells Grandma, who knows what it costs to survive the world, to write a letter to her unborn grandchild.
When you can read it: Aug. 24, 2021
Miriam Toews is the author of seven novels, including Women Talking, All My Puny Sorrows, A Complicated Kindness and The Flying Troutmans. She has won the Governor General's Award for Fiction, the Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Writers' Trust Engel Findley Award. A Complicated Kindness won Canada Reads in 2006. Toews lives in Toronto.
Operation Angus by Terry Fallis
A follow up to the comedic novels The Best Laid Plans and The High Road, Operation Angus continues to follow the adventures of Angus McLintock, a politician who accidentally became a Member of Parliament, won re-election and is now the junior global affairs minister. After his Chief of Staff Daniel Addison receives a cryptic late-night text and goes to a secret meeting at a pub, the two of them are thrown into a race against the clock to save the Russian President.
When you can read it: Aug. 31, 2021
Terry Fallis is the author of six novels, including One Brother Shy, The Best Laid Plans, The High Road and Up and Down. He is a two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. The Best Laid Plans won Canada Reads in 2011, when it was defended by journalist Ali Velshi.
Red X by David Demchuk
In the novel Red X, men are disappearing from the gay village in Toronto, one by one. Their disappearances are ignored by the police and media, but they rock the community — the same community dealing with the HIV/AIDS crisis, police brutality and homophobia. This story unfolds alongside author David Demchuk's own story, as he explores the relationship between queerness and horror and how the scariest monsters that move through his community aren't imaginary, they are all too real.
When you can read it: Aug. 31, 2021
Demchuk is a writer and a CBC communications officer. His first book, The Bone Mother, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
A Good Name by Yejide Kilanko
In A Good Name, Eziafa Okereke has nothing to show for the 12 years he has spent in America. Desperate to rewrite his story, he returns to Nigeria to find a woman he can mold to his taste. He's arranged to marry 18-year-old Zina. Zina has big dreams and marrying an older man isn't one of them. But because her family expects it, she marries Eziafa, moves to Houston and trains as a nurse. The marriage is turbulent and both are disillusioned until Zina changes the rules of the engagement.
When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2021
Yejide Kilanko is a writer and children's mental health therapist. Her work includes the novel Daughters Who Walk This Path, the novella Chasing Butterflies and two children's picture books, There Is An Elephant In My Wardrobe and Juba and The Fireball. Kilanko lives in Chatham, Ont.
Dante's Indiana by Randy Boyagoda
Dante's Indiana is a follow-up to Randy Boyagoda's novel Original Prin. Prin has lost his way. Middle-aged and living on his own despite being married, he's desperate for money and purpose. He moves to a small town in Indiana to work for an evangelical millionaire who's building a Dante's Inferno inspired theme park. Soon, he becomes involved in the lives of his co-workers and their opioid ravaged community while trying to reconcile with his distant wife and distant God. When a Black teenager is killed, Prin risks everything to help the lost and angry souls around him while searching for his own way home.
When you can read it: Sept. 7, 2021
Randy Boyagoda is the author of six books, including Governor of the Northern Province, Beggar's Feast and Original Prin. He has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Dublin Literary Award. Boyagoda is a columnist on CBC's The Next Chapter and an English professor at the University of Toronto.
The Running Trees by Amber McMillan
The Running Trees is a collection of stories that leads readers into a series of conversations to reveal characters who are fumbling with isolation, brutality, reflection and love. This book explores how we try our best to communicate with each other amid the gaps in meaning we create.
When you can read it: Sept. 7, 2021
Amber McMillan is the author of the memoir The Woods: A Year on Protection and the poetry collection We Can't Ever Do This Again. She lives in New Brunswick.
Glorious Frazzled Beings by Angélique Lalonde
In the short story collection Glorious Frazzled Beings, human and more-than-human worlds come together in places we call home. Among other tales, a ghost tends to the family garden, a shapeshifting mother deals with the complexities of love when one son is born with beautiful fox ears another another is not and a daughter tries to make sense of her dating profile after her mom dies.
When you can read it: Sept. 7, 2021
Angélique Lalonde is a Métis and Québecois writer whose work has been featured in PRISM International, the Journey Prize Anthology, Room and the Malahat Review, among other publications. She received the 2019 Writers' Trust Journey Prize and was nominated for a National Magazine Award. She was awarded an Emerging Writer's residency at the Banff Centre. She lives in Northern B.C. and holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Victoria.
The Pump by Sydney Warner Brooman
In The Pump, the small southern Ontario town known as The Pump has a tainted water supply, an apathetic municipal government and the decay of rural domesticity. In this book of interconnected stories, the characters must figure out their own morality while living on land that's slowly killing them. No one can escape The Pump's sacrificial games.
