Today we celebrate the masterpiece that is the paperback! First published by Penguin in England way back in 1935, these softcover, easily portable beauties contain a diverse array of real-life experiences and stories that have captured the imagination (and our hearts!) for decades. We’ve selected a few fantastic paperback recs that are absolute must-reads for readers of all ages to curl up with on this Paperback Book Day, and if you feel so obliged, grab a copy for your shelves and show paperbacks your appreciation today.
All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac (TouchWood Editions)
In 1956, six-year-old Eddie Toma lives with his mother Grace and brother Lewis near the Salmon River on the Okanagan Indian Reserve in British Columbia. Grace, along with Isabel, Ray, and Gregory, cross the border to work on a Washington state farm, giving Eddie freedom to explore with Gregory until tragedy strikes. Eddie’s life is shaped by adult decisions, including Grace sending him to school in Falkland, challenging the Indian Agent, and coping with his father’s chaotic return. All the Quiet Places explores colonialism’s impact on every adult in Eddie’s life and the profound cultural separation he experiences even within his beloved landscape, narrated through Eddie’s unguarded perspective.
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The Longest Climb: A Memoir of Love, Mountaineering, and Healing by Paul Pritchard (Rocky Mountain Books)
Born in Bolton, England, Paul Pritchard was one of the foremost British climbers of the 1980s and 1990s, climbing difficult routes across the United Kingdom and around the world. Paul’s life took a sharp turn when a falling boulder hit him while climbing the Totem Pole, leaving him with a traumatic head injury. Now, hemiplegia has impaired his right-side movement and affects his speech and memory. A remarkable story that highlights life’s surprising gifts and crucial lessons, The Longest Climb chronicles Paul’s inspiring journey back to life and reminds us all that “when we spend time in the mountains, we do not escape from our woes. We come home and learn how to accept them.”
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Blue Runaways by Jann Everard (Stonehewer Books)
Some of the women in Blue Runaways are grieving. Some are looking for a second chance. All are at a turning point. From Iceland to Bali, from the comfortable houses of Canada’s cities to its wild and expansive backcountry, the characters in this collection face the most human of fears: that dear ones die, love is a risk, and no promise is certain.
As diverse in situation as it is controlled in theme, this paperback serves as a multifaceted exploration of loss, love, and what it takes to move on. By confronting the sorrow of being alive, Blue Runaways reveals the joy of knowing we are not alone.
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Apocalypse Child: Surviving Doomsday and the Search for Identity at the End of the World by Carly Butler (Caitlin Press)
Carly Butler, raised by her strong, independent mother DJ in 1990s Montana, was a lively child deeply connected to their dynamic duo lifestyle. They tackled housing projects and brought music to the local church until the looming threat of Y2K intensified. DJ, embracing every conspiracy theory and Evangelical prediction, led Carly down a path of preparation and fear, abandoning Barbies and Nintendo for a remote Canadian wilderness. There, they joined other doomsday-preparing Evangelicals, enduring isolated stretches without electricity as winter approached and the predicted apocalypse loomed.
In Apocalypse Child, Carly Butler recounts her tumultuous upbringing, navigating isolation and grappling with a childhood steeped in conspiracy theories, survivalism, and religious doctrine. From confronting ideologies of purity and paranoia to embracing her evolving identity—queer and Mexican-Indigenous—Carly’s memoir is a compelling journey of resilience, self-discovery, and the search for belonging in a fragmented world.
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Always On Call: Adventures in Nursing, Ranching, and Rural Living by Marion McKinnon Crook (Heritage House Publishing)
It has been over a decade since Marion Crook arrived in the Cariboo for her first job out of nursing school. The vast rural territory that once left her awestruck now feels like home, as she embraces life on the ranch with her husband, Carl, three young children, and numerous farm animals. But things are far from idyllic.
Overseeing a small staff of irrepressible nurses serving a public health district the size of a small country brings new challenges every day. From runaway patients and needle-phobic hockey players to cultural misunderstandings and heartbreaking cases of abuse and neglect, Marion never knows what is coming next. The 1970s bring signs of social progress as women gain more autonomy and the region grows more culturally diverse. Yet, old prejudices persist, and Marion must fight for her patients, as well as for her adopted son.
Recounted with warmth, compassion, and riveting detail, Always On Call is a fascinating portrait of the hectic life of a rural nurse and highlights the importance of the helping professions.
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Gaman – Perseverance: Japanese Canadians’ Journey to Justice by Art Miki (Talonbooks)
Gaman – Perseverance is Art Miki’s memoir detailing the long struggle for justice by Japanese Canadians after the violations of WWII. As former president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, Miki recounts the intense negotiations with the Government of Canada in the 1980s that led to the historic Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement of September 1988, a momentous acknowledgment of Canada’s mistreatment of its own citizens.
