Canada Reads Inspired

By Canada Reads InspiredSociety & Culture Arts Books

Canada Reads Inspired episodes

January 232026 CBC’s Canada Reads Short List
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:
Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers champions A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn champions Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
Musician and writer Tegan Quin champions The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz champions Foe by Iain Reid
BookTok star Morgann Book champions It's Different This Time by Joss Richard

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]
25 min
January 22Book Chat 31
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):
Patrick Bird Mysteries: Opposite Sully's Gym #2; The Road to Heaven #1 by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
The Breakwater; Sisters of the Spruce by Leslie Shimotakahara
To Touch the Water; The Solace of Open Spaces; A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning by Gretel Ehrlich
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Women Among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius by Kasia Van Schaik
Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers; Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers; Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense by Marcello Di Cintio

Tara (@onabranchreads):
Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #20: The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien; The Wintermen trilogy by Brit Griffin
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
How about This by Michael Mirolla

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]
44 min
January 14Hidden Gems with Garnett Kilberg Cohen
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:
The Registry of Forgotten Objects: Stories by Miles Harvey
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Down the Steep by A.D. Nauman
The Adventures of Cancer Bitch by S.L. Wisenberg
French Girl by Jesse Lee Kercheval
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
You've Told Me Before by Jennifer Moses
Simone in Pieces by Janet Burroway
https://garnettcohenauthor.com/
https://anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/06/06/review-of-jesse-lee-kerchevals-french-girl-by-garnett-cohen/
21 min
January 082026 CBC’s Canada Reads Long List
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
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Celestina's House by Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez
Crossroads by Kaleb Dahlgren
Everything Is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
Foe by Iain Reid
Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard
Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson
Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park
Restaurant Kid by Rachel Phan
Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
Slice The Water by PP Wong
The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee
@canadareadsamericanstyle
@onabranchreads
27 min
January 01 Old Goals - New Goals
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]
34 min
December 31, 20252025 Reading Wrap Up
Rebecca and Tara hope you had a fantastic year of reading! And they wrap up their 2025 by answering the following questions:
Favorite non-fiction book
Favorite quote
Happiest book
A book that made you cry
Most surprising read
Most read genre
Most read author
Favorite reading experience
What book do you wish you had buddy read
Scariest/creepiest book
Favorite fictional character
Favorite setting or location
First and last book of 2025
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]
35 min
December 24, 2025Book Chat 30
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):
Stories for Winter and Nights by the Fire by British Library Women Writers
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Tara (@onabranchreads):
Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor
Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo
107 Days by Kamala Harris
Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman
Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys
the blades of grass are dreaming by Hollay Ghadery https://www.anstrutherpress.com/new-products/the-blades-of-grass-are-dreaming-by-hollay-ghadery
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]
47 min
December 23, 2025Interview - Liisa Kovala and Like Water for Weary Souls
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:
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
https://www.youtube.com/@liisakovala
https://liisakovalawomenwriting.substack.com/
https://www.instagram.com/liisakovala/
43 min
November 14, 2025Holiday Recommendations!
Rebecca reveals her 2025 secret reading goal to Tara! And she and Tara offer their best reading recommendations for the holiday season!
Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):
Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
An English Murder by Cyril Hare
A Holiday By Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry
Tara (@onabranchreads):
Starry Starry Night by Shani Mootoo
The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli
The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman
The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
Small Things Like These by Claire Foster
The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures by Sarah Clegg
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]
40 min
November 09, 2025Interview - Adam Shoalts and Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell
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/:
Voted by over 200 Independent Bookstores as one of the “Must Read Books” of the Year (Canadian Independent Booksellers Association)
Globe and Mail #1 National Bestseller/Toronto Star #1 National Bestseller
CBC #1 National Bestseller
"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
38 min