When you can read it: Sept. 7, 2021
Sydney Brooman is a writer living in Toronto. Their story The Bottom was shortlisted for The Malahat Review's 2020 Open Season Awards. They have been published in American Chordata, Thorn Literary Magazine, and other literary journals. The Pump is their first book.
Everything Turns Away by Michelle Berry
Everything Turns Away is a novel set in the aftermath of 9/11. On Sept. 11, 2001, the lives of two couples are about to be unraveled when their neighbour is murdered, their babysitter goes missing and the World Trade Centre collapses. This domestic thriller is a haunting exploration of marriages and what tears them apart, of what happens to people during shocking events, and of how everything can change in an instant.
When you can read it: Sept. 7, 2021
Michelle Berry is the author of three collections of short stories and six novels. Her books include I Still Don't Even Know You, The Prisoner and the Chaplain, This Book Will Not Save Your Life, How to Get There from Here and What We All Want. Berry lives in Peterborough, Ont. where she operates an independent bookstore, Hunter Street Books.
Letters to Amelia by Lindsay Zier-Vogel
Letters to Amelia is a novel about loss and grief. To deal with the grief and heartache brought by her partner of seven years unexpectedly leaving, 30-year-old library tech Grace Porter is tasked with reading newly discovered letters that Amelia Earhart wrote to her lover. Porter understands more about Earhart while putting her own life back together. When Porter becomes pregnant, she starts writing her own letters to Earhart, and ends up going on a pilgrimage of her own.
When you can read it: Sept. 7, 2021
Toronto-based Lindsay Zier-Vogel is a writer, arts educator and the creator of the Love Lettering Project. She holds a MA in creative writing from the University of Toronto.
Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart by Cary Fagan
The stories in Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart highlight ordinary introverted people who mostly live quiet lives, until they take the chance to leap toward small meaningful adventures. A young woman's stepfather gives her a painting by Picasso, and she must find a wall to hang it on. A cello-playing hitchhiker convinces a hippie family to get a television. A man winds up taking his girlfriend's son on a road trip.
When you can read it: Sept. 13, 2021
Cary Fagan has written six novels, three story collections and numerous children's books. His work includes The Student, which was a finalist for the Governor Generals' Literary Award for fiction, A Bird's Eye, which was shortlisted for the Rogers Trust Fiction Prize and My Life Among the Apes, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. He lives in Toronto.
August into Winter by Guy Vanderhaeghe
The first novel in nearly a decade, Guy Vanderhaeghe is back with August into Winter, an epic story of a small prairie town in 1939, when the world is on the brink of war. When Constable Hotchkiss confronts spoiled, narcissistic manchild Ernie Sickert about a string of disturbing pranks, Sickert commits an act of unspeakable violence, which starts a course of events that forever changes the lives of anyone in his wake.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
Vanderhaeghe has penned five novels and four short story collections. His work includes Man Descending, A Good Man, The Englishman's Boy and Daddy Lenin and Other Stories. He has received numerous awards including the Governor General's Literary Awards, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellowship, The Writers' Trust Timothy Findley Award and the Order of Canada.
Yume by Sifton Tracey Anipare
In Yume, Cybelle is an English teacher in a small city in Japan, who isn't sure where she belongs anymore. Her contract is up for renewal and her mother is begging her to come back to Canada. Even though she faces fear and ostracism daily and her life in general starts to get weird, she loves her job and does her best. Later, when she gets caught up in the clash of yokai (strange apparitions) and humans, she has to figure out what is real and what she wants before her life spirals out of control.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
Sifton Tracey Anipare is a Ghanaian Canadian writer who has lived and taught in Japan for four years. Yume is her first novel.
What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy
As markets and businesses begin to close for the evening at the end of a long, sweltering day, a huge earthquake shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. What Storm, What Thunder follows 10 survivors as they grapple with the permanent life-altering effects of the earthquake and shows the tenacity of the human spirit.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
Myriam J. A. Chancy is the Canadian Haitian author of four novels and four books of literary criticism. Her novel, The Loneliness of Angels, won the Guyana Prize for Literature Best Caribbean Fiction Award in 2011 and was shortlisted for the 2011 OCM Bocas Prize in Carribean Literature for fiction.
