If you liked A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt,
try TOL, NEW̱ SEN TŦE SOȽ: I Know the Road by
Jack Horne (ARP Books)
In Billy-Ray Belcourt’s novel, the unnamed narrator’s dissertation work quietly clashes against the unflinching structures of academia, and he heads home to try and ground his work in the queer and Indigenous life stories of his relatives and friends. If you’ll be rooting for filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as she defends the novel, try W̱SÁNEĆ scholar Jack Horne’s TOL, NEW̱ SEN TŦE SOȽ: I Know the Road; a bold and story-centred challenge to white supremacist and colonial structures in academia.
If you liked Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
(Invisible Publishing), try Hides by Rod Moody-Corbett
(Breakwater Books)
Father-son issues, Atlantic small towns, drinking to excess, and toxic masculinity are just some of the themes Terry Punchout and Hides share. They’re also debuts, also screamingly funny and heartbreakingly sad, and also published by independent Canadian presses. If you’re cheering on Steve “Dangle” Glynn as he champions the only indie in this year’s debates, we 100% recommend Hides as what to read next.
If you liked The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor,
try Len & Cub: A Queer History, by Meredith Batt and
Dusty Green (Goose Lane Editions)
In Loghan Paylor’s sweeping historical novel that centres on the decades-long romance between German-French-Canadian Rebekah and Irish-Canadian Kit before, during, and after the First World War, readers are introduced to selkies, rural Ontario life, German-Canadian discrimination, the horrors of war, and early understandings of queer and trans identity. If you’re hoping musician Tegan Quin takes the Canada Reads win, try reading Len & Cub, a beautiful, photo-forward biography of Leonard “Len” Keith and Joseph “Cub” Coates, two gay men in love who lived in rural New Brunswick around and during the First World War.
If you liked Foe by Iain Reid, try In the Country in the Dark
by Daryl Sneath (Signature Editions)
Iain Reid’s unsettling, slow-creeping suspense/speculative novel centres around Junior and his wife Hen, who live a mostly isolated life on a remote farm. When a visitor comes to tell Junior he’s been selected for a special scientific program sponsored by a massive corporation, it sends their lives into turmoil. If the creepy vibes and rural setting of Foe have you cheering for actor Josh Dela Cruz, try Daryl Sneath’s In the Country in the Dark. In this psychological thriller, new couple Landon and Joy ignore their better judgement and rush to buy The Hart Farm – but in their hurry, they forgot to realize how little they know about the property, or each other.
If you liked It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard,
try Depth of Field by Chantel Guertin (ECW Press)
The fluffy, New York-set, friends-to-lovers romance It’s Different This Time sees former roommates and friends June and Adam thrown back together when they unwittingly inherit a gorgeous Manhattan brownstone; their old apartment. If you were rooting for June and Adam to bury the hatchet and become friends again (and more), and have your fingers crossed for BookTok-er Morgann Book to win the day at Canada Reads, try Chantel Guertin’s YA novel Depth of Field. The third in Guertin’s Pippa Greene series, this one sees aspiring photographer Pippa head to New York, and is similarly full of heart, humour, and romance.
* * *
We’re already popping the popcorn for the Canada Reads debates, held this coming April 13-16, 2026. Have you been reading the finalists? What’s your fave, so far? Chat #CanadaReads with us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @alllitupcanada.
