Canadian Authors
Celebrate Canada Day with these Canadian authors.
The berry pickers
Peters, Amanda, author
2023
July 1962. A Mi'kmaq family's four-year-old daughter vanishes mysteriously. Joe will remain deeply affected by his sister's disappearance for years to come. In Boston, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren't telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
The big melt
Riddle, Emily, author
2022
"The Big Melt is a debut poetry collection rooted in nehiyaw thought and urban millennial life events. It examines what it means to repair kinship, contend with fraught history, go home and contemplate prairie ndn utopia in the era of late capitalism and climate change. Part memoir, part research project, this collection draws on Riddle's experience working in Indigenous governance and her affection for confessional poetry in crafting feminist works that are firmly rooted in place. This book refuses a linear understanding of time in its focus on women in the author's family, some who have passed and others who are yet to come. The Big Melt is about inheriting a Treaty relationship just as much as it is about breakups, demonstrating that governance is just as much about our interpersonal relationships as it is law and policy. How does one live one's life in a way that honours inherited responsibilities, a deep love for humour and a commitment to always learning about the tension between a culture that deeply values collectivity and the autonomy of the individual? Perhaps we find these answers in the examination of ourselves, the lands we are from and the relationships we hold."-- Provided by publisher.
The Bittlemores : a novel
Arden, Jann, author
2023
On mean Harp Bittlemore's blighted farm nothing has gone right for a very long time. Crops don't grow, the pigs and chickens stay skinny and the three aged dairy cows are so desperate they are plotting an escape. The one thing holding them back is the thought of abandoning young Willa. Just as things are really coming to a head, a bright young police officer starts investigating a cold case involving a baby stolen from a little rural hospital 28 years earlier, and Willa and the cows find out exactly how far the Bittlemores will go to protect a festering secret.
The bomber mafia : a dream, a temptation, and the longest night of the second world war
Gladwell, Malcolm, 1963- author
2021
How a small team of Utopian Air Force strategists attempted to win World War II through precision bombing-only to witness Curtis LeMay defeat Japan from the air, by burning nearly 70 of its cities to the ground. A tale of idealists, grim pragmatists, technologists, and the wages of war.
Canadian boyfriend
Holiday, Jenny (Romance author), author
2024
"Once upon a time teenage Aurora Evans met a hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. And soon, he was the perfect fake boyfriend, a get-out-of-jail-free card for all kinds of sticky situations. I can't go to prom. I'm going to be visiting my boyfriend in Canada. He was just what she needed to cover her social awkwardness. He never had to know. It wasn't like she was ever going to see him again... Years later, Aurora is teaching kids' dance classes and battling panic and eating disorders--souvenirs from her failed ballet career--when pro hockey player Mike Martin walks in with his daughter. Mike's honesty about his struggles with widowhood helps Aurora confront some of her own demons, and the two forge an unlikely friendship. There's just one problem: Mike is the boy she spent years pretending was her "Canadian boyfriend." The longer she keeps her secret, the more she knows it will shatter the trust between them. But to have the life she wants, she needs to tackle the most important thing of all-believing in herself"-- Provided by publisher.
Chrysalis : stories
Varghese, Anuja, author
2023
Genre-blending stories of transformation and belonging that centre women of colour and explore queerness, family, and community. A couple in a crumbling marriage faces divine intervention. A woman dies in her dreams again and again until she finds salvation in an unexpected source. A teenage misfit discovers a darkness lurking just beyond the borders of her suburban home. The stories in Chrysalis, Anuja Varghese's debut collection, are by turns poignant and chilling, blurring the lines between the monstrous and the mundane. Poetic, sensual, and surreal, Varghese's stories delve into complex intersections of family, community, sexuality, and cultural expectation through an unapologetically feminist lens. Drawing on folklore, fairy tale, and magical realism, they take aim at the ways in which racialized women are robbed of power and revel in the strange and dangerous journeys they undertake to reclaim it.