Tenderness by Alison MacLeod
In Tenderness, it's 1928 and a dying author in exile on the shores of the Mediterranean is racing to complete his final novel. Lady Chatterley's Lover is a study in sensuality, a sexually bold love story rejecting class distinctions. Because the author knows his novel will be censored, he publishes it privately, loses his copies to customs, and dies bereft. Decades later, Jackie Kennedy, a known admirer of the author's work, fights for the uncensored publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover in the United States.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
Alison MacLeod grew up in Halifax and Montreal, but has lived in Brighton, England for over three decades. She's written three novels, The Changeling, The Wave Theory of Angels and Unexploded. She's also the author of two collections of stories, Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction and All the Beloved Ghosts.
Householders by Kate Cayley
Householders contains linked short stories about the lives of self-deluded utopians, families and budding queer people who set out to explore the ordinary strangeness in their overlapping lives. These stories move from west-end Toronto to a trailer in the middle of nowhere, from a university campus to a decked out underground bunker, from a commune in the woods to the city and back again.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
Kate Cayley is a poet, playwright and fiction writer living in Toronto. She's written two poetry collections, Other Houses and When This World Comes to an End, and a YA novel, The Hangman in the Mirror. Her previous short story collection, How You Were Born, won the 2015 Trillium Book Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.
Denial by Beverley McLachlin
Denial is a novel about Jilly Truitt, one of the top criminal defence lawyers in the city. When Joseph Quentin asks her to defend his wife, who has been charged with murdering her own mother in what the media calls a mercy killing, Truitt wants to say no, but she meets with Vera Quentin and reluctantly agrees to take on her case. Vera is adamant she's innocent, and Truitt believes she's telling the truth. As the trial nears, Truitt scrambles to find a crack in the case and stumbles across a dark truth hanging over the Quentin family.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
Beverley McLachlin was the Chief Justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She was the first woman to hold that position and was the longest-serving Chief Justice in Canadian history. Her memoir, Truth Be Told, won the Writers' Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize and the Ottawa Book Award for Nonfiction. Her debut fictional thriller, Full Disclosure, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best First Crime Novel Award. In 2018, McLachlin became a companion of the Order of Canada.
Out of Mind by David Bergen
Out of Mind is a novel about Lucille Black, a mother, grandmother, lover, psychiatrist and analyst of self. While she's fantastic at probing the lives of others, her own life has become untethered. Her ex-husband betrays her by publishing a memoir about the aftermath of their son's death in Afghanistan, then she travels to Thailand to try and free her daughter from the clutches of a cult leader. She's also invited to attend the wedding of a man whom she rejected a year earlier. While Black circles the globe, she's on a quest to reform her identity.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2021
David Bergen is the author of 10 novels and two collections of stories. His work includes The Time in Between, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, The Matter with Morris and The Age of Hope, which was championed by Ron MacLean on Canada Reads 2013. He currently lives in Winnipeg.
Open Your Heart by Alexie Morin, translated by Aimee Wall
An autobiographical novel set in a small town in Quebec during the 1990s, Open Your Heart tells the story of a friendship between two girls who were brought together by illness and operations suffered at a young age. One girl has severe strabismus and thinks something is wrong with her. The other was born blue and is an angelic child loved by everyone. One girl becomes a writer, while the other dies at 18 during a lifesaving operation. Morin becomes the subject of her own story and stakes out a pursuit for truth in old memories.
When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2021
Alexie Morin is the author of the poetry book Chien de fusil, the novella Royauté and the novel Ouvrir son cœur, which won the 2019 Prix des libraires du Québec. She's an editor for publishing house Le Quartanier and lives in Montreal.
Aimee Wall is a writer and translator from Newfoundland who now lives in Montreal. Her translations include Vickie Gendreau's novels Testament and Drama Queens. She is also the author of We, Jane.
To See the Night Out by David Clerson, translated by Katia Grubisic
In the short story collection To See the Night Out, insects and jellyfish reveal a predatory world of children's fairy tales, lurking shadows and unrelenting fevers where people are swallowed up by cities and bogs. To See Out the Night celebrates nature and humanity, in all their terrifying glory and blurs the lines between man and beast, and life and death.
When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2021
David Clerson is a writer from Sherbrooke, Que. and currently lives in Montreal. His debut novel, Brothers, was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for translation.
Katia Grubisic is a writer, editor and translator. She also translated Clerson's novel Brothers.
Happy Sands by Barb Howard
Happy Sands is a novel about a family vacation gone wrong. Ginny Johnson, her husband Martin, and her two kids, Alistair and Ruby, go to Happy Sands Resort every summer. Ginny always wishes their vacation would be perfect to no avail. This year, Martin spends all his time sleeping, Ruby makes everything competitive and Alistair avoids the sun and his family. Alone and annoyed, Ginny starts drinking earlier in the day and spends time with the other residents at the resort to distract herself, providing a lens into their eccentric inner lives.
