This year, at your family gatherings and parties with friends, instead of chatting about the weather or debating politics, we suggest talking about books! Give the gift of a book your friends and family members can enjoy and discuss. We’re recommending these 12 lauded books, which have been nominated for and won some major awards this year. There are a ton more books—we couldn’t list them all—but you can see them in our Award News posts.
Sitting Shiva on Minto Avenue, by Toots by Erín Moure (New Star Books) has been shortlisted for the 2018 Vancouver Book Award and was nominated for the 2018 Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction awarded by the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Sitting Shiva on Minto Avenue, by Toots is the story of a man who had no obituary, no funeral, and who would have left no trace if it weren’t for the woman he’d called Toots, who took everything she remembered of him and wrote it down. A book that blurs literary lines, readers of cross-genre stories will not want to miss this book, which combines memoir, biography, imagination over memory, all through the lens of mortality.
The British Columbia Historical Federation awarded British Columbia by the Road: Car Culture and the Making of a Modern Landscape by Ben Bradley (UBC Press) the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for historical writing. Bradley takes readers on an unprecedented journey through the history of roads, highways, and motoring in BC’s Interior, a remote landscape composed of plateaus and interlocking valleys, soaring mountains and treacherous passes. British Columbia by the Road would make a considerate gift for any roadtrip diehard.
A finalist for the 2018 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family by Lindsay Wong (Arsenal Pulp Press) is a darkly comedic memoir about the Asian immigrant experience, family, and the vagaries of mental illness. The Woo-Woo would be a good entry into the memoir genre, especially for Millenial readers.
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead (Arsenal Pulp Press) made the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction. Jonny Appleseed is a tour-de-force debut novel about a Two-Spirit Indigiqueer young man and proud NDN glitter princess who must reckon with his past when he returns home to his reserve. This touching novel reads like a stream-of-consciousness, with “revolution nestled beneath every sentence” according to the Globe & Mail, and will draw in any fiction lover.
Winner of this year’s Governor General’s Literary Award in English Non-fiction, Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age by Darrel J. McLeod (Douglas & McIntyre) is a beautifully written, honest and thought-provoking memoir. Named for the Cree word used as a response to dreams shared, Mamaskatch is ultimately an uplifting account of overcoming personal and societal obstacles. Mamaskatch would be a satisfying read for anyone interested in provocative contemporary issues including gender fluidity, familial violence, and transcultural hybridity.
The Mariner’s Guide to Self-Sabotage (Douglas & McIntyre) won the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize at the 2018 Victoria Book Awards. The Mariner’s Guide to Self Sabotage by award-winning writer Bill Gaston is a collection of 10 cautionary tales showcasing Gaston’s range and narrative versatility, moving seamlessly from funny or poignant to surprising and absurd. A terrific gift for any reader of short stories, The Mariner’s Guide to Self Sabotage would also be an appropriate gift for readers who may think they don’t like short stories as Gaston has a gift for making ordinary moments feel transcendent.
Wayside Sang by Cecily Nicholson (Talonbooks) won the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Awards in English in the poetry category. Wayside Sang is a poetic account of economy travel on North American roadways where Nicholson reimagines the trajectories of her birth father and his labour as he crisscrossed the border. Poetry lovers will appreciate Nicholson’s immersive collection of long poems that examine contemporary issues of borders, marginalized identities, capitalism, and post-industrial spaces.
The Panic Room by Rebecca Păpacaru (Nightwood Editions) won in the poetry category of the fourth annual Canadian Jewish Literary Awards, which recognizes and rewards the finest Canadian Jewish writing. The collection was also longlisted for the League of Canadian Poets’ Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, which recognizes a debut book of Canadian poetry. Readers will be drawn in as Păpacaru poetically unpacks the complexities of identity and selfhood, loss, and family, particularly in relation to the Jewish experience and diaspora.
The Language of Family: Stories of Bonding and Belonging, edited by Michelle van der Merwe (Royal BC Museum) was an honoured book for the Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada in the Prose Illustrated category and won two PubWest Book Design Awards. In The Language of Family: Stories of Bonds and Belonging contributors from across BC and of various backgrounds share differing perspectives on what family means. This would be an endearing gift for any new additions to your family (sister-in-law?), or for that special friend you consider family.
Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction by Travis Lupick (Arsenal Pulp Press) won the George Ryga Award, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Vancouver Book Award, and was a finalist for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize at the 2018 BC Book Prizes. Fighting for Space is the story of a grassroots group of addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside who waged a political street fight for two decades to transform how the city treats its most marginalized citizens. For readers concerned about the current drug epidemic, this is a well-researched examination of the previous overdose crisis, and how society can help.
Our Vanishing Glaciers: The Snows of Yesteryear and the Future Climate of the Mountain West by Robert William Sandford (Rocky Mountain Books) won the 2017 Lane Anderson Award, honouring the very best science writing in Canada today. Written by one of the most respected experts in water and water-associated climate science and featuring stunning photography collected over the past four decades, Our Vanishing Glaciers chronicles the history of Canada’s western mountain glaciers with photography, personal reflection, and the most recent scientific research. This would make a beautiful coffee table gift for anyone who cares about the environment.
All the Sweet Things: Baked Goods and Stories from the Kitchen of Sweetsugarbean by Renée Kohlman (TouchWood Editions) won the 2018 Taste Canada Awards in the category of single-subject cookbooks. Renée Kohlman (aka sweetsugarbean) was named one of Canada’s top food bloggers by the National Post. In her debut cookbook, she shares more than 100 recipes for desserts and baked goods with wit, warmth, and drool-worthy photography. An excellent gift for the foodie in your life.
Explore more Holiday Gift Guides here.