24.4K
Downloads
214
Episodes
Two friends -- one American, one Canadian -- who share a love for CBC’s Canada Reads and Canadian literature! https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads
Episodes
Sunday Nov 13, 2022
Sunday Nov 13, 2022
Rebecca welcomes David Crow, author of the award-winning memoir, The Pale-Faced Lie. David spent his early years on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Through grit, resilience, and a thirst for learning, he escaped his abusive childhood, graduated from college, and built a successful lobbying firm in Washington, DC.
Rebecca guarantees that you will not be able to put down this memoir from the opening paragraph to the epilogue.
Website: https://www.davidcrowauthor.com/
Instagram: @davidcrowauthor
Facebook: Author David Crow
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Rebecca and Tara each discuss three books they've read since Book Chat #1.
Rebecca:
Nora Watts series by Sheena Kamal
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai
Tara:
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu
Starling by Kirsten Cram
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Rebecca and Tara welcome Tara's friend Marnie to answer the Five Reader Repartee Questions!
Marnie's responses include:
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Authors Richard Wagamese, Thomas King, Cherie Dimaline, Douglas Stuart
Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Marnie's Instagram: @burlington_bookworms
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Rebecca and Tara chat about their top three memoirs and the one they can't wait to read!
Rebecca:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Flash: The Homeless Donkey Who Taught Me about Life, Faith, and Second Chances by Rachel Anne Ridge
The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man by Paul Newman
Tara:
Broken (In the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Run, Hide, Repeat: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood by Pauline Dakin
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Rebecca and Tara discuss five books that define their reading taste.
Rebecca:
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Tara:
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
Still life by Louise Penny
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
After taping the podcast, Tara found a great article that answers "What Exactly is a Cozy Mystery?".
Also, the Anne of Green Gables picture book Rebecca mentioned is If I Couldn't Be Anne by Kallie George.
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Rebecca and Tara chat about what they've read recently.
Tara:
Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel
Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Rebecca:
Starlight Tour: The Last, Lonely Night of Neil Stonechild by Susanne Reber and Robert Renaud
The Little Brudders of Miséricorde by David M. Wallace
The Trees by Percival Everett
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Rebecca and Tara are so excited to welcome Comedian, Actor, Podcaster, and Author Ali Hassan and discuss his new memoir, Is There Bacon in Heaven? In the opening introduction, Rebecca was so busy outlining all of Ali's accomplishments, she completely forgot to mention his new book! But as you'll soon hear, this is a memoir you do not want to miss!
Ali Hassan:
Acting: www.imdb.me/alihassan
Instagram: @standupali
Podcasts: @doctorvcomedian @thispodcastisdelicious
Writing: https://standupali.com/my-book
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Rebecca and Tara welcome Scottish author Jonathan Whitelaw. He has written a wonderful cozy mystery starring a mother and son-in-law detective duo set in the Lake District of the UK. The Bingo Hall Detectives will be released in North America in January 2023.
Jonathan also references the Bloody Scotland Festival and the Bloody Scotland Book Club on Facebook.
Jonathan's Instagram: @jdwhitelaw13
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Sunday Sep 18, 2022
Sunday Sep 18, 2022
Rebecca and Tara ask Tara's cousin Lisa the Five (new & improved) Reader Repartee questions!
Lisa responses include:
- The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah
- We Begin at the End by Chris Whittaker
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Measure by Nikki Erlick
- Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
- The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
- We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
Lisa's Instagram: @theenamoredbibliophile
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Rebecca and Tara celebrate the podcast's 100th episode by discussing the topic that brought them together--CBC's Canada Reads!
