Canada Reads American Style

Rebecca welcomes award-winning Canadian author Marcello Di Cintio for his third podcast visit to discuss his latest book, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, published by Biblioasis in September 2025.   A Globe 100 Best Book of 2025 • One of The Hill Times’ Top 100 Best Books in 2025 • Winner of the 2024 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-releases/precarious-the-lives-of-migrant-workers/ In 2023, after weeks of investigation, United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomoyo Obokata came to a scathing conclusion: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Workers complained of excessive hours and unpaid overtime; of being forced to perform dangerous tasks or ones not specified in their contracts; of being physically abused, intimidated, and sexually harassed; and of overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions that deprived them of their privacy and dignity. In Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, Marcello Di Cintio ranges across the country speaking to those who have come from elsewhere to till our fields, bathe our elderly, and serve us our Double Doubles, uncovering stories of tremendous perseverance, resilience, and humanity, but also of precarity and vulnerability. He shows that vast swathes of our economy depend on the work of people we don’t see, while expanding our awareness of what migrant work now entails, and revealing that our mistreatment of the most vulnerable among us diminishes our own dignity.   Please check out Rebecca's previous interviews with Marcello: January 11, 2021 - Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Life in Contemporary Palestine June 28, 2021 - Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers   https://www.instagram.com/marcello.di.cintio/    

Join Tara for a captivating interview with Alice Fitzpatrick and discover her connection with Carol Burnett and notable Canadian poet George Bowering.   Alice is the author of the Meredith Island Mysteries, which include Secrets in the Water and A Dark Death.  The Meredith Island Christmas Mystery, A Killing Cold, will be released June 2026. The traditional mystery appeals to Alice's fascination with what makes seemingly ordinary people commit murder. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, but dreams of a cottage on the Welsh coast.   Books for your TBR: Ruth Galloway series; Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Griffiths Magpie Murders series; Moonflower Murders series; Marble Hall series by Anthony Horowitz Helen Dexter - Seaview Hotel series by Glenda Young Cait Morgan series; WISE Enquiries Agency series by Cathy Ace Christine Lane Mystery series by Dianne Scott   https://www.alicefitzpatrick.com/ https://www.alicefitzpatrick.com/newsletter https://www.stonehousepublishing.ca/

With the announcement of the five titles and defenders, Rebecca and Tara make their predictions for the winner of the 25th Anniversary edition of CBC's Canada Reads! Per the CBC website: "This year's edition will air April 13 to 16 on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Listen, CBC Gem and CBC Books. It will also be on YouTube and available as a podcast."   https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2026-contenders-9.7040200   The defenders, titles, and authors: Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers champions A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn champions Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard Musician and writer Tegan Quin champions The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz champions Foe by Iain Reid BookTok star Morgann Book champions It's Different This Time by Joss Richard   If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com    

Rebecca and Tara are back with Book Chat #31.  Included are the books they are currently reading as well as their first recommendations of the New Year!    Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): Patrick Bird Mysteries: Opposite Sully's Gym #2; The Road to Heaven #1 by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson The Breakwater; Sisters of the Spruce by Leslie Shimotakahara To Touch the Water; The Solace of Open Spaces; A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning by Gretel Ehrlich Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers; Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers; Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense by Marcello Di Cintio   Tara (@onabranchreads):  Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #20: The Black Wolf by Louise Penny The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien; The Wintermen trilogy by Brit Griffin The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig How about This by Michael Mirolla   If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com  

Welcome to the podcast's first Hidden Gems episode of 2026! This is a special feature Rebecca and Tara offer in which they invite guests to recommend authors or titles that may be new to their listeners. Today’s guest is author and retired professor Garnett Kilberg Cohen from Chicago, IL. Garnett is the author of four short story collections: Cravings; Lost Women, Banished Souls; How We Move the Air; and Swarm to Glory. Her chapbook, Passion Tour, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker online, Rumpus, The Gettysburg Review, Witness, The Literary Review, StoryQuarterly, The Antioch Review and elsewhere. Check out Rebecca's interview with Garnett on Feb 13, 2024: https://canadareadsamericanstyle.podbean.com/e/interview-garnett-kilberg-cohen-and-cravings/ Garnett's Hidden Gems: The Registry of Forgotten Objects: Stories by Miles Harvey Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan Down the Steep by A.D. Nauman The Adventures of Cancer Bitch by S.L. Wisenberg French Girl by Jesse Lee Kercheval Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel You've Told Me Before by Jennifer Moses Simone in Pieces by Janet Burroway https://garnettcohenauthor.com/ https://anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/06/06/review-of-jesse-lee-kerchevals-french-girl-by-garnett-cohen/    

