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Rebecca and Tara are joined by Sarah (@sareshears) to discuss DAY TWO of Canada Reads. Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show.   

Jolene (@bookwormadventuregirl) joins Rebecca and Tara to discuss DAY ONE of CBC's Canada Reads debate. Jolene may be found on YouTube and Instagram, so please check her out! Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show.   

Rebecca and Tara share good books they've read over the past month, and they make their final prediction for the CBC's 2023 Canada Reads debates. Rebecca's titles: The Disappearance of Mr. Nobody by Ahmed Taibaoui; translated by Jonathan Wright The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman The Magic of Ordinary Days by Anne Howard Creel Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed Tara's title:  Fuse by Hollay Ghadery The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female by Tanis MacDonald (via Eden Mills Writers' Festival) All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show. 

Rebecca is excited to introduce award-winning author Michael Christie, who has been longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller prize three out of three times. They will be talking about his latest novel, Greenwood, which will be defended by Keegan Connor Tracy at the CBC’s Canada Reads debates running March 27-30, 2023. According to his website, Greenwood is a "multigenerational family story, in which the unexpected legacies of a remote island off the coast of British Columbia will link the fates of five people over a hundred years."   Website: https://michaelchristie.net/ Facebook and Instagram: @michaelchristie   Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show. 

Rebecca and Tara explore the world of DNFs--books that readers "did not finish".  Thank you to Bookworm Adventure Girl for the topic.  Books discussed: Rebecca:  Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Scars and Stars by Jesse Thistle Ted Kennedy by John A. Farrell Mossflower by Brian Jacques The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela Making a Scene by Constance Wu A Snake Falls to Earth; Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons The Orenda by Joseph Boyden Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr Tara: Glorious Frazzled Beings by Angélique Lalonde The Great Alone; The Nightingale; On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie   Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show. 

Rebecca and Tara are excited to chat with Keegan Connor Tracy, an award-winning actor, voiceover artist, writer, and director from British Columbia.  She has starred in the TV show Once Upon a Time as the Blue Fairy and as Belle in Disney's popular Descendents film franchise.  She is championing the novel Greenwood by Michael Christie on the 2023 CBC's Canada Reads debates.   Website: https://keeganthedirector.com/ Instagram: @keegolicious / @keeganthedirector Twitter: @KCTthedirector   Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show.   

Rebecca and Tara discuss what they are currently reading and their best 2023 reads to date. Rebecca (@canadareadsamericanstyle):  Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah Stars and Scars by Jesse Thistle Poet Natalie Diaz The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison YouTube Channel: Bookworm Adventure Girl Poet Mary Oliver How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu YouTube Channel: ThePoptimist Greenwood by Michael Christie Heartstopper by Alice Oseman Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton Stitches by David Small Tara (@onabranchreads): Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol; The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O'Meara The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen Podcast: Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe Half-Bads in White Regalia by Cody Caetano In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas Legends & Latte by Travis Baldree Canada Reads American Style is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, where your purchases support local independent bookstores.  Our curated shop includes books discussed on the podcast.  When you purchase a book through our virtual bookshop, a portion of the sales benefits a local bookstore, as well as the podcast, which helps offset the costs of the show.   

Rebecca and Tara welcome Margot Fedoruk, author of Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives: An Island Memoir.  Margot lives and works on Gabriola Island, BC and has been writing a personal blog since 2016 called Death Defying Acts of Living and an instructional soap making blog called Wash Rinse Repeat.  She is currently enrolled in the Master of Library and Information Studies program at the University of Alberta.  Memoirists mentioned in the podcast include: Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain Mary Karr Catherine Gildiner Jan Wong Website: https://margotfedoruk.ca/ Twitter and Instagram: @margotfedoruk Facebook: Margot Fedoruk Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

Rebecca and Tara welcome Bookstagram and Canada Reads friend Sarah to answer the five questions. Sarah's responses include: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers Marmee by Sarah Miller Revery: A Year of Bees by Jenna Butler Sarah's Instagram: @sareshears Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

Rebecca and Tara discuss the 2023 CBC's Canada Reads Short List and five defenders.  They also make their predictions for this year's winner. Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads 

