Canada Reads American Style

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  

Rebecca is excited to speak with Korean Canadian author Jinwoo Park. Born and raised in Seoul, he has lived in various parts of North America and the UK since the age of 11 and is now based in Montreal. Jinwoo obtained his bachelor’s degree from McGill in 2013, followed by a master’s in political economics from the London School of Economics in 2014, and a master’s in creative writing at the University of Oxford in 2015.  In 2021 he won the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers’ Award for his first manuscript, Oxford Soju Club, which will be published by Dundurn Press in September 2025. He has also been actively working as a literary translator after winning the Emerging Translator Award from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea in late 2023. Jinwoo is also an avid book reviewer and is active on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Authors and books recommended: Chung Serang (정세랑)  Oh Seong-eun (오성은)  The Hypebeast by Adnan Khan The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim https://www.tiktok.com/@jinwoopark0721 https://www.instagram.com/jinwoopark0721/ https://www.youtube.com/@jinwoopark0721 https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459755109-oxford-soju-club      

Welcome to the latest episode of Hidden Gems in which Rebecca and Tara invite guests to recommend authors or titles that may be new to us. Rebecca is excited to introduce author Marion Agnew whose debut novel, Making Up the Gods, from Latitude 46 Publishing, was released in October, 2023.  Kirkus Reviews calls it “A complex, heart-warming tale of love, absolution, and fortitude.” Marion began writing creative nonfiction in the late 1990s, after her mother’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. Her essays were collected in Reverberations: A Daughter's Meditations on Alzheimer's, published in 2019 by Signature Editions. It was shortlisted for the Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Award. A dual citizen of the US and Canada, Marion lives and writes in Shuniah, a community north of Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior, in Robinson-Superior Treaty Territory of the Anishinaabe and Métis peoples. Rebecca interviewed Marion about Making Up the Gods on July 8, 2024. Recommended books: Good to a Fault; Close to Hugh by Marina Endicott Lambsquarters: Scenes from a Handmade Life; Shepherd's Sight: A Farming Life by Barbara McLean McLean and Wils interview: https://www.tvo.org/video/barbara-mclean-with-her-husband-retired-doctor-thomas-wils  The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol We're All in This Together by Amy Jones https://www.marionagnew.com/ https://latitude46publishing.com/ https://www.instagram.com/marionagnew/ https://www.entershinebookshop.ca/collections/all-books  

Rebecca is excited to interview Canadian author Caitlin Galway on this latest episode. Caitlin is a novelist and short fiction writer whose work can be classified as literary realism, surrealism, and magical realism. A Song for Wildcats, her new short story collection published by Dundurn Press, has been named an Indigo Best Book of 2025, and was featured as a must-read in The Globe and Mail, and a most anticipated book in The Toronto Star. She has been the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. https://caitlingalway.wixsite.com/caitlin-l-galway https://www.dundurn.com/authors_/t156375/p149069-caitlin-galway https://www.instagram.com/c.l.gals/ Caitlin's books: A Song for Wildcats: A Song for Wildcats Heatstroke The Islanders The Wisp The Lyrebird's Bell Bonavere Howl Other books discussed: Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante We Do Not Part by Han Kang Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park The Immortal Woman by Su Chang  

Tara welcomes Alma Sarai, a Canadian artist, actor, musician, and arts advocate, to promote Tottering Biped Theatre's summer production of "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)" at Dundurn Castle Park in Hamilton, ON in August 2025.  Alma graduated from the Theatre and Drama Studies program at the University of Toronto Mississauga, a joint program with Sheridan College. She has been deeply involved with Tottering Biped Theatre (TBT) since 2016, serving as Associate Artistic Director and Associate Producer. Alma has performed in every "Shakespeare by Nature" production since its inception, portraying roles such as Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, among many other roles in numerous plays. Since 2020, she has also been the producing Director of TBT's Summer Shakespeare Project, an annual festival held at Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, co-led with Trevor Copp. Books mentioned: Ruff by Rod Carley Inkheart by Cornelia Funke How to Make Love in a Canoe: Sex in Canada by Jeff Pearce Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench, Brendan O'Hea The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race by Farah Karim-Cooper Whenever You're Ready: Nora Polley on Life as a Stratford Festival Stage Manager by Shawn Desouza-Coelho Event details: The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) August 12-30, 2025 @ 7:00 pm (Tues-Sat)   The Carnival of Animals (live music and mime) August 17, 24, 31, 2025 @ 7:00 pm (Sun)   Dundurn Castle Park , 610 York Blvd, Hamilton, ON https://www.totteringbiped.ca/  