It's that time of year again when Rebecca and Tara try to predict which five books will make CBC's Canada Reads Short List for 2026!  Adding to the excitement is that this year is the 25th anniversary of the debate, so they are hoping for an entertaining look back to find the one book all of Canada should read! https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/canada-reads-2026-longlist-9.7029177 A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt Celestina's House by Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez Crossroads by Kaleb Dahlgren  Everything Is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe Foe by Iain Reid Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park Restaurant Kid by Rachel Phan Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard Slice The Water by PP Wong  The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee @canadareadsamericanstyle @onabranchreads

Happy New Year!! Rebecca and Tara summarize the success of their 2025 goals and introduce new challenges for 2026!   If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

Rebecca and Tara hope you had a fantastic year of reading! And they wrap up their 2025 by answering the following questions: Favorite non-fiction book Favorite quote Happiest book A book that made you cry Most surprising read Most read genre Most read author Favorite reading experience What book do you wish you had buddy read Scariest/creepiest book Favorite fictional character Favorite setting or location First and last book of 2025 If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

Rebecca and Tara close out 2025 with their 30th Book Chat! Rebecca is all about Narnia and C.S. Lewis and Tara ruminates on whether to DNF or finish the book she is currently reading. Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): Stories for Winter and Nights by the Fire by British Library Women Writers The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Tara (@onabranchreads): Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo 107 Days by Kamala Harris Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys the blades of grass are dreaming by Hollay Ghadery https://www.anstrutherpress.com/new-products/the-blades-of-grass-are-dreaming-by-hollay-ghadery If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

Tara has a fascinating chat with Liisa Kovala, a Finnish Canadian author, book coach, and former teacher about historical fiction, cozy mysteries, sisu, her book coaching, podcast, and coffee. Her latest novel is, Like Water for Weary Souls. https://www.liisakovalabookcoach.com/ "In Nolin Creek, the water runs deep and the secrets run deeper. In the harsh landscape of a Depression-era Northern Ontario mining town, Finnish immigrant sisters Hanna and Essi Kivi scrape together a living as domestic workers, sharing a room in a disreputable boarding house owned by a protective madame. ​When Hanna's body is discovered in the icy waters of Nolin Creek, the police call it a tragic accident. But Essi knows better. Her sister would never have risked crossing unstable ice—not after they lost their youngest sister Martta to drowning years before. ​Haunted by guilt and driven by loyalty, Essi begins to unravel the secrets Hanna kept hidden. As Essi digs deeper into her sister's final days, she discovers that in a town built on desperation and dreams for a better future, everyone has something to hide. ​A gripping tale of love, family, sisterhood, and the search for truth." Recommended Reading List: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie https://www.youtube.com/@liisakovala https://liisakovalawomenwriting.substack.com/ https://www.instagram.com/liisakovala/        

Rebecca reveals her 2025 secret reading goal to Tara! And she and Tara offer their best reading recommendations for the holiday season!  Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis The Godfather by Mario Puzo An English Murder by Cyril Hare A Holiday By Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry Tara (@onabranchreads): Starry Starry Night by Shani Mootoo The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman The Family Game by Catherine Steadman Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin Small Things Like These by Claire Foster The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures by Sarah Clegg If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com  