When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2021
Bard Howard is the author of Notes for Monday, Whipstock, The Dewpoint Show and the short story collection, Western Taxidermy. She currently lives in Calgary.
In Singing, He Composed a Song by Jeremy Stewart
In In Singing, He Composed a Song, John, the teenage terror of his northern industrial town, is involuntarily committed to the psychiatric ward after an altercation with the police. When he finds himself in the hospital Quiet Room with time to think, he reflects on who he is, how he got here and how to move forward. As a successful musician, John looks for lyrics in the noise. He sifts through his life, searching for himself in his psychiatric records, in the voices of the people around him and in his own memories, and tries to find a true account of himself.
When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2021
Jeremy Stewart is a writer and musician who lives in Vancouver. He's the author of flood basement and Hidden City. Stewart is the founding Artistic Director of Casse-Tête: A Festival of Experimental Music.
Vile Spirits by John MacLachlan Gray
Vile Spirits is a follow-up to mystery novel The White Angel, which was inspired by the 1924 murder of Scottish Nanny Janet Smith, Vancouver is once again plagued by two suspicious deaths. Alcohol is legal again after prohibition failed, but anti-booze sentiments remain strong. To attempt appeasement, Attorney General Gordon Cunning establishes the Liquor Control Board to oversee supply. But when both Cunning and the wife of a bureaucrat are found dead, people wonder if it's pure coincidence that they were both drinking the game brand of "tonic."
When you can read it: Sept. 18, 2021
John MacLachlan is a writer, playwright, composer and theatre director who lives in Vancouver. He has created many productions, most notably Billy Bishop Goes to War. He's the author of several fiction and nonfiction books, including The White Angel. MacLachlan is an officer of the Order of Canada.
Hell and Gone by Sam Wiebe
In Hell and Gone, masked men and women storm an office building in Vancouver's Chinatown. They leave a trail of carnage, resulting in private investigator Dave Wakeland and his partner Jeff Chen getting caught in a mystery that won't let them go. Both the police and the leader of a motorcycle gang want Wakeland's help, and the deeper he investigates, the more connections he uncovers. When the perpetrators end up dead, Wakeland realizes the only way to guarantee his safety is to find out who hired them and why.
When you can read it: Sept. 19, 2021
Sam Wiebe is the author of the Wakeland novels, a detective series focusing on Dave Wakeland that include Invisible Dead and Cut you Down. His other books include Never Going Back, Last of the Independents and the Vancouver Noir anthology. He has won the Arthur Ellis Award and the Kobo Emerging Writers Prize. Wiebe lives in Vancouver.
Suture by Nic Brewer
In Suture, Eva, Finn and Grace are three artists who are tearing themselves open to make art. Eva must take out her eyes and use them as batteries to make her films. To make her art, Finn must cut open her chest and remove her heart and lungs. To write her novels, Grace must use her blood to power the word processor. Eva's wife worries about her mental health, Finn's teenager learns from her, using forearm bones for drumsticks and Grace's peers worry about her penchant for self harm. Brewer brings a unique perspective to mental illness and explores the cruelties we commit and forgive in ourselves and others,
When you can read it: Sept. 21, 2021
Nic Brewer is a writer and editor from Toronto who lives in Kitchener, Ont. Her fiction has appeared in Canthius, the Hart House Review and Hypertrophic Literary. She is the co-founder of the LGBTQ online literary journal Front.
The Mystery of Right and Wrong by Wayne Johnston
The Mystery of Right and Wrong is a novel about Newfoundlander Wade Jackson, an aspiring writer. He meets the fascinating South African-born Rachel van Hout at the university library. Jackson later discovers that Rachel is one of four van Hout daughters, each a wounded soul in their own way. Johnston reveals haunting family secrets he's kept for over 30 years in this novel that grapples with sexual abuse, male violence and madness.
When you can read it: Sept. 21, 2021
Wayne Johnston is a writer from Newfoundland. His novels include The Divine Ryans, A World Elsewhere, The Custodian of Paradise, The Navigator of New York and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. His 1999 memoir Baltimore's Mansion won him the RBC Taylor Prize. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a 2003 Canada Reads finalist, when it was defended by now prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
The Book of Form and Emptiness is about a young boy dealing with the aftermath of his father's death. A year after his musician father dies, 13-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices in the random household objects around him. Some are pleasant, while others are angry and full of pain. When his mother starts hoarding things, the voices grow more intense. To keep the voices from following him everywhere, he seeks refuge in a public library, where objects are well-behaved. Oh meets mesmerizing new faces, and he discovers his own book, who narrates his life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.
