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CanLit fiction for those who like to root for the home team

Sweetland by Michael

Crummey Though offered government assistance to leave a remote Newfoundland island when the fishing industry dries up, Moses Sweetland decides to stay. He’s the only one who remains, and his only company is the ghosts of former residents.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel A travelling Shakespeare theatre troupe travels through post-apocalyptic North America, reeling from the loss of life as they knew it as well as the death of one of their star actors.

The Girl Who Was Saturday

Night by Heather O’Neill A story about twins Noushcka and Nicolas, who have always been in the spotlight thanks to their folk-singing father. The glare gets brighter when Noushcka decides to become a beauty queen. The attention creates family strain, though try as she might, Noushcka can’t escape it.

The Lobster Kings by Alexi

Zentner Inspired by King Lear, this is the story of Cordelia, defender of a rural lobster fishing community on Loosewood Island and daughter of community leader Woody Kings. To inherit her father’s crown, she must fight sibling rivalry, meth dealers and her feelings for her sternman. PERSONALITY Info Junkie TRAITS Newest non-fiction for

those who follow the headlines

Hard Choices by Hilary Rodham Clinton Clinton recounts her time heading the U.S. State Department in this book, a must-read for anyone wondering who will succeed Barack Obama. Hello, Madame President?

Independence by Alasdair

Gray Controversial, but surely that’s the point of Gray’s arguments about Scotland’s merits as a nation independent of England. Published just before the country decides its fate, Gray suggests what a new Scotland would look like.

The Tastemakers by David

Sax From kale to cupcakes, seafood to sriracha sauce, Sax investigates the influence, money

and activism that enable some foods to become celebrated.

The Fame Lunches: On Wounded Icons, Money, Sex, the Importance of Handbags and Other Cultural Inquiries by

Daphne Merkin Essays from this popular and literary culture critic, her first collection in 15 years, tackle contemporary culture, from John Updike to Courtney Love, pre– Yom Kippur pedicure to lip gloss.

The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai

Bird CIA operative Ames, in collaboration with Ali Hassan Salameh, Yasser Arafat’s intelligence officer, could have engineered peace between the West (notably, the U.S.) and the Arab world had he not been assassinated.