Latest news with #CanadaReads2025
CBC
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
8 books to read if you loved Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew
Pastry chef Saïd M'Dahoma championed Dandelion on Canada Reads 2025. Dandelion is a novel about family secrets, migration, isolation, motherhood and mental illness. When Lily was a child, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family and was never heard from again. After becoming a new mother herself, Lily becomes obsessed with discovering what happened to Swee Hua. She recalls growing up in a British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families and how Swee Hua longed to return to Brunei. Eventually, a clue leads Lily to southeast Asia to find out the truth about her mother. Here are eight Canadian books to read if you loved Dandelion. In the novel The Immortal Woman, Lemei's daughter, Lin, struggles with distancing herself from her Chinese heritage while studying in America. At the same time, she is taken aback by her mother's increasing nationalism toward China — this shift is especially surprising considering her mother had once been a student Red Guard leader who had witnessed the atrocities of the Tiananmen Square protests. Su Chang is a Chinese Canadian writer born and raised in Shanghai. The Immortal Woman is her debut novel. Her writing has been recognized in numerous contests, including Prairie Fire's Short Fiction Contest, the Master Review's Novel Excerpt Contest and the Canadian Authors Association Toronto National Writing Contest. Set in Toronto's Chinatown and Kensington Market, Denison Avenue is a moving portrait of a city undergoing mass gentrification and a Chinese Canadian elder experiencing the existential challenges of getting old and being Asian in North America. Recently widowed, Wong Cho Sum takes long walks through the city, collecting bottles and cans and meeting people on her journeys in a bid to ease her grief. Christina Wong is a Toronto writer, playwright and multidisciplinary artist who also works in sound installation, audio documentaries and photography. Daniel Innes is a multidisciplinary artist from Toronto. He works in painting, installation, graphic and textile design, illustration, sign painting and tattooing. Mãn is a young woman living in Vietnam. Her mother is a spy, and to protect her and give her a better life, her mother arranges a marriage between Mãn and a man who lives in Montreal and runs a restaurant. There, Mãn discovers her love of cooking, which opens up a whole new world of possibilities — and challenges. Written with stunning poetic prose and filled with powerful imagery, Mãn is an unforgettable book about love, passion and sacrifice. Kim Thúy is a Montreal-based novelist and short story writer. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, she and her family were among thousands who fled the country on boat after the fall of Saigon. They later settled in Quebec. Thúy's first novel, Ru, won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction and was a finalist for the Giller Prize in 2002. It also won Canada Reads 2015, when it was championed by Cameron Bailey. Sheila Fischman is the translator of over 150 novels from French to English. She won the Molson Prize for the Arts. She lives in Montreal. All Our Ordinary Stories by Teresa Wong In the graphic memoir All Our Ordinary Stories, Teresa Wong uses spare black-and-white illustrations and thought-provoking prose to unpack how intergenerational trauma and resilience can shape our identities. Starting with her mother's stroke a decade ago, Wong takes a journey through time and place to find the origin of her feelings of disconnection from her parents. The series of stories carefully examine the cultural, language, historical and personality issues that have been barriers to intimacy in her family. Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung Ghost Forest explores an unnamed woman's grief after her father dies. She revisits her memories of him, an "astronaut father" who stayed in Hong Kong to work when his family immigrated to Canada, and is left with unresolved questions that only her mother and grandmother can help answer. Pik-Shuen Fung is a Canadian novelist raised in Vancouver and currently based in New York City. Ghost Forest won the 2022 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and the Amazon First Novel Award. Butter Honey Pig Bread by francesca ekwuyasi Butter Honey Pig Bread is a novel about twin sisters, Kehinde and Taiye, and their mother, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi believes she is a spirit who was supposed to die as a