“The sisters, oppressed by the patriarchy, whatever their orders and callings, have been the Stepford wives of Jesus, and the authors of Resisting Orders wonder if whispered dissent will succeed in protecting idealistic notions of equality and social justice through the possible dismantling of paternalistic authoritarianism during the decline of neo-capitalism.” Linda Rogers reviews Resisting Orders: Catholic Sisters Contest Their Church, by Christine Gervais, Amanda Watson, and Shanisse Kleuskens (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025) $39.95 / 9780228023708
“Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa is a co-author, along with many Coast Salish people who added illustrations, writing, and oral history to do with the Coast Salish woolly dog Mutton. The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog is the result, and it has been a very successful book, selling well for weeks at BC bookstores.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview segment with author Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa, filmed on Protection Island.
“Wiley wonders in her memoir who she might’ve been if she hadn’t been ripped away from the only life she’d ever known in Taiwan, versus raising herself in Vancouver. If her parents had known that life would remain stable in Taiwan, would they make the same choices for their children, or were they thinking of their grandchildren and great grandchildren as well?” Cathalynn Labonté-Smith reviews The Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street, by Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026) $24.95 / 9781771624794
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
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
Bounding across the centuries—1983, the 2090s, 2586—a debut novel begins with a lonely girl, a budding computer coder. From there, an eclectic, compelling story unfolds. “It’s raw, tragic, and fearful to a degree that’s sometimes difficult to look at, and has a sneaking vulnerability that draws you in bit by bit until it is nearly too much to bear. Yet, more often, it is earnest, hopeful, and intensely heartfelt,” our reviewer says. —Zoe McKenna reviews Homebound, by Portia Elan (Toronto: Scribner Canada, 2026) $26.99 / 9781668206225
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
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
“These are the dichotomies of human experience: keeping grudges, granting forgiveness; making up lies, trying perhaps to undo them; dealing with the miracles of new life or of death. All of them are here, encapsulated in five amazing stories, ones you may perhaps never forget.” —Heidi Greco reviews Like a River Divides the Earth: Five Stories, by Dora Dueck (Calgary: Freehand Books, 2026) $22.95 / 9781997534204
Whether “stuck in a forever summer” in the city or mentally revisiting a “home landscape of spruce and willow, rabbit and moose, blueberry and fireweed” (as well as “taps that don’t bring water”), a writer showcases a craving for comfort and certainty in a debut book of poems. —Joanna Streetly reviews Spruce to Cedar, by Lasänmą (Picton: Brick Books, 2026) $23.95 / 9781771316705
“Byers provides compelling vignettes of encounters with workers returning to work after injury; pre-emptive inspections of structures that could lead to repetitive strain injury; and at times antagonistic encounters with supervisors. These are stories of inspection, vigilance, witnessing, and recording.” Wendy Burton reviews Coming Home from the Candy Factory, by Jane Byers (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $24 / 9781773861746
“Tender, attentive to small moments of meaning within and beyond the places the poet once pushed or simply didn’t pay attention, this is poetry that, at its best, forces readers to reconsider their own histories.” —Carellin Brooks reviews Gold Star, by Emma McKenna (Toronto: Book*hug, 2026) $22.95 / 9781771669740
The latest mystery for irrepressible West Kootenay amateur sleuth Lane Winslow begins with a bespoke hat. From there, a missing boy, a stolen boat, and a hoard of cash… It’s “the perfect compact source of entertainment to exercise the brain when it comes to solving a murder mystery while at the same time rooting for each characters’ journeys and desires,” our reviewer writes. —Sergio Espinosa reviews A False and Fatal Claim, by Iona Whishaw (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2026) $21.95 / 9781771514668
Final book of a pentalogy rife with dualities — “the epic conclusion to an action-packed, magic-filled saga of love, loss, and becoming who you were meant to be” — leaves our reviewer satisfied and, happily, unbothered by any unanswered questions. —Myshara McMyn reviews The Call of the Rift: Fuse, by Jae Waller (Toronto: ECW Press, 2026) $23.95 / 9781770417137
Across a collection of twenty autofictional stories, an author examines her history, with a particular emphasis on childhood and youth. Despite some compelling, powerful material, our reviewer finds the autofiction genre more hindrance than benefit. —Candace Fertile reviews Growing My Way Home: Stories of Resilience and Care, by Jenn Ashton (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2026) $24.95 / 9781772017038
Volume by “a poet in full command of her powers” examines past selves and current (middle-aged) self. And neither does it shy from irreverence: “Funny, sexy, bawdy writing like this is all too rare in Canadian poetry. Bachinsky’s work is a breath of fresh air, sure, but more importantly, her willingness to discuss such topics in no way diminishes the seriousness of her overall project.” —Carellin Brooks reviews Real Grownup, by Elizabeth Bachinsky (Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2026) $19.95 / 9780889714960
Set in a postwar port city, a poignant novella captures the era and one woman’s place in it. Supported by elegant prose and an eye for period detail, the thoughtful book meditates on paths chosen and not chosen. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Break My Heart, Liverpool, by Pamela McGarry (Gibson’s: Great Hall Press, 2025) $19.95 / 9781777513412
“As many visitors to Antarctica have remarked, time spent witnessing the stunning abundance of life beyond the polar zone of extreme cold waters and the sheer beauty of that continent is life-changing. Blight witnesses that unlike her experience of previous research sites, which include the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica forever changed her ‘understanding of the world.’ This is her account of that break from ‘The World, The Real World, The World,’ as she and most scientists working in Antarctica refer to the outside world beyond the polar seas. Antarctica is her discovery and recovery back to a saner place of nature, no matter how harsh. It is a place where life meets death and grows from it.” Loÿs Maingon reviews Where The Earth Meets The Sky: A Story of Penguins, People and Place in Antarctica, by Louise K. Blight (Toronto: Doubleday Canada / Bond Street Books, 2026) $38 / 9780385702102
“Seto, mourning the past and given time to resurrect her creativity, recreated the buildings of memory and left them empty so that memory and desire could replace the ghosts inhabiting them with real lives configured with real information, the sensory details, smells and sounds that gave them life.” Linda Rogers reviews Chinatown Vancouver: An Illustrated History, by Donna Seto (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2025) $29.99 / 9781487011970
“If they are a choir, Genni Gunn, an Italo-Canadian poet and musician, translator of this volume, lifts it out of sea narrative to angel choir. Her sensibilities, like Maraini’s, bring harmony to the deliverance of a poetically nuanced story to universality.” Linda Rogers reviews The Ship for Kobe, by Dacia Maraini, translated by Genni Gunn (Hamilton: Guernica Editions, 2025) $22.95 / 9781778490019
