Top books for giving and reading this season

Top book picks 2021 CTV's Leanne Cusack talks to Sean Wilson, artistic director of the Ottawa International Writers Festival, about his top book picks.

OTTAWA — It’s Sean Wilson’s job to read.

The artistic director for the Ottawa International Writers Festival, whom I have dubbed ‘our book guy,’ has a lot of books on the go.

He’s never happy when I ask him to share just a handful of his top picks with us. It’s painful to pare down the list.

“It’s an impossible task to pick just five books to recommend, but here’s a few recommendations for the holiday season!” says Wilson.

Fiction

What Strange Paradise – Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for “What Strange Paradise”. It’s a remarkable tale of a child refugee on the run to freedom. One of the most moving books of the year, it works as a page-turner while also asking us to examine how we think about borders, laws and basic human decency. Do we really think a child fleeing for his or her life can ever be “illegal”?

Tainna: The Unseen Ones - Dr. Norma Dunning

Dunning won this year’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction for her stunning collection of stories "Tainna: The Unseen Ones." We so rarely hear Inuit voices and to have this contemporary collection that looks at life today for Northerners living in the south is a gift. We tend to forget how much land and history and unique culture there is to be found in the north. It’s funny, fierce, intimate and entirely enthralling.

Nonfiction

A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency - Seth Klein

Given what is happening in BC right now, and the way this country is dealing with land defenders like the Wet’suwet’en, it seems as though we need to have a good long look at the climate crisis and what we can do to help tackle the problem. “A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency” by Seth Klein offers a timely overview of where we are and where we are headed. Given all the doom and gloom around the issue it’s important to look for voices that do not minimize the issues but also point a way forward. This book offers a remarkably hopeful and urgent message.

Picture book

David Alexander Robertson - When We Were Alone

Robertson has written two beautiful picture books with illustrations by Julie Flett.

Both won the Governor General’s Literary Award: “When We Were Alone” is about a grandmother and On the Trapline about a grandfather. Beautiful stories of intergenerational love and affection and teaching.

For Teens and Young Adults

Hunting by Stars – Cherie Dimaline

Dimaline’s follow up to her international bestseller, "The Marrow Thieves." For a heart-pounding post-apocalyptic tale of survival and the fight for freedom, that has the added resonance as a parable on Canada's oppression of Indigenous peoples.

It’s not on the list, but a book, Wilson is really excited about is Rick Mercer’s latest, “Talking to Canadians.”

If Newfoundland is known for its gorgeous “out ports”, it’s also known for its comedic “exports” and Mercer is one of the most famous and beloved.

Mercer will be in conversation with author and journalist Linden MacIntyre on Dec. 5at 7 p.m.

It’s the first in-person Writers Festival event since March of 2020.

“All proceeds from this event will support The Republic of Childhood, our intensive hands-on youth literacy and self-expression workshops in 2022,” explains Wilson.

“All tickets include a hardcover book, with a signed bookplate.”

Jann Arden would probably tell you the signed bookplate is just icing on the laughter-filled cake.

“I laughed so much reading this, I kept waking up my dog in bed. Rick is a determined writer—he never stops pulling you into his stories and he never stops looking for the punchlines in everyday life,” Arden says on the book jacket.

Mercer also happens to be somewhat of a doppelganger for Wilson, which has made for fun and double-takes at events.

You can get tickets at writersfestival.org for tickets.

Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination (double vaccination plus 14 days) will be required for all guests 12 years of age and older to enter the venue.

Once inside, masks are required and reduced capacity will be in place to ensure social distancing can be maintained.