The Bookseller: David Worsley, Words Worth Books (Waterloo, ON)

The Pick: Satellite Image, by Michelle Berry
Michelle Berry never misses.

This is the deceptively simple story of Ginny and Mike, a city couple chucking it all to move to the country where it's safe, slower of pace, and beckoningly better all around.

Ginny's mucking about on Google Earth one night in their tenth-floor apartment reveals a body in the yard of their just-purchased country home, but after a power outage the laptop loses the image. Continued refreshes won't bring it back, and the incident becomes a dinner party story. Soon after the country couple laugh it off. But the world has a way of clapping back. Reminiscent of one of my top five, Michelle Berry's Satellite Image brings back Paula Fox's Desperate Characters in its pace, its relentless claustrophobia, its near-perfect mix of galloping plot and finely drawn character. The world's a mess and will get worse. Put the phone down and indulge in a great book. It'll help.

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The Bookstore: Russell Books (Victoria, BC)

Molly Kines’ picks:

Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson
To say that Eden Robinson is a beautiful writer is truly to do her a disservice. In Monkey Beach, her descriptions of Kitamaat Village are vivid and haunting and gorgeous, and through the language she uses, the landscape itself becomes a recurrent character in the story. For the Haisla people, the moon can be tired in the sky, and the ocean can whisper, and crows can talk to you from the branches of a greengage tree. In this personification of the natural world, we find the cultural values of this Indigenous community – because, for them, nature is a powerful and sentient force in their lives. The theme of racialization, too, is fascinating in this book. Main character Lisamarie’s community is plagued by sexual abuse, alcoholism, and a lingering hurt caused by residential school trauma and the constant encroachment of White colonialist culture. One important point is that Indigenous spirituality and mythology is really its own form of education – and yet Lisa is still expected to go to university by her parents. Why, so often, do we deem academia to be the be-all and end-all? Thus, this is an important read as Canadians – and also just as human beings.

Bluebeard's Egg, by Margaret Atwood
Many people may not know that Margaret Atwood is, as well as a Canadian feminist/literary icon, a master of the short fiction form! In this collection, she presents us with chilling observations about body image, femininity, sexism, and power dynamics in male-female relationships. The story "Spring Song of the Frogs" was especially haunting – it's a depiction of female body image through a man's eyes, as he watches the women around him shrink and become smaller/quieter than before. The women in the story seem defiant, somehow, and do not return the man's advances – yet their defiance is undermined by their shrinking bodies. When we conform to society's beauty ideals, we take up less space, and it's sad and misguided, but such a reality – even years after this novel was published. Read this for more insight into one of Canada's most prolific writers, and for a feminist perspective that many will resonate with.

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The Bookseller: Brittney, Misty River Books (Terrace, BC)

The Pick: Make Me a Mixtape, by Jennifer Whiteford
I recently read Make Me a Mixtape by Jennifer Whiteford – it was such a sweet heartwarming read for the fall/winter. Check out reviews for it here.

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The Bookseller: Lee Trentadue, Galiano Island Books (Galiano Island, BC)

The Picks:
These are the three cookbooks that I  am putting on my gift lists for friends this year, and of course recommending to our customers.

I'm very excited about Chef Bruno Feldeisen’s Bacon, Butter Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook. Chef Bruno is one of the judges on The Great Canadian Baking Show. In this cookbook, he has recipes using these four elements, in combination with some of our favourite ingredients. Just the sort of book that we need for the holidays. We will be hosting an event on Galiano with Chef Bruno in early December. Whoohoo!

Of course, it is always exciting when Shelley Adams of Whitewater Cooks fame, comes out with a new book in time for the holidays. This time, Shelley collaborates with her son, Conner Adams, to delight us with fabulous recipes in their new cookbook, Whitewater Cooks Food We Love.

My third cookbook recommendation is My Thali by Canadian chef and author Joe Thottungal. Looking forward to trying some simple (and maybe a little more complicated) South Indian food in the coming months.

