28 Canadian books we can't wait to read in August
A new month means new books! Here are some of the most anticipated Canadian titles for August 2022.
Passengers by Michael Crummey
Passengers is the sixth collection of poetry by Canadian writer and poet Michael Crummey. The work reimagines the life of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer who has embarked on a circumnavigation journey of Newfoundland. Along the way, the collection of poems explore geography, folklore and the human spirit.
When you can read it: Aug. 2, 2022
Michael Crummey is a poet and novelist from Newfoundland and Labrador. Two of Crummey's novels have been shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction — Sweetland in 2014 and Galore in 2009. His novel The Innocents was shortlisted for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2019 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.
Are You Sara? by S.C. Lalli
The thriller novel Are You Sara? revolves around a case of mistaken identity. When two women, each named Sara, get into separate rideshares one fateful night, one of them is murdered. But when the surviving Sara realizes that she might have actually been the target, it sets off a mystery involving race, class and ambition.
When you can read it: Aug. 2, 2022
Sonya Lalli is a Punjabi and Bengali romance fiction author based in Vancouver. She's written the novels A Holly Jolly Diwali, Serena Singh Flips the Script, Grown-Up Pose and The Matchmaker's List. Her books have been spotlighted in publications including Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.
The Stone Child by David A. Robertson
In book three of the Misewa Saga, a Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series, it's a race against time to save a near-lifeless Eli. Morgan, Eli's sister, enlists the help of friends and travels deep into the dangerous northern woods to find Eli's soul and save her brother's life.
When you can read it: Aug. 2, 2022
David A. Robertson is an award-winning author and graphic novelist based in Winnipeg. The multi-talented writer of Swampy Cree heritage has published books across a variety of genres, including the graphic novels Will I See? and Sugar Falls, YA book Strangers, the memoir Black Water and the Governor General's Literary Award-winning picture books called When We Were Alone and On the Trapline, both illustrated by Cree-Métis artist Julie Flett.
Her First Palestinian by Saeed Teebi
Her First Palestinian is a debut collection of short stories revolving around the Palestinian immigrant experience in Canada. The stories explore themes of identity, loss, power and belonging as they look at the diverse and layered experiences of the Palestinian diaspora.
When you can read it: Aug. 2, 2022
Saeed Teebi is a writer and lawyer based in Toronto. He was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait and, after some time in the U.S., has lived in Canada since 1993. His writing frequently engages the immigrant experience and his Palestinian background. His short story Her First Palestinian was on the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize shortlist.
Querelle of Roberval by Kevin Lambert
Querelle of Roberval is a novel set in Quebec involving a young person named Querelle who moves to the northern lumber town of Roberval and sets off a chain of events involving sex, passion and violence. Roberval is in the middle of a millworkers' strike and Querelle's carnal involvement with some of the young men in the small town fuels tensions among all involved.
When you can read it: Aug. 2, 2022
Kevin Lambert is a writer from Quebec. You Will Love What You Have Killed is his first novel, and the first to be translated into English.
Donald Winkler is a filmmaker and translator from Montreal. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation for The Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby-Boomers by François Ricard, Partitia for Glenn Gould by Georges Leroux and The Major Verbs by Pierre Nepveu. Two books he has translated have been finalists for the Scotiabank Giller Prize: A Secret Between Us by Daniel Poliquin in 2007 and Arvida by Samuel Archibald in 2015.
Only Sisters by Lilian Nattel
Only Sisters is a novel that follows the lives of two sisters: Joan, the reliable one who stayed behind to care for their widowed mother, and the globe-trotting Vivien. When Vivien dies while working in a remote village, Joan is pushed to impersonate her online, leaving Joan tangled between right and wrong and adventure and tragedy.
When you can read it: Aug. 2, 2022
Lilian Nattel is a bestselling writer from Montreal. She is the author of Girl at the Edge of Sky, Web of Angels, The Singing Fire and The River Midnight.
Birds of Maine by Michael DeForge
Birds of Maine is a graphic novel that imagines life after the demise of humankind. In this surreal and post-apocalyptic reality, birds roam freely and have constructed a new and more equitable world order. But when a new human arrives to this world, life as the birds know it changes forever.
