McNally Robinson Booksellers have joined forces with independent booksellers from across the country to create a new curated collection of recommendations to add to your fall reading list and to our regular feature, “What to Read”.
“’The Booksellers’ List’ is a new venture,” explains McNally Robinson co-owner Chris Hall, describing how these booksellers would get together seasonally to create a list of recommendations on behalf of the Independent Booksellers Association. “The publishers themselves will be getting behind it, so it’s kind of exciting. The authors are excited and we’re excited!”
A few of the selections on the Booksellers’ List also comprise Hall’s five monthly picks for Classic 107 listeners.
Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa
For the inaugural Bookseller’s List, the Independent Booksellers Association found the most agreement on this title by the former Giller Prize winner. The novel centres around Ning, a retired boxer who works in a nail salon where all the employees are called Susan. The Susans listen to the troubles of their clients as they work, but Ning is caught up in her own memories and regrets.
“It’s very sharp, very complex, very slightly subversive of this world that many of us enjoy privileges we don’t even think about and know about,” says Hall. “That’s the kind of writing we’re definitely looking for. And I was very pleased when we got down to the details that my fellow independent booksellers are like-minded in such a way.”
Wolf, Moon, Dog by Thomas Wharton
This novel begins thousands of years ago when a young wolf, separated from his pack, meets a strange, two-legged creature. Together, they strike an alliance that is the origin point for man’s relationship with dog, which is then revisited throughout the book in different incarnations from ancient Egypt to ancient Greece to the space race and beyond.
Hall points out the unique blend Wharton creates between books with commercial appeal and intellectual stimulation. “I’m always looking for that combination,” he says, noting that this book also makes an appearance on the Booksellers’ List. “When you hit that sweet spot between a really great plot that pulls you through, but then it’s also got you thinking and looking up at the ceiling going, ‘Wow!’, that’s the best kind of book for me.
The Trial of Katterfelto by Michael Redhill
With this book, Redhill returns to the world of novels for the first time since capturing the Giller Prize for Bellevue Square back in 2017. His latest offering follows an 18th century magician and amateur scientist who travels the English countryside with a bag of tricks designed for him by a colleague (whose voice narrates the book). One day, he stumbles across a metal horn with a disembodied woman’s voice lamenting the more-modern troubles of the climate catastrophe and social unrest.
“It’s a novel that blows your mind a little bit,” says Hall, “one that conflates centuries of time, forces the reader to stare up at the ceiling and wonder what is it that we are doing to this world.”
The Cree Word for Love by Tracey Lindberg and George Littlechild
Lindberg teams up with visual artist Littlechild to jointly consider a teaching from an elder in their culture that the idea of love as it is understood by settler society does not exist. “Through her fiction and his iconic painting,” says Hall, “they respond by travelling through themes of love within a family, ties of kindship, desire for romantic love, strength in the face of loss, the importance of self-love, as well as just the deep exploration of a meaning of what ‘all my relations’ means. It’s a powerful story. It’s lots of connection, strength... what does it mean to live lovingly.”
Days of Feasting and Rejoicing by David Bergen
The celebrated Winnipeg author returns with a story that takes readers all the way to Thailand and Bali. The latter location is where we meet Christine and Esther, who are on vacation when Christine drowns in the ocean. When the police arrive, they mistake Esther for Christine, which is when Esther sees an opportunity to claim a new life for herself – a perfect solution for someone who would rather be anyone else.
“Great psychological drama, lots of tension and suspense, a character who seems to be kind of blithely unhindered by questions of truth and morality,” lists Hall of the qualities that make this book worthy of the “What to Read” list and Bergen worthy of being McNally Robinson’s Author of the Month.
Of the five books selected, three of the authors will be presenting their works live at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location. David Bergen will be live in the store on September 22, Thomas Wharton on October 3, and Souvankham Thammavongsa on October 21.
Classic 107 listeners can hear Chris Hall’s picks for “What to Read” on Morning Light with Nolan Kehler just after 8:30 a.m. on the first Friday of each month.