A recommended reading list by Astrid Blodgett, whose new book This is How You Start to Disappear is out now. And even better? We've got three copies up for giveaway until the end of August.

Head over to our giveaways page to see everything on offer right now. Don't miss your chance to win!

*****

Home of the Floating Lily, by Silmy Abdullah

Beautiful, compelling, sometimes sad stories set in Toronto and parts of Bangladesh about women and men whose hearts are in both places.

*

Lot, by Sarah de Leeuw

Written entirely in couplets, Lot explores racial complexities of colonial violence.

*

I (Athena), by Ruth Dyck Fehderau

The story of Athena, a woman wrongfully placed in  an institution as a child, is fascinating and piercing, sometimes funny and sometimes utterly heart-rending; the story is thoroughly researched and well told. 

*

What Strange Paradise, by Omar El Akkad

A heartbreaking story of a Syrian boy’s attempt to flee his country and the girl who helps him when he floats ashore on an island, the only survivor of a shipwreck.

*

Oh, My Darling, by Shaena Lambert

Lambert’s stories wrench the heart; she tackles death, destruction, love, and loss, all the messy, tangly bits of real life.

*

The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches, by Gaetan Soucy

Disturbing, unsettling, and fascinating story of two children coming to terms with life following the suicide of their father after having been raised apart from society.

*

Rough, by Robin van Eck

A novel set against the backdrop of Calgary’s 2013 flood about living homeless on the streets and about ways of looking, seeing and, especially, about going through the world unseen—and what you find when you do. 

*

Night Watch: The Vet Suite, by Gillian Wigmore

Terrific suite of novellas about the life of rural vets.

*

The Dark and Other Love Stories, by Deborah Willis

Moving stories of love and longing with engaging characters.

*

Learn more about This Is How You Start to Disappear:

These twelve new short stories from Astrid Blodgett explore the consequences of grief and denial and single moments that change perceptions, lives, and attachments forever. Crisp prose and unexpected plot twists move relatable characters through vivid outdoor settings and interior depths. A child negotiates adult behaviour when an injured dog is put down. An older sister bribes a younger one to go on her first date. A family canoe trip launches from Disaster Point. A woman wants to hurl her granddaughter’s birthday cake out the window. This Is How You Start to Disappear shows all the heartbreaking ways we evolve when coping with change or trauma.