16 books you heard about on CBC Radio this week
These are some of the books discussed on national CBC Radio shows between June 9-15, 2018.
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
What it's about: The Marrow Thieves unveils a world where non-Indigenous people lose the ability to dream. To regain their dreams, they hunt and then harvest the bone marrow of Indigenous people. It's a story that has struck a chord with critics and readers. It was defended by Jully Black on Canada Reads 2018.
Heard on: Unreserved
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
What it's about: Seven Fallen Feathers investigates the deaths of seven Indigenous students in Thunder Bay, Ont. The students were hundreds of kilometres away from home, forced to attend school in an unfamiliar city and were ultimately found dead in the region.
Heard on: Unreserved
I Am Woman by Lee Maracle
What it's about: Published in 1988, Lee Maracle's seminal book is a harsh condemnation of racism and sexism in Canada. The book is a representation of her personal struggle with womanhood and race and brings to light the impact colonialism has had on Indigenous women.
Heard on: Unreserved
Just Let Me Look At You by Bill Gaston
What it's about: Bill Gaston had a stormy relationship with his father. Gaston Sr. was a heavy drinker with a dark side, but the one thing that bound father and son was a love and reverence for fishing. Gaston writes about this relationship in the memoir Just Let Me Look At You.
Heard on: The Next Chapter
A Promise is a Promise by Michael Kusugak & Robert Munsch
What it's about: A Promise is a Promise is a classic children's book that re-tells the Inuit story about a sea monster called the Qallupilluit.
Heard on: The Next Chapter
Sister of Mine by Laurie Petrou
What it's about: Sister of Mine is a thriller that tells the story of two sisters bound by a dark secret that becomes heavier and heavier as the years go by.
Heard on: The Next Chapter
Strangers by David A. Robertson
What it's about: Cole Harper is called back to Wounded Sky First Nation a decade after a terrible event forced him out. The community he returns to is reeling from a series of recent murders and a terrible plague that is ripping through residents. Harper gets help from his oldest friends, plus an unhelpful spirit, to find his purpose.
Heard on: The Next Chapter
Everything I Don't Remember by Jonas Hassen Khemiri
What it's about: Everything I Don't Remember deals with loss, memory and cultural diversity in contemporary Stockholm. It won Sweden's top literary honour, the August Prize, for best Swedish fiction book of the year.
Heard on: Writers & Company
The Home For Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman
What it's about: In The Home for Unwanted Girls, Joanna Goodman looks back at a period in Quebec history when unwed mothers were forced to give their children up for adoption. The novel follows the story of a teenage girl forced by her family to give up her baby. Years later, both she and her daughter search to find each other.
Heard on: q
How Not To Be A Boy by Robert Webb
What it's about: Comedian Robert Webb grew up in a blue collar village in the North of England during the 1970s and 1980s, surrounded by a lot of traditionally macho guys, like his dad and older brothers. He spent his youth planning the ways he wanted to be different from them. For instance, he wanted to go to Cambridge University and become an actor and a writer. He shares his journey in his new memoir, How Not To Be A Boy.
Heard on: q
Calypso by David Sedaris
What it's about: David Sedaris is back with a new collection of essays called Calypso. In this book, Sedaris wrestles with middle age and mortality.
Heard on: q
Oscar by Mauricio Segura
What it's about: Oscar, translated from French by Donald Winkler, is a novel about the life of legendary Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
Heard on: q
Dead Men's Trousers by Irvine Welsh
What it's about: Trainspotting characters are back, but not for long. In the early 1990s, Irvine Welsh created these characters — heroin addicts all struggling to get by in Edinburgh, Scotland — and he's continued their story through several more novels over the last two decades. The latest is called Dead Men's Trousers.
Heard on: q
There There by Tommy Orange
What it's about: In his debut novel, Tommy Orange paints a kaleidoscopic picture of what it means to exist as a Native American in a sprawling urban landscape.
Heard on: q
Reporter: A Memoir by Seymour Hersh
What it's about: Seymour Hersh is an investigative journalist that broke stories like the massacre in My Lai that took place during the Vietnam War. Hersch recalls this story and his career, life and legacy in his new memoir, Reporter: A Memoir.
Heard on: The Current
Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces by Michael Chabon
What it's about: In a new collection of essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon contemplates fatherhood from both sides of the looking glass: as the father of four children who are just beginning to find their way in the world, and as the son of a father who's approaching life's end.
Heard on: q