When you can read it: Sept. 21, 2021
Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. She is the author of My Year of Meats, All Over Creation and A Tale for the Time Being, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Ozeki teaches creative writing at Smith College.
A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett
A Dream of a Woman is a collection of short stories revolving around transgender women who are looking for stable, adult lives. Taking place in prairie high-rises, New York warehouses, freezing Canadian winters and drizzly Oregon days, these takes explore partnership, sex, addiction, romance, groundedness and love.
When you can read it: Sept. 21, 2021
Casey Plett is a Windsor-based writer who was born in Manitoba and has lived in Oregon and New York. Her novel Little Fish won the Lambda Literary Award, Amazon First Novel Award and the Firecracker Award for Fiction. Her first collection of short stories, A Safe Girl to Love, was published in 2014.
The Marriage of Rose Camilleri by Robert Hough
The Marriage of Rose Camilleri is a novel about a turbulent marriage. When they met, Rose Camilleri and Scotty Larkin never expected to spend a lifetime together, navigating a sometimes turbulent marriage and figuring out the process of raising a family. While they struggle, they find their own kind of happiness along the way.
When you can read it: Sept. 25, 2021
Robert Hough is the author of several novels, including The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, Dr. Brinkley's Tower, The Stowaway, The Culprits and The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan. He has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best book, the Trillium Book Award, the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the Arthur Ellis Award. Hough lives in Toronto.
Ghost Geographies by Tamas Dobozy
Ghost Geographies is the latest short story collection from Writers' Trust Fiction Prize winner Tamas Dobozy. After fleeing communist Budapest in a hot air balloon, a wrestler tries to reinvent himself in Canada. Chasing the dream of a better world, a Belgian bureaucrat 'defects' to communist Hungary. A provocateur filmmaker drinks and blasts his way to a confrontation with fascism. A terrible philosopher works on his masterpiece. In Ghost Geographies, these are some of the characters who are affected by the promise and failure of utopia.
When you can read it: Sept. 16, 2021
Dobozy is the author of four collections of short fiction and novellas. Siege 13 won the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (now the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Prize for Fiction) and was a finalist for the Governor General's Award and the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize. He lives in Kitchener, Ont.
The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour by Dawn Dumont
The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour is about the trials and tribulations of a touring dance group. Right before a 15-day tour through Europe, all the performers in The Prairie Chicken dance troupe come down with the flu. So, John Greyeyes, a retired cowboy who hasn't danced in 15 years, is thrust into leading a hastily assembled group of replacement dancers. As the gaggle of amateur dancers make its way from one stop to another, nothing goes as planned and the tour becomes a string of madcap adventures.
When you can read it: Sept. 27, 2021
Dawn Dumont is a Plains Cree writer, comedian and actor who lives in Saskatoon. She is the author of Rose's Run, Glass Beads, and Nobody Cries at Bingo, which was shortlisted for the 2012 Alberta Readers Choice Awards, Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Award and First Nation Communities READ Award.
Em by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman
In the midst of a war, a young boy abandoned by a long-gone American soldier and living on the streets finds a baby abandoned on the streets of Saigon. The novel takes inspiration from historical events to sift through the layers of pain and trauma — revealing the invincibility of the human spirit.
When you can read it: Sept. 28, 2021
Born in Saigon, Kim Thúy left Vietnam in a boat at 10 years old and settled with her family in Quebec. Her other novels include Vi, Man. and Ru. Ru won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2002. It also won Canada Reads 2015, when it was championed by Cameron Bailey. Her books have been translated into 29 languages and are available in 40 countries and territories.
Sheila Fischman is the translator of over 150 works of Quebec contemporary novels from French to English. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and a chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec.
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed
In The Annual Migration of Clouds, climate disasters have caused food shortages, ended industry and left little behind in North America. There's also Cad, a mysterious mind altering fungi that invades the bodies of the remaining citizens. Reid, a young woman carrying the parasite, is offered the chance to move to one of the last remaining pre-disaster societies, but she can't abandon her mother and her community. How can she get other people to trust her when she can't even trust her own mind?
When you can read it: Sept. 28, 2021
Premee Mohamed is a scientist and speculative fiction writer based in Edmonton. She's the author of novels A Broken Darkness and Beneath the Rising, and the novellas And What Can We Offer You Tonight and These Lifeless Things.
Ring by André Alexis
Ring completes the quincunx of Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning writer André Alexis. When Helen Odhiambo Lloyd sensed that her daughter Gwenhwfar is in love, Helen gives her a ring that has been passed down through endless generations. The ring lets the bearer change three things about her beloved. It's a blessing, but may also be a curse.
