As the weather becomes cooler, you might be looking for a book to enjoy with your favourite fall beverage.
On this week’s episode of The Next Chapter, CBC Books producers Talia Kliot, Ashly July and Bridget Raymundo shared one Canadian book you should read this autumn.
A literary fiction pick
Endling is a book by Maria Reva. (Knopf Canada, Anya Chibis)
Kliot’s book choice is Endling by Maria Reva, a debut novel that’s already making waves on the literary awards circuit. It’s on the shortlist for the Atwood Gibson Prize for fiction and the longlist for the Booker Prize.
Endling tells the story of three women and a last-of-his-kind snail whose lives are changed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This book is unlike any book I have ever read,” said Kliot.
“It’s an amalgamation of so many different themes and you would just never think to put everything together in this way, which makes it so creative and so fun to read.”
In the novel, Yeva, a scientist, is obsessed with breeding rare snails and lives on her own in a mobile lab, funding her work by dating Westerners who have come to Ukraine on romance tours, hoping to find brides untouched by feminism.
Sisters Nastia and Solomiya are also entwined in the marriage industry, pretending to be a prospective bride and her translator to figure out what happened to their mother, a staunch activist against the industry who mysteriously disappeared.
As Russia invades and the war begins, their plans are foiled and the hard truths of war are examined.
“Endling talks about really serious topics, but in such a funny and kind of irreverent way, using humor not to ease the pain, but to make it a little bit more fun to read,” said Kliot.
A nostalgic high school aesthetic
This Place Kills Me is a YA graphic novel by Mariko Tamaki, right, illustrated by Nicole Goux, left. (Submitted by Nicole Goux, Abrams Fanfare / Manda Group, submitted by Mariko Tamaki)
Resident comics expert July chose This Place Kills Me for his pick, which he describes as nostalgic, angsty and warm.
Set in the late 80s or early 90s, the young adult graphic novel, written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Nicole Goux, explores what happens when the star of the school performance of Romeo and Juliet is found dead the morning of opening night.
Since transfer student Abby was the last person to see her alive, she gets pulled into the mystery of her death and must find out what’s really going on at her new school.
“Besides the murder plot and the mystery there is a lot of just regular teenage life,” said July, who enjoyed the references to touchpoints from his own childhood, like when Abby listens to tapes on her Walkman.
He also commended the graphic novel’s illustrations for capturing the nostalgic feeling as well as serving the mystery.
“There are sort of little bread crumbs or visual clues that you can see early on in the book that if you pay attention, they have a payoff later on.”
Fast-paced romance
Crash Test is a novel by Amy James. (Avon/HarperCollins)
Raymundo’s book pick is Amy James’ Crash Test, a novel in keeping with the hot trend of Formula 1 romances.
“F1 was a really accessible, fun sport to get into,” said Raymundo, who started watching it last year.
“Then this year, I started to see F1 romances pop up in the publishing industry and then gravitated towards this one, which I think is a truly enigmatic book.”
Crash Test follows race car drivers Travis and Jacob, who are secret lovers. When Jacob is involved in a massive crash, no one but Travis knows they’ve been secretly dating for a year.
As the F1 season barrels on, Travis must keep fighting for the championship win while Jacob has to recover from his traumatic injury. But perhaps those months apart are what they need to find their way back to each other.
“It’s a really deeply touching book,” said Raymundo. “And I keep trying to convince people that if you know nothing about F1, if you know nothing about romance books, it’s still a book about the human condition.”