The memoir also reflects on Miki’s personal journey from his youth in British Columbia to his career as an educator in Manitoba, and his leadership within the Japanese Canadian community across Canada. It highlights his involvement with Indigenous communities and his role in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, as well as his brief foray into politics and tenure as a Canadian citizenship judge.
Gaman – Perseverance provides a compelling glimpse into Miki’s profound commitment to justice, historical preservation, and community leadership among Japanese Canadians in Canada.
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Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese (Douglas & McIntyre)
Saul Indian Horse has hit rock bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, surrounded by people he’s sure will never understand him. But Saul wants peace, and he grudgingly comes to see that he’ll find it only through telling his story.
For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he’s sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles systemic racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement. Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Author Richard Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man.
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A Killer in King’s Cove by Iona Whishaw (TouchWood Editions)
It is 1946, and war-weary young ex-intelligence officer Lane Winslow leaves London to look for a fresh start. When she finds herself happily settled into a sleepy hamlet in the interior of British Columbia surrounded by a suitably eclectic cast of small-town characters she feels like she may finally be able to put her past to rest.
But then a body is discovered, the victim of murder, and although she works alongside the town’s inspectors Darling and Ames to discover who might have possibly had motivation to kill, she unknowingly casts doubt on herself. As the investigation reveals facts that she has desperately tried to keep a secret, it threatens to pull her into a vortex of even greater losses than the ones she has already endured.
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The City of Rainbows: A Colourful History of Prince Rupert by Blair Mirau (Heritage House Publishing)
The City of Rainbows is a vivid history of Prince Rupert, tracing its origins as a multicultural trading hub among Indigenous Nations to its present status as a diverse community within the Great Bear Rainforest. Known for being Canada’s rainiest and cloudiest city, Prince Rupert is likened to a rainbow—a symbol of diversity, inclusion, and hope emerging after storms.
From its earliest Ts’mysen inhabitants through European explorers and fur traders, to the development of salmon canneries and the transcontinental railway, Prince Rupert has endured the global impacts of two World Wars and cycles of industrial prosperity and decline. Throughout its history on Kaien Island, the city has thrived as a resilient trading hub amidst various challenges.
The City of Rainbows uses archival photographs to present a modern perspective on Prince Rupert’s history, emphasizing the city’s multicultural roots and confronting the impacts of colonization. It offers a balanced narrative, honoring Indigenous Peoples, European settlers, Asian immigrants, and recent arrivals, uncovering the complex and diverse truths that shape the city’s vibrant story.
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Picture a Girl by Jenny Manzer (Orca Book Publishers)
Addie’s mom is good at two things (three, if you count making French toast): surfing and telling stories.
Addie and her brother, Billy, live with their mom in a shabby rental cabin in the tourist town of Cedarveil, BC, right off the beach. Their lives are a little different than some―they often visit the food bank, and they don’t have a phone or TV. For entertainment, their mom tells them stories before bed…if she’s in a good mood, or home at all.
When Addie wakes up one Monday, she senses a stillness that tells her Mama’s gone again. Addie knows it’s up to her to take care of everything until her mom gets back. She makes it through until her mom’s return a week later, she knows that she’s strong enough to survive alone―but she hopes this will be the last time.
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Jump Scare by Daniel Zomparelli (Talonbooks)
At once raw and skillful, painful and funny, personal and pervasive, the poems in Jump Scare dig deep into mental health, neurodivergence, grief, dreams, monstrosity, sexuality, pop culture, queer consumer culture, and the commodification of identity. Jump Scare tackles isolation and loss head-on and thinks hard and with wry humour about how to position ourselves in our lonely, scary, compelling lives.
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Grizzly Bear Science and the Art of a Wilderness Life: Forty Years of Research in the Flathead Valley by Dr. Bruce McLellan (Rocky Mountain Books)
Dr. Bruce McLellan’s book seeks to bridge the gap between public perception and scientific understanding, focusing on grizzly bears and their future alongside humans.
Based on extensive research spanning decades, including the groundbreaking Flathead grizzly project, the book intertwines scientific insights into grizzly bear behavior and ecology with the personal story of a couple who lived among these creatures in the wilderness. Dr. McLellan’s research, derived from over 200 radio-collared bears, forms the foundation for numerous scientific papers covering topics from bear diets to population dynamics.
The book offers a comprehensive yet accessible exploration of grizzly bear research, blending scientific rigor with a compelling personal narrative that highlights the complex relationship between humans and wildlife in the wild.
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