“Playfully serious, raucous and ribald, light-hearted and ‘heavy’ (in the ‘70s sense), Pearl is the final note in a symphony that rings out long after the applause has ended, and the musicians have packed up their instruments and left. Pearl is full of wisdom, full of beautiful gems, and so earns its title, but it also pays homage to Bowering’s mother, Pearl, in a poem appropriately placed at the centre of his book.” —Al Rempel reviews Pearl, by George Bowering (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2026) $19.95 / 9781772017137
Prolific author returns to Europe during WWII with a twisty page-turner. “The action didn’t let up until the last page. With a descriptive historical setting, an intriguing plot full of suspense and action, and a bit of romance to boot, The Double Life of Eve Sinclair is historical fiction well worth a read,” our reviews says. —Trish Bowering reviews The Double Life of Eve Sinclair, by C.C. Humphreys (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2026) $25.00 / 9780385701075
Funny, poignant, and joyful, a poetry collection considers parenting and fatherhood. “Here is a book of wonder between a son, his father, his mother and between a father, his daughter, and her mother. A letter of charm, nuance, struggle, humour, love, and affection,” our reviewer writes. —Heather Simeney MacLeod reviews Dad Era, by Jordan Abel (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2026) $17.95 / 9781770569003
The third book of a series — and a hybrid of poetry, fantasy, and epic — is partly set on “the western shore of the continent formerly known as North America.” “It’s an opera,” our reviewer writes, “Opera is dramatic, fantastical, over-the-top, and told through appearance and surface given depth by music. A fusion in other words, an extension of lyrical song into narrative. I recommend reading this book with that structure in mind.” —Harold Rhenisch reviews Bramah’s Discovery, by Renée Sarojini Saklikar (Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2026) $26.95 / 9780889714946
Surreal Toronto-set novel takes place over a single day and features prose with a hypnotic cadence, staccato passages that are “closer … to Palahniuk than Hemingway,” and characters who speak “in impulsive half-sentences.” “And in the end,” our reviewer writes, “I would prefer to engage with art that takes these big swings, even if some of them occasionally miss, than to see no big swings taken at all.” —Logan Macnair reviews I Met Death & Sex Through My Friend, Tom Meuley, by Thom Vernon (Gananoque: Guernica Editions, 2024) $29.95 / 9781771838795
Full of saturated colours and painterly style, a children’s picture book inspired in part by a Grimm fable traces the arc of Tsa’kwi’ah. She’s shy and lacking in confidence… until she spies a smiling green frog. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog, by Joseph Dandurand (illustrated by Elinor Atkins) (Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2026) $15.95 / 9780889715004
An artist, an oligarch, an ex-resistance operative who’s 94, a family vineyard in Crete… In a thought-provoking, prettily descriptive novel, the heist elements grab and hold a reader’s attention (while that’s less true for the protagonist’s erotic awakening). —Valerie Green reviews The Angels’ Share, by Jane Bow (New York: Red Elixir, 2026) $37.00 / 9781966293309
An “intricate story about neither a library nor a brothel” and the first book in a new triptych, a novel showcases an author’s nonpareil sense of absurdity. “Schofield’s latest requires hard work, but it remunerates at time-and-a-half,” our reviewer says. —Marcie McCauley reviews Library of Brothel, by Anakana Schofield (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2026) $35.00 / 9780735273245
A poet’s debut novel, “a quintessential fantasy story,” features an unconventional hero’s trial-filled quest. It’s awfully short for the fantasy genre, though, and that impacts its characterization (and a story that feels “a tad truncated”). —Zoe McKenna reviews Not All Dragons, by David Ly (Hamilton: Poplar Press/Wolsak & Wynn, 2026) $24.00 / 9781998408429
In a poet’s Jerusalem-set first novel, sixteen-year old Aziz seeks “the right side” as he wanders and works—and learns about himself, his family, and his society. “Zaghal invites us into Aziz’s world, shows us what he’s up against, and elicits our compassion for a young man finding his way against all odds,” our reviewer writes. —Janet S. Pollock reviews Seven Heavens Away, by Ashraf Zaghal (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2026) $26.99 / 9781487013486
