Book Lovers Day

Come, Read with Me by Margriet Ruurs, illustrated by Christine Wei (Orca Book Publishers)

What better way to kick off a list for book lovers than with a book meant to create new ones! This fantastical collection of bedtime tales with gorgeous, colourful illustrations is sure to spark that love of stories and the magic of reading in little ones. Come, Read with Me says it all in the title, and is sure to bring even adults back to that nostalgic point when they first discovered their  love for books.

My Dog Banana by Roxane Brouillard, illustrated by Giulia Sagramola (Greystone Books)

Of course, once you’ve hooked a child on books you’ve given them a passion for life. It’s time to start nurturing that passion with delightful, silly stories perfectly in tune with a child’s imagination. My Dog Banana offers just that with this absurd story about a child’s pet… banana? But could Banana really be the dog the child insists it is? There’s really only one way to find out: read to the end, of course!

Muggins: The Life and Afterlife of a Canadian Canine War Hero by Grant Hayter-Menzies (Heritage House Publishing)

For a story about a more conventional canine with a no less fascinating narrative, why not take a dive into the life and times of little Muggins? A celebrated war hero, Muggins raised the equivalent of $400,000 for various charities and causes relating to WWI, all with a skip in his step and floof in his tail. Tackling the complex role of animals in wartime, this book highlights the good that can be added to human lives by even the smallest creatures.

Run Riot: Ninety Poems in Ninety Days by Ash Winters (Caitlin Press & Dagger Editions)

From the life of a dog to the life of early sobriety, it’s no secret that books can take us deep into someone else’s lived experience. Arguably the most magical thing about books is their ability to transport us across time and space, into the body of someone else. In Run Riot, Ash Winters invites the reader into their experiential body as they pen a poem each day spent within rehab. This collection offers solace for those undergoing a similar experience, and a window into the difficult journey for those who have not. No matter where you fall on this spectrum there is sure to be something new and insightful waiting within these pages.

My Two-Faced Luck by Brett Josef Grubisic (Now Or Never Publishing)

In My Two-Faced Luck, Brett Josef Grubisic explores exactly what it’s like to live a life second hand. Given an audio recording made by a prison inmate at the end of his life, a former prison nurse attempts to piece together the complicated history and intrigue of a man long-gone. Every life tells a story, and as she pushes through a bumpy chapter of her own, she works to craft a memoir out of what was left behind by a convicted murderer.

Soft Zipper: Objects, Food, Rooms by George Bowering (New Star Books)

Sometimes the experience of the self is best done through examination of other people. George Bowering explores this idea in Soft Zipper, a memoir that teases out his small-town upbringing through the form and style of writers and theorists before him. In this book of interconnection, Bowering describes how the people and objects around him have influenced his life, and in doing so, invites the reader to take a closer examination of their own histories, to find the points of push and pull within their stories.

Clubman by Ronald Stephen Reiniger (Silver Bow Publishing)

What if you had the opportunity to strike it rich, and all you and a couple of your closest friends had to do was a few jobs that might not be entirely on the up and up? Ronald Stephen Reiniger brings this and more to readers in a nail-biting story of rocketing success and illicit activities, set on the backdrop of a bustling Vancouver. As the protagonists continue to rise, we’re left waiting for the ball to drop and the whole house of cards to come crashing down. This is a book lover’s perfect kind of thrill-seeking.

Unravelling Canada: A Knitting Odyssey by Sylvia Olsen (Douglas & McIntyre)

Canada is an almost impossibly vast country, and even for the most seasoned travellers, it is difficult to get a full, complete sense of all the nuance and complexity in the land, the people and the cultures held within its borders. Which is why books like Sylvia Olsen’s Unravelling are so wildly popular among book lovers. Using a niche interest like knitting as the starting point, this stories traverses Canada, interacting with the people and the places where this shared hobby can be found. Through the journey, an intricate picture of a country is stitched up, taking readers to places they might otherwise never visit, just with the turn of a page.

Gone Viking II: Beyond Boundaries by Bill Arnott (RMB | Rocky Mountain Books)

Although Canada has enough curiosities and wonders within it to keep any armchair traveler occupied for a lifetime, there’s no reason why we should stop there. There’s a whole wide world out there full of travel experiences to read about—at least until we’re all free to travel the world again ourselves. Like many of us, Bill Arnott had to put the wandering life on hold during the pandemic. But to our great fortune he used that time to go through his old traveling notes and journals to put together Gone Viking II, a wonderful sequel to his original travel writings. This fascinating recollection of a life spent in transit is just what a book lover needs right now, whether they’re used to being on the go, or exploring from the comfort of home.

Somewhere by Lorna Jane Harvey (TouchWood Editions)

As we close on the theme of moving and traversing we turn to a book that brings us the lived experiences of forced migration from across time and space. Somewhere is a reminder that not every migration is a joyful one. Written by twenty different women about their migration experiences, some painful and others hopeful, this book invites readers into their shoes telling the stories of why and how people migrate, through the unique experiences of the women who have undertaken the journey themselves.