Book Reviews: Canadians Reads (list) by Leanne Dyck

Compiling this list wasn't difficult because I have many favourite books by Canadian authors; the real challenge was selecting my best book reviews. To make the cut, each review had a history of earning over 1,000 page views and went through a careful re-read.  Please click the links to read my reviews.

photo by ldyck

Fiction

Crow Winter by Karen McBride, published by HarperCollins Canada (fiction)

We Spread by Ian Reid, published by Simon & Schuster Canada (fiction)

The List of Last Chances by Christina Myers, published by Caitlin Press (fiction)

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood, published by Penguin Random House (fiction)

Historical Fiction

In the Belly of the Sphinx by Grant Buday, published by Touchwood Editions (historical fiction)

The Birth House by Ami McKay, published by Harper Perennial (historical fiction)

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, published by HarperCollins Canada (historical fiction)

The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe, published by Vagrant Press (historical fiction)

Madame Zee by Pearl Luke, published by HarperCollins Canada (historical fiction)

Short Story Collections and a novel in stories

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa, published by McClelland & Stewart (short story collection)

Something for Everyone by Lisa Moore, published by House of Anansi (short story collection)

Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret Atwood, published by McClelland & Stewart (short story collection)

That Time I Loved You by Carrianne Leung, published by Penguin Random House Canada (a novel in stories)

Children's and YA

The Barren Grounds by David A Robertson, published by Puffin Canada (children's)

Stones by William Bell, published by Seal Books, an imprint of Random House Canada (YA)

The Parkour Club by Pam Withers and Arooj Hayat, self-published (YA)

Non-fiction

All the Little Monsters by David A. Robertson, published by HarperCollins Canada (self-help)

From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle, published by Simon & Schuster Canada (memoir)

And...

Canadian Book Reviewers...

Picture Book, eh!

CanLit for Little Canadians

Canadian Bookworm

The British Columbia Review

The Ottawa Review of Books

Montreal Review of Books

I've Read This

Room

49th Shelf

CanReads

The Nelligan Reviews

The Fiddlehead

The Capilano Review

PRISM International

Geist

BC Bookworld

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My fingers

on my keyboard

My head 

in the clouds

I relish

my days

photo by ldyck

The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog

Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa with Coast Salish Contributors

Published by Harbour Publishing

2025

Book blur: This book tells Mutton's story and explores what it can teach us about Coast Salish Woolly Dogs and their cultural significance.

I love it when authors visit Mayne Island, my remote home. I just returned from Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa's engaging and informative author talk.

photo by ldyck

On this blog, starting in July...

Canada? by Leanne Dyck (humour)

How much do you know about Canada? 

I think I know this much... Am I wrong?

photo by ldyck

while in Sidney, BC

Canada?

No matter where you live in the world you’ve probably heard of Canada. Even if it’s just as the blob north of the United States. Surely, everyone has heard of Canada’s neighbour to the south. They are older. The United States gained independence from Great Britain ninety-one years before four eastern Canadian provinces—Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—joined to form a dominion. And the USA is larger—if you don’t include bodies of water. So, of course, you’ve heard of the United States of America. 

If you have heard of Canada you may know is divided into provinces and territories. You may even know the names of some of the provinces—Ontario, Quebec, Toronto.

No, wait. Toronto isn’t a province. Or at least it isn’t yet.

You may have heard of the province east of Quebec. You may know it as the Maritimes. However, if you type ‘the Maritimes’ into a search engine you’ll discover that it’s not one province but, in fact, five. Five? Is that correct? Let’s check our math, shall we? Geographically from Quebec east to the Atlantic Ocean, first up is New Brunswick. Then Nova Scotia. Then Prince Edward Island. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province so most people just call it PEI, for short. See three provinces. Did I say five? No, I’m sure I said three. And I’m not done. Here’s a Canadian magic trick, if you add Newfoundland to—. Wait, I forgot something. If you add the province now known—since 2001—as Newfoundland Labrador to the mix you no longer have the Maritimes. No, now—poof—you have the Atlantic provinces. 

So that’s Eastern Canada. That’s where most people live. In fact, if you put Canada on a teeter tooter it won’t teeter or tooter. It would remain on a permanent tilt. So why look west? Many politicians have asked themselves that very question. Why?

