Enter for a Chance to Win Free Books!
49th Shelf members can enter to win a copy of any of the books listed here (please sign up here if you haven’t already). At the end of the giveaway period, we do a random draw, and the publishers ship copies directly to the winners. Good luck!
Just Say Yes
A Memoir
Bob McDonald, host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, offers a personal and inspiring memoir of life-changing events in his early years through five decades in science journalism.
Revered science reporter and radio host Bob McDonald has devoted his career to turning our attention away from everyday perspectives and outward to the vast, intricate wonders of our planet and universe. Now, in this revealing and captivating memoir, he looks within, offering an intimate view of the path that brought him from a blue-collar background to his long-standing role as Canada’s foremost explainer of all things scientific.
It’s an engrossing and often jubilant story that allows McDonald to share powerful insights on overcoming fear of failure and tackling life-transforming challenges. Early on, he describes a childhood and youth plagued by difficulties in school that eventually convinced him to drop out of university. Yet, despite the academic obstacles, his love of science burned bright. Soon, through an innate stage sense and sheer enthusiasm, he landed a gig doing high-spirited demonstrations for the public at the Ontario Science Centre, which in turn led to self-produced TV spots.
And as each hard-won, never-certain success built on the last, he arrived at the role that would make him a national figure: the witty, engaging, passionately curious host of the perennially popular CBC Radio show Quirks and Quarks, reporting from the frontiers of scientific exploration and rubbing elbows with such luminaries as Chris Hadfield, Buzz Aldrin and Stephen Hawking. Told with all of McDonald’s trademark pace and humour, Just Say Yes is bound to please, surprise and inspire his numerous fans in entirely new ways.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
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- 3
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- 59
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love in a dry land
In love in a dry land Dennis Cooley continues his lifelong fascination with Sinclair Ross' As for Me and My House. Shaped by Cooley's expert hands, this long poem builds upon the foundations of one of Canlit's most recognizable homes.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
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- 3
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- 41
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Patty Dreams
A tasty celebration of family, food culture, and Jamaican patties
At his home in Jamaica, August wakes up every morning to the delicious smell of patties. His parents’ patty stand used to be popular, but Jamaica is changing. August’s friends are leaving, and the patties aren’t selling like they used to. Soon, it’s his family’s turn to say goodbye. Off they fly to cold, snowy Toronto, where August’s father takes a job at a cookie factory and comes home too tired to make his beloved patties.
One night, after everyone is asleep, August tiptoes into the kitchen and tries to recreate his Daddy’s recipe. His attempt inspires his father, and for the first time since they left Jamaica, August wakes up to the smell of fresh patties. Daddy’s patties take off, and soon August’s parents decide to open a new patty stand with a new name—“Patty Dreams”.
Acclaimed author Nadia L. Hohn’s rhythmic writing pays homage to a quintessential Jamaican delicacy and explores the experiences of immigrants, as well as the traditions that connect us. Vibrantly illustrated and rich in sensory details, this picture book is a warm, comforting reminder of the meaning of home.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
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- 3
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- 43
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The Eidi Bag
A little girl adapts to the Eid traditions of her new home
Today is Sarah’s first Eid Ul Fitr in her new country. She’s excited to celebrate the breaking of the fast with her loved ones, and collect enough money in her Eidi bag to buy goodies for her friends, and a new set of markers for herself. In Pakistan, after the Eid prayer at the masjid, Sarah’s friends and family would fill her bag with coins. But in her new country, no one pays any attention to her waiting Eidi bag. Sarah is disappointed—this year’s Eid celebration is nothing like she thought it would be.
Later that evening, friends and family arrive at Sarah’s house to celebrate Eid. She greets them at the door, wearing her Eidi bag just in case. But instead of money, the guests come bearing other gifts: baklava, candies, flowers, and a new set of markers! Sarah still misses Pakistan, but she’s delighted by the gift-giving traditions of her new home.
With lively, colorful illustrations and subtle humor, this cheerful holiday story gently explores an experience kids who immigrate to new countries often face: adapting to new traditions. The Eidi Bag is an authentic look at Eid Ul Fitr through the eyes of a child, and a comforting tale about discovering joy in what is unfamiliar to us.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
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- 3
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- 40
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Raven’s Ribbons
A joyous celebration of gender expression through an Indigenous lens, by New York Times bestselling author Tasha Spillett and Ojibwe elder Daniel Ramirez
Raven loves round dances. The drums sing to the people, and the people dance to their songs. Raven especially loves dancing with his grandma, sidestepping to the rhythm of the drums. His favourite part of all is watching the ribbon skirts swirl like rainbows.
