14 Canadian books to get those who love to laugh this holiday season
Books make great gifts for everyone! If you know someone who enjoys a read that makes them LOL, check out these Canadian titles.
Reasonable Adults by Robin Lefler
Reasonable Adults is a charming romantic comedy about a young woman named Kate Rigsby. Kate takes a job at an arts retreat in Muskoka cottage country after her life falls apart. She imagines three idyllic months in an artistic wonderland as she plots her next chapter. But reality isn't anything like she expected. Can Kate pull it together? And can she successfully avoid her gorgeous — and off-limits — new coworker?
Robin Lefler is a writer from Kitchener, Ont. Before she wrote fiction, she worked in the tech industry. Reasonable Adults is her first novel.
How to Take Over the World by Ryan North
How to Take Over the World is a guide for supervillains with a keen interest in world domination. In this introduction to the science of comic-book supervillainy, Ryan North details various evil schemes that harness the potential of today's most advanced technologies. The book also considers how one might save the world from some of its greatest threats by exploring emerging techniques to combat cyberterrorism, communicate across millennia and extend human life spans.
North is a writer and comics creator from Toronto. North's work on the comics Adventure Time, Jughead and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, have received three Eisner Awards. He has also written two "choose-your-own-path" books, To Be Or Not To Be and Romeo and/or Juliet, parodying Shakespeare's famous tragedies. His recent book How to Invent Everything, is a guide on how to rebuild modern civilization for lost time travellers.
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is a witchy romance novel about five elder witches. The witches are facing fading powers as they age, an evil power one bargained too far with, and an angry mob threatening to destroy their home. Can they come together to overcome these obstacles before it's too late?
Bianca Marais is a writer, teacher and podcaster born in South Africa and currently living in Toronto. She is also the author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words.
We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu
Simu Liu details his journey from China to Canada to Hollywood, where he becomes the star of Marvel's first Asian superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Born in China, Liu's parents brought him to Canada when he was just four years old. As he grows up, he gets top marks in school, participates in national math competitions and makes his parents proud. But less than a year out of college and disillusioned with the life laid out for him, Liu is determined to carve out his own path.
Liu is an actor and writer best known for his work on Marvel's Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the CBC sitcom Kim's Convenience. He lives in Los Angeles and Toronto.
LISTEN | Simu Liu reflects on his rise to fame:
Modern Fables by Mikka Jacobsen
Mikka Jacobsen's book is a comedic look at coming-of-age and finding love in the modern age of social media and the internet. A mix of memoir, feminist theory and literary criticism, Modern Fables exposes narratives about what it means to be a single woman in your 30s.
Jacobsen is a writer from Calgary. Her work has appeared in various publications, including Joyland and The Fiddlehead. Modern Fables is her first book.
LISTEN | Mikka Jacobsen discusses Modern Fables:
Is There Bacon in Heaven? by Ali Hassan
In this comedic memoir, Canadian comedian Ali Hassan looks back at growing up as a chameleon. He had friends from multiple different countries and religions, but also played hockey and knew Neil Young songs. He could blend in everywhere. But the world — and his Muslim Pakistani family and community — has a funny way of reminding you who you are. In Is There Bacon in Heaven?, Hassan shares his life-long journey to becoming a cultural Muslim, learning to embrace his heritage while following his passions.
Ali Hassan is an Canadian actor, comedian, host of CBC Radio's Laugh Out Loud and frequent guest host of Q and As It Happens. He is also the host of Canada Reads. He has recurring roles on the television series Run the Burbs, Odd Squad and Working Moms. He's performed at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and Toronto and his solo show, Muslim, Interrupted, was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
LISTEN | Ali Hassan reflects on his professional and personal journeys:
Jameela Green Ruins Everything by Zarqa Nawaz
Jameela Green Ruins Everything is a satirical novel about a young woman named Jameela Green, whose biggest dream is to see her novel become a bestseller. When that dream doesn't come true, she becomes involved in her local mosque, which inadvertently leads her to infiltrating an international terrorist organization. Jameela Green Ruins Everything explores success, searching for meaning and community, and the failures of American foreign policy.
Zarqa Nawaz is a film and TV producer, writer and former broadcaster based in Regina. She is best known for being the creator of the hit CBC comedy series Little Mosque on the Prairie. She is also the author of the memoir Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. Nawaz is also working on a new CBC TV series called Zarqa, which is set to premiere in fall 2022.
