Rhonda Douglas picks Amy Jones's We're All In This Together
Rhonda writes: "If I have to pick just one book I'm dying to read this summer, it's We're All in This Together by Amy Jones. Jones is also the author of What Boys Like and Other Stories. I loved that book and so am curious to see what Jones has done in a novel. Apparently there are crazy family shenanigans involved and I think Jones's wit will just slice family dynamics wide open. Have this one on the top of my pile to enjoy under a tree in August—can't wait!"
Rhonda Douglas is the author of Some Days I Think I Know Things: The Cassandra Poems, (Signature Editions) and Welcome to the Circus: Stories (Freehand Books). We recommended Welcome to the Circus in this post right here, and Publishers Weekly calls the collection "an exhilarating read."
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Ali Bryan picks Todd Babiak's Son of France
Ali writes: "Timely, complicated, dark, sensuous, dirty, visceral, French. Like a petit four on a subway track. Son of France is the much-anticipated followup to Come Barbarians but without the vegetable peelers."
Ali Bryan's debut novel, Roost, was shortlisted for Alberta's Trade Fiction Book of the Year and was deemed "hilarious" by the National Post. Roost is a huge favourite around here, too.
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Trevor Corkum picks Mexican Hooker #1, by Carmen Aguirre
Trevor writes: "I'm much looking forward to reading Carmen Aguirre's new memoir Mexican Hooker #1, which details her career as a theatre artist and a dissident revolutionary and speaks to the trauma of an early sexual assault. Aguirre's writing is sharp, and her storytelling abilities extraordinary and generously truthful."
Trevor Corkum is the author of the forthcoming novel, The Electric Boy, which will be published with Doubleday Canada. His fiction, essays, and creative non-fiction have been published widely, and he is the creator of our amazing author interview series, The Chat.
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Jennifer Zilm picks Phyllis Webb's Nothing But the Brush Strokes
Nothing But the Brush Strokes chronicles Phyllis Webbs struggle with the creative process and her intense need to probe beneath the surface of things. Jennifer writes: "I am particularly excited to read the essay 'Waterlily and Multifoliate Rose: Cyclic Notions in Proust. Part of the fun of reading Proust is reading about other people read Proust and I'm excited to read Phyllis Webb's—one of my favourite poets—take on it."
Jennifer Zilm is the author of the poetry collection Waiting Room, a draft of which was shortlisted for the 2014 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. Betsy Warland (Oscar of Between) writes, "Zilm deeply attends to the urgency and meaning of the poem on every level and it’s rare. Brava!"
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Adrienne Gruber picks Ali Blythe's Twoism
Adrienne writes: "I saw Ali read from his debut book of poetry, Twoism, and absolutely loved his work. He read at Little Sisters in Vancouver but had sold out of books that night before I could buy one. I'm dying to read this book because it's about multiple selves inside a fluid body. It's about merging double lives, gender and sexual duality, trans issues and navigating outside social norms, internal conflicts, relationships, and ultimately, it's an exploration of identity and books about identity are always the richest, most satisfying books to read."
Adrienne Gruber's latest collection is Buoyancy Control, about whose poems Brecken Hancock, winner of the 2015 Trillium Book Award for Poetry, writes: "Plaintive, ecstatic, carnal, these pieces often wonder whether we’re 'complete on our own,' while veering between the urgency of self-pleasure, the defensiveness of self-containment, and the wound of self-reflexivity."