Need some end-of-summer reading? Check out CBC Books’ genre reading lists for your next historical novel, science fiction & fantasy, romance, mystery & crime, graphic novel, middle grade or picture book title!
Our top picks: We speak through the mountain by Premee Mohamed
We speak through the mountain is a sequel to the post-apocalyptic Albertan book The annual migration of clouds. Reid Graham is 19 years old and battles both the climate-crisis-stricken Rocky Mountains and his own chronic illness to find his way to Howse University, a supposed safe haven.
When she arrives, she finds it increasingly difficult to socialize and overcome the guilt she feels about leaving her community. When she receives a message from home, Reid is faced with an impossible choice and a crumbling reality.
Premee Mohamed is an Indo-Caribbean scientist and science fiction writer from Edmonton. Her series Beneath the Rising has been nominated for the Crawford Award, the British Fantasy Awards, the Locus Awards and the Aurora Awards.
Your book The annual migration of clouds won the 2022 Aurora Award for Best Novella. Her other books include The Butcher of the Forest And No one will come back for us. Mohamed was appointed Author to watch for CBC Books in 2024
The next chapter11:25This gripping tale is set in the future in the climate crisis-stricken wilderness of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains
Ryan B. Patrick interviews Premee Mohamed about her latest science fiction work, We Speak Through the Mountain, a sequel to the Aurora Award-winning novella The Annual Migration of Clouds.
Our top picks: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Bad Cree is a horror mystery that explores grief, family, and land. It follows Mackenzie, who is haunted by dreams of her recently deceased sister as she tries to come to terms with the loss. When Mackenzie receives text messages from someone claiming to be her deceased sister and a flock of crows begins following her around town, she knows she needs help.
When Mackenzie returns home to Northern Alberta, she is welcomed by her family, but her dreams become increasingly dire. To unravel the mystery of what really happened that weekend before her sister died and why she keeps returning to the lake in her dreams, Mackenzie must confront a violent family legacy and her connection to her community.
Jessica Johns is a Vancouver-based writer, visual artist and member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 Territory in northern Alberta. Johns won the 2020 Writers’ Trust Journey Prize for the short story Bad Creefrom which the novel of the same name was created. Bad Cree was supported by Dallas Soonias on Canada reads 2024.
The next chapter19:53Canada Reads panelist Dallas Soonias and Bad Cree author Jessica Johns meet for the first time
Former professional volleyball player and filmmaker Dallas Soonias explains why he chose Jessica Johns’s novel Bad Cree as Canada’s must-read. The Indigenous author gives us a glimpse into the tense and often terrifying world of her novel.
Our top picks: The Adversary by Michael Crummey
The Adversary revolves around two rivals who run the largest fishing operation in the northern outpost of Newfoundland. When a wedding that would have secured Abe Strapp’s power on the coast falls apart, it sets off a chain of events that leads to violence and vendettas year after year and a seemingly endless feud.
Crummey is an award-winning poet and novelist from Newfoundland and Labrador. He is also the author of the novels The Innocents, Sweetland And In abundance and the poetry volumes Arguments with seriousness And PassengersTwo of Crummey’s novels were nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction – Sweetland in 2014 and In abundance in 2009. The Innocents was nominated for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2019 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction.
The next chapter13:17Sibling rivalry is at the heart of Michael Crummey’s new novel “The Adversary”
The Newfoundland author tells the story of a brother and sister who run the largest trading companies in the North Atlantic. As hostility and violence between the two grows, their community becomes more and more divided.
Our top picks: The Wendy Award by Walter Scott
In the Wendy series, Mohawk artist Walter Scott follows the character’s journey as a comic book artist who must navigate both the art world and her personal life. Scott’s latest installment in the series, The Wendy Awardfollows Wendy’s struggle with imposter syndrome after being nominated for the prestigious National FoodHut Contemporary Art Prize.
The previous books in the series are Wendy, Wendy’s Revenge And Wendy, Master of Arts.
Walter Scott is a Mohawk artist from Toronto. Scott has published three other Wendy books, including Wendy’s Revenge, and appeared in the New Yorker and the Best American Comics Anthology.
22:16Walter Scott: Why he is saying goodbye to his most famous creation, Wendy
How do you break away from your most famous creation? Mohawk artist Walter Scott is about to find out. More than a decade after creating his popular graphic novel series Wendy, Walter is taking a long break from his cartoon alter ego. He meets with Tom to tell us how he came up with Wendy – a neurotic young party girl trying to make it as an artist – and why his latest book, The Wendy Award, will be her last adventure for now.
Our top picks: Love, lies and cherry pie by Jackie Lau
Toronto novelist and barista Emily Hung’s four sisters, all in their thirties, are married and have successful careers. Their mother is obsessed with Emily finding a husband. Enter Mark Chan, a sweater-clad engineer whom her mother chose herself.
When Emily and Mark meet, she isn’t interested, but to get rid of her mother, Emily suggests they pretend and start dating. Mark is intrigued and agrees. When her mother questions the truth, they really start to “pretend” and get to know each other. Did Emily’s mother actually do it right?
Jackie Lau is a Toronto-based author of over a dozen romantic comedies, including Donut Fall in Love and the Holidays with the Wongs series. She studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before writing romance novels.
Our top picks: The sleeping giant by David A. Robertson
The Sleeping Giant iis the fifth book in the middle grade indigenous fantasy series, The Misewa Saga. Eli, Morgan and Emily must embark on their most dangerous mission yet to rescue kidnapped creatures from the Land of the Sleeping Giant. To succeed, they must rely on the help of old and new friends and find a new way to travel.
The sleeping giant is for children ages 10 and up.
David A. Robertson is a Winnipeg-based author and graphic novelist. Robertson’s previous books in the Misewa Saga series include The Portal Guardian, The barren reasons, The Big Bear And The Stone Child. Other books by Robertson include the graphic novels Will I see? And Sugar Fallsthe youth book Strangersthe memoirs Black water and the picture books awarded with the Governor General’s Literary Prize When we were alone And On the trapline, both illustrated by Cree-Métis artist Julie Flett.
Our top picks: I am a stone by Ashley Qilavaq-Savard, illustrated by Pelin Turgut
Before going to sleep, Pauloosie asks his Anaana, his mother, what stones would tell us if they could speak. I am a stonePauloosie’s home rock, Miki Rock describes everything one can see, feel and hear as part of the land in the Arctic, from the winds to the animals to the Northern Lights and more.
I am a stone is for children aged 3 to 5 years.
Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is an Inuk writer and artist from Iqaluit. She is the author of Where the sea enchants the land And I am a stone is her first picture book. Qilavaq-Savard also makes jewelry from seal skins and beads and studies Inuktitut.
Pelin Turgut is a children’s book illustrator from Turkey.