Accompanied by vibrant illustrations, an early chapter book tells of new girl Feebee as she joins a figure skating club. It’s a sweet, well-told tale. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Feebee’s Magical Figure Skaters’ Tea, by Cathalynn Cindy Labonté-Smith (illustrated by Serena J. Trinder) (Gibsons: independently published, 2026) $15.00 / 9798257852671
An author of thrillers changes tack, with winning results: “Of course, hilarious mystery novels are not an invention of the post-Covid era, but, given the seemingly instant transition the world has made from a pandemic to geopolitical chaos, this round has come at an opportune time. And, as much as any other country, Canada needs more humour. Nay’s Kirby Crime Crackers are a promising addition to the roster of comedic detective female gumshoes.” —Ginny Ratsoy reviews All Rise for Murder, by Roz Nay (Toronto: Viking, 2026) $26.95/ 9781037801877
“George is one of those raconteurs. The first half of Barefoot Gringo jumps from one zinger to another, all of them the kind of crowd pleaser recognizable around the social leveller of a table crowded with glasses and almost invisible through smoke.” Harold Rhenisch reviews Barefoot Gringo, by George Bowering (Vancouver: On Point Press, an imprint of UBC Press, 2026) $26.95 / 9780774890786
A novel’s pensive narrator, a museum curator smitten with the realms of art history and ideas, recalls her childhood, marriage, and quest for personal alchemical gold. A slim book with many literal questions and much philosophizing, it left our reviewer wanting less as well as more. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews The Alchemy of Paradise, by Susannah M. Smith (Halifax: Invisible Publishing, 2026) $24.95 / 9781778430855
With the sudden appearance of silent, prismatic alien orbs (that have transdimensional capabilities), humans react to yet another crisis. “Despite the narrative scope, and the frequently metatextual, multilingual nature of the story it weaves, The Coffin of Honey remains staunchly humanist, entertaining. It begs for a read, and then another,” exclaims our reviewer. —Kenna Clifford reviews The Coffin of Honey, by Geoffrey D. Morrison (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781552455180
“A quick online search of Vancouver-based detective fiction turns up several other Vancouver-based private eye mysteries. Sam Wiebe, J.T. Seimens, A.J Devlin, Elizabeth Bowers, and others are prominent. Regrettably, the online lists I saw were missing the creative pen of Roy Innes. A correction is in order.” —Ron Verzuh reviews The False Creek Murder: An Inspector Coswell Mystery, by Roy Innes (Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2026) $23.95 / 9781774391389
“Richard Stursberg’s Lament for a Literature suggests there is a causal link between the parlous financial state of Canadian publishing, a less robust Canadian literature, and a consequent decline in Canadian national culture. All of that, he says, can only be slowed by immediate government protective action.” Richard Butler reviews Lament for a Literature: The Collapse of Canada’s Book Publishing, by Richard Stursberg (Toronto: Sutherland House, 2026) $19.95 / 9781998365753
Set in Canada and Japan, a debut novel traces the unsteady and occasionally wayward development of Maggie, a student artist no longer making art. In Japan, Maggie’s social circle is a problem in more ways than one. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Welcome to Sunny Town, by Théodora Armstrong (Calgary: Freehand Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781997534112
Charming, educative, and attractive, an eclectic trio of picture books focus on an array of topics that will keeps young readers coming back for more. “If you are looking to expose a young reader in your life to a text that is informative but not didactic, deep but lively, and fun but not frivolous…,” read on. —Ginny Ratsoy reviews Just A Minute: Why Humans Tell Time, by Kirstie Hudson and Monique Polak (illustrated by Paige Stampatori) (Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2025) $29.95 / 9781459840621; Gander: The Town That Welcomed the World, by Nikki Bergstresser (illustrated by Reilly Fitzgerald) (Oakville, Plumleaf Press, 2026) $24.95 / 9781997872047; and Monarch, by S.E. Hume (illustrated by Jessica Bromley Bartram) (Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2026) $24.95 / 978155455069
A “diluvial narrative” that flows with references to and musings on Arendt, Woolf, Barthes, Derrida, Cixous, and many others, a novel presents “a history of disappeared locution and a locational archive”: “Overflowing and magically disappearing, Robertson’s indelible river meets Mark Twain’s Mississippi and James Joyce’s Liffey.” —Michael Greenstein reviews Riverwork, by Lisa Robertson (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781552455173