LISTEN | Zarqa Nawaz discusses Jameela Green Ruins Everything with Shelagh Rogers:
Some Maintenance Required by Marie-Renée Lavoie, translated by Arielle Aaronson
It's 1993 and Laurie's final year of school. She works part time at a restaurant and cares for her neglected, potty-mouthed neighbour named Cindy. Laurie devours books and has big dreams, but struggles to keep her car running. As she experiences a budding romance, Laurie's eyes are opened to a more complicated world of class differences and circumstances beyond her control.
Some Maintenance Required is a funny coming-of-age story about taking responsibility and owning your life.
Marie-Renée Lavoie is a Canadian writer from Quebec. She's the author of three other books, including A Boring Wife Settles the Score, Autopsy of a Boring Wife and Mister Roger and Me (La petite et le vieux in French), which won Radio-Canada's Le combat des livres in 2012.
Arielle Aaronson is a French to English translator of novels, films and more. She has previously translated Marie-Renée Lavoie's A Boring Wife Settles the Score and Autopsy of a Boring Wife. Aaronson lives in Montreal with her family.
Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman
Smells Like Tween Spirit follows a mother named Jen Dixon, who finds herself facing a host of challenges from science fair to a school fundraiser and the competitive world of being a wrestling mom. Between school events and teaching spin classes, Jen must learn how to navigate this new world and find the strength to press on.
Laurie Gelman spent 25 years as a broadcaster in the U.S. and Canada before turning her focus to writing. She is the author of the novels Class Mom, You've Been Volunteered and Yoga Pant Nation. Gelman lives in New York City.
Rave by Jessica Campbell
This graphic novel follows a 15-year-old girl named Lauren, who is a faithful member of an evangelical church. After her devout parents banish evolution textbooks from the house, Lauren goes to study and sleeps over at her classmate Mariah's house. The evening develops into something Lauren never expected, and she's left to sort out a lifetime's worth of internalized homophobia and Christian guilt.
Jessica Campbell is an artist, originally from Victoria, whose work has been exhibited across the U.S. and Canada. Her previous books include Hot or Not: 20th Century Male Artists and XTC69.
LISTEN | Jessica Campbell discusses Rave on Q:
The Sugar Thief by Nancy Mauro
The Sugar Thief is a novel with themes of comedy, melodrama, baked goods and a secret recipe. It revolves around Sabine Rose, a successful social media influencer with a successful baking channel who returns home to visit her family who owns an Italian bakery. But when her father dies, things spiral into tragedy and farce as her family tries to pick up the pieces.
Nancy Mauro is a New York City-based writer, author and a former advertising creative director. Originally from Thunder Bay, Ont., she has lived and worked in Toronto and Vancouver where she was a fellow and graduate of the University of British Columbia's MFA program in creative writing. Her debut novel, New World Monkeys, was published in 2010.
Talking to Canadians by Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer, the most private of public figures, has turned the spotlight on himself in Talking to Canadians. When the beloved comedian retired from his hugely successful TV show after 15 seasons, at the peak of its popularity, everyone wondered what he was going to do next. The answer came not long after, when he became a stand-up comedian, playing to sold-out houses wherever he appeared.
Mercer rose to fame with his one-man show that toured across Canada, Show Me the Button I'll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Die. He co-created and was a resident performer on CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes and was co-host of The Rick Mercer Report for 15 seasons.
Kerfuffle by Dorothy Ellen Palmer
Kerfuffle takes us back to 2010 and the G20 protests in Toronto, where a large group of protesters were wrongfully detained. Palmer uses this politically charged backdrop to delve into the lives of five young members of a fictional improv group called Kerfuffle.
Dorothy Ellen Palmer is a writer, accessibility advocate, retired teacher, improv coach and union activist. She serves on the accessibility advisory committee for the Festival of Literary Diversity as well as the Disability Justice Network of Ontario. She is also the author of the memoir Falling for Myself and the novel When Fenelon Falls.
LISTEN | Dorothy Ellen Plamer talks to Shelagh Rogers about Kerfuffle:
Rosa's Very Own Personal Revolution by Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge
Rosa Ost grows up in a tiny village where boredom and the paper industry reign supreme. When Rosa decides to leave her home for Montreal on a quest to summon the westerly wind that is essential to the local economy, a tale of long journeys, prophecies and death unravels. Rosa's Very Own Personal Revolution is a story about stories, storytellers and revolution in Quebec.
Eric Dupont is an award-winning author from Quebec. His fourth novel, Songs for the Cold of Heart, was a finalist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The original French version of the novel, La Fiancée Américaine, won Quebec's top two literary prizes: the Prix des libraires and the Prix des collégiens.
Peter McCambridge is an editor and translator from Quebec. His translation of Songs for the Cold of Heart by Eric Dupont was a finalist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
LISTEN | Why Eric Dupont loves The Little Prince:
