With the announcement of the five titles and defenders, Rebecca and Tara make their predictions for the winner of the 25th Anniversary edition of CBC's Canada Reads! Per the CBC website: "This year's edition will air April 13 to 16 on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Listen, CBC Gem and CBC Books. It will also be on YouTube and available as a podcast."

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2026-contenders-9.7040200

The defenders, titles, and authors:

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at [email protected]

Rebecca and Tara are back with Book Chat #31.  Included are the books they are currently reading as well as their first recommendations of the New Year! 

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

Tara (@onabranchreads): 

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at [email protected]

Welcome to the podcast's first Hidden Gems episode of 2026! This is a special feature Rebecca and Tara offer in which they invite guests to recommend authors or titles that may be new to their listeners. Today’s guest is author and retired professor Garnett Kilberg Cohen from Chicago, IL.

Garnett is the author of four short story collections: Cravings; Lost Women, Banished Souls; How We Move the Air; and Swarm to Glory. Her chapbook, Passion Tour, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker online, Rumpus, The Gettysburg Review, Witness, The Literary Review, StoryQuarterly, The Antioch Review and elsewhere.

Check out Rebecca's interview with Garnett on Feb 13, 2024:

https://canadareadsamericanstyle.podbean.com/e/interview-garnett-kilberg-cohen-and-cravings/

Garnett's Hidden Gems:

https://garnettcohenauthor.com/

https://anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/06/06/review-of-jesse-lee-kerchevals-french-girl-by-garnett-cohen/

It's that time of year again when Rebecca and Tara try to predict which five books will make CBC's Canada Reads Short List for 2026!  Adding to the excitement is that this year is the 25th anniversary of the debate, so they are hoping for an entertaining look back to find the one book all of Canada should read!

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/canada-reads-2026-longlist-9.7029177

@canadareadsamericanstyle

@onabranchreads

Happy New Year!! Rebecca and Tara summarize the success of their 2025 goals and introduce new challenges for 2026!

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at [email protected]

Rebecca and Tara hope you had a fantastic year of reading! And they wrap up their 2025 by answering the following questions:

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at [email protected]

Rebecca and Tara close out 2025 with their 30th Book Chat! Rebecca is all about Narnia and C.S. Lewis and Tara ruminates on whether to DNF or finish the book she is currently reading.

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

Tara (@onabranchreads):

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at [email protected]

Tara has a fascinating chat with Liisa Kovala, a Finnish Canadian author, book coach, and former teacher about historical fiction, cozy mysteries, sisu, her book coaching, podcast, and coffee. Her latest novel is, Like Water for Weary Souls.

https://www.liisakovalabookcoach.com/

"In Nolin Creek, the water runs deep and the secrets run deeper. In the harsh landscape of a Depression-era Northern Ontario mining town, Finnish immigrant sisters Hanna and Essi Kivi scrape together a living as domestic workers, sharing a room in a disreputable boarding house owned by a protective madame.

​When Hanna's body is discovered in the icy waters of Nolin Creek, the police call it a tragic accident. But Essi knows better. Her sister would never have risked crossing unstable ice—not after they lost their youngest sister Martta to drowning years before.

​Haunted by guilt and driven by loyalty, Essi begins to unravel the secrets Hanna kept hidden. As Essi digs deeper into her sister's final days, she discovers that in a town built on desperation and dreams for a better future, everyone has something to hide.

​A gripping tale of love, family, sisterhood, and the search for truth."

Recommended Reading List:

https://www.youtube.com/@liisakovala

https://liisakovalawomenwriting.substack.com/

https://www.instagram.com/liisakovala/

Rebecca reveals her 2025 secret reading goal to Tara! And she and Tara offer their best reading recommendations for the holiday season! 

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

Tara (@onabranchreads):

If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book chat, please email them at [email protected]

Rebecca is excited to chat with professional explorer Adam Shoalts about his latest book, Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell.

https://adamshoalts.com/literature/:

"In 1910, legendary explorer Hubert Darrell vanished in the uncharted wilderness of the Northwest Territories. A prospector who had been swept up in the Klondike Gold Rush, Darrell later made his name as a wanderer who ventured where few others dared. Famed for his solo journeys, contemporaries regarded Darrell as the hardiest explorer of his day. While his disappearance sparked headlines, soon Darrell’s name would also vanish from history, just as surely as he had in the wild.

Yet Darrell left behind a trail of letters, journals, and hand-drawn maps. With these faded clues, Adam Shoalts retraces Darrell’s forgotten routes through the wilderness, searching for cabin ruins and old campsites. Part detective story, part biography, and part first-person adventure narrative, Vanished Beyond the Map combines expeditions with historical research to solve one of exploration history’s enduring cold cases—the mystery of Hubert Darrell."

Public Events: https://adamshoalts.com/upcoming-book-events/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_shoalts/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamshoalts