This fall’s must-read books

These 25 new books are perfect to crack open as the weather gets chillier and leaves change colours

These 25 new books are perfect to crack open as the weather gets chillier and leaves change colours

It’s that time of year, when every second question a book editor hears is “What are you liking this fall?” As with every year, there’s plenty. It seems almost impossible to whittle the dozens of new titles down to just 25, but that’s the fun of lists. They’re not going to include everything, some people will feel left out, some will jump for joy. But here are the books — fiction and non-fiction, mostly Canadian but some foreign — that have caught my eye, coming out between now and the end of the year. Brother, David Chariandy (McClelland and Stewart) It’s been 10 years since his first book, “Soucayant,” and this powerful new novel will direct the focus of discourse around issues of race this fall. Set in Scarborough, it’s the story of Michael and his brother, young Black boys growing up in that city’s projects. In a straightforward, compelling narrative, “Brother” lays out their experience and raises questions of community, trust and forgiveness. A powerful must-read. (Sept. 26)

First Snow, Last Light, Wayne

Johnston (Knopf Canada) The Newfoundland writer is in familiar territory with this sweeping family saga that once again brings us to the province around the time of Confederation. The popular character Sheilagh Fielding is one of the main characters — a fine addition to the Newfoundland trilogy that began with “The Colony of Unrequited Dreams” and “The Custodians of Paradise.” (Sept. 12) In The Cage, Kevin Hardcastle (Biblioasis) Hardcastle won the Trillium Book Award for his debut short story collection, “Waste.” Now he’s out with his first novel, which continues to riff on working class themes. Edited by legendary editor John Metcalf, “Hardcastle” is quickly establishing himself as a solid talent. (Sept. 12) That’s My Baby, Frances Itani (Harper Collins) Itani was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2014 for her book “Tell,” the second in this trilogy (the first book was “Deafening”) about a couple from Deseronto. The baby they adopted, Hanora, at the end of “Tell” is now grown up and it’s the eve of the Second World War. Critics were rapturous over Itani’s storytelling ability in the first books; this one seems sure to follow. (Sept. 5)

Lost in September, Kathleen Winter (Knopf Canada) Many Canadian books are taking history as their theme this 150th birthday year, but Kathleen Winter, whose voice is always original, is rewriting it with a modern take. This is the story of a modern-day soldier marked with PTSD — but he looks like General James Wolfe (of Plains of Abraham fame). An incident in 1759 where citizens lost 11 days when the British Empire changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar gives Winter a way to time travel and tell a story about war and loss. (Sept. 12)

Don’t Tell Me What To Do, Dina Del Bucchia (Arsenal Pulp Press) She’s a podcast co-host, is an editor at Poetry is Dead magazine and now Del Bucchia has written a short story collection that punches above its weight. Peopled with social media stars, teenage girls and shopping haul videos, they’re funny, insightful and all about people trying to make their way in this crazy time we live in. (Sept. 18)

The Sun And Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur (Simon and Schuster) This Toronto writer’s first book of poetry “Milk and Honey” took the bestseller lists by storm — and she’s still on them, no mean feat for a book of poetry. Clearly, she is striking a chord among readers. The big question is: will that popularity turn her new book into a second international bestseller? (Oct. 3)

My Ariel, Sina Queyras (Coach House) What better way to explore how women’s lives have changed since 1965 — through the thick of the feminist revolution — than to engage with Sylvia Plath’s book of poetry Ariel. It was published in that year, two years after her death, ushered into print by her (abusive) husband, the poet Ted Hughes. Queyras reimagines some of the poems and riffs off others, to give an updated sense of the lives of women and how far we’ve come, baby. Queyras was previously nominated for a Governor General’s Award for “Expressway.” (Sept. 18) Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage, Ken McGoogan (Patrick Crean Editions) One of the strongest Canadian mythologies is the story of the discovery of the Northwest Passage. In this book, McGoogan — who’s already written four bestselling books about the Arctic — brings voices into the discussion that haven’t been heard much before, specifically that of Indigenous peoples, and shows how cultural diversity has been part of our history all along. (Sept. 26)

Seven Fallen Feathers, Tanya Talaga (Anansi) Full disclosure — Talaga is a Toronto Star journalist, but even if she weren’t, this is an important book. It looks at the deaths of seven Indigenous high school students who died between 2000 and 2011 while they were away from their families at school in Thunder Bay. Talaga explores their lives and why they died, while exposing racism, politics and human-rights violations against Indigenous communities. (Sept. 30)

Curry, Naben Ruthnum (Coach House) If no two curries are the same, as the accepted wisdom goes, then why has it become shorthand in popular culture to represent brown people? Especially when its roots are really in a mélange of cultures from Portugal to Mauritius. Ruthnum, who has previously won a Journey Prize for his short fiction, takes a look at books, pop culture and other media to examine how curry has sometimes led to a bland representation of South Asian identity. (Out now)

F-Bomb: Dispatches From the War on Feminism, Lauren McKeon (Goose Lane) When did feminism become a dirty word? This book starts out by looking at why women are abandoning feminism in North America. If some women say they don’t need it, if there’s no real agreement on what it should be — then where does that leave the fight for gender equality? In a world where rape culture, racism and sexism are mentioned daily, this is a necessary look at where feminism is going wrong and what can be done. (Sept. 19)

