Talkingbooksandstuff's podcast

We meet again with Sam Wiebe to discuss his gripping sixth Wakeland novel. Guns Across the River delivers a taut, atmospheric mystery that dives into corruption, crime and family secrets deeply rooted in Vancouver's underworld.

  Dennis talks about Cheapskate in Lotus Land by Steve Burgess...How to live well on a small budget. 

Since 2003, Mo has worked as writer, teacher and editor. In her early career Mo taught Business Communications and English as an Additional Language. Her years spent working with international students, travelling and exploring the world inspired her to write, and in 2015 she received her Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her own memoir, Unpacked: f...

In her second novel Rufous and Calliope (Douglas & McIntyre), a cartographer with a novel form of dementia attempts to cross a perilous mountain pass, seeking the treehouse hideaway where he spent one memorable childhood summer on the run with his three older siblings and his twin sister, Calliope. Released fall 2025, and recently shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction prize. The French edition...

When Betty Baxter was hired to coach the Canadian women's volleyball team in 1980, she was met with a media frenzy as the first woman in the position. Then her career was cut short—Baxter was fired in January 1982 and tossed from volleyball at age twenty-nine because of rumours about her sexual orientation. This personal memoir chronicles Baxter's journey from a small-town prairie girl discovering...

Shirley is only five years old when she is taken away by the Indian agent to live at a residential school. She loves learning, but she is not there by choice. From the first day walking up the long, lonely stone steps of the school building, life is hard and full of rules. Separated from her brothers and sisters, she is truly on her own.  Shirley is very brave, but there is no one she loves to hol...

In this compelling novel, acclaimed author Robert Hough recreates the political violence and revolutionary idealism that flowed through New York City during the Gilded Age of the 1890s. At its centre are real-life revolutionists Emma Goldman and Alexander "Sasha" Berkman, whose passionate love affair fuels their commitment to creating a better world.

Crystal Shawanda is an Ojibwe Potawatomi blues and country music artist from Canada. CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream, which was broadcast in February 2008.

The first novel from award-winning poet Ben Ladouceur, I Remember Lights depicts a time when the world promised everything to everyone, however irresponsibly. In summer 1967, love is all you need…but some forms of love are criminal. As the spectacular Expo 67 celebrations take shape, a young man new to Montreal learns about gay life from cruising partners, one-night stands, live-in lovers, and fri...

His book House Built of Rain (2003) was a shortlisted nominee for the 2004 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the 2004 ReLit Award.  

Creating dark, pop‑inspired illustrations and write poetry that leans into the bittersweet and the bizarre. Also running Lobotomy Press, where she publishes poetry, art, and chapter books. 

Food, with Felicia Fox

Author of Star-Crossed Alliance and A Valley Girl Dilemma

Since the 1970s, the field of primatology has been characterized by a predominance of women. Against the backdrop of McGoogan's journey as a field scientist studying wild primates in Belize and Madagascar, Sisters of the Jungle: The Trailblazing Women Who Shaped the Study of Primates explores the stories of the many women who came before her.

Drawing on author John Cullen's years of experience as both a stand-up comic and an elite curler, Curling Rocks! offers a lighthearted, expertly detailed look at a unique sport and its history, from the most absurd curling fashions to the most sublime matches ever played.

Chester L. Richards: Aerospace Engineer (Ret.), Inventor, Adventurer, Author, Storyteller, Romantic.

Ever feel like life's full of crap? Good. You're not alone—and you're not wrong. Deinnis talks with author Angela Jamieson, about this refreshingly honest, hilarious, and surprisingly profound book. Engineer-turned-poop-philosopher Angela Jamieson invites you to take a long, hard look at what you've been holding onto—and finally let that sh*t go.

Miya loves her school and she especially loves storytime. One day, her teacher shares a story about a little girl who was taken away to a residential school. The little girl wasn't allowed to go home. Her hair was cut and she wasn't allowed to keep her favourite doll. She was taken away from her family because she was Indigenous, just like Miya! Miya worries the same thing will happen to her. Her...

In Gathering Stones , poet Cathy Langdon invites readers to wander with her down a forest path, pausing by the creek to reflect on memory, love, loss, and the quiet beauty of everyday life. With honesty and warmth, her poems draw from friendships, family, and personal experience, creating a collection that is both intimate and universal.

Dennis interviews Californian musician Kevin Christopher

The Andy Kim Christmas is an annual charity concert event founded by musician Andy Kim that raises money for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Gifts of Light program in Toronto. The show features Kim and a rotating lineup of other acclaimed Canadian artists for a festive celebration of music and charity. While the primary Toronto event benefits CAMH, similar shows with a charitable...

Her poems arise from memories, both personal and historical. They also develop from observation and constant reading, and from the natural world. These layered elements combine to offer through-lines for further contemplation in our wounded, resilient lives.

Dennis interviews Chris Hall, President of the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association

Meg Todd grew up in the Alberta prairies. She is a two-time finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize, and her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Fire, PRISM international and elsewhere. Her debut short story collection, Exit Strategies, was a finalist for both the ReLit Award and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and...

Ginger Ngo is an author and illustrator based in Vancouver, BC