Denison Avenue : a novel
Wong, Christina (Christina M.), author
2023
Bringing together ink artwork and fiction, Denison Avenue by Daniel Innes (illustrations) and Christina Wong (text) follows the elderly Wong Cho Sum, who, living in Toronto's gentrifying Chinatown--Kensington Market, begins to collect bottles and cans after the sudden loss of her husband as a way to fill her days and keep grief and loneliness at bay. In her long walks around the city, Cho Sum meets new friends, confronts classism and racism, and learns how to build a life as a widow in a neighborhood that is being destroyed and rebuilt, leaving elders like her behind. A poignant meditation on loss, aging, gentrification, and the barriers that Chinese Canadian seniors experience in big cities, Denison Avenue beautifully combines visual art, fiction, and the endangered Toisan dialect to create a book that is truly unforgettable.
Disturbing the dead
Armstrong, Kelley, author
2024
Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends - and feelings - in this Victorian century. So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it's not a mummy they've unwrapped, but a much more modern body.
The Dixon rule : a novel
Kennedy, Elle, author.
2024
Diana Dixon has a lot going on this summer. She's rehearsing for a ballroom dance competition, juggling two jobs, and dealing with an ex-boyfriend who can't take the hint it's over. Yet despite all that, she still has plenty of time and energy to tell Shane Lindley to screw off. Shane just moved into her apartment building and seems dedicated to sleeping his way through her entire cheerleading squad. What Diana doesn't realize is that Shane's sick of hookups and tired of being on the rebound after his long-term girlfriend called it quits. He wants a relationship. And when his ex comes back into the picture, he pretends he has one to make her jealous--and who better to play the girlfriend role than his sassy new neighbor?
Fight night
Toews, Miriam, 1964- author
2021
When Swiv is expelled from school, Grandma takes on the role of teacher and gives her the task of writing to Swiv's absent father about life in the household during the last trimester of the pregnancy. In turn, Swiv gives Grandma an assignment: to write a letter to "Gord," her unborn grandchild (and Swiv's soon-to-be brother or sister). "You're a small thing," Grandma writes to Gord, "and you must learn to fight." As Swiv records her thoughts and observations, Fight Night unspools the pain, love, laughter, and above all, will to live a good life across three generations of women in a close-knit family.
Five little Indians
Good, Michelle, author
2020
Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention. Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn't want them. The paths of the five friends cross and crisscross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they endured during their years at the Mission. With compassion and insight, Five Little Indians chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward.
Friends, lovers, and the big terrible thing : a memoir
Perry, Matthew, 1969- author
2022
"The beloved star of Friends takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this candid, funny, and revelatory memoir that delivers a powerful message of hope and persistence In an extraordinary story that only he could tell, Matthew Perry takes readers onto the soundstage of the most successful sitcom of all time while opening up about his private struggles with addiction. Candid, self-aware, and told with his trademark humor, Perry vividly details his lifelong battle with the disease and what fueled it despite seemingly having it all. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is an unforgettable memoir that shares the most intimate details of the love Perry lost, his darkest days, and his greatest friends. Unflinchingly honest, moving, and hilarious: this is the book fans have been waiting for"-- Provided by publisher.
Heartless hunter
Ciccarelli, Kristen, author
2024
In a world where witches face persecution, Rune leads a double life, masquerading as a socialite during the day and transforming into the vigilante known as the Crimson Moth by night, and forms a complicated alliance with the witch hunter Gideon Sharpe, blurring the lines between love and danger.
Huge : a novel
Butt, Brent, 1966-, author
2023
It's 1994, and three stand-up comedians have embarked on a tour of smaller communites across a remote stretch of rural Canadian countryside. Dale is a 40-something comic from Chicago. Rynn is a 20-something fast-rising comedy star from Dublin. And who is this third guy, the hulking young man added to the bill at the last minute? He goes by Hobie Huge. When Huge starts to show signs of a terrifying capacity for brutality offstage - for Dale and Rynn, the tour becomes less about getting laughs and more about getting off the road alive.
Love, Pamela
Anderson, Pamela, 1967- author
2023
A heartrending, intimate memoir from the iconic pin-up and former star of Baywatch.
Moon of the turning leaves : a novel
Rice, Waubgeshig, 1979-, author
2023
It's been over a decade since a mysterious cataclysm caused a permanent blackout that toppled infrastructure and thrust the world into anarchy. Evan's people are in some ways stronger than ever. But resources in and around their new settlement are beginning to dry up, and the elders warn that they cannot afford to stay indefinitely. Evan and his fifteen-year-old daughter, Nangohns, are elected to lead a small scouting party on a months-long trip to seek new beginnings, and discover what kind of life - and what dangers - still exist in the lands to the south.
