The best Canadian nonfiction of 2017

What were the best books published this year? Here are CBC Books' picks for top 10 Canadian works of nonfiction.

Too Much and Not the Mood by Durga Chew-Bose

Too Much and Not the Mood is the debut collection of personal essays from Montreal-born and Brooklyn-based writer Durga Chew-Bose. The book, inspired by a 1931 Virginia Woolf diary entry, examines issues regarding identity, culture and the intricate process of writing. It shows even more readers why Chew-Bose has become one of the most respected and popular writers online today.

• Durga Chew-Bose's surprising literary inspiration

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul

In this essay collection, writer Scaachi Koul shares her observations, fears and experiences as a woman of colour growing up in Canada. Koul's essays are a mix of personal anecdotes and cultural critique, all tinged with a sharp, often self-deprecating, humour. Featuring Twitter trolls, knuckle hair and more, the BuzzFeed writer's debut book is a winning combination of funny and thoughtful. 

• Scaachi Koul on what to do if you liked a book by a garbage human

Birds Art Life by Kyo Maclear

Kyo Maclear spent a year shadowing the adventures of an avid birdwatcher in Toronto. She documents their journey in Birds Art Life and explores the intangible connections between nature, creativity and well-being. The memoir was a finalist for the 2017 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• How becoming a birdwatcher made Kyo Maclear more creative

Life on the Ground Floor by James Maskalyk

James Maskalyk practices emergency medicine and trauma at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital. His memoir, Life on the Ground Floor, chronicles his career treating patients in emergency rooms around the world, including in Ethiopia, Cambodia and Bolivia. Life on the Ground Floor won the 2017 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• Why James Maskalyk wanted to explore the human side of emergency medicine

All We Leave Behind by Carol Off

All We Leave Behind is a memoir that outlines CBC Radio host Carol Off's efforts to help bring an Afghan man and his family to Canada. In 2002, Off and a television crew filmed Asad Aryubwal for a documentary about local warlords. Aryubwal was threatened with violence after speaking out and reached out to Off to help protect his family. She spent years trying to bring them to safety in Canada. The book is on the shortlist for the B.C. National Book Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

• How Carol Off balanced fact and emotion in writing All We Leave Behind

Collected Tarts and Other Indelicacies by Tabatha Southey

Tabatha Southey brings a satirical eye to all things Canadiana, pop culture and politics in this collection. From bemoaning a potential dystopic future led by Trump's United States to facing the anger of jazz enthusiasts, the national newspaper and magazine columnist tackles all subjects with wit and wisdom.

• Tabatha Southey on the writing life: 'I know how lucky I am to have been given the space.'

Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga

In Seven Fallen Feathers, Tanya Talaga honours the lives of seven Indigenous students who died between 2000 and 2011. Jordan Wabasse, Kyle Morrisseau, Curran Strang, Robyn Harper, Paul Panacheese, Reggie Bushie and Jethro Anderson were all forced to live hundreds of kilometres away from their families to attend school. Talaga investigates the history of racism in this northern Ontario town and tries to understand what happened to the seven teenagers who lost their lives there.

• Why Tanya Talaga wrote a book about the lives and deaths of 7 Indigenous students in Thunder Bay

What Remains by Karen von Hahn

Pearls, perfume and silver satin sofas are among the objects that remind Karen von Hahn of her stylish and glamorous mother, Susan. But it wasn't until after Susan died that von Hahn realized these objects tell a story. In her memoir, What Remains, the lifestyle columnist reflects on what it was like to grow up in Toronto during the 1970s alongside her larger-than-life mother through treasures left behind.

• Why Karen von Hahn wrote a memoir about the objects her mother left behind

Beautiful Scars by Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson grew up in Hamilton to parents Bunny and George and rose to fame in the band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. At the age of 53, Wilson's life was upended when he discovered that his parents were really his great-aunt and uncle and the couple he visited on Kahnawake reserve growing up were his grandparents. In this moving and beautifully written memoir, Wilson describes the journey of discovering and returning to his Mohawk roots.

• How musician Tom Wilson discovered his Indigenous identity

The Way of the Strangers by Graeme Wood

In The Way of the Strangers, journalist Graeme Wood interviews supporters, recruiters and sympathizers of ISIS from all over the world, including followers from Egypt, Australia, Great Britain and the Philippines. Wood also meets with Muslim scholars, outspoken critics of ISIS, and investigates where the tenets of ISIS come from, how it might be dismantled and what its defeat might mean for the world.

• Islam is central to ISIS, says journalist who spent years interviewing fighters