Canada Reads American Style

2026 CBC’s Canada Reads Short List

With the announcement of the five titles and defenders, Rebecca and Tara make their predictions for the winner of the 25th Anniversary edition of CBC's Canada Reads! Per the CBC website: "This year's edition will air April 13 to 16 on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Listen, CBC Gem and CBC Books. It will also be on YouTube and available as a podcast."

 

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2026-contenders-9.7040200

 

The defenders, titles, and authors:

• Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers champions A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
• Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn champions Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
• Musician and writer Tegan Quin champions The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
• Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz champions Foe by Iain Reid
• BookTok star Morgann Book champions It's Different This Time by Joss Richard

 

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

 

 

Book Chat 31

Rebecca and Tara are back with Book Chat #31.  Included are the books they are currently reading as well as their first recommendations of the New Year! 

 

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

• Patrick Bird Mysteries: Opposite Sully's Gym #2; The Road to Heaven #1 by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
• The Breakwater; Sisters of the Spruce by Leslie Shimotakahara
• To Touch the Water; The Solace of Open Spaces; A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning by Gretel Ehrlich
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik
• Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers; Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers; Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense by Marcello Di Cintio

 

Tara (@onabranchreads): 

• Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
• Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #20: The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
• The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien; The Wintermen trilogy by Brit Griffin
• The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
• How about This by Michael Mirolla

 

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

 

Hidden Gems with Garnett Kilberg Cohen

Welcome to the podcast's first Hidden Gems episode of 2026! This is a special feature Rebecca and Tara offer in which they invite guests to recommend authors or titles that may be new to their listeners. Today’s guest is author and retired professor Garnett Kilberg Cohen from Chicago, IL.

Garnett is the author of four short story collections: Cravings; Lost Women, Banished Souls; How We Move the Air; and Swarm to Glory. Her chapbook, Passion Tour, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker online, Rumpus, The Gettysburg Review, Witness, The Literary Review, StoryQuarterly, The Antioch Review and elsewhere.

Check out Rebecca's interview with Garnett on Feb 13, 2024:

https://canadareadsamericanstyle.podbean.com/e/interview-garnett-kilberg-cohen-and-cravings/

Garnett's Hidden Gems:

• The Registry of Forgotten Objects: Stories by Miles Harvey
  • Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
  • A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• Down the Steep by A.D. Nauman
• The Adventures of Cancer Bitch by S.L. Wisenberg
• French Girl by Jesse Lee Kercheval
  • Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
• You've Told Me Before by Jennifer Moses
• Simone in Pieces by Janet Burroway

https://garnettcohenauthor.com/

https://anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/06/06/review-of-jesse-lee-kerchevals-french-girl-by-garnett-cohen/

 

 

2026 CBC’s Canada Reads Long List

It's that time of year again when Rebecca and Tara try to predict which five books will make CBC's Canada Reads Short List for 2026!  Adding to the excitement is that this year is the 25th anniversary of the debate, so they are hoping for an entertaining look back to find the one book all of Canada should read!

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/canada-reads-2026-longlist-9.7029177

• A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
• Celestina's House by Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez
• Crossroads by Kaleb Dahlgren 
• Everything Is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
• Foe by Iain Reid
• Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
• It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard
• Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
• Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson
• Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park
• Restaurant Kid by Rachel Phan
• Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
• Slice The Water by PP Wong 
• The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
• The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee

@canadareadsamericanstyle

@onabranchreads

Old Goals - New Goals

Happy New Year!! Rebecca and Tara summarize the success of their 2025 goals and introduce new challenges for 2026!

 

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

2025 Reading Wrap Up

Rebecca and Tara hope you had a fantastic year of reading! And they wrap up their 2025 by answering the following questions:

• Favorite non-fiction book
• Favorite quote
• Happiest book
• A book that made you cry
• Most surprising read
• Most read genre
• Most read author
• Favorite reading experience
• What book do you wish you had buddy read
• Scariest/creepiest book
• Favorite fictional character
• Favorite setting or location
• First and last book of 2025

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

Book Chat 30

Rebecca and Tara close out 2025 with their 30th Book Chat! Rebecca is all about Narnia and C.S. Lewis and Tara ruminates on whether to DNF or finish the book she is currently reading.

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

• Stories for Winter and Nights by the Fire by British Library Women Writers
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Tara (@onabranchreads):

• Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor
• Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo
• 107 Days by Kamala Harris
• Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman
• Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys
• the blades of grass are dreaming by Hollay Ghadery https://www.anstrutherpress.com/new-products/the-blades-of-grass-are-dreaming-by-hollay-ghadery

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

Interview - Liisa Kovala and Like Water for Weary Souls

Tara has a fascinating chat with Liisa Kovala, a Finnish Canadian author, book coach, and former teacher about historical fiction, cozy mysteries, sisu, her book coaching, podcast, and coffee. Her latest novel is, Like Water for Weary Souls.

https://www.liisakovalabookcoach.com/

"In Nolin Creek, the water runs deep and the secrets run deeper. In the harsh landscape of a Depression-era Northern Ontario mining town, Finnish immigrant sisters Hanna and Essi Kivi scrape together a living as domestic workers, sharing a room in a disreputable boarding house owned by a protective madame.

​When Hanna's body is discovered in the icy waters of Nolin Creek, the police call it a tragic accident. But Essi knows better. Her sister would never have risked crossing unstable ice—not after they lost their youngest sister Martta to drowning years before.

​Haunted by guilt and driven by loyalty, Essi begins to unravel the secrets Hanna kept hidden. As Essi digs deeper into her sister's final days, she discovers that in a town built on desperation and dreams for a better future, everyone has something to hide.

​A gripping tale of love, family, sisterhood, and the search for truth."

Recommended Reading List:

• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
• Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

https://www.youtube.com/@liisakovala

https://liisakovalawomenwriting.substack.com/

https://www.instagram.com/liisakovala/

 

 

 

 

Holiday Recommendations!

Rebecca reveals her 2025 secret reading goal to Tara! And she and Tara offer their best reading recommendations for the holiday season! 

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

• Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• An English Murder by Cyril Hare
• A Holiday By Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews
• Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry

Tara (@onabranchreads):

• Starry Starry Night by Shani Mootoo
• The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict
• Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
• A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli
• The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
• Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman
• The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
• Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
• Small Things Like These by Claire Foster
• The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures by Sarah Clegg

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

 

Interview - Adam Shoalts and Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell

Rebecca is excited to chat with professional explorer Adam Shoalts about his latest book, Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell.

https://adamshoalts.com/literature/:

• Voted by over 200 Independent Bookstores as one of the “Must Read Books” of the Year (Canadian Independent Booksellers Association)
• Globe and Mail #1 National Bestseller/Toronto Star #1 National Bestseller
• CBC #1 National Bestseller

"In 1910, legendary explorer Hubert Darrell vanished in the uncharted wilderness of the Northwest Territories. A prospector who had been swept up in the Klondike Gold Rush, Darrell later made his name as a wanderer who ventured where few others dared. Famed for his solo journeys, contemporaries regarded Darrell as the hardiest explorer of his day. While his disappearance sparked headlines, soon Darrell’s name would also vanish from history, just as surely as he had in the wild.

Yet Darrell left behind a trail of letters, journals, and hand-drawn maps. With these faded clues, Adam Shoalts retraces Darrell’s forgotten routes through the wilderness, searching for cabin ruins and old campsites. Part detective story, part biography, and part first-person adventure narrative, Vanished Beyond the Map combines expeditions with historical research to solve one of exploration history’s enduring cold cases—the mystery of Hubert Darrell."

Public Events: https://adamshoalts.com/upcoming-book-events/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_shoalts/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamshoalts

 

Book Chat 29

Rebecca and Tara return after a two-month hiatus and are ready to share the best of their recent reads!

 

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

• My Life: Growing Up Native in America edited by IllumiNative
• The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia #3) by C.S. Lewis
• The Road to Heaven (Patrick Bird Mystery #1) by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
• Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon by Lisa de Nikolits
• Foster by Claire Keegan
• Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell

 

Tara (@onabranchreads):

• Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
• The Whistler by Nick Medina
• As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories edited by Terese Mason Pierre
• Days of Feasting and Rejoicing by David Bergen
• Wolk, Moon, Dog: A Novel by Thomas Wharton
• The Pugilist and the Sailor by Nadia Ragbar
• The Upending of Wendall Forbes; The Undertaking of Billy Buffone by David Giuliano
• Machine Without Horses by Helen Humphreys

 

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

 

Interview - Merilyn Simonds and Walking with Beth: Conversations with My 100-year-old Friend

Tara chats with a special guest, the prolific and award-winning Canadian author Merilyn Simonds regarding her latest book, Walking with Beth: Conversations with My 100-year-old Friend.

https://merilynsimonds.com/

"In the spring of 2021, Merilyn Simonds asked her friend Beth Robinson if she’d like to go for a walk. Simonds had just turned 70, still active, still writing, but entering what struck her as a mysterious, even frightening stage of life. Beth, a smart, vibrant woman who’d held a job until she was 99, lived on her own and was as awake to the world as a person half her age. Who better to ask what might come next?

