Radicalized is a short story collection from author Cory Doctrow. All four fall within the realm of sci-fi and carry the theme: “tales for our present moment”. Unauthorized Bread – The first story in the collection follows a young woman, Salima, recently released from an immigration holding facility. She makes her way to Boston, eager…
We Have Always Been Here is the memoir of Samra Habib, a Pakastani-born Canadian photographer. It is her life story as she struggled coming to terms with her queer sexuality as a member of the Muslim community. I say it every year, but the absolute best part about CBC’s annual Canada Reads competition is that…
In Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club, it’s February and it’s snowing heavily. You’re trapped inside The Hazel – a small restaurant in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Everyone from the owner to the serving staff are keeping secrets from one another and over time, have become tangled up in each other’s lives. As…
Jared, a fledgling pot-dealing high school student, has a life as consistent as that of a family living in tornado alley. When not whipping up a batch of weed cookies, Jared stumbles from party to party floating through life like an astronaut untethered from the space station. With his dog Baby Killer, the one constant…
Well, it’s that time again. The 2019 Canada Reads competition has arrived. Comedian Ali Hassan returns as host and moderator for the third straight year after taking over from Wab Kinew in 2017. This year, the theme is “one book to move you”. With that in mind, it likely meant that you had some heavy…
Lindsay Wong’s memoir, The Woo Woo, takes a look at growing up in a family plagued with mental illness. Equal parts heartbreaking and darkly comedic, The Woo Woo explores the author’s complicated relationship with her parents, siblings and extended family as well as her own mental illness after being diagnosed with a neurological disorder in…
Homes is the story of Abu Bakr al Rabeeah, as told to Winnie Yeung, about his family’s life in both Iraq and Syria before moving to Canada as refugees in 2015. For as long as I can remember, there has always been some sort of conflict ongoing in the Middle East. Despite seeing it on…
OK, book three of Canada Reads 2019 down. After reading Brother, I’m becoming skeptical of the tagline for this year’s competition – “one book to move you”. It should probably be, “Canada Reads: Embrace Depression.” David Chariandy’s novel Brother is an absolutely tremendous, albeit heartbreaking read. Alternating between the past and the present, Chariandy’s book…
