A literary odyssey
By Poppy Wilkinson
10 must-reads for your library
This Is My Country, What's Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada
By Noah Richler
Journalist Noah Richler combs the country to converse with the who’s who of Canadian lit. The son of the late Mordecai Richler (one of Canada’s greatest authors), Noah embarks on a literary journey from Newfoundland to the Northwest Territories to interview big names like Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel and Rohinton Mistry. Driven by his belief that storytellers offer a window into society, Noah uses literary encounters and conversations to understand what makes Canada “Canada” both in its 
diversity and the things that bind it together. As he says, “It makes sense that we turn to our storytellers. We have a voracious need for them to explain Canada to us.” Writers are articulate folk, after all, so who better to ask? From coffee talk with Alice Munro to chilling out with Douglas Coupland in his North Vancouver modernist bungalow, Noah Richler books it cross-country.
Bang Crunch
By Neil Smith
Neil Smith is the hot new name in Canadian fiction. With his debut short story collection making noise on the literary circuit, Smith, a quintessential Montrealer, lives his days mostly speaking French but writes in his mother tongue, English. With startlingly clean prose, his nine stories are characterized by a burgeoning trademark of scrutinizing the familiar and distilling the quirks. Witty and warm, heartbreaking and hysterical, these original stories are bang on. Too bad there are only nine of them.
Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell
By Charlotte Gray
We know he invented the telephone, but what about his private life? Forget the sleepy icon of a barrel-chested, white-bearded inventor: Gray gives us insight into the life of the real Alexander Bell, a man obsessed with the science of sound who married a deaf high-society beauty from Boston and eventually settled down in the small town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia. This elegant biography is packed with the drama of Bell’s wild brilliance, tempered by his marriage to a remarkable woman whose support was integral to his greatness.
A Short History of Indians in Canada
By Thomas King
A baby is delivered by airmail to a reservation; a wily coyote sells his soul in exchange for a “pretty nice” truck. These are a sampling of the 20 short stories in King’s collection. The tales he spins move modern Native storytelling in new directions: His plots are surreal but surefooted, his messages playful while philosophical. This collection also includes an interview with Margaret Atwood, who sifts through the laughter and the layers of allegory.
Consumption: A Novel
By Kevin Patterson
Victoria was only 10 years old when she left her family in the tundra to recuperate from an illness in Manitoba. Returning six years later as a healthy woman, Victoria speaks English and Cree with more ease than she does her mother tongue, Inuktitut. But it’s not only Victoria who has changed: the North is a different place, with modern conveniences and complications. Patterson’s novel provides rare insight into an arctic coastal community shaped by opposing cultural forces.
Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
By Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala
Even after The New York Times declared Vij’s “among the finest Indian restaurants in the world,” this intimate Vancouver eatery still doesn’t take reservations. But who wouldn’t wait for a grilled lamb “popsicle,” marinated in mustard and white wine and served with a creamy curry dipping sauce? Now that’s hot. Even hotter? Vikram Vij and his wife, Meeru Dhalwala, sharing trade secrets in their newest cookbook which is indeed inspired, as the title promises, but also surprisingly easy to follow.
Montréal Then and Now
By Alan Hustak and Johanne Norchet
La Belle Ville has had her fair share of makeovers over the years from the elegant limestone facades of the 1830s to the ultra-modern infrastructure erected for the World’s Fair in 1967. This collection of before-and-after photographs illustrates both how Montréal’s architectural landscape has changed and how it’s managed to retain its essence. Then and now, this is a city blessed with good bone structure, no matter how many nips and tucks.
The Wine Atlas of Canada
By Tony Aspler
Tony Aspler, a wine columnist for over two decades, couches his formidable knowledge in accessible, easy-going prose bringing Canada’s wine scene to life with stories about both the wine and the winemakers behind it. A requisite guide for where to go next and why, Aspler sips his way across the country and offers a full-bodied account of his wanderings, from the dry and sweet Rieslings of Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula to the unexpected Chardonnays of Nova Scotia.
A Daytripper’s Guide to Manitoba: Exploring Canada’s Undiscovered Province
By Bartley Kives
Manitoba is a many-splendored thing, what with its secluded sandy beaches, 100,000 lakes, stunning northern lights spectacles, small-town charm and big-city culture. Local Bartley Kives spills the beans in this first comprehensive guidebook on the province, letting you wander the warehouse-chic Exchange District for hip art or vintage clothing, or hooking you up with a night in a luxury cabin in Riding Mountain National Park.
The Canadian Hockey Atlas
By Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole, the author of what Don Cherry (co-host of Hockey Night in Canada’s “Coach’s Corner”) trumpeted as “the best hockey book of the year,” assembles colorful anecdotes, biographies and trivia in this definitive history of hockey. His comprehensive tome digs up the dirt on players’ local allegiances, and is complete with hilarious asides, backstories and archival photos of toothless victory grins. The perfect book for anyone with a love of the game.
