You're probably already railing about the proliferation of year-end best-of lists cluttering up your social media feeds of late, but we promise you that this one is a little different from the rest. How? First, because list-making is not just a seasonal thing at 49th Shelf—we're dedicated to the task and do it all year round; we're book list experts. And second, because we've created this list by selecting critically acclaimed titles we know that readers have adored.
And just a note: this list is only the beginning of the huge number of fantastic Canadian titles that were published in 2014. Please do explore our site to find out about so many others, not to mention the great books that were published last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, etc.
We promise that you will never ever run out of great things to read.
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Between, by Angie Adou
"The work of feminism is not done," notes Angie Adbou in her Q&A with us from September. "Of course our struggles in North America are not the same as the struggles of someone like Ligaya in the third world. Nonetheless, it is worth acknowledging that disparity exists here, too. I was pleased when Stacey May Fowles, in her Quill and Quire review, called Between a 'glaringly feminist narrative.'"
Read our Q&A with Angie Abdou on Between
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Just Pretending, by Lisa Bird-Wilson
"With Just Pretending I set out to write about identity and meaning in families and relationships," remarks Bird-Wilson of her award-winning collection, "how individuals negotiate the sometimes-murky waters of their families and how that is all complicated further by having two families—a family of origin and a family that raises you—and so on—it can go further than that—there is no 'typical' or 'normal' family is there? I have a strong appreciation for the irony that we think of home as safe and the outside world as dangerous and how that notion is so easily turned on its head."
Read our Q&A with Lisa Bird-Wilson on Just Pretending
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Almost Criminal, by E.R. Brown
"Books are not about to disappear," writes Brown in his post about the inevitable comparisons between his acclaimed novel and the TV show, Breaking Bad. "Digital downloads may be a threat, but an event like the Edgars demonstrates that books will be all right. They survived the advent of radio plays, then feature films and broadcast television, and they will tough it out against cable and Netflix. Because of the power of the reading experience."
Read E.R. Brown's post, "Breaking Bad Versus Almost Criminal"
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A Siege of Bitterns, by Steve Burrows
"Throughout the day, the cast changes, but the plot remains the same," writes Steve Burrows of bird-watching, a hobby he has linked with fiction in more ways than one (including in the debut novel of his Birder Murder Mystery series). "And like all the best plots, it grips you because it matters. It truly is a life-or-death situation. Will the feeders be well-stocked enough? With the right sorts of food? Niger seed is no good for the cardinals, after all, nor corn for the woodpeckers. But even assuming there is the right food, and enough of it, and they don’t get outcompeted by others, all after the same prize, will the birds be able to evade the predators?"
Read Steve Burrows' post on how birds and books are both the stuff of life
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The Troop, by Nick Cutter
"As an adult you discover the world is not a fair place," says Cutter in his Q&A with us. "It takes the good and the bad and the deserving and not-so-deserving indiscriminately—and with that knowledge comes the sense that yes, you could die at any time for the silliest or most unfair reasons. But as kids that sense is not yet so keen. So it’s almost ignorance that keeps the boys [in the book] alive. And in a situation like that which unfolds in the book, inconceivable as it is, such ignorance—or most properly, belief—would be vital, don’t you think?"
Read our Q&A with Nick Cutter on The Troop
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Rivering: The Poetry of Daphne Marlatt, edited by Susan Knutson
"It is the gift of poetry to require attention—this requirement is what makes poetry transformative," writes Susan Knutson in her Q&A with us about the experience of creating this collection, and how reading Marlatt's poetry aided in her recovery from a traumatic brain injury after a terrible car accident during the editing of this book. "As a species, now, we must transform, so in this sense, poetry is more important that ever."
Read our Q&A with Susan Knutson on Rivering
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Detachment: An Adoption Memoir, by Maurice Mierau
"Parenting as a narrative is chaotic, denouement-less as you say, and so memoir that focuses on storytelling, like mine does, is somewhat artificial," notes Mierau in his Q&A with us about family, fatherhood, and the experience of writing memoir. "But literature depends on contrivance, as all avid readers know. Narrative problems were what made this book challenging and also fun to write."
Read our Q&A with Maurice Mierau on Detachment
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Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel, by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk
In the early 1950s, Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk was asked by a priest working in Kangiqsujuaq in northern Quebec to write down some Inuttitut phrases to assist him in the study of the language. At the age of 22, Nappaaluk began writing but did not stop at mere phrases. She invented a group of characters and events and, over the next 20 years, wrote the first Inuit novel, simultaneously reinventing the novel form.
The result is an entertaining, accessible, and fascinating novel as remarkable as its origin story.
We were pleased to feature an excerpt from Sanaaq this winter: read it here.
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Pedal, by Chelsea Rooney
Steven W. Beattie recommended Pedal as a dazzling debut that "delves into situations and characters that many people will find uncomfortable... but does so in a manner that is intelligent and in no way exploitative." Beattie called Pedal "a brave book," and that same brave spirit (as well as Rooney's excellent prose) is on display in the list she created for us of books that explore notions of sexuality and gender.
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Girl Runner, by Carrie Snyder
We've been fans of Carrie Snyder's work since way back when, and so we're excited that her new book, Girl Runner, is taking the literary world by storm. In this interview with Sean Cranbury, Snyder shares the fascinating stories of women in sport that inspired her novel, and notes how history has conspired to keep the stories untold. Listen here.
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BONUS! Half for You and Half For Me: Best-Loved Nursery Rhymes and the Stories Behind Them, by Katherine Govier and Sarah Clement
Is there any verse more timeless than the humble nursery rhyme? In her latest book, celebrated fiction writer Govier explores the history and magic behind these often not-so innocent verses, and we were so pleased to feature her book's introduction on our blog last spring.
Govier writes about discovering these verses for the first time with her mother, and how these experiences delivered her a fervent love for words and their power on the page. Read the whole thing here.