During three years of weekly walks, the conversation between the two women only deepened, as they opened up about their heart-felt passions, the lingering influence of their pasts, and their hopes and fears for the future.

In Walking with Beth, Simonds shares these intimate exchanges, delving into corners of older women’s lives that are rarely seen or spoken about so openly. As Simonds looks forward into a future that seems unknowable, Beth looks back, offering her experience in surviving the later-life blows that batter us all, and more importantly, her wisdom about how to enrich every passing day."

Recommended Books:

• The Age of Creativity: Art, Memory, My Father, and Me by Emily Urquhart
• Code Noir: Fictions by Canisia Lubrin
• We, the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek

 

Interview - Barbara Joan Scott and The Taste of Hunger

Rebecca is excited to speak with award-winning Canadian author Barbara Joan Scott about her debut novel, The Taste of Hunger.

 

https://freehand-books.com/product/the-taste-of-hunger/#tab-description

"In Saskatchewan in the late 1920s, a fifteen-year-old Ukrainian immigrant named Olena is forced into marriage with Taras, a man twice her age, who wants her even though she has refused him. Stuck in a hardscrabble life with a husband she despises, starved for a life of her own choosing, at every turn Olena rebels agains her husband and her fate. As Olena and Taras drag everyone around them into the maelstrom that is their marriage, they set off a chain of turbulent events whose aftershocks reverberate through generations."

 

Book Recommendations:

• All of Baba's Children by Myrna Kostash
• Endling; Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories by Maria Reva
• Late Breaking; All Saints: Stories; Holy Writ by K.D. Miller
• Gilead; Home; Lila; Jack; What are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson

 

https://www.barbarajoanscott.com/

 

Interview - Lucy E.M. Black and A Quilting of Scars

Rebecca is excited to welcome back to the podcast Canadian author Lucy E.M. Black regarding her new historical novel, A Quilting of Scars, with its unforgettable main character, Larkin Beattie. 

https://nonpublishing.com/a-quilting-of-scars

"Filled with the pleasure of recognizable yet distinctively original characters and a deftly drawn sense of time and place, A Quilting of Scars brings to life a story of forbidden love, abuse and murder. Pulsing with repressed sexuality and guilt, Larkin Beattie reveals the many secrets he has kept hidden throughout his lonely life. The character-driven narrative is a meditation on aging and remorse, offering a rich account of the strictures and rhythms of farming in the not-so-distant past, highlighting the confines of a community where strict moral codes are imposed upon its members and fear of exposure terrifies queer youth. As Larkin reflects upon key events, his recollections include his anger at the hypocrisy of the church, and the deep grief and loneliness that have marked his path. There is a timelessness to this story which transcends the period and resonates with heart-breaking relevance."

https://lucyemblack.com/books/a-quilting-of-scars-book/

A Quilting of Scars Discussion Questions

As many of you know, Rebecca highly recommends four of Lucy’s books: The Brickworks, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, and A Quilting of Scars.

Lucy's Reading Recommendations:

• In the Bear's House by Bruce Hunter
• Kate and the Composers by Joanne Culley

 

Interview - David Giuliano and The Upending of Wendall Forbes

Tara is excited to chat with Canadian author David Giuliano, who lives on the north shore of Lake Superior. His storytelling has been compared to Miriam Toews and Elizabeth Strout in its emotional insight and narrative warmth. His books include The Undertaking of Billy Buffone, winner of the 2022 Bressani Prize; the bestselling Postcards from the Valley; and the cancer memoir It's Good to Be Here. His latest book is The Upending of Wendall Forbes from Latitude 46 Publishing.

Reading recommendations:

• Aliens on the Moon by Thomas King
• My Friends by Fredrik Backman
• In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart

https://davidgiulianoca.wordpress.com/

https://latitude46publishing.com/

https://www.instagram.com/davidwgiuliano/