Michael DeForge is a Toronto-based creator who has won awards for comics like Leaving Richard's Valley, Dressing and Lose #1. Other acclaimed books include Stunt, Big Kids, Ant Colony, Sticks Angelica Folk Hero and Heaven No Hell. DeForge was a finalist for the 2021 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian comics for the 2020 graphic novel Familiar Face.
Utopia by Heidi Sopinka
When Romy, one of the only women to break into the male-dominated art scene of 1970s California, mysteriously dies, a young and ambitious artist named Paz is drawn into the world Romy left behind. Soon Paz finds herself in a love triangle with Romy's art-star husband, Billy, and as Paz becomes more obsessed with Romy's life, a disturbing picture begins to emerge.
When you can read it: Aug. 9, 2022
Heidi Sopinka is a Toronto-based writer, editor and designer. Her debut 2018 novel, The Dictionary of Animal Languages, was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. She is a former environment columnist at the Globe and Mail and the co-founder of the clothing line Horses Atelier.
Nomenclature by Dionne Brand
Nomenclature by Dionne Brand collects eight volumes of the celebrated poet and author's work that were originally published between 1982 and 2010. With a critical introduction by the literary scholar and theorist Christina Sharpe, the book features a new long poem, the titular Nomenclature for the Time Being, which is a thoughtful and wide-ranging reflection on location, consciousness, time and the current state of the world.
When you can read it: Aug. 9, 2022
Dionne Brand is an award-winning poet and novelist. She won the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry and the Trillium Book Award for her 1997 collection Land to Light On. Her collection thirsty won the 2003 Pat Lowther Award. In 2009, she served as the poet laureate of Toronto. Her novel What We All Long For won the City of Toronto Book Award in 2006. She won the 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize for Ossuaries and in 2017, she was named to the Order of Canada. Her latest books include the novel Theory and the poetry collection The Blue Clerk, which was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.
We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky by Emma Hooper
Set during the golden age of the Roman Empire, the novel follows five sisters who are abducted by soldiers from their small Portuguese village. The sisters are suddenly forced to face long-buried secrets as they find themselves at the centre of a deadly standoff. They must part ways to fight their own battles in order to survive.
When you can read it: Aug. 9, 2022
Emma Hooper is a musician and novelist. Her books include the international bestseller Etta and Otto and Russell and James and Our Homesick Songs, which was on the longlist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Blood Like Fate by Liselle Sambury
In the sequel to the YA novel Blood Like Magic, Voya Thomas must bring her fractured witch community together and fight to save them from a deadly future. Voya is determined to do whatever it takes, including bringing down the boy she loves if he proves to be the mastermind behind the coming destruction.
When you can read it: Aug. 9, 2022
Liselle Sambury is a Trinidadian Canadian YA writer and blogger. Her debut novel, Blood Like Magic, was on the shortlist for the 2021 Governor General's Literary award for young people's literature — text.
The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding
Jodi Bishop, a highly successful and busy real estate agent, hires a housekeeper to help take care of her aging parents. Everything is going well, until the housekeeper shuts Jodi out and takes control of her parents' lives.
When you can read it: Aug. 10, 2022
Joy Fielding is a bestselling novelist from Toronto who writes psychological thrillers. Her books include Someone Is Watching, All the Wrong Places and Cul-De-Sac, among others.
Sharp Edges by Leah Mol
Abandoned by her best friend and ignored by her hypochondriac mother, 16-year-old Katie finds herself in an online world where women aren't ashamed of what they want. As Katie becomes enmeshed in this virtual playground, she realizes that her newfound power may just be an illusion.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Leah Mol is a writer and editor who graduated from the creative writing program at the University of British Columbia. Her story Lipstick Day won the 2018 CBC Short Story Prize. She also won the 2020 Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers. Sharp Edges is her debut novel.
Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie
Please Join Us is a novel with themes of identity, belonging and the power of community. Soon to be 40, a woman named Nicole is at a crossroads. Her career and marriage are both ending and she is faced with being evicted from her home. But an invitation from a secret organization leads her to a retreat in Colorado, where she soon discovers the group might be a cult.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Catherine McKenzie is a former Montreal lawyer and author of several bestselling books, including the thrillers Forgotten, Hidden, Smoke and The Good Liar.
Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead
Making Love with the Land is a personal work of nonfiction that employs a range of genres — essay, memoir, notes and confession — to explore queerness, Indigeneity and community work, as well as mental and physical health.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Joshua Whitehead is a two-spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw Indigiqueer scholar, poet, nonfiction writer and novelist from Peguis First Nation. His debut novel Jonny Appleseed won Canada Reads 2021, after being successfully championed by actor Devery Jacobs.
The Series by Ken Dryden
In The Series, former NHL goalie Ken Dryden chronicles his experience competing in the 1972 Summit Series, where Canada faced off against the Soviet Union in an eight-game hockey tournament. Fifty years on, Dryden recalls what it was like to be there and why it was such a significant moment in Canada's history.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Dryden was a goalie for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s, during which time the team won six Stanley Cups. He has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. His books include The Game, Home Game and Game Change.
Jones by Neil Smith
Jones is a novel that follows the lives of two siblings, Abi and Eli, as they manage life with their alcoholic father and cold mother. Always moving as a result of their dad's work, Abi and Eli go from Montreal to Boston, Salt Lake City, Chicago and back to Montreal. As they grow into adulthood, Abi and Eli take separate paths, but both must reckon with a legacy of toxic inheritance.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Neil Smith is a writer and French-to-English translator. His debut book, the short story collection Bang Crunch, won the McAuslan First Book Prize from the Quebec Writers' Federation. His 2015 novel Boo won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.
Into the Broken Lands by Tanya Huff
In the fantasy novel Into the Broken Lands, the Heirs of Marsan have no choice but to enter the Broken Lands in order to save their community. They must trust their lives and the lives of everyone they protect to someone who shouldn't exist and can't be controlled. Shattered by mage wars, the Broken Lands will test the bonds of family, friendship, strength and sanity.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Tanya Huff is a fantasy author from Nova Scotia. Her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted into the television show Blood Ties, which aired on CBC-TV and on Lifetime in the U.S.
Dream States by John Lorinc
In the nonfiction book Dream States, John Lorinc explores the future of urban planning and smart cities. As the tech industry that supplies smart-city software and hardware is now worth hundreds of billions a year, Lorinc raises important questions about surveillance, automation and public participation. Dream States reflects on the larger narrative around smart cities — one that is often defined by utopian ideologies and technological fantasy.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Lorinc is a journalist and editor from Toronto. He reports on urban affairs, politics, business and technology. His writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, The Walrus, Maclean's and Spacing, where he is senior editor.
Estates Large and Small by Ray Robertson
Phil Cooper finally takes his secondhand bookstore online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the quiet world of cybercommerce has him questioning who he is and what he's doing here. That's when Phil decides to teach himself 2,500 years of Western philosophy and meets an ex-postal worker and fellow book lover who agrees to join him on his quest.
Estates Large and Small is the story of one man's reckoning and the power of books.
When you can read it: Aug. 16, 2022
Ray Robertson is a novelist based in Toronto. His book Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and longlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize for Nonfiction. His other nonfiction books include How to Die and Lives of the Poets (with Guitars).
Haven by Emma Donoghue
Haven is set in 7th-century Ireland in a time of plague and terror. A scholar priest named Artt has a dream in which God tells him to leave the sinful world behind. With two monks — young Trian and old Cormac — he rows down the River Shannon in search of an isolated spot in which to found a monastery.
Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find the steep, bare island known today as Skellig Michael. In such a place, what will survival mean?
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Emma Donoghue is an Irish Canadian writer. Her books include the novels Landing, Room, Frog Music, The Wonder, The Pull of the Stars and the children's book The Lotterys Plus One. Room was an international bestseller and was adapted into a critically acclaimed film starring Brie Larson. Her novel The Wonder was a finalist for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize and more recently, The Pull of the Stars was longlisted for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize and shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award.
Fire on Headless Mountain by Iain Lawrence
Fire on Headless Mountain is a middle-grade action book. When 11-year-old Virgil is separated from his siblings in the midst of a dangerous forest fire, he must find a way to survive using only his wits and the lessons his late mother taught him about the wilderness.
