Book Buzz: Canadian Indigenous Fiction, Pirates, Cairo, Poetry, Investigative Journalism, and Agatha Christie Classics

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For June, we’re looking at a novel about residential school survivors, a new fantasy series that melds history with pirates and magic, a fantastical graphic novel about modern Egypt, an anthology of poems, a new look at a tragic crime, and an audiobook of an old favorite.

If you love literary fiction:

Michelle Good’s Five Little Indians (2020)*

The legacy of Canadian residential schools for First Nations students is something that Canada still grapples with. This novel, by a Cree lawyer who’s worked as an advocate for residential school survivors and is the daughter and granddaughter of residential school survivors, focuses on the stories of 5 residential school students who find themselves in Vancouver. Each grapples with their traumatic childhoods in different ways as they try to come to terms with their past.

*Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Louise Erdrich and Colson Whitehead.

If you want pirate fantasy:

Shannon Chakraborty’s The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (2023)**

In this first book in a projected trilogy, Amina al-Sirafi had a glorious career as a pirate–one of the terrors of the Indian Ocean–but she’s retired to a quiet life of motherhood. Or so she thinks. Her very placid non-pirate retirement is interrupted when she’s asked to rescue a former crewmember. One last adventure and a fortune in return for her trouble? She’s all for it, until she realizes there might be more to the story than she’s been told. . . .

**Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Roshani Chokshi.

If you prefer graphic novels:

Deena Mohamed’s Shubeik Lubeik (2022)***

In this rich debut graphic novel, Deena Mohamed–the author, illustrator, and translator–presents a vibrant depiction of Cairo, Egypt. The title means “Your Wish is My Command” in Arabic, and for all 3 of the featured protagonists, wishes are something that can be purchased. But the more desirable the wishes are, the more expensive they are, and making dreams come true isn’t always as easy as simply buying a wish.

***Ebook also available on Libby.

Recommended for those who enjoy graphic novels with a fantastical twist.

If you enjoy poetry:

A Treasury of Favorite Poems (2017)****

If you’re a fan of classic poetry or it’s something you feel woefully unfamiliar with and you’d like to remedy that, this anthology is for you! It highlights classic poems from a range of English and American poets. It has work from everyone ranging from William Shakespeare to Emily Dickinson to Edgar Allan Poe to William Butler Yeats.

****Ebook also available on Libby.

Recommended for poetry fans of all ages.

If you like thought-provoking true crime:

Roxanna Asgarian’s We Were Once a Family (2023)

Five years ago this spring, the Hart Family murders occurred. A couple drove off a cliff, committing suicide, and murdering their 6 adopted children in the process. Asgarian, a Texas-based reporter who specializes in covering the foster care system, is much less interested in the perpetrators (who got the majority of the press coverage) and instead spends the majority of the book filling in the stories of the child victims, who were all in the foster care system before being adopted, and their birth families. Not an easy read but a very important one.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Beth Macy and Kathryn Miles.

If you need an audiobook:

Agatha Christie’s Sad Cypress (2002)*****

I usually try to focus on new releases, but sometimes what catches my eye on our new shelves is just new to us and not new to publishing. So, when I saw that we’d recently acquired this audiobook version of one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels, I couldn’t resist highlighting it. Elinor and Roddy are the perfect couple–just ask anyone. That is, until a poison pen letter arrives. Complications (of the murderous variety) ensue.

*****Physical book also available in system and audiobook also available on Libby.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of John Dickson Carr, M.C. Beaton, and C. Alan Bradley.

What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about these days? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.