Rebecca and Tara welcome Bookstagram and Canada Reads friend Sarah to discuss the world of Reading Challenges. POPSUGAR 2023 Reading Challenge  Scotiabank Giller Prize (personal challenge) Adabiyat Book Club / Instagram: @__adabiyat__ JRR Tolkien (personal challenge) Agatha Christie (personal challenge) Read Around the World Challenge / Instagram: @readaroundtheworldchallenge StoryGraph Sarah's Instagram: @sareshears Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

Rebecca and Tara welcome Rebecca's friend and former colleague Geoff--their first American guest--to answer the five questions. Geoff's answers include: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie American Rhapsody by Joe Eszterhas The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli Spare by Prince Henry Geoff joined them via Sacramento (CA) Public Library. Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads 

Rebecca and Tara predict the five contenders for CBC's Canada Reads competition, which airs March 27-30, 2023. Rebecca: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton Greenwood by Michael Christie Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew Finding Edward by Sheila Murray Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice or Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Tara: Greenwood by Michael Christie Ducks by Kate Beaton Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye or All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay Finding Edward by Sheila Murray Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin Also, Tara mentions Kia Nurse, and Rebecca sends apologies to Andrew Phung for using his TV character's name, Andrew Pham.  Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads   

Rebecca and Tara share the top three books they've read since Book Chat #2. Rebecca: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by Paul Newman Missed Connections: A Memoir in Letters Never Sent by Brian Francis Ice Walker: A Polar Bear's Journey through the Fragile Arctic by James Raffan Tara: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune Scars & Stars by Jesse Thistle Tara also references a favorite podcast: Eat Like a Heroine by Jenny Williams and Lorilee Craker. Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads  

In the first author interview of 2023, Rebecca is thrilled to chat with Canadian author Hollay Ghadery.  Fuse, Ghadery's memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released in Spring 2021. Rebellion Box is her debut collection of poetry and is planned for publication in 2023. Instagram: @hollayghadery Twitter: @Hollay2   Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle  

In the first podcast of the New Year, Rebecca welcomes Sandra, her Bookstagram friend, to answer the slightly revised Five Questions.  Sandra's responses include the following titles: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Rebecca makes a quick reference to The Five by Hallie Rubenhold.   Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads 

Happy New Year!!  Rebecca and Tara wrap up their first year of podcasting together and discuss what they read in 2022 and if they met their goals.  Then they'll share their New Year goals for 2023! Rebecca's highlights: Nora Watts series by Sheena Kamal What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad Diary of a Young Girl: Definitive Edition by Anne Frank Instagram: #readingtheworld / #readtheworld / #readaroundtheworld Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's highlights: On Account of Darkness by Ian Kennedy The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe Starling by Kirsten Cram Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads  

Rebecca and Tara are thrilled to chat with Sheena Kamal, whose bestselling debut The Lost Ones won her a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Strand Critics Award, and Macavity Award for Best First Novel. The sequel It All Falls Down has been called “a stunning, emotionally resonant thriller” in its Kirkus-starred review. No Going Back and her first YA novel Fight Like A Girl were released in 2020. According to her website, The Lost Ones is a dark, compulsively readable psychological suspense debut, the first in a new series featuring the brilliant, fearless, chaotic, and deeply flawed Nora Watts—a character as heartbreakingly troubled, emotionally complex, and irresistibly compelling as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole. TikTok and Instagram: @sheenakamalwrites Website: https://www.sheenakamal.com/   Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads    

Tara shares a few of her much loved Christmas books and highlights titles she's planning to read this season! How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson The Christmas Tree: Two Tales for the Holidays by David Adams Richards Chill Tidings: Dark Tales of the Christmas Season by Tanya Kirk Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories by L.M. Montgomery A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey Hercule Poirot's Christmas   Rebecca's Instagram: @canadareadsamericanstyle Tara's Instagram: @onabranchreads

Rebecca welcomes David Crow, author of the award-winning memoir, The Pale-Faced Lie.  David spent his early years on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. Through grit, resilience, and a thirst for learning, he escaped his abusive childhood, graduated from college, and built a successful lobbying firm in Washington, DC. Rebecca guarantees that you will not be able to put down this memoir from the opening paragraph to the epilogue. Website: https://www.davidcrowauthor.com/ Instagram: @davidcrowauthor Facebook: Author David Crow