The other titles in the quincunx are Pastoral, The Hidden Keys, Fifteen Dogs and Days by Moonlight. The novels in the quincunx each explore one of faith, place, love, power and hatred. Ring focuses on love.
When you can read it: Sept. 28, 2021
Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. His novel Fifteen Dogs received the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and won Canada Reads 2017, when it was defended by Humble the Poet. His other books include Childhood, Pastoral, Asylum, The Hidden Keys and Days by Moonlight.
Manikanetish by Naomi Fontaine
In Manikanetish, a young Innu woman, Yammie, returns to her home in the Uashat nation on Quebec's North Shore after 15 years of exile. She plans to teach language and drama at the community's school, but finds a community stalked by despair. When she accepts a position directing the school play, she sees an opportunity for her students to take charge of themselves.
When you can read it: Sept. 28, 2021
Naomi Fontaine is a member of the Innu Nation of Uashat. Her debut novel, Kuessipan, was made into a film that was featured at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The French language edition of Manikanetish was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Awards and Radio Canada's Combat des livres 2019.
No Man's Land by John Vigna
No Man's Land is set in the late 1890s, in the wilderness of British Columbia. Davey, a young teen, is being raised by a group of eccentric, hostile misfits who rescued her as an infant on a bloody battlefield. They roam the countryside, led by charismatic false prophet Reverend Brown. Davey tries to find a semblance of peace but is instead greeted with falsehoods and depravity. She fights for the truth while toeing the line between destiny and fate as she slowly understands Reverend Brown's role in her life.
When you can read it: Sept. 28, 2021
John Vigna is also the author of Bull Head. He is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia's school of creative writing.
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
In The Strangers, readers are brought into the dynamic world of the Stranger family, the shared pain of their past and the light that shines from the horizon. After spending time in foster homes, Cedar goes to live with her estranged father. Being separated from her mother, Elsie, and her sister, Phoenix, is painful, but she's hoping for a new chapter in life. The three women diverge, reconnect, and fight to survive in a system that expects them to fail.
When you can read it: Sept. 28, 2021
Katherena Vermette is a Red River Métis writer from Winnipeg. Her debut poetry collection, North End Love Songs, won the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry. Her first novel, The Break, won the Amazon First Novel Award, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Prize and McNally Robinson Book of the Year. Vermette's other works include the poetry book river woman and the graphic novel series A Girl Called Echo.
The Sleep of Apples by Ami Sands Brodoff
Presented as a novel-in-stories and set in a gentrifying Montreal neighbourhood, The Sleep of Apples is told in the voices of nine, closely-linked narrators who confront madness, illness, loss and gender identity. These stories show how we all live imperfect lives and that we love what we have and mourn what we've lost.
When you can read it: Sept. 30, 2021
Ami Sands Brodoff is the author of three novels and two volumes of stories. Her work includes In Many Waters, Bloodknots and The White Space Between, which won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction. She lives in Montreal.
The Cine Star Salon by Leah Ranada
In The Cine Star Salon, Phillippine-born Vancouverite Sophia is grateful for two things, her hair salon and for her mild-mannered fiancé Adrian. She can't wait to get married and move away from her parents, who want their daughter to be more than just a beautician. One day, her estranged friend reaches out from Manila, desperate for Sophia to help save her auntie's Cine Star Salon, where she first wanted to become a salon owner and hairstylist. But Sophia worries that coming to her auntie's aid could reopen old wounds and threaten her future.
When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2021
Leah Ranada was born in the Philippines and moved to Canada in 2006. She attended The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University in 2013. Her work has been published in On Spec, Room, Scarlet Leaf Review, and elsewhere. Ranada lives in New Westminster, B.C.
Binge by Douglas Coupland
Binge contains 60 stories about the way we live and Douglas Coupland's existential worry about how we should be living, which is the very thing that made him an influential writer. Inspired by the way we write about ourselves and our experiences in online forums, Coupland creates characters we can all relate to.
When you can read it: Oct. 5, 2021
Coupland is a writer, visual artist and designer who lives in Vancouver. He has authored 14 novels, two collections of short stories and eight nonfiction books. He's a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. His artwork has been exhibited in The Vancouver Art Gallery, The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and The Royal Ontario Museum.
The Bjorkan Sagas by Harold Johnson
Myth, fantasy and history are merged in The Bjorkan Sagas, an epic saga of exploration and adventure. This trio of sagas follows three Bjorkans, led by Juha the storyteller, who leave their valley to discover what lies beyond its borders. They meet a devious story-trader, gun-toting aliens searching for heaven and Lilly, a medicine woman. Juha must protect his people from invaders who plan on stealing the valley's secrets, while Lilly travels across the universe to help Juha and the Bjorkans, who are facing their deadliest enemy yet.
