Canadian books & Christmas

 

One of my fond­est early child­hood memor­ies is of be­ing tucked up in bed and read a story or two be­fore I closed my eyes on the day gone by. It didn’t mat­ter if the read­er was my mom or dad, one of my grand­par­ents, an aunt, or even a babysit­ter. I eagerly looked for­ward to be­ing im­mersed in an­oth­er realm and the ex­cite­ment of turn­ing the page to dis­cov­er what came next.

I still be­lieve in the ma­gic of books and their abil­ity to in­trigue, in­form and ex­cite read­ers. And I con­tin­ue the child­hood tra­di­tion of read­ing in bed be­fore ven­tur­ing into dream­land each night. I’ve laughed, cried, and at times been so creeped out that I’ve had to leave my winter co­coon of flan­nel sheets and cozy quilt to make sure all the doors and win­dows were locked. 

So, it’s no sur­prise that books are at the top of my Christmas wish list

each year. And that they are my go-to for gifts to give oth­ers. Make that Canadian books, please, as I love to sup­port the arts and cul­ture of the vast coun­try I live in.

Avid read­ers know where to find the books they like or dis­cov­er some­thing new to ex­pand their world. But if you’re new to, re­turn­ing to the pas­time of read­ing, or not sure what might ap­peal, your loc­al book­store will be happy to help out.

You can also pick up (or sub­scribe to for $25 a year) BC BookWorld to find out about new re­leases. Or check out ABCBookWorld, for in­form­a­tion about more than 12,800 British Columbia authors.

A few Canadian books I’ve read recently:

The Conjoined by Jen Sookfong Lee

By the Time You Read This by Giles Blunt

In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje

Canadian books on my Christmas wish list include:

The Broken Detective by Joel Nedecky

Surviving the Nazis by Evelyn Kahn

Rufus and Calliope by Sarah Louise Butler

Personally, I can’t think of a bet­ter way to spend a winter even­ing than cuddled up with a book by a Canadian au­thor. So, if it isn’t already part of your hol­i­day tra­di­tion, con­sider ask­ing for and giv­ing Canadian books as gifts this Christmas.