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SEVEN FALLEN FEATHERS
Seven Fallen Feathers is a well-written, eye-opening work of investigative journalism that focuses on the deaths of seven First Nations teenagers from the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven students died between 2000 and 2011. Near the end of the book, it also references a painting of the same name by one of the parents of the teens.
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REVENGE OF THE VINYL CAFE
Stuart McLean, one of Canada’s most celebrated storytellers and author of national best sellers, has done it again, publishing an eighth book in his globally acclaimed and widely popular Vinyl Café series. The eighth book, The Revenge of the Vinyl Cafe, follows McLean’s beloved fictional family of Dave, Morley, and their two children, Sam and Stephanie, not to mention their neighbors, friends and family. The title, The Vinyl Café, which is also the name of McLean’s radio show on CBC, was taken from the name of Dave’s independent record store. The individual stories of fifteen pages or less take place in a small Toronto neighborhood where Dave and his family…
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PROOF I WAS HERE
Becky Blake’s debut novel Proof I Was Here is a new take on the expat abroad story that focuses on Niki, a 20-something Torontonian who has just moved to Barcelona with her fiancé Peter. The story is divided into three parts. In the first, Peter ends the relationship soon after they arrive, and she walks out of her apartment and leaves her wallet and keys behind. She is struggling to deal with the loss of her old life by living penniless, listless and aimless, a stranger in a foreign land: “I rode the trains back and forth for hours, noticing the unloved people. They were suddenly everywhere. A thin woman…
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PRECIOUS CARGO
Craig Davidson was at a low point in his life and looking for a day job when he signed up to drive a yellow school bus. He got much more than he bargained.
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ONE BROTHER SHY
One Brother Shy follows Alex MacAskill, a shy computer programmer who works for a tech company that produces facial recognition software. After the death of his mother, he discovers that she has been receiving monthly payments of $5,000. He also finds out he has a twin brother, and sets out to find both him and his father in a wild ride from Canada, to the UK, to Russia, and back.
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MY YEAR OF LIVING SPIRITUALLY FROM WOO-WOO TO WONDERFUL
Laid out in 12 chapters, Anne Bokma’s My Year of Living Spiritually is an inspirational calendar for the secular set. Let the pages fall open randomly in November to be reminded to practice gratefulness. Hum a tune when you land on Ella Fitzgerald’s quote, “The only thing better than singing, is more singing” (Bokma devotes the entire month of June to finding her voice). Bokma makes her way through 20+ non-religious practices and activities to inspire a more meaningful life. For the millions of Canadians who consider themselves spiritual but not religious (SBNR) this is literary soup for the soul
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MY CONVERSATIONS WITH CANADIANS
My Conversations with Canadians is a collection of non-fiction essays by novelist Lee Maracle examining coloniztion and its effects on Canada’s First Nations, counterbalancing colonial myths and exposing cultural stereotypes perpetuated by media. It also discusses, globalization, global warming, exploitation of First Nations cultures and natural resources by multinational companies dominating industries where First Nations people are often under- or unemployed, and the differences between First Nations and European worldviews.
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MOWING
An apple tree grown from seed can take up to 10 years to bear fruit and Marlene Cookshaw’s fifth book of poetry, Mowing, has likewise germinated for over a decade. Now she is harvesting the fruits of her literary labour and it is sweet.
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LITTLE BEAST
“You’re not a monster,” Mother used to say. “Just a little beast.” In the original French, the title for Little Beast was Barbe: Roman. “Barbe” means “beard” in French. Both of these titles ring true when looking at the story as a whole.
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JUST LET ME LOOK AT YOU
Bill Gaston, best known for his fiction, writes a transparent and eloquent memoir about the life he shared with his father.