Join Rebecca and Tara as they review the progress they've made (or not) on their 2025 reading goals.  Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): Currently reading: A Lost Lady by Willa Cather 2025 Goals: Complete Anne of Green Gables and The Chronicles of Narnia series and read more Redwall; read children's books that have "mischievous, clever, independent girl characters"; track "mood reads"; plus, a secret goal! Tara (@onabranchreads): Currently reading: The Queen's Spade by Sarah Raughley 2025 Goals: Carol Shields Prize for Fiction; Agatha Christie; Helen Humphreys; weed physical TBR; read more short stories If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com  

Rebecca is excited to speak with Pakistani-Canadian author Saad Omar Khan about his debut novel, Drinking the Ocean, published by Wolsak & Wynn in 2025. Saad was born in the United Arab Emirates to Pakistani parents and lived in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and South Korea before immigrating to Canada.  He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics and has completed a certificate in Creative Writing from the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto. His short fiction has appeared in Best Canadian Stories 2025 and other publications. Saad lives outside of Toronto and is currently working on his second novel. Books mentioned: Ley Lines by Tim Welsh Stella Maris; Blood Meridian; All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin The Sheltering Sky; Travels: Collected Writing 1950-1993; The Stories of Paul Bowles by Paul Bowles Abdullah Ansari of Herat: An Early Sufi Master by A.G. Farhadi https://www.saadomarkhan.com/ https://www.instagram.com/s.omar.khan/ https://bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/collections/all/products/drinking-the-ocean https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/fiction/short-fiction/best-canadian-stories-2025/ https://augursociety.org/  

Rebecca and Tara share their latest vacation highlights as well as their favorite reads over the past month. Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): https://www.thehenryford.org/ A Song for Wildcats: Stories by Caitlin Galway Stella's Carpet by Lucy E.M. Black  Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park A Psalm for the Wild-Built; A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers Drinking the Ocean by Saad Omar Khan The Fairy-Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm #1) by Michael Buckley Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton Tara (@onabranchreads): https://therooms.ca/ The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen SookfongLee The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane Pale Shadows; Paper Houses by Dominique Fortier; translated by Rhonda Mullins Sleepers and Ties by Gail Kirkpatrick Written on the Dark; The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay Tracking Giants: Big Trees, Tiny Triumphs, and Misadventures in the Forest by Amanda Lewis Hemo Sapiens by Emily A. Weedon If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com  

Rebecca is excited to speak with Chinese-Canadian author Su Chang.  Su was born and raised in Shanghai and is the daughter of a former and reluctant Red Guard leader, which was the paramilitary arm of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution beginning in the 1960s. Today, they will be talking about her debut novel, The Immortal Woman, published by House of Anansi in March of this year.  It has already garnered a lot of attention and praise from CBC, Indigo Books, and Amazon, to name a few high-powered sources. Highlighted books: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar Who's Irish? by Gish Jen Play by Jess Taylor A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith Kilworthy Tanner by Jean Marc Ah-Sen A Song for Wildcats by Caitlin Galway The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien https://www.instagram.com/suchangwrites/ https://www.suchangauthor.com/ https://houseofanansi.com/products/the-immortal-woman?_pos=3&_sid=2cb7b9933&_ss=r   If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com    

Rebecca and Tara introduce a new feature, Sharing Our Shelves, that may appear again from time to time in which they each review the other's To Be Read shelf and pick their co-host's next book to read. Rebecca selected Tear by Erica McKeen for Tara and Tara selected Stella's Carpet by Lucy E.M. Black for Rebecca. Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): A Psalm for the Wild-Built; A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis A Feast of Wolves by Wilson Coneybeare Stella's Carpet by Lucy E.M. Black Tara (@onabranchreads): The Midnight Project by Christy Climenhage Tear by Erica McKeen If you have comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com Happy Reading!

Tara chats with author Harman Burns, a Saskatchewan-born trans woman, writer, filmmaker, and sound artist. Her work has been published in Rebelle Zine, Untethered Magazine, and Metatron Press, and her story “Among Strange Machines” was shortlisted for the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction. Her debut novella, Yellow Barks Spider was published in 2024 by Radiant Press. She currently resides in Vancouver on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Books and authors mentioned: Little Fish; A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett Johnny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead Kai Cheng Thom Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann Zulaikha by Niloufar-Lily Soltani Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen #4/10) by Steven Erikson https://www.instagram.com/harman.burns/ https://radiantpress.ca/shop/p/yellowbarksspider