Canada Reads Inspired

By Canada Reads InspiredSociety & Culture Arts Books

Canada Reads Inspired episodes

March 27, 2025Reader Repartee with Zeralda
Rebecca is joined by friend of the podcast Zeralda to answer the Five Questions for Reader Repartee:
How did you become a reader?
What book do you wish you could read again for the first time?
Which author, living or dead, would you like to meet in person and why?
What fictional character would you like to meet and why?
What are you currently reading?
Responses:
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny
The Iliad by Homer
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Last Ranger by Peter Heller
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchison
17 min
March 23, 2025CBC's 2025 Canada Reads Wrap Up with Host Ali Hassan
Rebecca and Tara again welcome host Ali Hassan for their annual wrap up of the CBC’s Canada Reads debates!
https://standupali.com/
https://standupali.com/my-book
https://www.instagram.com/standupali
Recommended books:
American War; What Strange Paradise; One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
A History of Burning by Janika Oza

THIS YEAR’S WINNER:
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild
THE RUNNERS-UP:
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads
28 min
March 20, 2025CBC's 2025 Canada Reads DAY THREE Wrap Up
Rebecca and Tara discuss Day THREE of CBC's Canada Reads debates!
STILL IN:
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild
NOW OUT:
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads

Please note that on DAY FOUR Rebecca and Tara will be live on YouTube wrapping up the debates with Jolene (@bookwormadventure girl) on Thursday, March 20 @ 7:30 pm EDT:
https://www.youtube.com/@canadareadsamericanstyle
Also, make sure to check out Jolene's YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@BookwormAdventureGirl
34 min
March 19, 2025CBC's 2025 Canada Reads DAY TWO Wrap Up
Rebecca and Tara discuss Day TWO of CBC's Canada Reads debates!
STILL IN:
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild
NOW OUT:
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads
27 min
March 18, 2025CBC's 2025 Canada Reads DAY ONE Wrap Up
Rebecca and Tara discuss Day One of CBC's Canada Reads debates!
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads
31 min
March 16, 2025Book Chat 25
Rebecca and Tara share their latest good reads AND make their final predictions for CBC's 2025 Canada Reads debates which begin on Monday, March 17.
Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes; illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall; illustrated by Hugo Martinez
Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
Tara (@onabranchreads):
The Bones of Ruin Trilogy: The Bones of Ruin; The Song of Wrath; The Lady of Rapture by Sarah Raughley. (Check out Tara's interview with Sarah on October 2, 2024)
The Queen's Spade by Sarah Raughley
How to Survive a Bear Attack: A Memoir by Claire Cameron
Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B59wqgYNEM
Beautiful Ugly; Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Canadian author of thrillers--Nicole Lundrigan
2025 Canada Reads titles:
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
Also mentioned:
Baltimore's Mansion: A Memoir by Wayne Johnston
49 min
March 10, 2025Have We Convinced You?
Rebecca and Tara share some of their favorite books that others have recommended to them AND they wonder if they have convinced you to read any of their recommendations.

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall; illustrated by Hugo Martinez
Stories Left in Stone: Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain by Troy Nahumko
The Undertaking of Billy Buffone by David Giuliano (interviewed 6/25/22)
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
Dearborn by Ghassan Zeineddine
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense by Marcello Di Cintio (interviewed 1/11/21)
Tenth of December by George Saunders
Nora Watts series by Sheena Kamal (interviewed 12/6/22)
The Street by Ann Petry
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
Tara (@onabranchreads):
Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman; Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol; The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara
Yellow Barks Spider by Harman Burns
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest by Ariel Gordon
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
Cravings by Garnett Kilberg Cohen (interviewed 2/13/24)
Unwind series by Neal Shusterman
https://www.riverstreetwriting.com/
https://www.instagram.com/river_street_writes/
42 min
March 03, 2025Hidden Gems with author Sheena Kamal
Rebecca and Tara have come up with a new feature for the podcast called, “Hidden Gems with…”. In which they ask authors to share their top book recommendations. Rebecca is excited to kick off the inaugural episode with Sheena Kamal and her Crime Fiction picks!
Sheena is an author, essayist, and screenwriter. She wrote the critically acclaimed Nora Watts thriller series (The Lost Ones, It All Falls Down, and No Going Back). As well as a YA novel titled, Fight Like a Girl. You may have heard Rebecca and Tara rave about her novels many times on the podcast, so they encourage you to listen to Sheena's past interview on December 6, 2022.
Crime Fiction Hidden Gems:
Wakeland series by Sam Wiebe:
Invisible Dead
Cut You Down
Hollywood North
Hell and Gone
Sunset and Jericho
The Last Exile
Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
Rachel Getty & Esa Khattak series by Ausma Zehanat Khan
The Unquiet Dead
The Language of Secrets
Among the Ruins
A Dangerous Crossing
A Deadly Divide
"Hammerhead" Jed series by A.J. Devlin
Cobra Clutch
Rolling Thunder
Five Moves of Doom
Bronco Buster
Johnny Delivers by Wayne Ng
Aunties series by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Dial A for Aunties
Four Aunties and a Wedding
The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
https://www.sheenakamal.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sheenakamalwrites/
17 min
February 20, 2025Interview - Joanne Jackson and Sunset Lake Resort
Tara chats with Joanne Jackson, an award-winning author of three novels: The Wheaton (2019); A Snake in the Raspberry Patch (2023), winner of the Crime Writers of Canada's Best Crime Novel set in Canada and short listed for the Saskatchewan Book Awards; and her latest novel Sunset Lake Resort (2024) published by Stonehouse Publishing. Regardless of what weather Saskatchewan throws at her, she can often be found walking outside.
Joanne's recommendations:
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
The Husband's Secrets by Liane Moriarty.
https://www.joannejackson.ca/
https://www.instagram.com/joannejacksonauthor/
https://www.stonehousepublishing.ca/store/sunset-lake-resort
13 min
February 14, 2025Book Chat 24
Rebecca and Tara chat about their latest reads, some of which include CBC's Canada Reads titles for the 2025 debates airing March 17-20 on CBC TV, CBC Radio, and CBC Books (website and YouTube).
Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):
How We Move the Air by Garnett Kilberg Cohen
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
American War; What Strange Paradise; One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew
The Immortal Woman by Su Change
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
Lost Women, Banished Souls by Garnett Kilberg Cohen
Tara (@onabranchreads):
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country by Louise Erdrich
God Isn't Here Today by Francine Cunningham
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
40 min