small child. By staying alive, she is cursing her family — a fear that appears to come true when Kehinde experiences something that tears the family apart and divides the twins for years. But when the three women connect years later, they must confront their past and find forgiveness. francesca ekwuyasi is a writer, filmmaker and visual artist. Her writing has appeared in the Malahat Review, Guts and Brittle Paper, and she was longlisted for the 2019 Journey Prize. Her most recent book is a collaborative dialogue with Roger Mooking called Curious Sounds. She spits her time between Halifax and Montreal. When five-year-old Monolith arrives from the Philippines to join his mother in Canada he lashes out, attacking her and destroying his new home in the linked short story collection. The characters in Reuniting with Strangers are all dealing with feelings of displacement and estrangement caused as a result of migrating to Canada seeking opportunity. Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio is a Filipina-Canadian author, speaker and school board consultant who builds bridges between educators and Filipino families. She was the runner-up in the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award recognizing Asian authors in the Canadian Diaspora. Austria-Bonifacio was on the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize longlist. The Boat People by Sharon Bala In The Boat People, a ship carrying 500 Tamil refugees reaches the shores of British Columbia. Mahindan and his six-year-old son have survived a harrowing journey and hope to start a new life in Canada. But Mahindan is immediately taken into detention and left to wait there as politicians, journalists and the public debate the fate of the "boat people."
CBC
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
8 books to read if you loved Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
Fans of the first thriller on Canada Reads will enjoy these other titles Image | Maggie Mac Neil Caption: Maggie Mac Neil holds up thriller novel Watch Out for Her on the set of Canada Reads 2025. (Joanna Roselli/CBC) Open Image in New Tab Olympic swimmer Maggie Mac Neil championed Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey on Canada Reads 2025. The thriller was the first of its genre in the show's history! Watch Out for Her is about a young mother named Sarah who thinks her problems are solved when she hires a young babysitter, Holly, for her six-year-old son. Her son adores Holly and Holly adores Sarah, who is like the mother she never had. But when Sarah sees something that she can't unsee, she uproots her family to start over. Her past follows her to this new life, raising paranoid questions of who is watching her now? And what do they want? Here are eight Canadian books to read if you loved Watch Out for Her. The Whispers by Audrey Audrain Image | The Whispers by Ashley Audrain composite Caption: The Whispers is a book by Ashley Audrain. (Viking, Alex Moskalyk) Open Image in New Tab In The Whispers, the truth behind a picture-perfect neighbourhood is revealed following an incident at a neighbourhood barbecue when the seemingly flawless hostess explodes in fury because her son disobeys her. When her son falls from his bedside window one night and she stops talking to everyone, the women in the neighbourhood begin to contend with what led to this horrible incident. Ashley Audrain is the former publicity director of Penguin Canada. Her debut novel The Push was a New York Times bestseller and won the Best Crime First Novel at the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Awards. She currently lives in Toronto. Behind You by Catherine Hernandez Image | Behind You by Catherine Hernandez Caption: Behind You is a novel by Catherine Hernandez. (Noor Khan, HarperAvenue) Open Image in New Tab Behind You follows the story of Alma, a film editor for a corny true crime series. At a glance, her life with her wife and teenage son seems comfortable and safe. But when Infamous' latest episode features the Scarborough Stalker — who terrorized Alma's own neighborhood when she was a girl — Alma is consumed by her long-suppressed past. In present day, she must reckon with her understanding of consent to stop her young son from making terrible choices toward his own girlfriend. Unfolding in two timelines, Behind You challenges and dissects rape culture and champions one girl's resilience into adulthood. Hernandez is a Canadian writer, author and playwright. Her 2017 novel, Scarborough, was a shortlisted finalist for the 2017 Toronto Book Award, the 2018 Trillium Book Award, the 2018 Edmund White Award and was on Canada Reads 