Rebecca welcomes Canadian author Leslie Shimotakahara, whose third novel, Sisters of the Spruce, is on Quill & Quire's "2024 Spring Preview: Fiction" and the 49th Shelf's "Most Anticipated: Our 2024 Spring Fiction Preview." Her memoir, The Reading List, won the Canada-Japan Literary Prize and has been translated into Japanese, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the KM Hunter Artist Award. She has written two other critically acclaimed novels, After the Bloom and Red Oblivion. 

Leslie’s writing has appeared in the National Post, World Literature Today, and Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, among other anthologies and periodicals. She completed a PhD in English at Brown University, after which she returned to her hometown of Toronto, where she now resides with her husband. 

https://leslieshimotakahara.com/

https://www.instagram.com/leslieshimotakahara/

https://caitlinpress.com/Books/S/Sisters-of-the-Spruce

• From Slave Girls to Salvation: Gender, Race, and Victoria's Chinese Rescue Home, 1886-1923 by Shelly D. Ikebuchi

https://www.ekphrastic.net/

https://megpokrass.com/about/

The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing by Adam Moss

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/192723955-the-work-of-art

• Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest

Don't forget to check out Rebecca and Tara live on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@canadareadsamericanstyle/streams

Rebecca and Tara share their latest reads and links to their new feature on YouTube: Reading From Our Shelves!

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle): 

• Somehow by Anne Lamott

Tara (@onabranchreads): 

• Cold; Chasing Painted Horses by Drew Hayden Taylor

Reading From Our Shelves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObgtKpEdnRE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lek38hy8jCA&t=93s

Rebecca is excited to speak with Sydney Hegele, a queer Anglo-Catholic writer from the Greenbelt in Southern Ontario. They are the author of Bird Suit (Invisible Publishing, May 7, 2024) and The Pump (Invisible Publishing 2021), which was the winner of the 2022 ReLit Literary Award for Short Fiction and a finalist for the 2022 Trillium Book Award. Their essays have appeared in Catapult and Electric Literature, EVENT, and have been featured by Lithub, The Poetry Foundation, and Psychology Today. Their essay collection Bad Kids is forthcoming with Invisible in Fall 2025. Sydney’s work often explores small-town queerness, environmental justice, mental illness, religious life, and the complicated relationships between these things. They live with their husband and French Bulldog on Treaty 13 Land (Toronto, Canada).

https://www.sydneyhegele.com/

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

Titles mentioned:

• Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker (Foreword)

 Imagining Imagining: Essays on Language, Identity and Infinity by Gary Barwin

Rebecca is excited to chat with Heather Stemp, author of the Ginny Ross historical fiction series for tween and teen readers.  Rebecca also recommends it for adult fans of Anne of Green Gables.

Heather’s paternal roots lie in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.  After 30 years as an English teacher, she retired to research her family history, discovering her Aunt Ginny’s friendship with Amelia Earhart in the process.  As a result, she began writing the Ginny Ross Series.  Amelia and Me was shortlisted for the 2014/2015 Red Cedar Award.  Under Amelia’s Wing was shortlisted for the 2021 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and the 2022 Red Maple Award.  Beyond Amelia, will be released April 16, 2024.

When not writing, Heather loves traveling with her husband, Don, and spending time at the cottage with her grandchildren and grand dogs.

https://www.heatherstemp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/authorheatherstemp/

https://visitatchison.com/highlight/amelia-earhart-festival

https://visitatchison.com/highlight_type/amelia-earhart

When the Dikes Breached by Martha Attema

Winterkill by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Dreadfall Water series by Thomas King 

Rebecca and Tara celebrate their 100th episode as co-hosts by sharing ten facts about themselves and their top three podcasts.  Interestingly, they both had near death experiences and divulged youthful criminal secrets.

Rebecca:

• I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity by Izzeldin Abuelaish

Tara:

• The Hapless Milliner (Miss Austin Investigates #1) by Jessica Bull

Rebecca and Tara discuss their latest reads!

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

• There There; Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Tara (@onabranchreads):

• Peril in Pink by Sydney Leigh

Rebecca and Tara chat with CBC's Canada Reads host Ali Hassan about the 2024 debates!  Ali's website includes information about his stand-up comedy, public events, acting, memoir, hosting, podcasts, etc.  He may be the busiest man in Canada! 

https://standupali.com/

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads

https://www.loveclosely.com/

https://allpoetry.com/Do-Not-Ask-My-Love

Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr:

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/prairie-edge