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We Have Never Lived On Earth (Robert Kroetsch Series)
By Kasia Van Schaik. 2022
Balancing an ambivalent relationship to the past, and fear and hope for the future, Kasia Van Schaik's portraits of female…
interiority, immigrant identity, dislocation, and desire trace the transitions from girlhood to adulthood, grappling with the struggle to understand what it means to live on earth.
Girlfriend on mars
By Deborah Willis. 2023
A funny, poignant, and page-turning debut novel that skewers billionaire-funded space travel in a love story of interplanetary proportions. Amber…
Kivinen is moving to Mars. Or at least, she will be if she wins a chance to join MarsNow. She and twenty-three reality TV contestants from around the world—including a handsome Israeli, an endearing fellow Canadian, and an assortment of science nerds and wannabe influencers—are competing for two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, sponsored by billionaire Geoff Task. Meanwhile Kevin, Amber’s boyfriend of fourteen years, was content going nowhere until Amber left him—and their hydroponic weed business—behind. As he tends to the plants growing in their absurdly overpriced Vancouver basement apartment, Kevin tunes in to find out why the love of his life is so determined to leave the planet with somebody else. An audaciously original debut from an "immensely talented writer" (Emily St. John Mandel), Girlfriend on Mars is at once a satirical indictment of our pursuit of fame and wealth amidst environmental crisis, and an exploration of humanity’s deepest longing, greatest quest, and most enduring cliché: love
The Double Life of Benson Yu: A novel
By Kevin Chong. 2023
"A nuanced, complex, and highly original novel." —Charles Yu, National Book Award–winning author of Interior Chinatown A fresh, unique work…
of metafiction that follows a graphic novelist who loses control of his own narrative when he attempts to write the story of his fraught upbringing in 1980s Chinatown. In a Chinatown housing project lives twelve-year-old Benny, his ailing grandmother, and his strange neighbor Constantine, a man who believes he's a reincarnated medieval samurai. When his grandmother is hospitalized, Benny manages to survive on his own until a social worker comes snooping. With no other family, he is reluctantly taken in by Constantine and soon, an unlikely bond forms between the two. At least, that's what Yu, the narrator of the story, wants to write. The creator of a bestselling comic book, Yu is struggling with continuing the poignant tale of Benny and can't help but interject from the present day, slowly revealing a darker backstory. Can Yu confront the demons he's spent his adult life avoiding or risk his own life...and Benny's? "Instructive as it is inspiring, The Double Life of Benson Yu is a phenomenal example of a writer taking real risks in order to reveal and reckon with deep-rooted, tormenting truths as a means of moving forward. Kevin Chong has crafted a novel that will get your heart pumping, mind jumping, and, best of all, fingers turning" (Mateo Askaripour, New York Times bestselling author)
All the Colour in the World: A Novel
By C. S. Richardson. 2023
The story of the restorative power of art in one man’s life, set against the sweep of the twentieth century—from…
Toronto in the ’20s and ’30s, through the killing fields of World War II, to 1960s Sicily. "Bold and resplendent. . . . Leave it to CS Richardson to find a way to paint with words." —Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid. Henry, born 1916, thin-as-sticks, nearsighted, is an obsessive doodler—copying illustrations from his Boy’s Own magazines. Left in the care of a nurturing, Shakespeare-quoting grandmother, eight-year-old Henry receives as a gift his first set of colouring pencils (and a pocket knife for the sharpening). As he commits these colours to memory—cadmium yellow; burnt ochre; deep scarlet red—a passion for art, colour, and the stories of the great artists takes hold, and becomes Henry’s unique way of seeing the world. It is a passion that will both haunt and sustain him on his journey through the century: from boyhood dreams on a summer beach to the hothouse of art academia and a love cut short by tragedy; from the psychological wounds of war to the redemption of unexpected love. Projected against a backdrop of iconic masterpieces—from the rich hues of the European masters to the technicolour magic of Hollywood—All the Colour in the World is Henry’s story: part miscellany, part memory palace, exquisitely precise with the emotional sweep of a great modern romance.
The islands: Stories
By Dionne Irving. 2023
The Islands follows the lives of Jamaican women-immigrants or the descendants of immigrants-who have relocated all over the world to…
escape the ghosts of colonialism on what they call the Island. Set in the United States, Jamaica, and Europe, these international stories examine the lives of an uncertain and unsettled cast of characters. In one story, a woman and her husband impulsively leave San Francisco and move to Florida with wild dreams of American reinvention only to unearth the cracks in their marriage. In another, the only Jamaican mother-who is also a touring comedienne-at a prep school feels pressure to volunteer in the school's International Day. Meanwhile, in a third story, a travel writer finally connects with the mother who once abandoned her. Set in locations and times ranging from 1950s London to 1960s Panama to modern-day New Jersey, Dionne Irving reveals the intricacies of immigration and assimilation in this debut, establishing a new and unforgettable voice in Caribbean-American literature. Restless, displaced, and disconnected, these characters try to ground themselves-to grow where they find themselves planted-in a world in which the tension between what's said and unsaid can bend the soul.