2022 defended by actress Malia Baker. Wild Hope by Joan Thomas Image | Wild Hope by Joan Thomas Caption: Wild Hope is a novel by Joan Thomas. (Ian McCausland, HarperCollins Canada) Open Image in New Tab Wild Hope follows Isla and Jake, a couple who are slowly drifting apart. Isla's farm-to-table restaurant is failing and visual artist Jake is haunted by his late father's legacy in the oil and gas industry. Jake's childhood friend-turned-enemy Reg Bevaqua is a local bottled-water baron and harbours a seething resentment toward Jake. Reg is a demanding regular at Isla's restaurant and Jake is keeping a close eye on him. When Jake disappears after a winter camping trip all signs point to Reg and his magnificent Georgian Bay property — and Isla is determined to get to the bottom of it. Joan Thomas is the author of four previous novels. Her first novel, Reading by Lightning, won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book (Canada and the Caribbean) and the Amazon First Novel Award. Her novel Five Wives won the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Her novel The Opening Sky was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction in 2014. Hold My Girl by Charlene Carr Image | Hold My Girl by Charlene Carr Caption: Hold My Girl is a novel by Charlene Carr. (HarperCollins Publishers) Open Image in New Tab Hold My Girl is a dual narrative novel about a seemingly impossible situation: two women, Katherine and Tess, find out after pregnancy that their eggs were mistakenly switched during in vitro fertilization (IVF). For Katherine, who conceived her miracle baby, Rose, the news is her worst nightmare realized. For Tess, the news is a seed of hope: her IVF treatment ended in a stilborn birth. Charlene Carr is a Toronto-raised writer and author now based in Nova Scotia. Her books include Hold My Girl and We Rip the World Apart. I Will Ruin You by Linwood Barclay Image | I Will Ruin You by Linwood Barclay Caption: I Will Ruin You is a novel by Linwood Barclay. (HarperCollins, Ellis Parrinder) Open Image in New Tab Most people never have to answer the question of how they would react in a life-or-death situation. Unfortunately, English teacher Richard Boyle must figure it out quickly when a former student shows up at school with a bomb in I Will Ruin You. His response averts a tragedy and hails him as a hero, but Richard is pulled into a dark web of secrets with a blackmailer, drug-dealing gangsters and a truth about his town that could cost him everything. Thriller writer Linwood Barclay is inspired by these 5 books Linwood Barclay is a New York Times bestselling author who has written over 20 books, including thrillers Find You First, Broken Promise and Elevator Pitch and the middle-grade novels Escape and Chase. Many of Barclay's books have been optioned for film and television, and he wrote the screenplay for the movie Never Saw It Coming, adapted from his novel of the same name. Barclay championed the memoir Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston on Canada Reads 2025. The Lost Sister by Andrea Gunraj In The Lost Sister, Sisters Alisha and Diana are growing up at Jane and Finch in Toronto, a neighbourhood where many immigrants have come to start their lives in Canada. A terrible sadness descends when Diana, Alisha's role model and light of the family, doesn't come home. Her body is found in the woods and Alisha thinks she knows what happened. This novel is partially inspired by the experiences of a former resident of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children. Andrea Gunraj is also the author of The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha. Gunraj was longlisted for the 2020 CBC Short Story Prize for her story Back to Where You Came From. Are You Sara? by S.C. Lalli Are You Sara? revolves around a case of mistaken identity. When two women, each named Sara, get into separate rideshares one fateful night, one of them is murdered. But when the surviving Sara realizes that she might have actually been the target, it sets off a mystery involving race, class and ambition. S.C. Lalli is a Punjabi and Bengali writer based in Vancouver. Her other novels include Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat, A Holly Jolly Diwali, Grown-Up Pose and The Matchmaker's List. The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal
CBC
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Shayla Stonechild, championing A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, wins Canada Reads 2025
