Looking for a new read that you’re certain will be worth your time? We’ve made a Read Local BC round up with genres spanning from poetry by poet laureates and Poetry in Transit authors, and mysterious YA and kids novels, to nonfiction books about human rights, sports, and a memoir on mental health with deliciously dark humour. Grab something local off the shelf for your next read.
Poetry
Bramah’s Discovery: Book Three by Renée Sarojini Saklikar (Nightwood Editions)
The ambitious third instalment of Renée Sarojini Saklikar’s epic fantasy saga in verse, The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns (THOT J BAP). Ten years in the making, Bramah’s Discovery weaves the devastation of climate change into speculative verse to create an epic family saga that is also a meditation on good and evil.
Out now
Real Grownup by Elizabeth Bachinsky (Nightwood Editions)
In her first new poetry collection in over a decade, Elizabeth Bachinsky returns with her characteristic cheekiness and sincerity. This book is for those who have lived through everyday madness and want to look upon it with acceptance, humour and love.
Out now
Verbal Violence by Danielle LaFrance (Talon Books)
Verbal Violence unravels, dissects, and shreds the language of the professional managerial class. Critically straining the email thread, the Freedom of Information Request, and the white paper through an aesthetics of anger that appropriates their last gasps at relevancy, LaFrance registers the absurdities of a purposeless people “just doing their job.”
Out now
Beautiful Unknown Future by Taryn Hubbard (Talon Books)
Beautiful Unknown Future is the new poetry book by Chilliwack’s inaugural poet laureate, Taryn Hubbard.
Haunted by the looming shadows of our compounding crises, Beautiful Unknown Future reflects with candour and wit on the precarity we share with the nonhuman world.
Out now
Barefoot Gringo by George Bowering (UBC Press)
A deeply personal and humorous account of George Bowering’s time in Mexico, Barefoot Gringo explores life, food, animals, love, aging, and more with a well-known and beloved Canadian voice.
Out now
YA and Kids
Air Heist by Cheryl Isbister (Medicine Wheel Publishing)
Twelve year old siblings, Sage and Crew have lived at Greenhouse Academy, a prestigious private school for students with extraordinary abilities, for as long as they can remember. Their parents’ identities have always been a mystery. When the siblings and their friends find out that within six months the air in Alberta will not be safe to breathe, they are determined to find out why and how to stop it. As Sage and Crew delve deeper into the mystery they realize that the answers to both the pollution and their lineages may be found within the walls of the academy.
Out now
Collision by Eric Walters and Danson Mutinda (Orca Book Publishers)
Two ships collide in the canal of Daniel’s small town and people are discovered inside one of their shipping containers. Because his mom is a nurse and his dad a local detective, Daniel becomes closely involved in the aftermath of the collision and develops a friendship with one of the refugees, Bol, who is a boy his own age.
Out now
Mabel’s Feather by Nicole Kelley and Jillian Dolan (Strong Nations Publishing)
One day, when Mabel is on a walk with Kookoom and their family dog, a gust of wind steals the feather from her pocket. Mabel and Kookoom go looking for the missing feather at a local festival–and find that, sometimes, healing can be found closest to home. In the spirit reconciliation, Mabel’s Feather encourages meaningful conversations and raises awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People.
New release
Nonfiction
Paper Girls Burn by Pippa Scott (Caitlin Press)
Paper Girls Burn is a courageous, candid, and darkly comic memoir about the search for love, understanding, and identity through a neurodivergent lens.
New Release
A Fight for Justice: The Compelling Story of Temporary Foreign Workers & Human Rights by Joe Barrett (Ronsdale Press)
A Fight for Justice is an inspiring story of collective action and relationships across progressive communities in Canada and Latin America and offers a remarkable story of migrant workers successfully fighting for fairness and equality.
Out now
Winning Pitch: The Canadian Men’s Soccer Team at the World Cup and Beyond by Murray Mollard (Harbour Publishing)
Winning Pitch: The Canadian Men’s Soccer Team at the World Cup and Beyond provides expert insight into the question of what it will take for Canada’s national men’s team and soccer in Canada to be successful in 2026 and beyond.
Out now
Stories from Ice Level: A Great NHL Referee Tells All by Bill McCreary, Rob Simpson (Douglas & McIntyre)
A candid and wildly entertaining account that offers hockey fans and sports history enthusiasts a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the game’s most pivotal moments from the perspective of one of its most respected referees.
Out now