HISTORY AND LITERATURE

Most of What Follows Is True: Places Imagined and Real
Michael Crummey
University of Alberta Press, Feb.

Commonweath Prize–winning Newfoundland author Michael Crummey examines the complexities of fact and fiction and the limits and responsibilities writers should consider when using real-life figures or events in their work.

 

The Vilest Rag You Can Imagine: 100 Years of the Ubyssey
Tom Hawthorne
Harbour Publishing, May

Former Ubyssey editor Tom Hawthorne celebrates the centennial of the storied University of British Columbia newspaper with some of its past contributors, including Lawrence Hill and Katherine Monk.

 

Treed
Ariel Gordon
Wolsak & Wynn, May

Take a stroll through Winnipeg’s streets and urban forests with poet Ariel Gordon, whose new essay collection explores our relationship to the natural world.

 

Body & Soul: Stories for Skeptics and Seekers
Susan Scott, ed.
Caitlin Press, Feb.

An impressive roster of Canadian writers – including Sharon Bala, Carleigh Baker, Sue Goyette, and Alison Pick – share their thoughts on faith and religion.

 

The Golden Boy of Crime: The Almost Certainly True Story of Norman “Red” Ryan
Jim Brown
HarperCollins, May

CBC Radio host Jim Brown recalls the astonishing story of Norman “Red” Ryan, an infamous 1920s Toronto gangster whose bold escapades were chronicled by the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Morley Callaghan.

 

How a Poem Moves: A Field Guide for Readers Afraid of Poetry
Adam Sol
misFit/ECW Press, March

Adam Sol, winner of the Trillium Book Award, guides readers who want a better understanding and appreciation of contemporary poetry but are intimidated because they “don’t get it.”

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SCIENCE, CULTURE, AND POLITICS

Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley and Colten Boushie Case
Kent Roach
McGill-Queen’s University Press, Feb.

Legal expert Kent Roach reconstructs the events behind Gerald Stanley’s acquittal by a non-Indigenous jury for the murder of the 22-year-old Cree man Colten Boushie to examine whether the decision was a miscarriage of justice.

 

The Reality Bubble: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths, and the Dangerous Illusions that Shape Our World
Ziya Tong
Viking Canada, April

Science journalist Ziya Tong examines how significant parts of our global food, energy, and waste systems are purposely hidden.

 

Inside Killjoy’s Kastle: Dykey Ghosts, Feminist Monsters, and Other Lesbian Hauntings
Allyson Mitchell and Cait McKinney, eds.
UBC Press, June

Performance artist Allyson Mitchell shares an inside peek at her touring installation, an examination of lesbian feminist histories inspired by evangelical Christian hell houses.

 

 

Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline
Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson
Signal/McClelland & Stewart, Feb.

Co-authors of The Big Shift return with an argument that suggests the g lobal population decrease could result in both enormous distruptions and positive shifts in our social, political, and economic landscapes.

 

 

Don’t Label Me: An Unusual Conversation for Divided Times
Irshad Manji
St. Martin’s Press/Raincoast Books, Feb.

Human-rights advocate and feminist Irshad Manji offers a positive, heart-opening approach to political discord and diversity.

 

Against Death: 35 Essays on Living
Elee Kraljii Gardiner, ed.
Anvil Press, Jan.

Maureen Medved and Aislinn Hunter are among the contributors who share personal accounts of the psychological shifts that occur after near-death experiences.

 

Walmart: Diary of an Associate
Hugo Meunier; Mary Foster, trans.
Fernwood Publishing, March

In 2012, Quebec reporter Hugo Meunier went undercover as a Walmart associate, an experience he describes as “somewhere between the army and Walt Disney.”

 

Black Writers Matter
Whitney French, ed.
University of Regina Press, Feb.

A celebration of African-Canadian writing featuring a cross-section of narratives from emerging voices and established authors.

 

Madness, Violence, and Power: A Critical Collection
Andrea Daley, Lucy Costa, and Peter Beresford, eds.
University of Toronto Press, May

An interdisciplinary conversation aims to broaden the conversation around violence and mental health service users, and the systems and institutions that manage “abnormality.”

 

 

The Seed
Alexandra Kimball
Coach House Books, April

Toronto journalist Alexandra Kimball uses her own experiences to frame her investigation into how the feminist movement has traditionally isolated infertile women.

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TITLES WITH BITE: FOOD & DRINK

• Secrets from My Vietnamese Kitchen: Simple Recipes from My Many Mothers, Kim Thúy (Appetite by Random House, April) The original French edition of Kim Thúy’s cookbook, Le Secret des Vietnamiennes, won a 2018 Taste Canada award, making the lauded Montreal author and former restaurant owner one of the only Canadians with major literary and food-writing prizes on their mantle.
• Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants, Ann Hui (Douglas & McIntyre, Feb.) Only after Globe and Mail food reporter Ann Hui drove across Canada, from Victoria to Fogo Island, to interview owners of small-town Chinese restaurants did she learn that her parents ran their own establishment before she was born. Chop Suey Nation combines family memoir with a broad survey of Chinese-Canadian restaurant culture.
• Grocery Store: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants, Jon Steinman (New Society Publishers, June) The West Coast food journalist and former co-op director brings personal expertise to his debut book, in which he argues for local food economies and alternatives to the mega grocery chains.
• Wildness: An Ode to Newfoundland, Jeremy Charles with Adam Leith (Gollner Phaidon Press/Canadian Manda Group, May) Star chef Jeremy Charles shares stories and recipes that reflect his love of Newfoundland’s rugged landcape and the bounty of local ingredients used at his popular St. John’s restaurant, Raymonds.
• Coconut Lagoon: Recipes from a South Indian Kitchen, Joe Thottungal (Figure 1 Publishing, May) The 80 easy-to-prepare recipes in this collection by the executive chef at the acclaimed Coconut Lagoon restaurant in Ottawa originate from Kerala, the beach-laden southern region of India.

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MORE TITLES TO WATCH FOR

• Fear, Love, and Liberation in Contemporary Quebec: A Feminist Reflection, Alexa Conradi; Catherine Browne, trans. (Between the Lines, March)
• They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada, Cecil Foster (Biblioasis, Jan.)
• Too Dumb for Democracy: Why We Make Bad Political Decisions and How We Can Make Better Ones, David Moscrop (Goose Lane Editions, March)
• The Refugees and Forced Migration Handbook, Catherine Baillie Abidi and Shiva Nourpanah (Nimbus Publishing, June)
• Wish I Were Here: Boredom and the Interface, Mark Kingwell (McGill-Queen’s University Press, April)
• Screwed: How Women Are Set Up to Fail at Sex, Lili Boisvert; Arielle Aaronson, trans. (Dundurn, Feb.)

 

FINE PRINT: Q&Q’s Spring Preview covers books published between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2019. All information (titles, publication dates) was supplied by publishers and may have been tentative at press time. Titles that have been listed in previous previews do not appear here.