Canada Reads is the great Canadian book debate! You can find it on CBC March 8-11, 2021. I’ve finished all five books so you can scroll down for an introduction to this year’s line-up.
My favourite this year is Butter Honey Pig Bread, but all five of the books have merit and deserve to be promoted. This year’s theme is “books to transport us” and this year four of the five authors identify as LGBTQ.
I am excited about the diversity of humanity in the books this year and look forward to the discussion! Several of these books are important because they offer characters who are often marginalised in society and don’t usually find themselves represented in literature.
Jonny Appleseed and Butter Honey Pig Bread are both culturally diverse LGBTQ titles published by Arsenal Pulp Press. Based in Vancouver, Arsenal focuses on under-represented genres (underground, multiracial, LGBTQ, graphic novels, etc.).
For each book I’ve included a brief note about the debate celebrity, a short description of the book, and a note about the author. In no particular order, here are the Canada Reads 2021 books:
‘Butter Honey Pig Bread’ by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Roger Mooking, a chef, restaurateur, television host, author and award-winning recording artist, is championing Butter Honey Pig Bread. This book is a feast for the mind, the senses, and the soul.
Butter Honey Pig Bread is a generous bighearted intergenerational novel that explores Nigerian culture, folklore, family, food and forgiveness. Food is more delicious when shared and indeed, can serve as a connection between people. The story shifts in time and is set in various locations: Halifax, Montreal, London and parts of Nigeria. It is a story of twin sisters that revolves around some events that took place which caused their relationship to become fraught. There is trauma in this book, but also a lot of love and a capacity to heal and embrace the mysteries in life.
Ekwuyasi is a writer, filmmaker and visual artist. Butter Honey Pig Bread is her first book. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and currently lives in Halifax.
‘Jonny Appleseed’ by Joshua Whitehead
Devery Jacobs, a Mohawk actor and filmmaker, is championing Jonny Appleseed and said about the book, “It’s ultimately a love letter to Indigiqueers and to two-spirit people and to the women in our communities. It finds the cracks of light in darkness.”
Jonny Appleseed is an unforgettable fictional Indigiqueer character who makes money in cyber sex. There is dysfunction, hurt, and pain in Jonny’s life, but also vulnerability and deep love for himself, his friends, and his family (especially his mother and grandmother). This book is frank, unapologetic, lyrical, and reflective in nature, rather than paced. I was enriched by the poignant insights into being both indigenous and queer, and the way Jonny embraces the pain in his life. “If we animate our pain, it becomes something we can make love to.”
Whitehead, a two spirit member of the Peguis first nation, has won multiple awards for his literary fiction and poetry. He is now working on his PhD and redefines what queer Indigenous writing can be.
‘The Midnight Bargain’ by C.L. Polk
Rosey Edeh, a three-time Canadian Olympian athlete, is championing The Midnight Bargain and said the book “is a fantastic journey filled with magic, love and self-determination. ”
The Midnight Bargain is a fantasy that focuses on feminism where the protagonist cleverly outsmarts the patriarchy and upper class power. The novel has strong Jane Austen overtones and is a playful mix of romance, magic, and social commentary. Polk’s character Beatrice is making her debut at an annual event where wealthy young men and women gather from all over the world to make advantageous marriages. But she harbours secret plans that will upend society. Rather than get married, Beatrice plans to bind a greater spirit and become a full magician. Performing the secret ritual goes against oppressive customs designed to shackle women’s powers during their childbearing years.
Polk is a world fantasy writer from Calgary. Both Whitehead and Polk have won the Lambda Literary Award for gay fiction.
‘Hench’ by Natalie Zina Walschots
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, best known for his role as Appa in Kim’s Convenience, is championing Hench as a novel that reminded him of why he “started reading for fun in the first place.”
Anna Tromedlov is a woman who gets a job to pay the bills by doing data entry and administrative work for villains. The book is an adventure but also a subversive take on superhero tropes combined with awkward office politics–superheroes and spreadsheets, a unique combination, and who knew a spreadsheet could be used as a weapon! Her character exposes the reality that there are marginalised individuals who can get hurt when superheroes come in and save the day. The story leaves the reader thoughtful but also a bit confused about who the bad guys really are and how justice can and should be served.
Walschots is a writer and journalist from Toronto. Hench is her first novel.
‘Two Trees Make a Forest’ by Jessica J. Lee
Scott Helman, a singer songwriter, is championing Two Trees Make a Forest because he is interested in ancestral heritage and the environment. His latest album, NonSuch Park, remembers his grandfather’s life.
Two Trees Make a Forest is a memoir that explores the author’s quest for discovering her family history through nature, landscape, geography, and history. A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she traces his story while growing closer to the land he knew. Her travels are a journey to find her own roots and identity but at the same time, a beautifully written description of Taiwan. Lee’s family background is a mixture of British-Welsh-Chinese-Taiwanese and her divided sense of home and belonging is something many Canadians will identify with.
Lee is a British Canadian Taiwanese author and environmental historian. She has a PhD in environmental history and aesthetics, and currently lives in London, UK.
Joanne's Reading Blog 
Fantastic overview of Canada Reads!
Interesting line-up. Although I do feel a bit sad how incredibly politicized this Canada Reads project is becoming, and more so year after year. Are no good stories written or championed at all by individuals who are not somehow racialized, marginalized, LGBTQ2S?
Hey Nandy, thanks for your honest comment. I myself have been curious to know a bit more about how the books are chosen for the debate and how they are picked by the celebrities. It will be an interesting discussion. I am happy to see underrepresented genres being promoted so that people who have not seen themselves in literature before, can do so now. Enjoy the debate if you tune in!
Thanks for excellent .review of the Canada Reads books! Each year I find it more difficult to get into them. But then I remind myself that it is good to get involved in books that I would not normally pick up probably because they are outside my comfort zone.
I will never forget Jonny Appleseed and his friend Tias. I did not want the book to end until there was a resolution. Perhaps like the book Trickster there will be a sequel.
I am almost finished Butter, Honey and Pig Bread. A compelling read that I find hard to put down.
Looking forward to the Indigo zoom event on Tuesday evening featuring the five authors.
You’re very welcome Joan! I agree with you, it’s good to have an assignment once in awhile! 🙂 That’s why book clubs are good too! I think you chose two of the best books to start with. Jonny Appleseed and Butter Honey Pig Bread were my favourites, but I’m glad I read the others too. Thanks for mentioning the Indigo zoom event. I wasn’t aware of that!
A late comment here on Butter Honey Pig Bread. Foremost, I’ll be watching this author in the years ahead. Based on this first novel, she seems to be a very promising new Canadian voice. Some of the writing in this book was incredibly compelling to me. However, the author seems to throw just about every bit of female misery at the reader in this one novel: multiple miscarriages, loss of children, abortion, repeat sexual assault, troubled relationships with partners. Also, thrown into the mix are severe mental illness, a suicide attempt and the verbial kitchen sink of other human struggles. The cooking in the book isn’t exciting or (therapeutically) convincing enough for me to balance all this trauma and sadness. However, as said, eager to see a 2nd novel by Ekwuyasi.
It’s true Nandy, there’s a lot of trauma in the book but the author deals so sensitively with it. Comfort food is a very cultural thing!