Titles we loved
Tara:
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Johnny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akaad
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Rebecca:
A book club book: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
A book that is now coming true: American War by Omar El Akkad
A book with an unlikeable main character: Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
A memoir: From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
A book many DNF: Small Game Hunting by Megan Gail Coles
An epic novel: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Titles we have yet to read
Rebecca:
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Tara:
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyn Saucier
Titles we would like to see in the future
Tara:
The Lights of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kaye
Rebecca:
The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill
Still Hopeful: Lessons from a Lifetime of Activism by Maude Barlow
Favorite moments from the show
Rebecca:
Tahmoh Penikett defending American War
Mark Tewksbury defending Washington Black
Christian Allaire defending Five Little Indians; Paul Sun-Hyung Lee defending Hench; Chuck Comeau defending Homes
Tara:
Devery Jacobs defending Jonny Appleseed
Justin Trudeau defending (sort of) The Colony of Unrequited Dreams and then Next Episode
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Rebecca and Tara respectfully steal the idea to chat about pairing favorite non-fiction and fiction titles. Thanks to @bookwormadventuregirl for the idea! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my8ukUf5zdU
Tara's Pairing:
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott
Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel
Rebecca's Pairing:
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
Tony Hill / Carol Jordan series by Val McDermid
At the 29:07 mark, Rebecca and Tara compare how they rate the books they've read. Rebecca is 100% on board with Tara's system!
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Sunday Jul 24, 2022
Sunday Jul 24, 2022
Rebecca and Tara welcome Tara's son Keegan, who is college bound in the fall, to answer the Five Reader Repartee questions. However, the Five become Six with a newly added question.
Books and podcasts mentioned in today's program:
Loveless and Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
Stephen Graham Jones: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111286306/two-indigenous-authors-on-the-legacy-of-a-shared-painful-history
Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle
Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads
Saturday Jul 02, 2022
Saturday Jul 02, 2022
Even though Rebecca and Tara post only their podcast audio to YouTube, they decided to use YouTube's #midyearbookfreakouttag questions to review their reading for the first half of 2022.
- Best book you've read
- R: What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad; Blue Sky Kingdom / Bruce Kirkby
- T: The Undertaking of Billy Buffone / David Giuliano; On Account of Darkness / Ian Kennedy
- Best sequel
- T: Us Against You / Fredrik Backman
- R: Republic of Dirt / Susan Juby
- New release you haven't read but want to
- T: Sea of Tranquility / Emily St. John Mandel
- Most anticipated release second half of the year
- T: Witches of Moonshyne Manor / Bianca Marais
- R: Is There Bacon I Heaven? / Ali Hassan
- Biggest disappointment
- R: Garlic and the Vampire / Bree Paulsen
- T: Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone / Diana Gabaldon
- Biggest surprise
- T & R: I am Billy the Kid / Michael Blouin
- Favorite new author
- T: Mary Lawson
- Newest (non) fictional crush
- T & R: Wab Kinew
- Newest favorite character
- R: Washington Black / Esi Edugyan
- T: Emmeline from The Spoon Stealer / Lesley Crewe
- Book that made you cried
- T: Scarborough / Catherine Hernandez
- R: The Lantern House / Erin Napier
- Book that made you happy
- R: The Vinyl Café Celebrates / Stuart McLean
- T: The Spoon Stealer / Lesley Crewe
- Most beautiful book you bought or received
- T: In the Unlikely Event / Judy Blume
- R: Redwall (Firebird edition)
- What books do you need to read this year
- R: Starlight tour: the last lonely night of Neil Stonechild / Susanne Reber; History of Canada in Ten Maps / Adam Shoalts
- Swimming Back to Trout River / Linda Rui Feng; The Listeners / Jordan Tannahill; Fight Night / Miriam Toews; We, Jane / Aimee Wall
Saturday Jun 25, 2022
Saturday Jun 25, 2022
Rebecca and Tara welcome author David Giuliano, who is a Spiritual Guide, Writer and Speaker. He is an award-winning writer of fiction and nonfiction books, essays, and poems. The Undertaking of Billy Buffone is David’s first novel and the one under discussion. His collection of essays – Postcards from the Valley: Encounters with Fear, Faith and God - was a Canadian Best Seller. It’s Good to Be Here: Stories we tell about cancer, is a spiritual memoir about his 20-year journey with cancer to which he brings fierce honesty and humour in a conversation about the metaphysics of medicine and the power of story to heal.
Website: https://www.davidgiuliano.ca
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Rebecca and Tara step outside of Canadian Literature for a moment to chat with author Kelsey Ronan who grew up in Flint, Michigan (as did Rebecca). Kelsey's first novel, Chevy in the Hole, is a love letter to Flint. The story chronicles the lives of August (Gus) and Monae and their path to one another. Kelsey's work has appeared in Lit Hub, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review and elsewhere. She lives in Detroit and teaches for InsideOut Literary Arts.
Instagram: @k_j_r__