Social Sharing After a few days of fierce and thoughtful debates, Shayla Stonechild has won Canada Reads 2025. The book she championed, A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer, survived the elimination vote on March 20, 2025. Podcaster and wellness advocate Stonechild successfully argued that A Two-Spirit Journey best fits the theme as "one book to change the narrative." In A Two-Spirit Journey, Ma-Nee Chacaby, an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian who grew up in a remote northern Ontario community, tells the story of how she overcame experiences with abuse and alcohol addiction to become a counsellor and lead Thunder Bay's first gay pride parade. "This story is not only about trauma and suffering, it is about unconditional love," said Stonechild during the Day Three debates. "Whether that's within two-spirit relationships, whether that's being of service to other people or whether that's just the love for telling your own story and speaking your own truth, Ma-Nee inspires you to take action and agency in your own life and to be an advocate for others, but also to be an advocate to love yourself a little bit deeper." Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew was the runner-up. Pastry chef Saïd M'Dahoma championed the moving novel. Dandelion is a novel about family secrets, migration, isolation, motherhood and mental illness. When Lily was a child, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family and was never heard from again. After becoming a new mother herself, Lily is obsessed with discovering what happened to Swee Hua. She recalls growing up in a British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families and how Swee Hua longed to return to Brunei. Eventually, a clue leads Lily to southeast Asia to find out the truth about her mother. Ultimately, Dandelion lost to A Two-Spirit Journey in a 3-2 vote on the final day. Canada Reads 2025: Linwood Barclay and Shayla Stonechild discuss memoirs 3 days ago Duration 3:01 Stonechild is a Red River Métis and Nehiyaw iskwew (Plains Cree woman) from Muscowpetung First Nations. She founded the Matriarch Movement, an online platform, podcast and nonprofit that amplifies Indigenous voices and provides wellness opportunities for Indigenous women and two-spirit individuals. She is also a global yoga ambassador for Lululemon and is the first Indigenous person featured on Yoga Journal's cover. Stonechild has hosted APTN's Red Earth Uncovered, appeared on Season 9 of Amazing Race Canada and co-hosted ET Canada's Artists & Icons: Indigenous Entertainers in Canada for which she won two Canadian Screen Awards. The 2025 Canada Reads winner brought a strong and well-researched perspective to the debates, both making a strong case for the A Two-Spirit Journey and acknowledging the merits of the other books in contention. Chacaby is a two-spirit Ojibwa-Cree writer, artist, storyteller and activist. She lives in Thunder Bay, Ont., and was raised by her grandmother near Lake Nipigon, Ont. Chacaby won the Ontario Historical Society's Alison Prentice Award and the Oral History Association's Book Award for A Two-Spirit Journey. In 2021, Chacaby won the Community Hero Award from the mayor of Thunder Bay. Her co-writer and close friend, Plummer, is a social scientist whose work focuses on public health and children's rights. She collaborated with Chacaby, who only learned English later in life and is visually impaired, to tell Chacaby's story in the most authentic possible way, drawing on academic research about Indigenous storytelling and years of friendship and mutual trust. The other three books were eliminated earlier in the week. Thriller novel Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey, championed by Maggie Mac Neil, was eliminated on Day One. The memoir Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston, defended by Linwood Barclay, was eliminated on Day Two. Novel Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper, championed by Michelle Morgan, was eliminated on Day Three. This year's show was hosted by Ali Hassan. The contenders and their chosen books were:
CBC
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
How Michelle Morgan's personal story connects to her book — Watch Day Three of Canada Reads
