IN THE NEWS!
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS TOP READS OF 2021
The Winnipeg Free Press listed their book reviewers’ top reads of 2021, which included five Biblioasis titles: Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat(June 1, 2021), Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021), Andri Snær Magnason’s On Time and Water(March 30, 2021), Andrew Potter’s On Decline (August 17, 2021), and Best Canadian Essays (October 19, 2021)! The list was posted on December 4, 2021. You can check out the full list here.
Order A Ghost in the Throat here!
Order Dante’s Indiana here!
Order On Time and Water here!
Order On Decline here!
Order Best Canadian Essays 2021 here!
THE SINGING FOREST
Judith McCormack’s The Singing Forest (September 21, 2021) was reviewed in the New York Times‘ list of ‘The Season’s Best New Historical Novels’! The review was posted on December 3, 2021. You can check out the full list here.
Reviewer Alida Becker praised,
“The Singing Forest blends thought-provoking reflections on the moral reckoning of war crimes with a warm, wry, almost Anne Tyler-esque depiction of a young woman’s attempts to decode her eccentric professional and personal families … Leah’s losses, her questions about her parents, are subtly contrasted with larger questions about truth and responsibility, especially when she flies off to conduct interviews in Minsk, ‘where facts had been malleable for so long, where they had become saleable commodities.'”
Judith McCormack, author of The Singing Forest was interviewed by Joseph Planta on thecommentary.ca podcast! The interview was posted on November 30, 2021. You can listen to it here.
Host Joseph Planta said,
“The ideas of justice, vengeance, and motive are contended with, and it’s fascinating to think about as the time has passed from the crimes themselves. Heritage, inheritance, and memory are also investigated in the book that is quite engaging.”
The Singing Forest was also included in The Walrus‘ ‘Canadian Authors Pick Their Favourite Books of 2021’ list! The list was posted on December 2, 2021. You can check out the full list here.
Caroline Adderson said,
“Moving hypnotically between present events and two motherless childhoods—Jarvis’s eccentric upbringing and the loveless brutality of Drozd’s—McCormack pulls off a little miracle. For much of the novel, we care about the monster. All this she accomplishes in sentences that wrap themselves around you.”
An excerpt from The Singing Forest was also published in LitHub! The excerpt was published online on December 3, 2021. You can read it here.
Get your copy of The Singing Forest here!
HOUSEHOLDERS
Householders (September 14, 2021) by Kate Cayley was listed as a 49th Shelf Book of the Year 2021! The list was published yesterday on December 6, 2021. You can check out the full list on the website here.
Get your copy of Householders here!
CHEMICAL VALLEY
David Huebert, author of Chemical Valley (October 19, 2021) was interviewed in a Q&A by Supriya Saxena for ZYZZYVA! The Q&A was posted on December 2, 2021. You can read it here.
Supriya Saxena wrote,
“The stories are varied, featuring oil refinery workers, teenage climate activists, long-term care nurses, and more, showing the issues and intricacies of their lives in lush detail. The grim explorations of wealth inequality, illness, and bereavement are counterbalanced by the rich and lyrical prose, providing heartfelt insights into today’s damaged world and the individuals who inhabit it.”
Get your copy of Chemical Valley here!
DANTE’S INDIANA
Randy Boyagoda, author of Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021) was interviewed alongside Alix Ohlin in the Globe and Mail! The interview was posted on December 3, 2021, and is part of a series of conversations between authors to mark the 2021 edition of The Globe 100. You can read the full interview here.
On the fun of writing, Randy Boyagoda said,
“[T]he comedy in Dante’s Indiana is in service to something larger and more serious. So yes, I had a lot of fun writing it. But it was always with the discipline of making sure that it led to something greater than only another zany joke.”
Order your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!
Or get the first two books in the series with the Original Prin & Dante’s Indiana bundle here!
DRIVEN
Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers (May 4, 2021) by Marcello Di Cintio was included in The Walrus‘ ‘Canadian Authors Pick Their Favourite Books of 2021’ list! The list was posted on December 2, 2021. You can check out the full list here.
Alex Pugsley said,
“A blend of reportage, social history, and personal profile, Driven is a triumph of curiosity and compassion.”
Order your copy of Driven here!
ON PROPERTY
Rinaldo Walcott, author of On Property (February 2, 2021) was interviewed alongside Esi Edugyen in the Globe and Mail! The interview was posted on December 4, 2021, and is part of a series of conversations between authors to mark the 2021 edition of The Globe 100. You can read the full interview here.
During the interview, Rinaldo Walcott said,
“The question of the relationship between silence and political action is one that I hold dearly. I do not believe that everyone who holds some kind of public personality needs to speak to political issues. If you’re a writer and you write poetry and that’s the way you address these questions, do that. If you write novels, do that. Politics by guilt never works. Politics has to be generous. It has to be willing to bring people along. It has to be persuasive. It has to be willing to engage.”
Order your copy of On Property here!
Or get the full Field Notes series bundle here!
THE ACCIDENT
Mihail Sebastian’s The Accident (May 1, 2011) was reviewed in the Calvert Journal! The review was posted on December 3, and can be read on their website here.
Reviewer Paula Erizanu wrote,
“With its elegant, sparkling-clear prose, tight structure, and memorable characters, the short novel is a page-turner and, perhaps Mihail Sebastian’s best work of fiction.”
Get your copy of The Accident here!
