Each week, Globe and Mail staffers and readers share what they’re reading now, whether it’s a hot new release or an old book they’re discovering for the first time. Tell me about a book you loved and we might publish your recommendation. Fill out this form, or send your book recommendation to Lara Pingue at lpingue@globeandmail.com
Globe staffers share their favourite Canadian books
Spring books 2025 preview: 37 must-reads
Ducks, Newburyport, Lucy Ellmann
Clocking in at 1,000 pages and written almost entirely in a single sentence, Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport demands the reader’s attention – and it rewards it, too. This is a mesmerizing, modern epic, delivered in a stream-of-consciousness that reveals the hopes and fears of an American mother. She frets about Donald Trump, men with guns, environmental degradation and the mountain lion running wild in her neighbourhood. The lion, tracking her cubs, plays into the theme of motherhood under siege by a cruel and indifferent society. Sounds grim, but it’s a vibrant, analytical and witty read with a satisfying climax. Be warned: This book is heavy (literally and metaphorically), but it’s worth the weight.
–Globe reader Frank McGinn, Dartmouth
William Lyon Mackenzie King: A Life Guided by the Hand of Destiny, Allan Levine
As Canadians head into a federal election dominated by tariffs, housing and energy infrastructure, it’s interesting to consider a core tenet of former prime minister Mackenzie King: He embraced speaking to the dead. King, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was no doubt the quirkiest. In King, biographer Allan Levine covers the former PM’s life from birth to death, including his propensity for seances. The book highlights King’s political dominance of the early to mid-20th century, and covers key political events, such as the King-Byng Affair and the Conscription Crisis of 1944. Through it all, King manoeuvred to keep Canada united. Spirits aside, here’s a prognostication: This biography will be read by anyone who enjoys compelling Canadian politics.
–Globe reader Mel Simoneau, Gatineau
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This is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel is a funny, provocative and timely story of a family with four boys. When the parents try for a girl, they instead get Claude – another boy, but one who wants to be a girl. This is a great read for book clubs as it pulls out all the stops, and that’s the author’s point. We need to be able to talk in an open way, even if not a friendly one. A great starter book for readers wanting to know about transitioning and family love.
-Globe reader Joanne McLachlan, Stayner, Ont.
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The House on Moon Lake, Francesca Duranti
One of my favourite books is Francesca Duranti’s The House on Moon Lake, a novel of less than 200 pages that’s meatier than weightier tomes. It’s one of the few novels that our book club spent more than an hour discussing. The prose is crystalline, making for a very easy read. On the face of it, it’s a pretty simple story: A translator, Fabrizio Garrone, discovers a novel by a famous Austrian author which hasn’t been translated. He figures this is his big chance for fame and fortune. The novel is about his journey to discovery, in more ways than one. But it’s more than that. It’s about relationships. It’s about obsession. It’s about love. It’s about art becoming life. It’s even a ghost story … I think.
–Globe reader Tim Schobert, Ottawa
Falling, Elizabeth Jane Howard
I’ve recently discovered the novels of the late Elizabeth Jane Howard, a brilliant writer who loved to experiment with form. Most recently, I read her 1999 book Falling, the story of a sociopathic man, Henry, and his seduction of a twice-divorced author, Daisy. Falling is semi-autobiographical, which probably explains its powerful psychological nuance and page-turning intrigue. Interestingly, Henry’s point of view is told in first person, while Daisy’s, in third, includes her letters and diary entries. This is a story as deep and tangled as a neglected garden in the Cotswolds.
–Globe reader Sylvia Pollard, Victoria
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Did I Ever Tell You?, Genevieve Kingston
Genevieve Kingston’s powerful memoir Did I Ever Tell You? tells the story of a mother’s final gifts to her two young children while she prepares to succumb to late-stage breast cancer. During her final years, Kingston’s mother compiled presents and letters for her kids to open on their future milestones – from birthdays to graduations to engagements and weddings – all to be opened when she would no longer be around. With each gift she opens, the author discovers an accompanying letter filled with her mother’s wisdom and guidance. Kingston clings to these words as a source of connection to her mother, at the same time discovering more about her mother and what she was like as a woman. This is a gripping memoir about the legacy of enduring love.
–Globe reader Kristi Kasper, Calgary
How To Speak to Anyone, Jen Mulan
As an immigrant, I have faced numerous challenges with effective communication within the Canadian workforce. So, when my friend Jen Mulan published her book, How to Speak to Anyone, it resonated profoundly with me. This book is an invaluable resource for introverts aspiring to communicate with confidence in both professional and social settings. Through engaging narratives and real-life examples, Jen illustrates that even those of us with naturally reserved dispositions, like myself, can evolve into effective communicators, regardless of cultural background.
–Globe reader Nipun Kudi, Toronto
Hard Landings, Bonnie McGhie
Bonnie McGhie’s memoir, Hard Landings, recounts her compelling experiences in the Canadian Arctic in the 1960s, where she and her husband launched a bush-flying service called Arctic Wings. She writes of the creativity and tenacity needed to overcome the dangers of flying in unthinkably harsh conditions; of caring for young children in makeshift surroundings and struggling to meet the demands of their growing businesses. McGhie also describes their world of great extremes and unusual beauty, and of becoming a trusted outsider among her Inuit neighbours, whose way of life was being eroded by damaging government policies.
–Globe reader Lin Perceval, Surrey, B.C.
The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity, Catherine A. Sanderson
My book club is called Reading for Well-Being because we focus on evidence-based reads that help to combat misinformation and disinformation about wellness and self-improvement. We’re currently reading The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity by Catherine A. Sanderson, PhD. In her book, Sanderson demonstrates how our level of happiness, our physical health and even our longevity is connected to how we “think” about ourselves, in other words, our mindset. I like this book because it is full of fairly straightforward strategies and the science behind them to positively shift your mindset for improved well-being.
– Globe reader Joanna Pozzulo, Ottawa
Spin Cycle, Alfredo Botello
A novel that takes the messy, most uncomfortable facts of life – betrayal, honour, trust and of course the biggest one of them all, death – and toys with them in ways both nerve-wracking and heartbreaking, Spin Cycle will hang your soul out to dry. Following a high-school math teacher who is thrust into a caregiver role after his mother can no longer manage her own dementia, Alfredo Botello’s sophomore novel is a darkly funny, intimate yet epic journey that will have you racing to pick up the phone and dial up every family member who you’ve been avoiding for one reason or another. There is a brutal truth coursing through Spin Cycle – we can all save ourselves and each other, if we only put in the effort – that will flatten you.
-Globe and Mail film editor Barry Hertz
The Baseball Vault: Great Writing from the Pages of Sports Illustrated
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“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby once famously said. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” It’s a great quote, but an awful waste of time. I tell you what I do when there’s no baseball: I read books such as The Baseball Vault, a collection of baseball writing from the pages of Sports Illustrated. The late Hornsby was a curmudgeon, by the way, and he might complain that only six of the 46 terrific stories here date before 1990. He has a point.
–Globe arts reporter Brad Wheeler
Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer
Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer, one of Hitler’s most influential ministers, was first published in 1969. I read it when I was 18 and again recently at 68. I wanted to fathom why political associates and constituents went along with a megalomaniacal leader. Written while Speer was in Spandau Prison for 20 years, he accepts responsibility for his own role in enabling a madman and offers a frightening glimpse of how people can be trained to concur with actions they know are wrong. The tome reveals the methods of a dangerous leader who was consumed with delusions of grandeur in an unscrupulous and deadly game of power. Fifty years after my first reading, this book is still as chilling – and timely – as it was when I was a teenager.
–Globe reader Thelma Fayle, Victoria
Waiting for Joe, Sandra Birdsell
Sandra Birdsell’s novel, Waiting for Joe, is a modern tale of human frailties, and all set in Manitoba and Saskatchewan; the descriptions of the Prairie cities are so vivid and refreshing to read. The novel tells the story of a couple trying to find their way through youth, marriage, employment failure and how they survive and move forward. Birdsell touches the soul with her deep understanding of human life. Not since Alice Munro have I read such strong depictions of daily life.