The great Canadian book debate is back for its 24th season! The third round of Canada Reads kicked off March 19, 2025 at 10:05 a.m ET. Watch Day Three above or find other ways and times to tune in here. WATCH | Michelle Morgan talks about her personal connection to Etta and Otto and Russell and James on Day Three of Canada Reads 2025: Michelle Morgan talks about her personal connection to Etta and Otto and Russell and James on Day Three of Canada Reads 2025 42 minutes ago Duration 0:56 In Etta and Otto and Russell and James, alternating timelines depict the past and present lives of couple Etta and Otto, using magic realism to help show Etta's progressing dementia. When 82-year-old Etta decides to take a journey to the ocean, her husband, Otto, stays behind in Saskatchewan. Their friend Russell tries to bring Etta home, but she has no desire to give up on her goal. As Etta gets closer to the water, she begins to forget more and more — and the stories of her past are revealed through letters and flashbacks. All the while, a talking coyote, James, watches over her. On Day Three of Canada Reads 2025, thriller writer Linwood Barclay noted that the sense of confusion and wonder throughout the novel is powerful at illustrating dementia, but worried that the use of magic realism detracted from this portrayal. We have to fill in the gaps of the conversations. - Michelle Morgan Actor Michelle Morgan, who is championing Etta and Otto and Russell and James, explained that to her, the magical realism added to the way Etta experiences dementia in the novel. Morgan made the connection to her own mother, who is dealing with dementia, and sometimes has trouble grasping at the current reality. "I just have to meet her where she is," Morgan said. "She'll talk about us as if we're still children. Her timelines jump." Responding to critiques about the snippets of a lifetime provided in Etta and Otto and Russell and James, Morgan was glad that writer Emma Hooper allowed readers to imagine the rest. "We meet them when they're young and then we meet them at the end of their lives," she said. "We have to fill in the gaps of the conversations." WATCH | Shayla Stonechild defends writing style in A Two-Spirit Journey on Day Three of Canada Reads 2025: Shayla Stonechild defends writing style in A Two-Spirit Journey on Day Three of Canada Reads 2025 31 minutes ago Duration 2:02 Of all the books on this year's panel, A Two-Spirit Journey, which tells the life story of Ojibwa-Cree elder Ma-Nee Chacaby, has a writing style that's more academic than literary. For Shayla Stonechild, who's championing the memoir, this is a strength, since she prefers nonfiction to fiction. However, both Barclay and Morgan noted that the academic style could be a barrier for readers hoping to get into the book. "I think many people will struggle to get through it because it's so dense and so dry and there's so much information," said Morgan. "In a country teeming with talented writers, including from the Indigenous community, it kind of seems a shame that Canada Reads would be given to a dense academic text, even though the story is so important." Stonechild, who praised A Two-Spirit Journey for its combination of Indigenous and Western storytelling, invited readers who found it hard to get into to try listening to the audiobook instead. "It's like [Ma-Nee] is in the room with you and it's almost like you're in a conversational relationship with the Kokum, with the grandmother," she said. The Canada Reads books are available in print, e-book and audiobook format at your local bookstore or library of choice. "That's what I love about reading — there's so many forms to gather knowledge nowadays," said Stonechild. If you'd like the Canada Reads books in an accessible format, both CELA and NNELS provide books in audio, braille, print braille and text formats. You can find out which formats are available for each of the books here for CELA and here for NNELS. Here's how to tune into Canada Reads 2025: The debates will be available to replay online each day. The livestream on YouTube will be available to watch outside Canada. If you'd rather listen to the debates online, they will air live on CBC Listen. A replay will be available later each day. ON RADIO: Canada Reads will air on CBC Radio at 10:05 a.m. in the Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones. It will air at 11:05 a.m. in Nunavut, the Maritimes, 1:05 p.m. in Labrador and at 1:35 p.m. in Newfoundland. The debates will replay at 9 p.m. local time in all time zones, except in Newfoundland, where it will replay at 9:30 p.m. ON TV: CBC TV will broadcast Canada Reads at 1 p.m. in the Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones. It will air at 2 p.m. in the Atlantic time zone and at 2:30 p.m in the Newfoundland time zone. PODCAST: The episode will be posted each day after the live airing. You can download the episodes on the podcast app of your choice.
CBC
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Saïd M'Dahoma defends Dandelion's pacing on Day Two of Canada Reads 2025
Saïd M'Dahoma and Michelle Morgan debate the details in the novel Dandelion on Canada Reads 2025.