Western Canada remained overlooked for so many years that some people who live on that side of the country got… Well, they got uppity. Not to name names but… Alberta. Alberta thinks it’s a prairie province. But it has too many hills and even mountains. Everyone knows that prairies are flat.

Prairies. That might be a new word for you. You may wonder what a prairie province is. Or you may not.

On the west coast—or wet coast, as some people who think they’re funny call it. Ha! Ha!—of Canada, you have Canada’s answer to California British Columbia. At this point, after naming all of the significant Canadian provinces, most people are too exhausted to say British Columbia so British Columbia became known simply as BC. The southern part of BC gets very little snow and usually enjoys mild weather. Usually. There are, of course, exceptions but people who live in BC—let’s call them BCers—don’t like talking about those days, hours. Instead, they like to talk about the flowers that bloom while the rest of Canada is still using snow shovels. They talk so much and so loud about those flowers that people who once lived in the prairie provinces now live in BC. There’s that word again. Prairies.

Up north lie the territories. They’re like Canada’s attic. Occasionally, we ask ourselves, I wonder what’s up there? But it takes too much effort to find out.

What’s up there? Let me see there’s Nunavut—established in 1999, it is the newest territory. The Northwest Territory. Where did that name come from? Maybe because the territory is north and west of Ontario. Maybe? And then there’s the Yukon or is it Alaska? I can never remember which one is American and which one is Canadian. I guess technically they’re both American—they’re both part of North America.

Okay… Okay, the prairies. Saskatchewan is a chunk of flat land close to Alberta and Manitoba is a chunk of flat land close to Ontario. Many people think that those provinces are bland and they could be right.

There you have it. That’s Canada.

I hear you. You need more. You want to learn more about the prairies, about Manitoba. Okay. Here you go then…

Independence (short story) by Leanne Dyck

A tale of how two brothers gained independence.

This short story was inspired by Canada Day (July 1st) and Independence Day (July 4th).

photo by ldyck

Independence

Elizabeth had two sons, Ulysses and Cameron. She loved both of her sons equally.

Finances were meager for the single-parent household. So, in addition to his schoolwork, Ulysses contributed financially, first by doing odd jobs around the neighbourhood and then by getting a part-time job at a local fast food joint. He brought every cent home to his mom. Elizabeth, alone, paid the bills and managed the cash flow.

"If I'm old enough to earn it, I'm old enough to manage it," Ulysses told his mom.

"We need to eat, not buy new sneakers," Elizabeth told him. 

The two of them fought. It got so bad that one day, Ulysses told his mom, "That's it. I'm out of here." He couldn't stand to think of his little brother being raised by such a control freak, so he added, "And Cameron is coming with me."

Fighting back tears, Elizabeth shot back, "Go, but your brother is staying with me."

Though tons of people just called Cameron "lil bro" and thought the best compliment they could give him was to tell him that he was just like Ulysses, it was plain to Elizabeth how different they were. Cameron was a gentle spirit. Instead of fighting for independence, he chose quiet moments to talk about it with her. And eventually, she did let him move away to attend university, but she couldn't stop worrying about him. So she phoned or texted every day and visited him once a month. She brought care packages, tidied his dorm room, and did his laundry.

After work one night, she was waiting for a bus when a skinhead with hate tattoos grabbed her purse. She'd just been paid. It was stupid, but she held onto the straps. He drew a knife.

"Help," she screamed.

Out of the shadows, her baby boy, Cameron, leapt to her defense. Just because he chose not to fight didn't mean he couldn't. With a well-placed blow, Cameron knocked the knife out of the assailant's hand and saved his mother. 

From that day forward Elizabeth's respect for her youngest son grew. She stepped back more and more to allow Cameron to deal with his own affairs. And in this way, Cameron earned his independence. 

Related articles...

Selected Presidential Quotes on Canada

Canada Day Celebrations

Invade US, Canada

On this blog in July...

Two short stories and two book reviews

July 5

short story:  A Fish on the Hayfield

how I became a writer

July 12

book review:  Room

Emma Donoghue

One of my favourite books

July 19

short story:  Maybe Me (romance)

slightly odd but, you know, isn't love like that

July 26

book review:  My Sister, the Serial Killer

Oyinkan Braithwaite

darkly comic thriller

I'm still here.

photo by ldyck

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