Nine Unique Book Recommendations for Everyone on Your List

As the holiday season draws nearer, do you find yourself grasping for the perfect gift for someone — or multiple someones — on your list? Never fear: books are here. When you give a book gift, you’re really giving uninterrupted hours of cozy, quiet time; and with things as hectic and chilly as they are, who wouldn’t want that?

Better yet: these nine specially selected books are published by independent Canadian publishers, meaning you get to support local businesses and delight the readers in your life.

(And, if you don’t happen to see the just-right read for that stubborn giftee today; check back tomorrow for nine more selections.)

For the climate activist in your life who will never give up

Standing on High Ground: Civil Disobedience on Burnaby Mountain
Edited by Rosemary Cornell, Adrienne Drobnies and Tim Bray
(Between the Lines)

Since 2014, hundreds of people have been arrested while engaging in non-violent civil disobedience to protest the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, or TMX. Standing on High Ground: Civil Disobedience on Burnaby Mountain includes 25 stories of people who put themselves on the line for climate justice. While some of those arrested were longtime activists, others felt compelled to act for the first time in their lives.

Their reflections on the protests and their arrests explore our moral duty to future generations, the government’s collusion with corporate power, the violation of Indigenous law, and unsustainable worldviews. Climate activists in protest movements such as the one against the TMX pipeline are critical in the existential fight for a sustainable future and habitable planet. They show us that we can all take a stand.

For the aspiring creative seeking motivation and solidarity in this busy, busy world

Bad Artist: Creating in a Productivity-Obsessed World
Edited by Nellwyn Lampert, Pamela Oakley, Christian Smith and Gillian Turnbull
(TouchWood Editions)

Know someone who is feeling creatively burnt out? Bad Artist is the antidote and your new lifeline to creativity in this productivity-obsessed world. The 21 essays from a diverse group of writers offers a refreshing perspective on artistry in the age of hustle culture.

Dive into stories of creators who defy the system, squeezing art into the cracks of their lives. These aren't polished productivity gurus — they’re real artists facing real challenges, from chronic illness to empty bank accounts. Their raw, honest reflections will inspire you to embrace your artistic impulses, even when life gets messy.

Bad Artist is like having a heart-to-heart with your most supportive friend, reminding you that creativity comes in many forms. It’s time to reclaim your artistic spirit and stick it to the toxic productivity narrative. Get ready to feel seen, supported and totally fired up to create on your own terms.

For the gender fluid big thinker in your life

Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir
By Chase Joynt
(Arsenal Pulp Press)

A mind-bending memoir that begins with author Chase Joynt’s discovery that he is related to Canadian media maverick Marshall McLuhan, which leads him to explore the legacies of childhood sexual abuse and how we might process and represent them.

Joynt writes about difficult pasts and connects them to contemporary politics and ways of being, employing McLuhan's seminal Understanding Media as an inciting framework. A finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction, Vantage Points is a kaleidoscopic reckoning with the impact of media and masculinity on the stories we tell about ourselves and our families.

For those who refuse to be complacent (and love to be scared)

Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction
Edited by Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
(Kegedonce Press)

Traditional Indigenous culture is replete with horror stories meant to edify while they entertain. In Zegaajimo, 11 Indigenous masters of fiction including Waubgeshig Rice, Drew Hayden Taylor, David A. Robertson and D.A. Lockhart engage with storytelling traditions and weave terrifying tales of mystery and wonder that will leave the reader breathless.

Some of the stories in Zegaajimo are inspired by traditional narratives while others were concocted in the cauldrons of their authors’ imaginations; either way, they gorgeously and gruesomely illustrate why Indigenous genre fiction has come into its own.

In Zegaajimo you will find social commentary beside pure fantasy, cautionary tales beside suspense, and mystery beside hard-hitting psychological horror. The result is a book calculated to upset the reader’s complacency while providing unparalleled thrills and excitement.

