Canadian musician Ron Sexsmith is making his literary debut with the short novel Deer Life. This quirky fairytale follows a charming, but a hapless boy named Deryn Hedlight who accidentally gets on a witch's bad side.

Why Ron Sexsmith believes The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt is an instant classic

Below the prolific singer-songwriter, whose discography includes The Last Rider and Carousel One, shares six books that have shaped his life.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

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"One of the first novels I ever read, and it still one of the most profound. It pretty much gave birth to my love of fiction and set a very high bar."

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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"My favourite writer, truth be told, is Charles Dickens. I've read almost all of his books and thoroughly enjoyed them. With Dickens I always feel he's on the side of goodness, and has a wonderful way of creating memorable characters with humour and compassion for the downtrodden and ridicule for self-important and the petty."

Sabbath's Theatre by Philip Roth

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"I've read a few books by Philip Roth but this is by far favourite. It's absolutely outrageous, funny and touching. Sometimes I could hardly believe what I was reading."

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

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"I'm a great admirer of Mark Twain and this book, which I've read twice, never fails to amuse. His wit and wisdom is fully on display here."

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

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"This book captured my imagination in my mid-teens and scared the hell out of me. I've since read it a few more times and though doesn't scare me like that (at least not as much). It's a beautiful and poetic story about good and evil and the magic of boyhood. But mostly it's about the eternal love between a boy and his father."

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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"I didn't get around to reading this book until I was in my 20s, but every book seems to find you when you need it most. I found it incredibly moving, just the idea of bringing a garden back to life while in the process making a house a home again. Beautiful and poetic."