Canada Reads American Style

2023 CBC’s Canada Reads Long List

Rebecca and Tara predict the five contenders for CBC's Canada Reads competition, which airs March 27-30, 2023.

Rebecca:

• Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
• Greenwood by Michael Christie
• Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew
• Finding Edward by Sheila Murray
• Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice or Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Tara:

• Greenwood by Michael Christie
• Ducks by Kate Beaton
• Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye or All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
• Finding Edward by Sheila Murray
• Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

Also, Tara mentions Kia Nurse, and Rebecca sends apologies to Andrew Phung for using his TV character's name, Andrew Pham. 

Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads 

 

Book Chat #3

Rebecca and Tara share the top three books they've read since Book Chat #2.

Rebecca:

• The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by Paul Newman
• Missed Connections: A Memoir in Letters Never Sent by Brian Francis
• Ice Walker: A Polar Bear's Journey through the Fragile Arctic by James Raffan

Tara:

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
• Scars & Stars by Jesse Thistle

Tara also references a favorite podcast: Eat Like a Heroine by Jenny Williams and Lorilee Craker.

Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

 

Interview - Hollay Ghadery and Fuse

In the first author interview of 2023, Rebecca is thrilled to chat with Canadian author Hollay Ghadery.  Fuse, Ghadery's memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released in Spring 2021. Rebellion Box is her debut collection of poetry and is planned for publication in 2023.

Instagram: @hollayghadery

Twitter: @Hollay2

 

Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

 

Reader Repartee with Sandra

In the first podcast of the New Year, Rebecca welcomes Sandra, her Bookstagram friend, to answer the slightly revised Five Questions.  Sandra's responses include the following titles:

• The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Rebecca makes a quick reference to The Five by Hallie Rubenhold.

 

Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads 

2022 Wrap Up - 2023 Goals

Happy New Year!!  Rebecca and Tara wrap up their first year of podcasting together and discuss what they read in 2022 and if they met their goals.  Then they'll share their New Year goals for 2023!

Rebecca's highlights:

• Nora Watts series by Sheena Kamal
• What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
• Diary of a Young Girl: Definitive Edition by Anne Frank
• Instagram: #readingtheworld / #readtheworld / #readaroundtheworld
• Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

Tara's highlights:

• On Account of Darkness by Ian Kennedy
• The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe
• Starling by Kirsten Cram
• Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

 

Interview - Sheena Kamal and The Lost Ones (Nora Watts series)

Rebecca and Tara are thrilled to chat with Sheena Kamal, whose bestselling debut The Lost Ones won her a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Strand Critics Award, and Macavity Award for Best First Novel. The sequel It All Falls Down has been called “a stunning, emotionally resonant thriller” in its Kirkus-starred review. No Going Back and her first YA novel Fight Like A Girl were released in 2020.

According to her website, The Lost Ones is a dark, compulsively readable psychological suspense debut, the first in a new series featuring the brilliant, fearless, chaotic, and deeply flawed Nora Watts—a character as heartbreakingly troubled, emotionally complex, and irresistibly compelling as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole.

TikTok and Instagram: @sheenakamalwrites

Website: https://www.sheenakamal.com/

 

Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

 

 

Christmas Books

Tara shares a few of her much loved Christmas books and highlights titles she's planning to read this season!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

The Christmas Tree: Two Tales for the Holidays by David Adams Richards

Chill Tidings: Dark Tales of the Christmas Season by Tanya Kirk

Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan

Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories by L.M. Montgomery

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

 

Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle

Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

Interview - David Crow and The Pale-Faced Lie

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

Book Chat #2

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

Reader Repartee with Marnie

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

Memoirs

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

Five Books That Define Our Taste

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.

Book Chat #1

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

Interview - Ali Hassan and Is There Bacon in Heaven?

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

 

Interview - Jonathan Whitelaw and The Bingo Hall Dectives

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