Fire on Headless Mountain is for ages 9 to 12.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Iain Lawrence is a bestselling children's book author. The B.C.-based writer won the 2007 Governor General's Literary Award for children's literature — text for the novel Gemini Summer. His recent book, Deadman's Castle, won the 2022 Silver Birch Fiction Award.
Butt Sandwich & Tree by Wesley King
In this middle-grade mystery, two brothers named Green and Cedar come together and learn to appreciate their differences. When Green rushes off the basketball court after a confrontation with the coach, a priceless necklace goes missing, making Green the number-one suspect. The brothers team up to find the necklace and clear Green's name.
Butt Sandwich & Tree is for ages 9 to 12.
When you can read it: Aug. 23, 2022
Wesley King is a Nova Scotia children's writer whose books include middle-grade novels The Vindico, Sara and the Search for Normal, A World Below and OCDaniel. King co-wrote The Wizenard Series, a children's book series about magic and basketball, with NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan
The Foghorn Echoes is a novel about forbidden love and finding home in the midst of war. Set in war-torn Syria in 2003, two boys act on their feelings for one another and in an instant their lives are changed forever. Ten years later, as they struggle to find peace and belonging, the past continues to reverberate and both men must face heartache and history.
When you can read it: Aug. 30, 2022
Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award and was longlisted for Canada Reads 2018. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.
Double O Stephen and the Ghostly Realm by Angela Ahn
Double O Stephen and the Ghostly Realm is a middle-grade book about a boy who loves pirates. When Stephen is suspended from school for using sticks to practice sword-fighting, his mom takes him to the museum, where he finds himself in a strange new place facing a pirate ghost in need of help.
When you can read it: Aug. 30, 2022
Angela Ahn is a writer and former teacher and librarian who lives in Vancouver. Her books include Krist Kim-Bap and Peter Lee's Notes from the Field, which was on the shortlist for the 2021 Governor General's Literary award for young people's literature — text.
My Uncle Is Coming Tomorrow by Sebastián Santana Camargo, translated by Elisa Amado
My Uncle Is Coming Tomorrow is a middle-grade book that tells the story of a young boy who is waiting for his uncle to come and stay with him, but his uncle never arrives. The boy grows older and still waits, hoping to show his uncle his degree, his son and eventually, his granddaughter.
My Uncle Is Coming Tomorrow is dedicated to the people who were forcibly disappeared by governments, while highlighting the devastating impact on the loved ones left behind.
When you can read it: Aug. 30, 2022
Sebastián Santana Camargo is an illustrator, graphic designer, animator and visual artist who has published books throughout Latin America. The Argentinian edition of My Uncle Is Coming Tomorrow won the Grand Prize from ALIJA (IBBY Argentina) and the Argentina Prize for best illustrated book.
Elisa Amado is a translator from Guatemala. She emigrated to Canada in 1971.
The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels, illustrated by Emma Block
The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour, a children's book featuring a collection of illustrated stories, follows Miss Petitfour and her 16 cats as they embark on magical adventures in a charming and eccentric village. This book is for fans of Mary Poppins.
The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour is for ages 6 to 9.
When you can read it: Aug. 30, 2022
Anne Michaels is an award-winning novelist and the former poet laureate of Toronto. Her books have been translated into more than 45 languages. She is the winner of the Orange Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Trillium Book Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has been shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Emma Block is an illustrator and author. She wrote and illustrated the book Tea and Cake and two guides to painting, The Joy of Watercolor and Get Started with Gouache.
I Never Met a Rattlesnake I Didn't Like by David Carpenter
In his memoir I Never Met a Rattlesnake I Didn't Like, David Carpenter explores his love of the wilderness from his intense fascination and awe in the face of predators to better understanding our relationship with the natural world. Carpenter attempts to learn everything he can about the creatures around us and reflects on the importance of the wild in our lives.
When you can read it: Aug. 31, 2022
Carpenter is the author of more than a dozen books, including nonfiction, several novels, short story collections, a collection of novellas and one volume of poetry. He co-wrote the 2017 memoir The Education of Augie Merasty with Joseph Auguste Merasty, which told the story of Merasty's time in residential school.