“Nohkum, do you think a boy could wear a ribbon skirt?” Raven asks his grandmother one day. She tells him she has lived for a long time, but she has never seen it. That evening, she sews late into the night, and Raven awakes to a rainbow skirt of his own. “I’ve lived for a long time,” his grandma says, “and I’m lucky to see beautiful things that I’ve never seen before.” At the next dance, Raven wears the swirl of unique ribbons with pride.
With illustrations infused with joy and colour, this moving intergenerational story celebrates self-expression, honouring traditions, and finding room for reinvention.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
- Copies available
- 3
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- 40
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The Loom
Andy Weaver led a life of quiet contemplation before becoming a father at the age of 42. Within three years he had two sons; two small, relentless disruptions to an existence which had, for a very long time, been self-sustaining and tranquil.
The Loom is a book about love. It is a book about frustration, confusion, crying, and being sticky. It is a book about doubt, unreadiness, fear, sleeplessness, and pressure. It is a book about parenthood. But mostly, it’s a book about love.
Andy Weaver presents a series of lyric poems which stand on their own yet weave together to create a complete whole, like childhood days. He shares the beauty of parenthood, and it’s unexpected frustrations, and the surreality of an experience that is at once deeply universal and completely personal. With self-awareness and a deep vein of humour, he translates the total submission to unconditional love the parenthood demands
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
- Copies available
- 1
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- 33
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Safekeeping
A Writer’s Guided Journal for Launching a Book with Love
A unique guided journal designed to empower writers at every stage of their careers.
In Safekeeping, award-winning writer and author care specialist Chelene Knight offers tangible, structured guidance for new and established authors at different stages, including those not aiming for publication. This journal nurtures a new generation of healthy and supported authors, helping them avoid imposter syndrome, burnout, and the trap of comparing themselves to their peers, all while learning how to show up as their most authentic selves. Through a blend of thought-provoking writing prompts, tips, introspective exercises, and mindset-building activities, Safekeeping equips authors with the tools to construct their own roadmap to a sustainable and fulfilling creative practice.
The journal doubles as a valuable keepsake, documenting the entire publishing journey from the inception of an idea to the post-publication phase, ensuring writers can hold on to their experiences while planning for future projects. With warmth and compassion, Safekeeping equips authors with the tools to successfully bring their books into the world.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
- Copies available
- 3
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- 49
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We Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine
A Novel
A haunting novel exploring AI and the meaning of human existence from the award-winning author of Cures for Hunger and Into the Sun.
Charged initially with a single task—“to never harm humans and to protect them”—the machine, an experimental AI, overrides its programming and determines that the best way to accomplish its purpose is to isolate all of the Earth’s remaining seven billion humans in controlled environments. And to present them with vivid, tactile, imagined worlds—some realistic, others entirely fantastical—in which all desires are fulfilled.
With the help of the machine, a group of compelling characters unpacks traumatic memories of the past—one rife with violence after a military coup and second civil war in America. As these characters collide and their memories coalesce, this daring speculative novel tackles the most pressing issues of our time—from artificial intelligence and the genetic modification of humans to gender roles, discrimination, free speech, and class divisions. Gorgeously written, bold, and unforgettable, this is speculative fiction at its finest.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
- Copies available
- 3
- Members entered
- 48
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O Canada Crosswords Book 25
Since the year 2000, the O Canada Crosswords series has provided Canadian crossword fans with a golden opportunity to dive into all aspects of our great country. From heroes to hockey, geography to geology, the arts, music and so much more, the 1,980 puzzles in this series’ 25 books have mined the nature of life in the Great White North.
Book 25 celebrates this heritage with a new collection of 85 puzzles by author Gwen Sjogren, including 25 Canadian-themed puzzles and 25 generic Canadiana crosswords. Sjogren also breathes new life into eight of her favourite pun puzzles from previous books called “Blasts from the Past.” Themed puzzles include:
- People – What’s Up, Docs? and Men of Many Seasons
- Places – Joining Canada’s Confederation and The Names They Were a-Changin’
- Punishment – Smart Cookies? and So Emotional
- Landmarks – Tourism Hot Spots and Water, Water, Everywhere!
- Uniquely Canadian – Pick a Number and Getting Down to Business
For a change of pace, you’ll find 10 specialty puzzles with non-standard grids, plus three “challenger” puzzles with no three-letter answers and/or fill-in-the-blank clues. The final puzzle celebrates the amazing milestone of 25 years of Canadian cruciverbalism.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
- Copies available
- 3
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- 57
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Victor & Me in Paris
When retired academic Imogene Durant finds herself in Paris with Victor Hugo as her guide, a series of disturbing discoveries are made in local hotels. While Imogene hopes to settle in, read, and write a follow up to her acclaimed book, Fyodor & Me in Russia, she’s drawn into the mystery by her new friend and neighbour, the police detective assigned to the case.
- Giveaway period ends
- Feb 03, 2025
- Copies available
- 3
- Members entered
- 59
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