12 Canadian books coming out in July we can't wait to read
A new month means new books. Here are 12 Canadian books coming out in July you should bookmark.
Music Lessons by Bob Wiseman
In Music Lessons, musician Bob Wiseman writes about finding the link between music and daily life. Each entry in the book explores improvisational music, life lessons and conflict.
When you can read it: July 6, 2020
Wiseman is a Canadian film composer, songwriter and music teacher. He is one of the founding members of Juno Award-winning band Blue Rodeo. Music Lessons is Wiseman's first book.
Memoirs and Misinformation by Jim Carrey
Memoirs and Misinformation is a semi-autobiographical novel that tells a story about Hollywood, privilege, friendship, romance and addiction to relevance. The book follows Jim Carrey, a very successful and beloved movie star drowning in wealth, privilege and loneliness. Even advice from his best friend, actor and dinosaur skull collector, Nicolas Cage, isn't enough to help him. Things start to look up when Jim meets Georgie, the love of his life, and gets a role in a boundary-pushing new film that could help him uncover a whole new side to himself.
When you can read it: July 7, 2020
Carrey is an award-winning Canadian comedian, actor and writer.
Dana Vachon is a Brooklyn-based writer. His essays and reporting have appeared in The New York Times, Slate and Vanity Fair. He is also the author of novel Mergers and Acquisitions.
The Ghost in the House by Sara O'Leary
Fay is living in the house she dreamed of as a child, married to a man she loves and planning her life as an artist. Her life seems full of possibility. But late one night, Fay realizes that something has gone wrong. Things have changed not only in the house, but somehow time and Fay's husband, Alec, seem to have moved on without her. Fay thought her life was just beginning, but discovers that it has abruptly ended.
When you can read it: July 7, 2020
Sara O'Leary is a former literary columnist for The Vancouver Sun and CBC Radio. She writes short fiction and is the author of children's books like This is Sadie. The Ghost in the House is her first novel.
Hurry Home by Roz Nay
In Hurry Home, Alexandra Van Ness lives a perfect life tucked away in a resort town in the rocky mountains with her handsome boyfriend, Chase. She works in child protection, dedicating herself to helping those at risk. But, when Alexandra's long-lost sister turns up out of the blue, Alexandra is forced to confront the memories of their fraught past.
When you can read it: June 7, 2020
Roz Nay is a B.C.-based writer. Her debut novel, Our Little Secret, won the Douglas Kennedy Prize for best foreign thriller, and was nominated for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Mystery and the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award.
The Imago Stage by Karoline Georges, translated by Rhonda Mullins
In The Imago Stage, a model decides to embed herself in a digital world to escape the life she had formed in the fashion world of Paris. Earning enough to retire in her 20s, she lives out her life as a digital avatar. However, as she learns of news that her mother is sick, she is forced to retreat from her digital life and confront her flesh and blood family.
When you can read it: June 9, 2020
Karoline Georges is a writer and multidisciplinary artist from Quebec. Her novel De synthèse won the 2018 Governor General's Award for French-language fiction. Her work encompasses visual art, poetry and children's fiction.
Rhonda Mullins is a writer and translator living in Montreal. Her translation of Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette was defended by Yanic Truesdale on Canada Reads 2019. She won the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation for Jocelyne Saucier's Twenty-One Cardinals. And the Birds Rained Down — her translation of Saucier's Il pleuvait des oiseaux — was defended on Canada Reads 2015 by Martha Wainwright and was shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award.
He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman
He Must Like You follows high school senior Libby. Her older brother fled to a Greek island with his college money. Her dad tells her she'll be financially cut off and evicted after she graduates. A drunken hook-up with her coworker leaves her upset and confused. A serial harasser and customer at The Goat where she waitresses, pushes her over the edge and she dumps a pitcher of sangria on his head. Libby must face the fallout of her outburst after realizing that he is also a local industry hero, the restaurant's most important customer and her mom's boss. Libby must deal with her increasing hate for the men who've ruined her life, while also getting her life back on track. The novel is a story about consent, rage and revenge and the potential we all have to be better people.