The mystery guest
Prose, Nita, author
2023
Molly Gray is not like anyone else. With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, she has risen through the ranks of the glorious five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J.D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead-very dead-on the hotel's tea room floor. When Detective Stark, Molly's old foe, investigates the author's unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. As the case threatens the hotel's pristine reputation, Molly knows that she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer's identity. But that key is buried deep in her past-because long ago, she knew J.D. Grimthorpe.
Off to the races : a small town enemies to lovers romance
Silver, Elsie, author
2024
Vaughn Harding heads from the city to small-town Ruby Creek, intent on revitalizing his family's ranch and the scandal attached to its name in the wake of his grandfather's unexpected passing. He needs a win, and when he hires Billie Black to train his best but most stubborn racehorse, he hopes she can deliver. Billie is talented. Whip-smart. Sassy. And so damn tempting. She and Vaughn clash from the moment they meet, but he can't stop thinking about her. And in a small town, on an even smaller farm, it's hard to keep their distance. Even harder to keep their friction from turning into fire. With every smart-mouthed comment, every game they play, Vaughn ends up wanting more. Her lips. Her trust. Her heart. Billie Black is the whole package, and possibly the only one who can save Vaughn's business--and him. Vaughn wants it all. But at what cost? Because for the first time, he doesn't just want to win races--he wants to win the girl.
The offing : a novel
Nay, Roz author
2024
A recent break-up has left Ivy humiliated and raw, so when her best friend, Regan, offers her a month-long escape in the form of a trip to Australia, it feels like a lifeline, one that Ivy grabs with both hands. When Ivy spots an ad for crewmembers on a small yacht being sailed by a doting father and his daughter, the girls decide to take the job. Together with a handsome third crewmember, they set off north into tropical heat, but it's not long before doubts start to creep in. Tensions rise as the past threatens to catch up with them, and dark secrets emerge that will change everything.
Old babes in the wood : stories
Atwood, Margaret, 1939-, author
2023
This collection of fifteen extraordinary stories - some of which have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine - explore the full warp and weft of experience, speaking to our unique times with Margaret Atwood's characteristic insight, wit and intellect. Returning to short fiction for the first time since her 2014 collection "Stone Mattress," Atwood showcases both her creativity and her humanity in these remarkable tales which by turns delight, illuminate, and quietly devastate.
Sanctuary of the shadow
Ascher, Aurora, author
2024
"Harrow was born during a war between two of the five capricious Elemental Queens. It's a war of fury and attrition, and exacted its price in blood. In one grim night, almost all of the water Elementals--the Seers--were killed. All but Harrow. Years later, she's taken refuge in anonymity, hidden within an unusual circus run by a centuries-old Enchanter. No one can know who she really is or about the magic she wields. Now the circus has acquired a new 'attraction.' A creature dark as night, with wings, and inky black eyes that dance with fire. An elemental with no recollection of who he is. Some think he's a monster. Others think he's a myth come to life. But Harrow's magic knows he's something else ... if she can unlock his memory"-- Provided by publisher.
The secret keeper
Graham, Genevieve, author
2024
Twin sisters Dot and Dash Wilson share many things, and while they are practically inseparable, they are nothing alike. Determined to do their duty, Dash jumps at the opportunity to train as a pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary. Meanwhile, Dot is drawn into the Allies' preparations for D-Day. But Dot's loyalties are put to the test once more when someone close to her goes missing in Nazi-occupied territory. With everyone's eyes on Operation Overlord, Dot must use every skill at her disposal to save those she loves before it's too late.
This summer will be different
Fortune, Carley, author
2024
Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn't know he's, her best friend, Bridget's younger brother. Lucy and Felix's chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again. It's easier said than done. When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she's never been able to. But Felix's sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy's beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.
Those Pink Mountain nights
Ferguson, Jenny, 1985-, author
2023
While working at Pink Mountain Pizza, three teens--overachiever Berlin, high school dropout Cameron and rich girl Jessie--find their weekend taking unexpected turns, forcing them all to acknowledge the various ways they've been hurt--and how much they need each other to hold it all together.