For those full of longing, whispering in the laundry room or in the café kitchen

The Sacred Heart Motel
By Grace Kwan
(Metonymy Press)

In Grace Kwan’s “arrestingly wise debut,” the poet excavates the haunted, empty rooms of the spaces people pass through. They bring you on a disorienting tour of the motel, from amenities to rooms to back alleys, through generations of ghosts and queer love stories, until you are left alone with the heart at the centre of the narrative.

In multiple series that span the book, narrative, short form and couplets parse out sex, memory and theory. “I just want to kiss you. Now” jostles up against “one last passenger’s heel / snatching in through closing / doors as each bus pulled away,” and we’re transported, thick with hunger, thudding onto the well-used bed, face against the cigarette hole in the comforter, orchestral music seeping through the blackout curtains.

For the historical fiction fan seeking a gripping romance set against a war-torn backdrop

The Cipher
By Genni Gunn
(Signature Editions)

It is June 1940 and 15-year-old Olivia Baldini's idyllic English life is shattered as Britain declares war on Italy. With hyperthymesia, Baldini possesses an extraordinary ability to recall information with vivid detail, a gift that makes her invaluable to Churchill's secret sabotage army, the Special Operations Executive, or SOE. Trained in nursing, coding and espionage, Baldini is dispatched behind enemy lines in Italy, aiding partisans and resistance fighters.

Nino Fabris, dreaming of world travel with the merchant marines, is thrust into the war when his ship is conscripted. Captured in North Africa and sent to a POW camp in Kenya, Fabris seizes a chance for freedom by joining the SOE. In the chaos of war, Baldini and Fabris's paths intertwine. The Cipher is a gripping tale of love, resilience and the power of the truth — and who you trust with it.

For the people in your life eager to delve deeper into the mysteries of our universe

Cosmic Wonder: Our Place in the Epic Story of the Universe
By Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
(Linda Leith Publishing)

Embark on a humorous, detailed and illustrated cosmic journey with science writer Nathan Hellner-Mestelman in Cosmic Wonder: Our Place in the Epic Story of the Universe. From the absurd speeds of our tiny planet to the depths of the universe, this guide offers funny, deep and insightful explorations and opens the vastness of the cosmos for young adult readers (and young-at-heart ones interested in the cosmos, too). It is an ideal read for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered about what lies beyond, making it an essential read for space enthusiasts and those looking to expand their understanding of our universe.

Prepare for an existential crisis as you ponder our cosmic origins, connections — and the riveting cascade of destruction that binds us to the cosmos. Buckle up for a brain-tingling rollercoaster ride to the edge of the universe and back.

For the admirer of one of the 20th century’s finest short fiction columnists

Montreal Standard Time: The Early Journalism of Mavis Gallant
By Mavis Gallant
(Véhicule Press)

Written with a precision, flair and wit that would become her trademark, during her six years at the Montreal Standard beginning in 1944, Gallant wrote about a rich cast of characters: writers, painters, politicians, criminals, street kids, war brides, refugees and unwed mothers. Eighty years after they were written, the columns remain as fresh as ever. This selection, which has never circulated or appeared in book form, shows for the first time how Mavis Gallant’s journalism so clearly and tellingly informs her world-renowned fiction.

For the thriller reader looking to understand Canada's complex and troubled history

Out of the Shadows
By Gordon Henderson and David Bouchard
(At Bay Press)

Set during the dramatic Red River Resistance of 1869-70 and the birth of Manitoba, this historical thriller is told through the perspective of a young Irish-Canadian journalist, Conor O’Dea. Under mysterious circumstances, after working for the assassinated politician D’Arcy McGee, O’Dea is sent west, and to Sir John A. Macdonald’s horror befriends Louis Riel. Macdonald never understood Louis Riel and never really tried to.

Equal parts spy thriller and love triangle, this poignant novel contributes to the complicated story of Canada. In a time of reconciliation, Henderson and Bouchard are continuing a very important conversation about this great land for all those who call it home.

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Come back to The Tyee tomorrow for more book gift recommendations from Canadian independent literary publishers, featuring nine more gift-worthy book recommendations from the Literary Press Group of Canada. Purchase online via the linked titles, or at your favourite local independent bookstore.