Apron Strings, Jan Wong (Goose Lane) This is a book about home cooking in France, Italy and China by a former newspaper columnist who’s never shied away from throwing herself into a story when need be. On this journey she brings her son, Sam, 22, with her as they live and cook with locals. An interesting (and at times very funny) exploration of different cultures, how families bond — and clash — over food, and the globalization of food. (Sept. 12)

My Conversations With Canadians, Lee Maracle (Book Thug) Plenty of books with Canada’s sesquicentennial at their heart have come to mark this country’s 150th year, but this one takes a holistic view of things. These are personal essays written by Maracle based on questions she’s been asked over the past 40 years or so and chronicle her experience in this country as a Canadian, a First Nations person and a woman. An interesting and thoughtful voice that’s necessary in the current issues surrounding Truth and Reconciliation, particularly this year. (Oct. 1)

Deer Life, Ron Sexsmith (Dundurn) Singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith has turned his hand to writing — and illustrating as he’s going along. Deer Life, his debut novel, is billed as a fairy tale about “a kindhearted boy from Hinthoven and his mother’s undying love” and was written while Sexsmith was on the road touring. Sexsmith’s take? “... suspend your disbelief for a while (it is a fairy tale after all) as I tell you a story of good and evil and of bravery.” (Sept. 16)

Sit, Deborah Ellis (Groundwood) Deborah Ellis has once again come up with a wonderful story that makes a powerful statement about choices and the different lives that children lead. The conceit is looking at different seated children — she looks at nine around the world — and what their situations might be (a girl in Uzbekistan and a refugee smuggler; a young boy in solitary as a young offender; the story of a child labourer, ETC.). (Oct. 1)

Reckless Daughter, David Yaffe (Harper Collins) Joni Mitchell isn’t just a touchstone for Canadians; she’s an international star. And both her personal and professional lives are compelling. In the hands of Yaffe, (you’ll remember his Bob Dylan bio “Like A Complete Unknown”) who conducted dozens of in-person interviews with Mitchell, this is a deeply felt biography of one of our most important songwriters. (Oct. 10)

The Ninth Hour, Alice McDermott (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) From a personal favourite of mine, this new McDermott book takes place in Brooklyn in the early 20th century among the Irish Catholic community and draws a story of a number of generations, their struggles, love and heartbreaks. But it’s her writing that mesmerizes, and her ability to get to the heart of people and communities in cleanly drawn prose that has caused her to be compared to Alice Munro. (Sept. 19)

Sleeping Beauties, Stephen

King and Owen King (Scribner) This father/son collaboration has horror fans pulling their blankets tighter in sheer anticipation. The premise is: what would happen if all the women in the world fell asleep, becoming wrapped in a gauze that, if broken, had them emerge as wild and primal. While the women sleep, of course, men are left to their own devices. To keep it spooky, it’s set in a small Appalachian town with a woman’s prison at its core. (Sept. 26)

Uncommon Type, Tom Hanks (Knopf Canada) Legendary actor Tom Hanks has turned his hand to writing short stories. He’s also legendary for his typewriter collection, and it’s featured here with a different model shown as a punctuation mark between each story. The stories, unsurprisingly, have a very Hanksian tone: well-written, with a folksy tone and, if not a moral lesson, at least a very humane turn at the end. (Oct. 17)

Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan (Scribner) While much of her work has been experimental (a short story in Tweets, for example), Egan has turned her hand to historical fiction for the first time. Set in the transformative time for America around the Second World War, this is a sweeping family saga that explores big concepts about life in a thoroughly compelling story. (Oct. 3)

Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward (Scribner) She’s been called the heir to William Faulkner and in this book, she channels him along with Toni Morrison, the Old Testament and Greek myths to tell the story of a family living on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi having survived a hurricane and dealing with drug addiction. It’s also filled with ghosts of the past coming back to deal with their unfinished business. Sort of like America right now. (Sept. 5)

What Happened, Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster) After being relatively silent since her U.S. presidential election loss to Donald Trump in November 2016, Clinton’s finally revealing what she was thinking and feeling throughout the campaign. It’s personal, tells the story of the campaign from her side and offers a point of view people have been waiting to hear. (Sept. 12)

We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates (One World) Coates is one of the most powerful and compelling young voices in the United States today as his National Book Award for “Between The World and Me” attests. This collection of eight essays originally published in the Atlantic hearkens back to the optimism of the Obama years. He prefaces each piece with a new introduction that takes a look at the ideas he explores and the thought process behind them. Powerful. (Oct. 3)

The Inner Life of Animals, Peter Wohlleben (Greystone Books) His first book, the runaway international bestseller “The Hidden Life of Trees,” encouraged readers to take a fresh look at the way they interact with nature. This new book draws connections and similarities to the way we experience the world and the way animals do, looking even at issues including love, naming, fidelity and so on; Wohlleben’s first-person narrative helps make what could be a very scientific book very personal and readable. (Nov. 4)