We meant well: A novel
By Erum Shazia Hasan. 2023
"Unsparing and compassionate ... A novel of harrowing eloquence, We Meant Well explores compelling cultural contrasts and the ambiguity of…
charitable outreach." — Foreword Reviews. A propulsive debut that grapples with timely questions about what it means to be charitable, who deserves what, and who gets the power to decide It's the middle of the night in Los Angeles when Maya, a married mother of one, receives the phone call. Her colleague Marc has been accused of assaulting a local girl in Likanni, where they operate a charitable orphanage. Can she get on the next flight? When Maya arrives, protesters surround the compound. The accuser is Lele, her former protégé and the chief's daughter. There are no witnesses, no proof of any crime. What happened that night? And what will happen to the orphanage if this becomes a scandal? Caught between Marc and Lele, the charity and the villagers, her marriage and new temptations, and between worlds, Maya lives the secret contradictions of the aid worker: there to serve the most deprived, but ultimately there to govern. As Maya feels the pleasures, freedoms, and humanity of life in Likanni, she recognizes that her American life is inextricably woven into this violent reality — and that dishonesty in one place affects the realities in another.
The Double Life of Benson Yu: A Novel
By Kevin Chong. 2023
&“A nuanced, complex, and highly original novel.&” —Charles Yu, National Book Award–winning author of Interior Chinatown This fresh and unique…
work of metafiction follows Benson Yu, a writer, who loses control of his own narrative when he attempts to write the story of his fraught upbringing in 1980s Chinatown.In a Chinatown housing project lives twelve-year-old Benny, his ailing grandmother, and his strange neighbor Constantine, a man who believes he&’s a reincarnated medieval samurai. When his grandmother is hospitalized, Benny manages to survive on his own until a social worker comes snooping. With no other family, he is reluctantly taken in by Constantine and soon, an unlikely bond forms between the two. At least, that&’s what Yu, the narrator of the story, wants to write. The creator of a bestselling comic book, Yu is struggling with continuing the poignant tale of Benny and Constantine and can&’t help but interject from the present day, slowly revealing a darker backstory. Can Yu confront the demons he&’s spent his adult life avoiding or risk his own life...and Benny&’s?
All the Colour in the World: A Novel
By Cs Richardson. 2023
The story of the restorative power of art in one man&’s life, set against the sweep of the twentieth century—from…
Toronto in the &’20s and &’30s, through the killing fields of World War II, to 1960s Sicily.&“Bold and resplendent. . . . Leave it to CS Richardson to find a way to paint with words.&” —Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The MaidHenry, born 1916, thin-as-sticks, nearsighted, is an obsessive doodler—copying illustrations from his Boy&’s Own magazines. Left in the care of a nurturing, Shakespeare-quoting grandmother, eight-year-old Henry receives as a gift his first set of colouring pencils (and a pocket knife for the sharpening). As he commits these colours to memory—cadmium yellow; burnt ochre; deep scarlet red—a passion for art, colour, and the stories of the great artists takes hold, and becomes Henry&’s unique way of seeing the world. It is a passion that will both haunt and sustain him on his journey through the century: from boyhood dreams on a summer beach to the hothouse of art academia and a love cut short by tragedy; from the psychological wounds of war to the redemption of unexpected love.Projected against a backdrop of iconic masterpieces—from the rich hues of the European masters to the technicolour magic of Hollywood—All the Colour in the World is Henry&’s story: part miscellany, part memory palace, exquisitely precise with the emotional sweep of a great modern romance.
Birnam Wood: A Novel
By Eleanor Catton. 2023
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERShortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, the Kirkus Prize, Orwell Prize, and the…
Ockham Book Award for FictionLonglisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary AwardCBC Books' #1 Canadian Novel of 2023Named a Best Book of 2023 by the New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time, Kirkus Reviews, The Guardian, the Globe and Mail, and many moreOne of Barack Obama's 2023 Summer Reading List titles From the Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries comes an electrifying thriller about ambition, greed, environmental collapse, and how even our best intentions can lead to deadly consequences.Birnam Wood is on the move . . . A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand&’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster has created an opportunity for Birnam Wood, a guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice.For Mira, Birnam Wood&’s founder, occupying the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last. But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike. The enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker, or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Intrigued by Mira and Birnam Wood, he makes them an offer that would set them up for the long term. But can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust one another?Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its drama, Austenian in its wit, and, like both influences, fascinated by what makes us who we are. It is an unflinching look at the surprising consequences of even our most well-intended actions, and an enthralling consideration of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.
Girlfriend on Mars: A Novel
By Deborah Willis. 2023
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 STEPHEN LEACOCK MEMORIAL MEDAL FOR HUMOUR* *LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE* *LONGLISTED FOR THE…
FOREST OF READING EVERGREEN AWARD* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ALBERTA LITERARY AWARDS GEORGES BUGNET AWARD FOR FICTION*&“A sharp, funny take on capitalism, climate change, and our lifelong mission to be loved.&” —PeopleA funny, poignant, and page-turning debut novel that skewers billionaire-funded space travel in a love story of interplanetary proportions.Amber Kivinen is moving to Mars. Or at least, she will be if she wins a chance to join MarsNow. She and twenty-three reality TV contestants from around the world—including a handsome Israeli, an endearing fellow Canadian, and an assortment of science nerds and wannabe influencers—are competing for two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, sponsored by billionaire Geoff Task. Meanwhile Kevin, Amber&’s boyfriend of fourteen years, was content going nowhere until Amber left him—and their hydroponic weed business—behind. As he tends to the plants growing in their absurdly overpriced Vancouver basement apartment, Kevin tunes in to find out why the love of his life is so determined to leave the planet with somebody else.An audaciously original debut from an &“immensely talented writer&” (Emily St. John Mandel), Girlfriend on Mars is at once a satirical indictment of our pursuit of fame and wealth amidst environmental crisis, and an exploration of humanity&’s deepest longing, greatest quest, and most enduring cliché: love.