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The Bookseller: Debbie Penner, Book Warehouse Main Street (Vancouver, BC)

The Pick: A History of Burning, by Janika Oza
The book’s tagline is "Four generations, Three sisters, One impossible choice." This is by a Canadian first-time author who was shortlisted for the new Carol Shields Award and was a GG finalist. It is an absolutely spectacular historical read. The story moves from India in 1898 to Ethiopia, where many Indians were tricked into going to work on the back-breaking work of building the new railroad. Some Indians escaped to Uganda and built a better life for themselves for generations until Idi Amin kicked out all of the Indians, destroying the lives of many families. Determined by luck, one family moves to Canada, one sister is forced to move to England, and the last sister remains, looking for her husband, and they are never heard of again.

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The Bookseller: Colin Holt, Bolen Books (Victoria, BC)

The Pick: The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook, by Chef Bruno Feldeisen
The latest offering by chef and TV personality Bruno Feldeisen offers a mouthwatering selection of recipes based around his favourite ingredients. Broken into four sections, making each ingredient the star, Feldeisen presents easy-to-follow recipes and stunning photographs. The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook will make the perfect holiday gift for any aspiring baker in the house.

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The Bookseller: Anna, Misty River Books (Terrace, BC)
The Pick: The Grey Wolf, by Louise Penny
I really enjoyed The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. I just gobbled it up, as it was gripping and it included some of the characters from A Beautiful Mystery. I was sad when it was done, and I'm wondering what is next for Gamache.

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The Bookseller: Levi, Audreys Books (Edmonton, AB)

The Pick: Held, by Anne Michaels
The latest novel by Anne Michaels is held together by deeply lyrical scenes of togetherness. The violence and brutality that happen to the characters, which could make a meaty plot, are alluded to but never fleshed out. This is a great book for fans of Anne Michaels and for readers who love poets turned novelists. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.

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The Bookseller: Jo Treggiari, Block Shop Books (Lunenburg, NS)
The Picks:

Oil People, by David Huebert
In Huebert's hands, oil takes on a mythic quality, the blood that runs through a small community and flows in the veins of the Armbrusters, the family whose fortunes were made by it. Dual narratives propel the story. In 1987, thirteen-year-old Jade navigates friendships, rivalries, and a new love as her parents argue over whether or not to sell the dilapidated property that serves both as home and memorial/museum to their single-minded and oil-obsessed ancestor. In 1862, Clyde Armbruster is determined to find a gusher, and eventually does, changing the future for himself and his wife, but at what cost? The language and pacing are beautifully wrought, the setting deeply atmospheric, the reader is immersed in a surreal fugue state. Oil becomes a major character, something to be cherished and feared, both a gift and a curse. In these oil-soaked pages of epic struggles and dangerous obsessions, where a man will risk all, we are forcefully reminded that Nature is not something that can be leashed.

The Treasure Hunters Club, by Tom Ryan
A thrilling roller-coaster of a book filled with quirky characters, lost treasure, old family secrets, a charming seaside town (which felt very familiar!), and a steadily mounting body count. This is a richly imagined, atmospheric slow-burn murder mystery that travels back and forth between generations to provide clues and a few truly fantastic twists. Meet Peter, a forty-year-old who fears his life is going nowhere, teen Dandy who's just lost her beloved grandfather and possesses a sharp and curious mind and insatiable curiosity, and Cass, a writer who hopes her new house-sitting gig will result in a book. How these three disparate characters come together is a lot of fun and following the treasure hunt of clues is a blast. Tinged with the nostalgia of Nancy Drew Mysteries but with more murder, and steeped in the unmistakable flavour of the Maritimes, this is a nuanced page-turner which manages to be both cozy and scary.

