Tara chats with author Harman Burns, a Saskatchewan-born trans woman, writer, filmmaker, and sound artist. Her work has been published in Rebelle Zine, Untethered Magazine, and Metatron Press, and her story “Among Strange Machines” was shortlisted for the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction. Her debut novella, Yellow Barks Spider was published in 2024 by Radiant Press. She currently resides in Vancouver on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.

Books and authors mentioned:

• Little Fish; A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett
• Johnny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
• Kai Cheng Thom
• Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
• Zulaikha by Niloufar-Lily Soltani
• Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales
• House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen #4/10) by Steven Erikson

https://www.instagram.com/harman.burns/

https://radiantpress.ca/shop/p/yellowbarksspider

Rebecca and Tara are finally back after a six-week break with lots of great titles to share!

Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):

• One of Ours by Willa Cather
• Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park
• King Leary by Paul Quarrington
• Pay Dirt by Sara Paretsky
• Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell
• Blue Horses by Mary Oliver
  • If I Wanted a Boat"
  • "Watering the Stones"
  • "Franz Marc's Blue Horses"
• "Garnett Kilberg Cohen and Cravings" podcast, February 13, 2024

Tara (@onabranchreads):

• https://riverbookshop.com/ in Amherstburg, Ontario
• The Immortal Woman by Su Chang
• The ANNEthology: A Collection of Kindred Spirits Inspired by the Canadian Icon, compiled by Judith Graves and edited by Robin Sutherland
• Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
• Notes Towards Recovery by Louise Ells
• “Dr. Louise Ells and Lies I Told My Sister” podcast, February 1, 2025
• Our Green Heart: The Soul and Science of Forests by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
• The Weeping Degree: How Astrology Saved Me from Suicide by Kelly Watt
• No Credit River by Zoe Whittal
• Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari
• The Ghost Orchard by Helen Humphreys

Tara chats with author Joanne Jackson about Canadian Prairie authors.

Saskatchewan Hidden Gems:

--Beatrice and Virgil; The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel

--Life on the Refrigerator Door; Polly Diamond series by Alice Kuipers

--Going to Beautiful; Russell Quant Mysteries by Anthony Bidulka

--Snake in the Raspberry Patch by Joanne Jackson

--A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

--Author Gail Bowen

https://www.joannejackson.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/joannejacksonauthor/

Rebecca is joined by friend of the podcast Zeralda to answer the Five Questions for Reader Repartee:

• How did you become a reader?
• What book do you wish you could read again for the first time?
• Which author, living or dead, would you like to meet in person and why?
• What fictional character would you like to meet and why?
• What are you currently reading?

Responses:

• The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
• Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny
• The Iliad by Homer
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• The Last Ranger by Peter Heller
• Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
• My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
• Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchison

Rebecca and Tara again welcome host Ali Hassan for their annual wrap up of the CBC’s Canada Reads debates!

https://standupali.com/

https://standupali.com/my-book

https://www.instagram.com/standupali

Recommended books:

• American War; What Strange Paradise; One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
• A History of Burning by Janika Oza

THIS YEAR’S WINNER:

• A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild

THE RUNNERS-UP:

• Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
• Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
• Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
• Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads

Rebecca and Tara discuss Day THREE of CBC's Canada Reads debates!

STILL IN:

• Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
• Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
• A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild

NOW OUT:

• Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil
• Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads

Please note that on DAY FOUR Rebecca and Tara will be live on YouTube wrapping up the debates with Jolene (@bookwormadventure girl) on Thursday, March 20 @ 7:30 pm EDT:

https://www.youtube.com/@canadareadsamericanstyle

Also, make sure to check out Jolene's YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@BookwormAdventureGirl

Rebecca and Tara discuss Day TWO of CBC's Canada Reads debates!

STILL IN:

• Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
• Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
• Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
• A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild

NOW OUT:

• Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads

Rebecca and Tara discuss Day One of CBC's Canada Reads debates!

• Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew; championed by "Pastry Nerd" Saïd M’Dahoma
• Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper; championed by actor Michelle Morgan
• Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston; championed by author Linwood Barclay
• A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby and Mary Louisa Plummer; championed by Indigenous advocate Shayla Stonechild
• Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey; championed by Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads