We like consuming words on the page almost as much as we like consuming food on the plate. Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we’re reading, what’s staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we’ve already read and recommend.

From stories about time travel and post-apocalyptic futures, and settings including a German Spa town blazing with wildfires, and a village in Uganda simmering with homophobia, here are a bunch of new Spring releases that we’ve recently read:

A Line You Have Traced (Knopf Canada), by Roisin Dunnett | For her first novel, English author Roisin Dunnett has aspired to trace the intertwined lives of three very different women inhabiting the London area during as many different timelines in order to explore complex ideas of space and time, memory and reality, history and legacy. Bea is a Jewish woman living in-between World Wars, delegated to a domestic life as a good little wife, albeit one with restless undercurrent of discontent, secrecy, and rebellion; Kay is a modern day woman inhabiting a middling existence as an art gallery sitter by day, partying with her best friends Cue (a successful career woman) and El (a performer with ambitions of fame) by night, and struggling to manage her anxiety; and Ess exists on the fringes of a devastated futuristic civilization, depressed and in search of meaning, partly as a member of a faction of a growing alternative community called The Network. The thing that they all have in common? Each character experiences visions – of angels or time travellers, depending on the woman’s subjective interpretation – and a relationship forged through their connection with a mysterious journal. Overall, A Line You Have Traced is an intense, confidently-written novel that at times can be surreal and impactful (particularly when describing the insecurities of its individual characters and their perceptions of others), and at others cliched. This is a strong but precocious attempt at creating a queer, radical piece of speculative fiction that will resonate with anyone experiencing climate change- and global politics-inspired emotions oscillating between hopelessness and hopefulness for their futures, and the futures of generations to come. DETAILS

Available as a special order from such local independent booksellers as Massy Books , Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

Everything Is Fine Here (House of Anansi Press), by Iryn Tushabe | Fair warning: it won’t be revealed until the very finish of Everything is Fine Here – the first novel from Regina-based Canadian-Ugandan writer, Iryn Tushabe – whether the title is a genuine or ironic sentiment. Set in current day Uganda, it follows the bookish and bird-loving 18-year-old Aine Kamara at a portentous time in her life: she’s finally leaving boarding school, trying to decide whether to grow her natural writing talents by pursuing a career in journalism, or leverage her volunteer gig at a wildlife sanctuary into something more lucrative. However, the ambivalence about her future is further complicated by the dramatic re-entry of her successful older sister (a gynecologist) into her life, along with her “secret” longterm girlfriend (a respected podcast journalist); the sudden death of a beloved family member who also served as a crucial voice of reason, source of support, and buffer between Aine’s God-fearing mother and her daughters; as well as Aine’s first real romantic relationship. Full of the natural and cultural colours and flavours of its setting – from “lipstick birds” to forest elephants and bully baboons; chai tea to katogo with avocado and steamed greens – Everything Is Fine Here is also full of strong yet complex, vulnerable women characters, and insidious threats, namely those of the deeply ingrained and religious sort, acted out in discreet and obviously violent ways. An anti-colonial and queer feminist novel set against an unfamiliar (to me) backdrop, that’s a stimulating, entertaining, thought-provoking and optimistic story – as well as a rally cry – all at once. DETAILS

Available from such local independent booksellers as Iron Dog Books and Upstart & Crow; and as a special order from Massy Books.*

The Book of Records (Knopf Canada), by Madeleine Thien | Lina, the protagonist of Vancouver-born, Montreal-based author Madeleine Thien’s new novel, inhabits a Escher-like place called The Sea with her father, Wui Shin, a former cyberspace engineer. The Book of Records is a complex poetic-philosophical piece of fiction, exploring the tangled themes of time, space, and memory, and anchored by love, family, and home. Through happenstance, Lina and her father wind up living in close quarters with a trio of eccentric characters with stories to tell – not unlike famous historical thinkers, Baruch Spinoza, Hannah Arendt, and Du Fu – whose tales run apace Lina’s own narrative, eventually overflowing into it. The Book of Records is easy to read, but not an easy read, by any means. An epic, intelligent novel with an impressive undertow. DETAILS

Available from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

Welcome to the Neighbourhood: Stories (House of Anansi), by Clea Young | If there is one clear throughline in Clea Young’s new collection of 13 short stories, it might be sympathy for children and adolescents. Despite the range of interpersonal conflicts, various (albeit always BC) settings, and “mature” themes of each narrative, Young consistently demonstrates a special sensitivity towards her youthful characters, and the relationships and tension between them and the adults who also inhabit her stories. Whether they are inspiring the awe, envy, and/or suspicions of someone from the peripherals (“Weekend Guest”, “Nest”, “Shred”), or are forging out on their own, away from their ignorant parental units, and following their survival instincts in search of reprieve from an apocalyptic environment (“The Day the Children Left”) – Young’s underaged characters have a strong presence and force on nearly every story’s scenario. COVID-era “Rescue”, which pits an adopted dog from Korea against the protagonist’s husband and daughter, is a darkly funny standout; and the adeptness at which Young depicts the ‘bond’ between an attentive cashier and a presumptuous customer in “Hyacinth” is equal parts hilarious and discomfiting. DETAILS

Available from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead (Alchemy By Knopf Canada), by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson | Water flows throughout Betasamosake Simpson’s latest book, a careful, poetic, and profoundly personal-political meditation on the ways in which human-centric colonial-capitalist societies are damaging to everyone and everything, everywhere, and how Indigenous ways of living and thinking, rooted in caring for all life on earth, can promote radical change. Speaking of water, reading Theory of Water can feel a bit like wading into a lake: one second you’re on solid ground with water up to your knees, and the next step you’re suddenly plunged up to your eyeballs. Which is to say that Betasamosake Simpson is excellent at comfortably drawing you in with a personal anecdote (usually paying homage to Curve Lake First Nation Elder Doug Williams, who is an enormous influence on the author’s life) before delving into complex theory inspired by non-state-sanctioned ways of living – but with plenty of apropos care, of course; never leaving the reader to flounder uselessly, and always extending a stabilizing idea to give us back our bearings. DETAILS

Available from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

The Fun Times Brigade (Book*hug Press), by Lindsay Zier-Vogel | Released earlier this Spring, The Fun Times Brigade is Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s portrayal of protagonist Amy’s life as a new mother and touring musician. In it, Zier-Vogel contrasts Amy’s life in the recording studio and on the road with the relative imprisonment of the mundane day-to-day of taking care of her baby (with her husband, a mathematician with a demanding lifestyle not unlike that of a musician); juxtaposing the demands of a newborn with the breaching of death (one of her bandmates, Jim, has cancer), past revelries and conflicts with present milestones and tensions. There is all of the expected rock n’ roll style drama here – sex, alcohol, drugs, infidelity, jealousy, etc. – but although the author is checking off all the right boxes, the unique nature of the titular band (a three-piece children’s outfit), combined with the Amy’s newfound motherhood, means that nothing is straight forward or completely expected. A fun, easy-to-read book – despite some of its challenging subject matter – well suited to taking along on a summer road trip. DETAILS

Available (on order or as a special order) from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

Near Distance (Biblioasis), by Hanna Stoltenberg | If you’re a mother with an adult daughter, or some mother’s adult daughter, then this book will likely hit a few notes – and nerves. Nuanced, as well as touching, tense, and cringe-y at different turns, it contains all the stuff of a fraught mother-daughter relationship, impressively depicting its subtle, complicated dynamic. Yes, there is “unconditional love” here; but its limits are tested, and no one is left blameless nor is anyone fully blamed. There is also: infidelity, parental shortcomings, alcohol abuse, drunken confessions, button-pushing, judgement, caring, and concern. And throughout it all, both mother (Karin) and her adult daughter (Helene) are treated with equal sensitivity. Besides, when it comes down to it, each character is a women with offspring, navigating difficult personal/sexual relationships; both imperfect human beings with desires, doubts, faults and regrets – and each other to hold them accountable for their missteps. Helene certainly is Karin’s daughter, and vice versa. In a nutshell, Near Distance flips the stereotypical mother-daughter story on its head, turning it into something more like an intergenerational story about two women who happen to be mother and daughter.

DETAILS | Available from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

Eternal Summer: A Novel (Other Press), by Franziska Gänsler | Sparse yet ferocious, Eternal Summer is an insidious feminist novel about the intersectionality of climate change and violence against women. With it, first-time novelist Franziska Gänsler has set a strong precedent – for her ouevre, as well as the relatively new realistic-dystopic genre that reconsiders the lay of the land for all literature with a modern-day setting, one where the constant threat of climate disaster is real and relevant, and if not exactly leading the narrative, then always looming in the background. For protagonist Iris, the proprietor/inheritor of her family’s spa resort, it’s the latter. But however safely removed she feels from the fires blazing on the other side of the town’s river, the consequences on her business and personal life are increasingly undeniable. Beginning with the mysterious arrival of a woman and her young daughter seeking shelter at the inn, Iris’ day-to-day existence is encroached upon by increasing violence, and her vulnerability and culpability both are thrown into question.

DETAILS | Available from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

The Tiger and the Cosmonaut (Viking Canada), by Eddy Boudel Tan | Set in the fictional town of Wilhelm, British Columbia, the third novel from Vancouver author (and recent Scout interviewee) Eddy Boudel Tan is a tense family drama centred on ‘Casper’ Han, one of four children born-and-raised in rural BC by Chinese immigrant parents who fled Brunei under mysterious circumstances, and the only living half of a pair of identical twins. An incident with the Han family’s aging father sees the remaining children congregating back under the roof where they grew up. Casper’s partner, Anthony, also tags along for the bumpy (in more ways than one) ride. While attempting to reconcile and/or integrate his two lives – Casper’s past one as a gay youth ‘outsider’ oppressed by small-town politics and rampant violence, with his present one as a science teacher in a loving but insecure relationship with an aspiring actor from a supportive, privileged white household (aka basically a completely different universe) – he inevitably ends up revisiting old, unresolved issues (while also dredging up new ones) including the mystery of ‘Sam’ Han’s disappearance as a child. Although built like a standard mystery story, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut is more than a simple “whodunnit”, and Tan has done a decent job of setting the small town scene for tackling some big topics, including the otherness experienced by a child of the diaspora, systemic racism, homophobia and corruption, colonialism, rage, blame, and regret. None of this is new territory for Tan, by any means, but clearly they are all topics that demand the author’s (and reader’s) attention time and again – gloves off.

DETAILS | Available soon from such local independent bookstores as Massy Books, Iron Dog Books, and Upstart & Crow.*

*It would be remiss for me not to mention Vancouver’s various independent and used book stores, and encourage you to pay them an in-person visit to seek out these and other titles.