When you can read it: Oct. 5, 2021
Harold R. Johnson has written five works of fiction and five works of nonfiction, including Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (and Yours), which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction. He served in the Canadian Navy and was a Crown prosecutor. He lives in Saskatchewan.
The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield
The Apollo Murders is a thriller about the Cold War and the space race between Russia and America. Three astronauts aboard Apollo 18 are miles away from home, on a top-secret mission to the Moon. As political stakes are stretched thin, Houston flight controller Kazimieras Zemeckis must do everything to keep the NASA crew together, while staying ahead of the Soviets. But not everyone on Apollo 18 is who they seem.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2021
Chris Hadfield is one of the most accomplished astronauts in the world, serving as NASA's director of operations in Russia and commander of the international space station. He gained worldwide acclaim for his photographs and educational videos about life in space. His other books include An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here and The Darkest Dark are international bestsellers.
Wave Forms and Doom Scrolls by Daniel Scott Tysdal
From the middle-aged man who's involved in a suicide cult to the young woman writing a poem for a friend who has recently died, Wave Forms and Doom Scrolls is a collection of short stories that delves deep into the human experience. It looks unflinchingly at the darkness of society, such as suicide, internet trolls and violence.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2021
Daniel Scott Tysdal is the author of two books of poetry, The Mourner's Book of Albums and Predicting the Next Big Advertising Breakthrough Using a Potentially Dangerous Method. Tysdal teaches at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
State of Terror by Louise Penny & Hillary Clinton
State of Terror is a thriller co-written by Canadian writer Louise Penny and former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. The president of a newly sworn in administration has chosen Ellen Adams, a political enemy, as his secretary of state. It's a canny move on his part, as he's effectively silenced one of his harshest critics. As the new president addresses Congress for the first time, with the secretary in attendance, a young foreign service officer receives a baffling text — and a series of terrorist attacks that follows is revealed to involve the volatile politics of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, the Russian mob and an American government weakened on the world stage. Now, it's up to Adams and her team to defeat it.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2021
Penny is the author of the bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She's won numerous prestigious literary awards focused on mystery fiction. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture.
Clinton served as the 67th U.S. secretary of state and was the first woman in United States history to become the presidential nominee of a major political party. She has been in public service for nearly four decades advocating for children and families as an attorney, first lady and senator. She is the author of seven previous books.
Chemical Valley by David Huebert
Chemical Valley is a collection of stories that follow the rich emotional worlds of characters — ranging from city-dwelling doomsday preppers, nurses, dishwashers, professional hockey enforcers and refinery workers. Rather than shying away from urgent modern questions, this book grounds these anxieties in vivid and humorous intricacies of these characters' lives.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2021
David Huebert's writing has won the CBC Short Story Prize, The Walrus Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2020 Writers' Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. He is also the author of the short story collection Peninsula Sinking. He lives in Halifax and teaches at The University of King's College.
All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac
In All the Quiet Places, it's 1956 and young Eddie Toma lives on the far edge of the Okanagan Indian Reserve with his mother and little brother. In the summer, he tags along with his mother, his nephew and her friends to farm in Washington state. After tragedy strikes, Eddie comes home grief-stricken, confused and lonely. As he grows up, his life is governed by the decisions of the adults around him. And every time things start to look up, circumstances beyond his control crash down around him — and the effects of guilt, grief and despair keep piling up, threatening everything Eddie has ever known or loved.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2021
Brian Thomas Isaac was born on the Okanagan Indian Reserve, in south central B.C. He's worked in oil fields, as a bricklayer, and he had a short career riding bulls in local rodeos. As a lover of sports, he has coached minor hockey. All the Quiet Places is his first book.
The Vinyl Cafe Celebrates by Stuart McLean
The Vinyl Cafe Celebrates is a collection featuring 10 never-before-published stories and 10 classic favourites. From the Christmas classic Dave Cooks the Turkey to Morte d'Arthur, this collection is a celebration of the importance of love, community, kindness and the healing power of laughter.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2021
For more than two decades, Stuart McLean hosted the radio program Vinyl Cafe, which was an hour-long storytelling and variety show. It was broadcast on CBC Radio and syndicated to approximately 80 U.S. public radio stations. He died in 2017 at age 68.
Manam by Rima Elkouri, translated by Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott
In Manam, Léa does not believe in silence and secrecy. Téta, her beloved Armenian grandmother who has just died at the age of 107, didn't believe in silence either and would regularly tell stories to Léa and her large family. But there is one story she refused to tell. Now, Léa goes to Turkey to find out and understand the true story of her ancestors.
