ALU Summer Book Club: What to Read After I Think We’ve Been Here Before

If you like novels where the world is falling apart, but gently…

…try The Diapause by Andrew Forbes (Invisible Publishing)

Warmth and dread co-exist in Krause’s novel with its characters navigating deep grief and distance, much like in Andrew Forbes’s literary‑speculative novel. The Diapause begins with a family retreat to a remote Ontario cabin during a pandemic, and stretches into a future reshaped by climate upheaval and fractured relationships. Spanning decades, The Diapause traces the quiet ripple effects of isolation, memory, and fractured family bonds.

If you want more apocalyptic stories about communal care…

…try The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou (Biblioasis)

In this Canada-Reads winner, Detroit is reimagined under a magical, alternate-history apocalypse in which children form a new society in the treetops. Though the theme of survival is less cosmic and more communal, like Krause’s novel, it is subtle, haunting, and transformative. The Future offers a vivid portrait of what it means to endure together, reminding us that even in uncertainty, community can thrive.

If you liked the balance of existential horror and hope…

…try The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (ECW Press)

Like Krause’s novel, a simmering emotional disquiet pulses through Premee Mohamed’s The Annual Migration of Clouds, a speculative novella set in a post-climate-crisis Edmonton. As its protagonist Reid prepares to leave the safety of her community for a mysterious opportunity, the novel explores the tension between survival and hope, between what we inherit and what we choose to carry forward. Though the subject is bleak, the novel does a beautiful job of offering a hopeful glimpse at resilience, connection, and the possibility of renewal. And the next best part? You can read Mohamed’s follow-up, We Speak Through the Mountain, which continues Reid’s story.

If you enjoy small-town settings with a side of strange...

…try Big Shadow by Marta Balcewicz (Book*hug Press)

In I Think We’ve Been Here Before, Krause gives us the charm of a small-town setting alongside low-key apocalyptic dread. Likewise, Big Shadow delivers a delightfully offbeat summer in a small town (minus the meteorite) where things are not quite what they seem. In this coming-of-age novel Balcewicz delivers quirky energy with a dose of existential weirdness where a teenager on the cusp of adulthood struggles to craft an identity for herself.