Rebecca is excited to chat with professional explorer Adam Shoalts about his latest book, Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell. https://adamshoalts.com/literature/: Voted by over 200 Independent Bookstores as one of the “Must Read Books” of the Year (Canadian Independent Booksellers Association) Globe and Mail #1 National Bestseller/Toronto Star #1 National Bestseller CBC #1 National Bestseller "In 1910, legendary explorer Hubert Darrell vanished in the uncharted wilderness of the Northwest Territories. A prospector who had been swept up in the Klondike Gold Rush, Darrell later made his name as a wanderer who ventured where few others dared. Famed for his solo journeys, contemporaries regarded Darrell as the hardiest explorer of his day. While his disappearance sparked headlines, soon Darrell’s name would also vanish from history, just as surely as he had in the wild. Yet Darrell left behind a trail of letters, journals, and hand-drawn maps. With these faded clues, Adam Shoalts retraces Darrell’s forgotten routes through the wilderness, searching for cabin ruins and old campsites. Part detective story, part biography, and part first-person adventure narrative, Vanished Beyond the Map combines expeditions with historical research to solve one of exploration history’s enduring cold cases—the mystery of Hubert Darrell." Public Events: https://adamshoalts.com/upcoming-book-events/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_shoalts/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamshoalts  

Rebecca and Tara return after a two-month hiatus and are ready to share the best of their recent reads!   Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): My Life: Growing Up Native in America edited by IllumiNative The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis The Road to Heaven (Patrick Bird Mystery #1) by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon by Lisa de Nikolits Foster by Claire Keegan Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell   Tara (@onabranchreads): Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach The Whistler by Nick Medina As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories edited by Terese Mason Pierre Days of Feasting and Rejoicing by David Bergen Wolk, Moon, Dog: A Novel by Thomas Wharton The Pugilist and the Sailor by Nadia Ragbar The Upending of Wendall Forbes; The Undertaking of Billy Buffone by David Giuliano Machine Without Horses by Helen Humphreys   If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com  

Tara chats with a special guest, the prolific and award-winning Canadian author Merilyn Simonds regarding her latest book, Walking with Beth: Conversations with My 100-year-old Friend. https://merilynsimonds.com/ "In the spring of 2021, Merilyn Simonds asked her friend Beth Robinson if she’d like to go for a walk. Simonds had just turned 70, still active, still writing, but entering what struck her as a mysterious, even frightening stage of life. Beth, a smart, vibrant woman who’d held a job until she was 99, lived on her own and was as awake to the world as a person half her age. Who better to ask what might come next? During three years of weekly walks, the conversation between the two women only deepened, as they opened up about their heart-felt passions, the lingering influence of their pasts, and their hopes and fears for the future. In Walking with Beth, Simonds shares these intimate exchanges, delving into corners of older women’s lives that are rarely seen or spoken about so openly. As Simonds looks forward into a future that seems unknowable, Beth looks back, offering her experience in surviving the later-life blows that batter us all, and more importantly, her wisdom about how to enrich every passing day." Recommended Books: The Age of Creativity: Art, Memory, My Father, and Me by Emily Urquhart Code Noir: Fictions by Canisia Lubrin We, the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek

Rebecca is excited to speak with award-winning Canadian author Barbara Joan Scott about her debut novel, The Taste of Hunger.   https://freehand-books.com/product/the-taste-of-hunger/#tab-description "In Saskatchewan in the late 1920s, a fifteen-year-old Ukrainian immigrant named Olena is forced into marriage with Taras, a man twice her age, who wants her even though she has refused him. Stuck in a hardscrabble life with a husband she despises, starved for a life of her own choosing, at every turn Olena rebels agains her husband and her fate. As Olena and Taras drag everyone around them into the maelstrom that is their marriage, they set off a chain of turbulent events whose aftershocks reverberate through generations."   Book Recommendations: All of Baba's Children by Myrna Kostash Endling; Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories by Maria Reva Late Breaking; All Saints: Stories; Holy Writ by K.D. Miller Gilead; Home; Lila; Jack; What are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson   https://www.barbarajoanscott.com/  