When you can read it: Oct. 13, 2021
Born in Montreal, Rima Elkouri is a journalist and columnist at La Presse. She's the author of Pas envie d'être arabe, which won the Prix Jules-Fournier.
Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott are a translation team from Montreal. They have also translated Edem Awumey's novel Descent Into Night, which won the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for translation.
The Blue Moth Motel by Olivia Robinson
The Blue Moth Motel is about Ingrid and Norah, sisters who grew up in a motel, raised by their mother and her female partner. Years later in England while studying to be a soloist, Ingrid loses her voice. She then hears from Norah, who's reviving a party that began during their childhood to celebrate the arrival of the mysterious and elusive blue moths.
When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2021
Olivia Robinson is from Annapolis Valley, N.S., and currently lives in St. John's. Her work has appeared in Riddle Fence, Cargo Literary Magazine and the UPEI Arts Review.
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
In the thriller Nothing But Blackened Teeth, the foundations of an abandoned mansion rest on the bones of a bride — and the walls are packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep the bride company. While it seems to be the perfect venue for thrill-seeking friends to celebrate a wedding, their night quickly becomes a nightmare as secrets are exposed and relationships are tested. And lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride who gets lonely down there in the dirt.
When you can read it: Oct. 19, 2021
Cassandra Khaw is an author, game writer and former scriptwriter at Ubisoft Montreal. Their first novella, Hammers on Bone, received a British Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Locus Award.
Water Proof by Aaron Bushkowsky
In Water Proof, Andy, the head of this company, sets out to bankrupt it by making a movie about his life of infidelity. He goes on a location scouting trip with his wife Anna and her best friend. But the trip turns tragic when her friend goes missing and they have to call in search and rescue.
When you can read it: Oct. 26, 2021
Aaron Bushkowsky is an author, poet, playwright and screenplay writer from Vancouver. His debut novel, Curtains for Roy, was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. ed and mabel go to the moon, his first poetry collection, was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Award.
The Spirits Up by Todd Babiak
In The Spirits Up, Benedict is an inventor whose clean energy machine has just made him an overnight sensation and his family wealthy. His wife Karen and teenage daughters Charlotte and Poppy are proud of him. But Benedict doesn't realize that Karen is contemplating an affair, Charlotte has a chronic illness and the pressures of Poppy's social circle is getting too much for her. Benedict also holds a terrible secret about his clean energy machine. On Halloween night, an accident starts a series of hauntings — and the ghosts want something from the family.
When you can read it: Oct. 26, 2021
Todd Babiak is a Canadian author and a screenwriter whose novels include The Empress of Idaho, Son of France, Come Barbarians, The Garneau Block, The Book of Stanley and Toby: A Man. He currently lives in Tasmania.
Dusk in the Frog Pond by Rummana Chowdhury
Dusk in the Frog Pond is a collection of eight short stories that explore the lives of immigrants as they face the challenges of migration, displacement and cultural assimilation. Readers are introduced to unique social, cultural and traditional rural lifestyles in a remote village in Bangladesh, where the women are often in arranged marriages. These stories reflect joy and sorrow — depicting culture, tradition and past history in parallel with today's modernized world.
When you can read it: Oct. 29, 2021
Rummana Chowdhury has written 43 books in both Bengali and English, including poetry, short stories, novels and essays. She's a leading global commentator on issues of migration that affect the South Asian Diaspora. She emigrated to Canada in 1982 and now lives in Mississauga.
Dishonour in Camp 133 by Wayne Arthurson
Dishonour in Camp 133 is the sequel to Wayne Arthurson's The Traitors of Camp 133. Even thousands of miles away from the front lines, in a Canadian prisoner of war camp at the base of the Rockies, death isn't far away. The men of the camp, brothers-in-arms, are turning on each other. It's up to August Neuman, head of security and decorated German war hero, to find out what's going on.
When you can read it: October 2021
Arthurson is a freelance writer and novelist living in Edmonton. His other novels include The Red Chesterfield and Blood Red Summer.
Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu
In Tamil Nadu, India, a boy, Kalki, is born with blue skin. His father sets up an ashram, and his family makes a living off of pilgrims who believe Kalki to be the tenth human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. Kalki is confronted with three trials that test his power and prove his divine status. When he seems to pass them, he questions his divinity. Over the next decade, his family unravels — and every relationship he relied on starts falling apart.
When you can read it: Nov. 2, 2021
SJ Sindu is a Tamil author and educator. She is also the author of the novel Marriage of a Thousand Lies and two chapbooks, I Once Met You But You Were Dead and Dominant Genes. Sindhu is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
