A Gift Guide for the Book Lover

1. For the Tender-hearted – Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It by Greg Marshall

Greg Marshall’s memoir is a hilarious exploration of difference that welcomes readers into a riotous family. In the frame? His father, who has ALS, his mother, contending with cancer, his four siblings, and in between them all, just slightly off-centre—sometimes literally—is Greg. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 18 months but told he simply had tight tendons, Marshall only comes to understand the full nature of his perpetual limp later in life. Through telling the story of his leg, Marshall provides a new perspective on the unpredictable realities of intimacy, connection, and disability.

2. For the Scam Aficionado – The Guest by Emma Cline

Cline burst onto the literary scene with The Girls, a thrilling novel about a teenager pulled into a dangerous cult. In The Guest, Cline brings her stylistic flair to the hypnotizing world of scammers—the Anna Delveys of the world who hold us enthralled online and off—as isolated 22-year-old Alex attempts to break into a world of extreme luxury. The result is a tense and gorgeous page-turner filled with class-conscious nuance.

3. For the Eccentric – Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante

A couple contemplates their impending life on Mars. A new mother parses ghosts from wind. Girls strobe messages to their mother into the sky while contending with mermaids. Ferrante’s short story collection is filled with small, spellbinding worlds. Through the sharp use of the surreal, the boundaries, constraints, and sly realities of gender are illuminated with wit and compassion. Lovers of Karen Russell and Carmen Maria Machado will find their next favourite story within these pages.

4. For the YA Enthusiast – The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum

When teenage metalhead Vish Maurya returns to Kelowna from boarding school, an unsettling encounter at the local bookstore takes a supernatural turn. Witches, decaying soul-eaters, and unlucky teenagers alike access magic by making gaps in time and space. Suddenly Vish has two weeks to hold it all together in this spine-tingling adventure readers of all ages won’t soon forget.

5. For the Puzzle-Lover – The Corset & the Jellyfish by Nick Bantock

Bantock’s illustrated, epistolary novel Griffin and Sabine was an international sensation. His latest book, The Corset & the Jellyfish, recaptures all of its idiosyncratic charm. The book comprises 100 stories, each 100 words itself, and the cryptic invitation for the reader to add one of their own to the collection. Complete with whimsical illustrations, The Corset & the Jellyfish is a unique and magical curio to get lost in.

6. For the Thrill-Seeker – Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

Jessica Johns’s debut novel, Bad Cree, has been one of the most talked-about books of the year—and for good reason. Mackenzie has started bringing things back from her dreams. As the boundaries between her sleeping and waking worlds grow thinner, she returns to her small Alberta hometown and her maternal family to try and work through these unnerving mysteries and what they have to do with her deep familial grief.