Reading List: Fall brings hearty, heady books for longer days
From The Ocean’s Whistleblower to Land of Big Numbers to Ring, Upstart & Crow has non-fiction and fiction picks to get excited about this autumn
HAS ANYONE ELSE lost the end of summer? It was here, we’re sure of it—long days and peaches and blankets with friends—but now the calendar tells us we’re also in September, and we have begun—gleefully, without shame—pulling large knitwear from the wardrobe.
The season is beginning to turn, and so too are the tables of booksellers across the country, including Upstart & Crow. That’s because autumn often brings us the heartiest, headiest books of the year
Here’s our sneak peak at what’s ahead:
NON-FICTION
The Analog Sea Review
Not quite a new release, but a perfect companion to this season that we simply couldn’t miss telling you about. The Analog Sea is a bi-annual journal, a collection of short essays, poetry, artwork and musings of the highest calibre, centred around exploring the joys of our offline world (i.e. the world). It’s rich yet dreamlike, robust yet warm, and it’s a new favourite on our shelves. Contributions come from modern-day greats and still-in-print classics, edited by Jonathan Simons. The community behind The Analog Sea works to maintain contemplative life in this digital era… and isn’t that a fine endeavour?
The Ocean’s Whistleblower, by David Grémillet (Greystone)
Daniel Pauly is one of the world’s most influential fisheries scientists (who happens to work in Vancouver). He is, according to the New York Times, “so decidedly global in his life and outlook that he is nearly a man without a country.” This remarkable, authorized biography explores both Pauly’s extraordinary work and his truly astonishing life. Writer David Grémillet recounts a heartbreaking childhood, Pauly’s escape to Germany, his political and racial reawakening in 1960s America, and the discoveries that made him one of the most important scientists you’ve perhaps never heard of.
This is a must-read for those wondering about the plight of our warming oceans—and those seeking confirmation of the breadth and impact just one life can have. We’re proudly interviewing the author and subject of The Ocean’s Whistleblower on September 25—watch our socials for further information.
Tongues, Edited by Ayelet Tsabari, Eufemia Fantetti, Leonarda Carranza (Bookhug, pictured at top)
More than 200 languages are known to be spoken in Canada; 60 of them are Indigenous. This essay collection examines 27 writers’ intimate relationship with language, how language feeds identity, and the complexity of speaking languages other than English and French in a colonial, settler nation. We’re as excited about the concept as we are about the contributors, who include Kamal Al-Solaylee, Jenny Heijun Wills, Kai Cheng Thom, Jagtar Kaul Atwal, Téa Mutonji, Carrianne Leung, and Jónína Kirton, amongst others.
FICTION
Three Novels, by Yuri Herrera (And Other Stories, pictured at top)
Yuri Hererra is one of Mexico’s most accomplished writers and, indeed, one of the finest—and most revolutionary—writers of this generation. Three Novels combines the works that have made Hererra such a celebrated literary figure, exploring life behind the stereotypes and violence of modern-day Mexico. If you haven’t read Signs Preceding the End of the Earth, you’ll be grateful to find it within this collection. Hererra combines biting political and social commentary with myth and fairy tale, centring around Makina, who crosses borders to find her brothers. The singer Lobo in Kingdom Cons loves a drug lord’s daughter; a Redeemer is looking to broker peace between feuding families during a pandemic in The Transmigration of Bodies. Hererra is an author we should all know.
Ring, by Andre Alexis (Coach House)
Folks in Canadian publishing need no reminder when Alexis has a new book—there is a joyous expectation in shops and offices and living rooms any time the Giller Prize-winning author of Fifteen Dogs shares a new work. Ring completes his Quincunx—a group of immersive, philosophical works of art—including Pastoral, Fifteen Dogs, The Hidden Keys, and Days by Moonlight. It’s a modern, unusual take on the romance novel, when two meant-to-be lovers succumb to the tricks of a ring which enables the bearer to change three things about her beloved. We predict this to be a booklover’s favourite this year.
Land of Big Numbers, by Te-Ping Chen (Mariner Books)
Okay, we’re not the first to celebrate this work from a Wall Street Journal reporter whose debut collection of short stories has been hailed in just about every major thinking outlet in the U.S. and Canada. Chen’s work successfully grapples with a magnificent ambition: to depict the vast variety of different experiences of people who live in China; to explore the contradictions and dichotomies of the country; and to probe the surreal yet ever-present complexities of bureaucracy and politics. China isn’t just big numbers: it is a powerful shaper of the future of the world, especially as America struggles to keep its shape in these disorienting times.
Mmm. That kinda changes the mood right there, doesn’t it? Enjoy the shorter days, and the longer reading hours, as the season turns.
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