What is it about summertime that makes reading more appealing? Perhaps it’s knowing you get to do so while lounging in the sun, or that extra time off work to relax and unwind.
If you’re picking up your first book of the year, or are an avid reader, sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. The last thing you want to do is waste time on a book that’s only so-so, especially when you have such limited time to yourself.
What you really need is a friend who reads a lot and can give you recommendations, since apparently you can’t trust major publications not to run AI-generated summer reading lists. And today, that friend is me!
Here’s a list of books by Canadian authors that are best enjoyed in warm weather and will keep you invested until the very end.
The plot alone is enough reason to pick up this novel: Gilda is a morbidly anxious, 20-something-year-old lesbian who accidentally ends up working as a receptionist at the local Catholic Church. The author has an astounding ability to take depressing subjects and tackle them with equal parts care and humour to create relatable (and sometimes painful) characters you’ll root for until the final page.
Author: Emily Austin
Genres: Contemporary fiction, humour, mental health
Butter Honey Pig Bread spans three continents as it tells the tale of a mother and her twin daughters who are reunited after years of estrangement. The family dynamics are beautifully written, and the way the author connects the story to various Nigerian dishes makes the novel a treat for the senses.
Author: Francesca Ekwuyasi
Genres: Literary fiction, LGBTQ+
If you turn on the news each night and struggle to make sense of the injustices happening in the world, you’re not alone. Described as “the book for our time,” One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This merges memoir with history and journalism as the author reckons what it means to live in a world run by a small group of countries that don’t consider Black, Brown, and Indigenous people entirely human.
Author: Omar El Akkad
Genres: Non-fiction, politics, history
Okay, full disclosure: this one wasn’t for me. So, why am I recommending it? It was an objectively good book, with beautiful prose and captivating commentary on grief. The story follows a young widow as she falls in love with the one person she can’t have — her boyfriend’s dad. I struggled to get on board with the romance morally, but if you’re into messy characters and even messier relationships, You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty might be worth a shot.
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Genres: Contemporary fiction, romance
Equal parts nostalgic, eerie, and hopeful, There Are Wolves Here Too takes place in 1997, following Robin and his two friends, whose perfect small-town summer turns into a nightmare following the disappearance of a little girl. It may be a book about teenagers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s for teenagers.
Author: Niall Howell
Genres: Noir fiction, coming-of-age, mystery
This book has a few key audiences in mind: Those plugged into the Canadian music scene and anyone looking for new ways to tackle their creative pursuits. In Try Hard, Arkells frontman Max Kerman takes readers behind the scenes of his creative process while offering them a framework of how to pursue new ideas in their own endeavours.
Author: Max Kerman
Genres: Non-fiction, self-help, music
This book has it all: Ponzi schemes, mysterious disappearances, and a glass hotel located on the remote tip of Vancouver Island. The multiple perspectives of this captivating tale intertwine in a story that examines the ways we search for meaning in life and how grief and guilt can intersect.
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genres: Literary fiction, mystery
A simple story told through the observations of a nine-year-old, Fight Night follows a young girl living in Toronto with her pregnant mother and eccentric grandmother. The three generations of women are at the centre of a beautiful story about what it means to love and live in a difficult world, and charmed me to my very core.
Author: Miriam Toews
Genres: Literary fiction, humour
Best read aloud around a campfire, Never Whistle at Night features frightening tales from notable Indigenous authors, including Waubgeshig Rice, Richard Van Camp, and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. These stories are both a delicious feast for lovers of horror and a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination.
Author: Multiple
Genres: Fiction, anthology, horror
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