Rebecca is excited to welcome back to the podcast Canadian author Lucy E.M. Black regarding her new historical novel, A Quilting of Scars, with its unforgettable main character, Larkin Beattie.  https://nonpublishing.com/a-quilting-of-scars "Filled with the pleasure of recognizable yet distinctively original characters and a deftly drawn sense of time and place, A Quilting of Scars brings to life a story of forbidden love, abuse and murder. Pulsing with repressed sexuality and guilt, Larkin Beattie reveals the many secrets he has kept hidden throughout his lonely life. The character-driven narrative is a meditation on aging and remorse, offering a rich account of the strictures and rhythms of farming in the not-so-distant past, highlighting the confines of a community where strict moral codes are imposed upon its members and fear of exposure terrifies queer youth. As Larkin reflects upon key events, his recollections include his anger at the hypocrisy of the church, and the deep grief and loneliness that have marked his path. There is a timelessness to this story which transcends the period and resonates with heart-breaking relevance." https://lucyemblack.com/books/a-quilting-of-scars-book/ A Quilting of Scars Discussion Questions As many of you know, Rebecca highly recommends four of Lucy’s books: The Brickworks, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, and A Quilting of Scars. Lucy's Reading Recommendations: In the Bear's House by Bruce Hunter Kate and the Composers by Joanne Culley  

Tara is excited to chat with Canadian author David Giuliano, who lives on the north shore of Lake Superior. His storytelling has been compared to Miriam Toews and Elizabeth Strout in its emotional insight and narrative warmth. His books include The Undertaking of Billy Buffone, winner of the 2022 Bressani Prize; the bestselling Postcards from the Valley; and the cancer memoir It's Good to Be Here. His latest book is The Upending of Wendall Forbes from Latitude 46 Publishing. Reading recommendations: Aliens on the Moon by Thomas King My Friends by Fredrik Backman In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart https://davidgiulianoca.wordpress.com/ https://latitude46publishing.com/ https://www.instagram.com/davidwgiuliano/  

Tara chats with Emily Weedon, a Canadian author and screenwriter, currently living in Toronto. Her web series Chateau Laurier was the most awarded web series in 2023 and won a Canadian Screen Award. Her debut novel Autokrator reimagines gender and power in society against the backdrop of a dystopian world. Her new novel, Hemo Sapiens, will be released into the world on September 30, 2025 from Dundurn Press. It is an erotic noir thriller that reimagines vampires through a lens of female sexuality and anthropology.     Books mentioned for Currently Reading: The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgård The Problem with Having a Body by Jessica Popeski All the Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety by David A. Robertson Runs in the Blood by Matthew J. Trafford https://toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca/   https://emilyweedon.com/ https://www.instagram.com/emily.weedon.creates/ https://canadareadsamericanstyle.podbean.com/e/interview-emily-a-weedon-and-autokrator/

Tara speaks with Canadian author Jen Sookfong Lee regarding her latest novel, The Hunger We Pass Down, which is available September 30, 2025 from Erewhon Books. Jen was born and raised in Vancouver's East Side and now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her memoir, Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, was a finalist for the 2024 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award, was named a best book of 2023 by the Globe and Mail and Apple Books Canada, and was a Today Show recommended read. Jen is also the author of The Conjoined, long listed for the International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Books Award; The Shadow List; and Finding Home. In addition to writing, Jen also acquires and edits books for ECW Press.  Recommended titles: Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert Variations on a Dream by Angelique LaLonde http://sookfong.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jensookfonglee/    

Rebecca and Tara are back with their "monthly" chat about the books they've read and recommend. Please check out the link below to the Instagram post by Hollay Ghadery on her River Street Writes account regarding independent and small press books sold through Indigo. Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): The Laundryman's Boy by Edward Y.C. Lee A Song for Wildcats by Caitlin Galway Brushed Aside: The Untold Story of Women in Art by Noah Charney The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson The Taste of Hunger by Barbara Joan Scott Tara (@onabranchreads): Walking with Beth: Conversations with My Hundred-Year-Old Friend; Woman Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds Behind You by Catherine Hernandez Green by Zachari Logan, published by Radiant Press https://radiantpress.ca/ May It Have a Happy Ending: A Memoir of Finding My Voice as My Mother Lost Hers by Minelle Mahtani A Mouth Full of Salt by Reem Gaafar Speech Dries Here on the Tongue: Poetry on Environmental Collapse and Mental Health -- Rasiqra Revulva (editor), Amanda Shankland (editor) The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia https://www.differentdrummerbooks.ca/ Post shared by Hollay Ghadery on Instagram (@river_street_writes): https://www.instagram.com/p/DNUPOihN91t/ If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com