Tig, by Heather Smith
A charming, funny, heart-breaking and heart-healing middle-grade book from Smith, who is the master of creating complex young characters who make themselves into an integral part of your life. Eleven-year-old Tig and Peter have been living alone, without electricity or adequate food for months since being abandoned, but now there's a chance to build something new with Uncles Scott and Manny. But this new start is not Tig's choice: she doesn't trust that everything can be good, and she decides the safest thing to do is to resist it with all the energy and wit she possesses. This includes arguing for the sake of arguing, fighting, stealing, and trying to outrun a wheel of cheese in a downhill race of her own devising. Her new town is called Wensleydale, so what could be more perfect?  Tig is brave, insecure, wildly imaginative, unfiltered, and in her own words she is "still in the hissing and biting stage."  The writing is beautiful, edgy and clear, short, and sharp, with a light touch capturing the voice of a child who doesn't know how to accept that some troubles are too big to face alone. There is trauma here and there is healing. This novel is beautifully sad and sadly beautiful but also uplifting and filled with love and patience and new beginnings.

A Grandmother Begins the Story, by Michelle Porter
A vivid and multi-layered tapestry of short chapters, almost vignettes; an intergenerational saga recounted through the narratives of five Metis women (plus a couple of dogs and some ancient bison). Porter masterfully interweaves the stories of young mother Carter, who is desperate to reconnect with her lost heritage; Allie, estranged from her own mother and daughter; Lucie, who is ready to die but wants a younger family member help her to do so; Genevieve, who is fighting demons; and overseeing it all, Mame, who is stuck in the afterlife, unable to move on until she is sure her family is going to be okay. Porter's novel is beautifully written with deft pacing that allows the narratives to unfold, cross paths, and come together. Threads of Native lore, magical realism, and plenty of humour balance the themes of trauma, addiction and self-harm. A Grandmother Begins the Story is an achingly poignant and ambitious tale, an imaginative novel that announces the arrival of a powerful new voice in Indigenous fiction.

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The Bookseller: Michelle Berry, bookseller emeritus (Peterborough, ON)
The Picks:

The Figgs, by Ali Bryan
A hilarious, heartbreaking, messy and imperfect matriarch, June Figg, is excitedly looking forward to retiring but she can’t seem to get her three adult children to move out of the house. Her husband isn’t much help. Things become more complicated when her son’s girlfriend shows up pregnant and then leaves her baby with the Figgs. A sentimental book about a wildly interesting and loving family, The Figgs will have you shed a little tear as you laugh yourself silly.

Death by a Thousand Cuts, by Shashi Bhat
Longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize, this story collection is one of the best I’ve ever read. These stories are about women and are tender and witty. There is one about an immunocompromised woman falling in love, another about a struggling couple who argue about the man’s habit of grabbing the woman’s breast on Reddit, another about a woman trying to change her brown eyes to blue, and another about a woman who is searching for bizarre relief when she begins to lose her hair. This collection portrays bubbling anger and aching longing and joy and happiness and love and hate. It’s a fantastic book, one I highly recommend.
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The Bookseller: Shelley Macbeth, Blue Heron Books (Uxbridge, ON)

The Pick: At a Loss for Words, by Carol Off
I think the most important book of this season – and perhaps any season – is Carol Off's At a Loss for Words. Carol outlines six emblematic words that used to be at the heart of civil discourse but which have now been weaponized, or distorted and mocked. It's a chilling look at how this leads to autocracy, conspiracy theories, and mistrust of one another. A precursor to societal breakdown. PLEASE READ. It's the first step.

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The Bookseller: Christina Kinney, The Mulberry Bush Book Store (Qualicum Beach, BC)

The Pick: A Quality of Light, by Richard Wagamese
This had me fully captivated from start to finish! Wagamese is a brilliant storyteller, and I read this effortlessly. The novel follows Joshua Kane, an Ojibway, as he reconnects with his troubled childhood friend, Johnny, while delving into themes of cultural displacement, reconciliation, and the long-lasting effects of colonialism. It’s a powerful and thought-provoking read, filled with spiritual and ethical discussions and lessons that linger long after you’ve finished. At its core, it’s truly about what lies within one’s self, offering profound reflections on healing, forgiveness, and inner strength.

If you haven't read any of Richard Wagamese's books...you need to...beautiful and deeply moving. This was actually one of the first books he wrote. A must read!