When you can read it: July 14, 2020
Danielle Younge-Ullman is Toronto-based novelist, playwright and freelance writer. She is the author of adult novel Falling Under and YA novels Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined and Carlyle's 12 Step Romance.
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
The Pull of the Stars, set in a war and disease-ravaged Ireland during the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, tells the story of three women — a nurse, a doctor and an activist — working on the front lines of the pandemic in an understaffed maternity ward of a hospital, where expectant mothers infected with the virus are quarantined. The timely tale takes place over the course of three days and explores how these women change each other's lives in unexpected ways, while witnessing loss and delivering new life.
When you can read it: July 21, 2020
Emma Donoghue is an Irish Canadian writer. Her books include the novels Landing, Room, Frog Music, The Wonder and the children's book The Lotterys Plus One.
The Answer Is... by Alex Trebek
The Answer Is... is the memoir of long-time Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. The Answer Is... will combine personal anecdotes and Trebek's ideas on a variety of topics, including marriage, parenthood, spirituality and philanthropy. He will also answer popular questions asked by Jeopardy! fans, such as why he shaved his signature mustache, and share his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer and his opinion of Will Ferrell's Saturday Night Live impersonation.
When you can read it: July 21, 2020
Music at the Heart of Thinking by Fred Wah
Music at the Heart of Thinking is a poetry collection that examines language as the true practice of thought and improvisation as a tool that notates thinking. The collection is a response to readings of contemporary texts, art and ideas produced over the past 40 years. The poems are modeled after the long poem genre of the 1980s and a resistance to closure and containment of meaning.
When you can read it: July 27, 2020
Fred Wah is a Canadian poet, novelist, scholar and former Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He received the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry for his 1985 book Waiting for Saskatchewan.
Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee
Two Trees Make a Forest is an exploration of how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories. A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she traces his story while growing closer to the land he knew. Throughout her adventures, Lee uncovers surprising parallels between nature and human stories that shaped her family and their beloved island. In the memoir, she also turns a critical eye onto colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, and both relied on and often erased the labor and knowledge of local communities.
When you can read it: July 28, 2020
Lee is a British-Canadian-Taiwanese author, environmental historian, and winner of the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Author Award. Her first book, Turning, was longlisted for the Frank Hegyi Award for Emerging Authors.
The End of Her by Shari Lapena
The End of Her, a novel set in upstate New York, follows Stephanie and Patrick, a couple adjusting to life with their colicky twin babies. While Stephanie stays at home to take care of them, Patrick works 9-5 to pay the bills. Their life is turned upside down when a woman from Patrick's past pays an unexpected visit, raising questions and suspicions about his late first wife, who died in a supposed car accident many years ago. With the woman threatening to go to the police, his livelihood is put at risk. As the police start digging, Stephanie's trust in her husband begins to unravel, as does their marriage.
When you can read it: July 28, 2020
Shari Lapena is a novelist. She is author of bestselling thrillers, including The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest and Someone We Know.
Angel Wing Splash Pattern by Richard Van Camp
First published in 2000, short story collection Angel Wing Splash Pattern honours Richard Van Camp's Tłįchϙ ancestry and celebrates life in northern Canada. The stories in the collection are a portrayal of contemporary Indigenous life. The collection explores pain and loss, death and rebirth and a search for personal truth. The stories are all linked by themes of hope, the spirit of friendship and hunger. Van Camp's classic collection is being published in a new, 20th anniversary edition, which includes a new introduction by the author and two new stories in illustrated format.
When you can read it: July 31, 2020
Van Camp is a celebrated Tłįchϙ writer who has written over 20 books across multiple genres. His other books include the graphic novel A Blanket of Butterflies, the short story collection Moccasin Square Gardens and the children's books Little You and We Sang You Home.
