Who are some of your favourite Canadian authors? Remember to share the author’s website if available, instead of an Amazon link. Your local library may have a lot of Canadian books too!
I saw a Silverwing book by Kenneth Oppel at a clearance sale and that took me on a nostalgia train. Looked him up and I didn’t realize he’s quite a prolific Canadian author!
Not sure if its all YA/easy reading, but that’s what I grew up with. Both the Silverwing series and Airborn are top notch for that sorta thing and still hold up well for a re-read occassionally.
I’m going to a book reading event for kids on Zamami, Okinawa this month. Do you guys have any comical, French, picture books that you recommend? I like Elise Gravel, but would love to find more authors.
I have also read books by Katherena Vermette (start with “The Break”). For more dystopian read, I love Waubgeshig Rice (“Moon of the Crusted Snow”).
For murder mysteries, I would recommend Armand Gamache (set in Quebec) series by Louise Penny. I always get excited when a new Louise Penny’s book arrives in my local library.
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeline Thien was a great read. It was shortlisted for the Booker prize, won the Governor General’s award and won the Giller prize that year.
I also can highly recommend Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, which was a finalist for CBCs “Canada Reads”.
Overall I’d highly recommend looking at the GG and Giller for authors, as well as CBCs “Canada Reads”. For Canada Reads, we also have the shortlisted books for this year’s edition already!
Libraries can bring books in for you, too. Just ask, they want to help. They want you to get a card even if you never use it because it helps their numbers and their funding. Hell, take out books just in case you feel like reading over the next month, no one cares if you never touch them. Plus, you can renew and reserve books online and download ebooks for free.
Last month my library did a “Blind date with a book” thing where they gift-wrapped books and wrote the first sentence on the outside. I got a fun book I would have never picked up otherwise.
Wanna support local? Using your library helps you and your community.
Yes!! Libraries are so important for our communities.
Getting a library card also may also get you access to Libby and Hoopla, which have free ebooks and audio books, as well as magazines and graphic novels! Hoopla has music albums as well, and Kanopy which has tv shows, documentaries, and movies.
Insert the “having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card” meme here.
These are all obvious choices, but William Gibson, Margaret Atwood, Douglas Copeland and Cory Doctorow.
GIBSON IS CANADIAN? AND DOCTOROW!?
Damn I had no idea
Robert J. Sawyer! He’s a sci-fi author and many of his books are based in Canadian cities.
I really liked FlashForward and The Neanderthal trilogy.
Oh thanks for this, I was actively looking for new sci fi
You’re welcome :)
TIL Brendan Fraser narrated the audio version of his newest book, The Downloaded, and it looks like it’s set in Waterloo.
Margaret Atwood is the first that comes to mind… I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve read by her!
Life of Pi by Yann Martel is another popular one.
I’m a sucker for Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery too.
I had to look up top Canadian Authors to see what/who I’ve read, and I discovered one of my favorite recent YA fantasy authors lives in BC… Rachel Heartman (although she was born in the US so I don’t know if that counts, lol).
Peter Watts. Dude is a Canadian sci-fi master. His stuff is not optimistic. But it’s compelling.
As far as I can tell, all of his books (including Blindsight) are available for free on his website.
I would also like to know a good Canadian audible alternative
Apparently Kobo Plus offers unlimited ebooks and audiobooks for $10/month. Not sure how that compares to audible, because I haven’t used it.
I like Libby, which is free and run through your local library, although it’s not a Canadian company.
Hoopla is another free library app.
Michael Ondaatje comes to mind, and In the Skin of a Lion is an excellent Canadian story.
I remember in secondary school, we had to do independent reading units. There were pages and pages containing lists of novels we could choose from, exclusively from Canadian authors. Wish I still had access to this.
This is the author I picked: Cary Fagan.
Margaret Atwood is also infamous for the The Handmaid’s Tale.
I recently learned about this black-owned bookstore in Toronto, and their website has a filter for Canadian authors:
https://adifferentbooklist.com/browse/filter/b/canada/v/popularityI haven’t read them yet but on my wishlist atm are:
Steven Erikson - Malazan book of the fallen
Nicholas Eames - Kings of the Wyld
I remember everyone renting about kings of the wyld when it came out but I was never able to finish it. Just got tired of the bit and found the characters not engaging. Maybe made it halfway through before I got too bored to finish
Monica Hughes had some good books, and at least a few were set in Canada. I’m too lazy to google, but I bet she’s a Canuck. Gordon Korman. (YA books. Reaching into my childhood.)
I looked it up! She was british-Canadian! I remember reading so many of her books in middle school, they were great! My school library labeled books by Canadian authors with a maple leaf on the spine, so I tried to read as many of those as I could.
