In a debut novel, “a party animal of a book that resoundingly delivers,” two sisters—one “prone to shoplifting in her job as a cashier,” the other a “skin care influencer with a cult-ish following” tussle in a wacky story that marries social critique and wit. —Jessica Poon reviews Julie Chan Is Dead, by Liann Zhang (Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2025) $24.99 / 9781668079867
“We can look back at our lives and say, look what I survived. We can look back with appreciation and say, look what I discovered by remaining curious, look what joy came my way when I didn’t expect it.” Mary Ann Moore reviews The Erotics of Cutting Grass: Reflections on a Well-Loved Life by Kate Braid (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $24 / 9781773861623
As she portrays hardship and resilience in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, a debut novelist “tells an engrossing story about Clara, a talented doctor and loving woman trying to find the right path to take in late Victorian Canada.” —Valerie Green reviews The Roads We Take, by Christy K. Lee (Toronto: Rising Action Publishing, 2023) $21.99 / 9781998076062
Set circa 1948 in northern Mexico and BC’s central interior, the 12th book in a lighthearted murder mystery series begins with two missing person cases. Twists, turns, and “all manner of false leads” ensue. —Bill Paul reviews The Cost of a Hostage, by Iona Whishaw (Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2025) $21.95 / 9781771514545
This “compelling case study,” charts the city’s historical transformation, as the “grime of Montreal’s ‘moral decay’ was … scrubbed away by new regulations and bylaws that targeted everything from pornography to lewd or countercultural artwork to pinball machines and tarot readers—anything that might be considered offensive to or in poor taste by the international community that [the mayor] was hoping to entice.” —Logan Macnair reviews Montreal After Dark: Nighttime Regulation and the Pursuit of a Global City, by Matthieu Caron (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s UP, 2025) $34.95 / 9780228024774
In this useful picture book for children, a yoga class is an adventure in learning as well as a launchpad for colourful, imaginary travel. —Ron Verzuh reviews Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers, by Megan McDougall / illustrated by Hayley Lowe (Charlottetown: Pownal Street Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781998129232
“[Leavitt] has created a life-affirming, deeply affectionate, intermittently humorous evocation of grief that reminds us that the ones we love are still with us, if we remember them.” Jessica Poon reviews Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love, by Sarah Leavitt (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2024) $27.95 / 9781551529516
Set in Western Canada during the Summer of Love, a coolly stylish novel portrays a juvenile boy’s educational misadventures during an unsanctioned road trip. —Ryan Frawley reviews Amaranthine Chevrolet, by Dennis E. Bolen (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2025) $25.99 / 9781459754775
With glimpses of “one of the greatest spectacles / the city ever sees / twice daily most seasons / dawn to dusk,” a poetry collection draws an array of meanings from urban crows. —Heather Ramsay reviews Crowd Source, by Cecily Nicholson (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2025) $19.95 / 9781772016581
“This book is a tool kit, neither poetry, nor the story inversions that alleviate the pain of living in post-colonial society, but a logical overview from a sympathetic perspective.” Linda Rogers reviews Indigenous Rights in One Minute: What You Need to Know to Talk Reconciliation by Bruce McIvor (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, Nightwood Editions, 2025) $22.95 / 9780889714885
“Existing Music is a deeply layered and memorable work of poetic metaphor and imagery, and Nick Thran succeeds in playing with sound and shapeshifting, or transposition, to evoke an ‘Oh’ in the reader as we look over his shoulder.” —Joe Enns reviews Existing Music, by Nick Thran (Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2025) $19.95 / 9780889714861
Personal darkness and a generational chasm are examined in an urgent long poem—where a grandmother reaches out to a youth immersed in video game realities. —Isabella Ranallo reviews Encrypted, by Arleen Paré (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $20.00 /9781773861647
“Wright’s psychological exploration—her emphasis on the ‘why was it done?’—takes us into territory beyond the cozy mystery that a series set in a small town and complete with an ongoing romance might invite.” —Ginny Ratsoy reviews Sleep While I Sing: Murder in a Small Town, by L.R. Wright (New York: Felony and Mayhem Press, 2024) $26.95 / 9781631943171
Although a few missteps are in evidence, a Vancouver Island author’s debut novel—set near Tofino in 1968—introduces a “worthy mystery with a captivating setting.” —Valerie Green reviews Fake Out, A Long Beach Mystery, by Faye Bayko (Victoria: Tellwell Publishing, 2025) $26.99 / 9781779624789
“Adam Jones’s book can help each of us in reaching a principled position, in articulating it, and in understanding why others might rationally have arrived at and articulated a different view.” Richard Butler reviews Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction (4th ed.), by Adam Jones (New York: Routledge, 2024) $61.99 / 9781032028101
A Griffin Prize winner, a Vancouver poet’s translation of a preeminent Mexican poet’s work is “a rich, complex, and challenging book” that proposes a “wall of poetry” against the insistent iniquities of the world. —Gary Geddes reviews Self-Portrait in the Zone of Silence, by Homero Aridjis (translated by George McWhirter) (New York: New Directions, 2023) $28.95 / 9780811231732
“In a collection that dives again and again into the motivations behind actions that sometimes seem incomprehensible, the author gives us a deeply meaningful way to get lost.” —Ryan Frawley reviews Born of the Storm, by Don McLellan (Vancouver: Page Count Press, 2025) $20.00 / 9781777361617
“300 Mason Jars: Preserving History is a book to be treasured. Beautifully presented in colour, the delightful poems and contents of the mason jars can be savoured and preserved for years to come.” Valerie Green reviews 300 Mason Jars: Preserving History, by Joanne Thomson (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $34.95 / 9781772935162
In an established writer’s first novel, new information affects a parent’s grief; it’s fiction that suggests “the uncomfortable, murky place that we sometimes inhabit in the midst of change can be a fine place to rest, and begin again.”
—Trish Bowering reviews Blue Hours, by Alison Acheson (Calgary: Freehand Books, 2025) $24.95 / 9781990601897
“The gift of a small community is that everyone knows everyone; it’s also a bit of a curse. In Gaston’s hands, it’s mostly a gift as closeness seems to create a sense of balance.” —Candace Fertile reviews Tunnel Island, by Bill Gaston (Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781771872683