–Globe reader Joyce Mylymok, North Saanich, B.C.
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The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters
In her debut novel The Berry Pickers, Canadian author Amanda Peters tells the gripping stories of Ruthie, a four-year-old Indigenous girl who disappears from the blueberry fields in Maine, and her brother, who’s left to wrestle with the loss years later. The story takes readers across North America to places that may be familiar, from Ontario and Nova Scotia to Massachusetts. Some parts might feel a bit predictable, but Peters makes up for it with her deeply moving and nuanced writing. At its core, this book is about family, identity and the difficult but healing path to forgiveness.
–Globe reporter Meera Raman
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At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, Carol Off
Can the meaning of words change? In her new book, At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, journalist Carol Off examines how the meanings of six simple words – freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice and taxes – have shifted. The author contextualizes her work in the worldwide rise of the right, focusing on Canada. There has never been a more important time to learn about the scope of the influence of the wealthy far right, and to pay attention to language. This eye-opening book should be required reading for all Canadians.
-Globe reader Lindsay Bryan, Welland, Ont.
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of ExtremismSupplied
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Tim Alberta
Tim Alberta’s 2023 book The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism is both a fascinating and sobering look at the extremist element of the U.S. religious right. The author, a political journalist, grew up in an Evangelist household himself and he puts that experience to good use here. With access to leading figures and thoughtful analysis, Alberta paints a clear picture of the energy and fear that fuels the religious right. This book offers vibrant insight into the despair, anger and division in the U.S. today.
–Globe reader Margery Cartwright, Haliburton, Ont.
Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman
Life and Fate is often called the War and Peace of the 20th century. The novel was written by Soviet-era writer and journalist Vasily Grossman, who witnessed the battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43. The story centres on the Shaposhnikov family and explores their lives during the period when violence, ideology, suffering and sacrifice were all at extremes. It’s a realistic novel, and Grossman is able to capture the smell and sound of war through dozens of vignettes involving more than 150 fictional and historical characters. It’s an emotional read – and at 850 pages, it’s a book you should take your time with.
– Globe reader Michael Minnes, Ancaster, Ont.
The Magnolia Palace, Fiona Davis
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The Magnolia Palace takes place against the backdrop of New York City’s Frick mansion, the opulent house that contains the art collection of Henry Frick. Author Fiona Davis tells a story of two time periods: the 1920s, when the mansion is a family home, and the 1960s, when it’s a museum. In each period, we meet strong women who struggle to survive and overcome the restrictions of their time. Romances and betrayals abound. This is a story of family, its conflicts and how wealth doesn’t always bring happiness. The mansion itself becomes a character in the story – and like any interesting character, it has its secrets.
–Globe reader Maureen Murray, Burlington, Ont.
The Complete Poems: 1927-1979, Elizabeth Bishop
Recently, I’ve been rereading Elizabeth Bishop’s The Complete Poems: 1927-1979, a collection unlike so many modern poems because of their accessibility. While the best-known poem is One Art, a villanelle with the striking first line, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master,” it’s another poem called Poem that overwhelms me every time I read it. It’s about a family heirloom painting (not to be confused with her other poem about a family heirloom, Large Bad Painting). Poem startles you with one of those aha! moments that make a painting by a family member poignant, regardless of the painter’s talent. Perhaps the best student of the great American poet Robert Lowell, Bishop had a rough start in life. She was raised by her maternal grandparents in Nova Scotia, about which she wrote a number of wonderful poems, until her wealthy paternal grandparents brought her to live in Massachusetts. Without this move she might never have met Lowell, let alone become his equal as a poet. If a Globe reader were to pick only one book of modern poetry to read in their lifetime, this might well be it.
–Globe reader Ron Charach, Toronto
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