2026 Fall Preview: Nonfiction

Over the course of three instalments, Q&Q presents the titles we’re most excited about this fall. This final instalment features nonfiction. Short fiction, graphic novels, and poetry were featured on July 22, and fiction was featured on July 29.

Q&Q’s fall preview covers books published between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2026. All information (titles, publication dates) was supplied by publishers.

POLITICS

This season features a strong contingent of titles about politics, with new books from former politicians Stephen Harper, Chrystia Freeland, and Jody Wilson-Raybould, as well as observers Naomi Klein, Astra Taylor, and Carol Off.

Anti-Civilization: The Collapse of Society & the Case for the Common Good
Étienne-Alexandre Beauregard
Sutherland House, Sept.

Breaking Free of Neoliberalism in Trump Times
Alex Himelfarb
James Lorimer & Company, Sept.

End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada, Sept.

On Treason: Alberta Separatism, Foreign Interference, and Canada’s Survival in a Revolutionary Age
Patrick Lennox
Biblioasis, Sept.

Justin Trudeau: Power, Promise, and the Fight for Canada
David Olive
ECW Press, Sept.

Reclaiming Canadian Sovereignty in a Ruptured World
Bob Rae, ed.
James Lorimer & Company, Sept.

The Inbetween Leader: Cultivating Courage and Unity in a Complex World
Jody Wilson-Raybould and Roshan Danesh
Greystone Books, Sept.

Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider’s View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People
Chrystia Freeland
Simon & Schuster Canada, Oct.

True Patriot Love: Reporting from the Frontlines of Canadian Sovereignty
Carol Off
Random House Canada, Oct.

Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister
Stephen J. Harper
Signal/McClelland & Stewart, Nov.

The Citizen’s Guide to Nonviolent Defence: How Canadians Can Deter Invasion, Defeat Tyranny and Build Democracy
Richard Sandbrook
Douglas & McIntyre, Nov.

CURRENT AFFAIRS AND RECENT HISTORY

New titles out this season include former Médecins Sans Frontières international president Dr. Joanne Liu’s look at humanitarian crises of the 2010s, and a first-hand account of life in Gaza.

Humanitarienne: A Doctor’s Stories from the Conflict Zone
Dr. Kirsten Johnson
Douglas & McIntyre, Sept.

In the Shadow of the Manhattan Project: Radium, Fraud, and Secrecy at Eldorado
Patricia McMahon and Robert Bothwell
UBC Press, Oct.

Gaza Before the Seventh: Memories from a Vanishing World
Guillaume Lavallée and Guy Lazure, trans.
Biblioasis, Oct.

Ebola, Bombs, and Migrants: Humanitarian Crises in a Security-Obsessed World
Dr. Joanne Liu with André Pratte and Marisa Coulton, trans.
House of Anansi Press, Oct.

The Seabird Trials: How a Scientist Took Big Oil to Court and Won
Briony Penn
Harbour Publishing, Oct.

ON HOUSING

Two new titles, including this year’s CBC Massey Lecture, that look at the housing crisis from two very different perspectives.

Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home
Leilani Farha
House of Anansi Press, Sept.

Sixteen Homes
Catherine Owen
Wolsak & Wynn, Oct.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

New memoirs this season include titles about different forms of loss and trauma, and books from award-winning poet Roxanna Bennett, bestselling authors Donna Morrissey and Rachel Phan, and rock-and-roll power couple Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.

Edgelands: A Life on Society’s Margins
Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali
Knopf Canada, Aug.

Carrying War
Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt
Dundurn Press, Aug.

I’m Going to Break Your Heart: A Rock N Roll Love Story
Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida
ECW Press, Aug.

Tell It to the Water: Five Siblings Tell of Their Father’s Grief and His Struggle Back to Hope
Donna Morrissey
Viking/Penguin Random House Canada, Aug.

The Blood of Things: A Love Letter to Afghanistan
Jamaluddin Aram
McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada, Sept.

Lovable
Roxanna Bennett
Gordon Hill Press, Sept.

Numinous Animal: Tracing the Afrofuturism of Black Cowboys
Bertrand Bickersteth
Athabasca University Press, Sept.

Summerland: Family, Loss, and the Inheritance of Dreams
Helen Humphreys
HarperCollins Publishers, Sept.

Playing the Changes: A Musician’s Memoir
Colin James
Random House Canada, Sept.

Borderline
Zeta Paul
Conundrum Press, Oct.

That Asian Girl Is a Problem: Confessions of a Recovering Good Girl
Rachel Phan
Douglas & McIntyre, Oct.

SCIENCE AND CULTURE

The cultural learnings from sharing meals with strangers and the story of human hair are among the subjects of forthcoming books that tackle topics of science and culture.

The Table Where We Meet: Lessons Learned from Dinner with 1,000 Strangers
Jess Janz
HarperCollins Publishers, July

Beyond Biology: How Culture Created You
Jason Martens
Dundurn Press, Aug.

Women, Walking: Notes on Lives in Motion
Jane Farrow and Zahra Ebrahim, eds.
Coach House Books, Sept.

Anxious and Hairy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair
Judy Wearing
House of Anansi Press, Oct.

SPORTING

A memoir from sports broadcaster Hazel Mae and a look at hockey from a queer lens are among this season’s sports titles.

Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture
Daniel Gawthrop
Arsenal Pulp Press, Sept.

Just a Girl
Cassie Campbell-Pascall with Sean Fitz-Gerald
McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada, Oct.

Before I Let You Go: My Life in Broadcasting, Baseball, and Beyond
Hazel Mae
Collins/HarperCollins Canada, Nov.

INDIGENOUS

Indigenous titles this season include an updated edition of Chelsea Vowel’s classic Indigenous Writes, and a book about the kinship systems of Indigenous women.

Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada
Chelsea Vowel
HighWater Press/Portage & Main Press, Sept.

Visiting with Aunties: Stories about Indigenous Women’s Kinship
Janice Cindy Gaudet, ed.
UBC Press, Sept.

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

New art books look at the canoe as an artistic subject, the work lives of women at sea, and the history of photography in Canada.

Seagoing Women: At Work
Sara Donnelly
Harbour Publishing, Sept.

Canoe: A Collection of Canadian Art
Anne Ewen and Rod Green
Figure 1 Publishing, Sept.

Wild Tinkls: Judith and Viktor Tinkl’s Creative World
Judith Tinkl and Viktor Tinkl
Firefly Books, Sept.

A History of Photography in Canada, Volume 2: A Medium Unleashed, 1919–1969
Martha Langford
McGill-Queen’s University Press, Oct.

IN THE KITCHEN

A trio of new cookbooks offers a deep dive into cheese, a behind-the-scenes view of a famed Montreal restaurant, and Punjabi recipes paired with an examination of our relationships with food and home.

How to Eat with Your Hands: Roti Shoti and Other Ways to Settle In
Khalil Akhtar
Goose Lane Editions, Oct.