Past Picks

At the KIRBC, it’s all about recommending books you’re passionate about and/or that you think others would enjoy. Look for the tag “KIRBC RECOMMENDED” on blog posts to indicate books that have been recommended in the past, or that get our seal of approval for future recommendations.

Here’s a list of books that found passionate advocates at KIRBC meetings. Please forgive the loose categorization.

General Fiction

- White Teeth, by Zadie Smith
- The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
- Memories of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Obasan, by Joy Kogawa
- Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson
- Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, by Vincent Lam
- Atonement, by Ian McEwan
- Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels
- Fiela’s Child, by Dalene Matthee
- Circle in a Forest, by Dalene Matthee
- Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
- Another Roadside Attraction, by Tom Robbins
- The Poe Shadow, by Matthew Pearl
- JPod, by Douglas Coupland
- Unless, by Carol Shields
- The Convict Lover, by Merilyn Simonds
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
- Mount Appetite, by Bill Gaston
- Darcy’s Story, by Janet Aylmer
- The Time Traveller’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
- The Birth House, by Ami McKay
- The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
- The History of Love, by Nicole Kraus
- As for Me and My House, by Sinclair Ross
- The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer
- Rebecca, by Daphne DuMaurier
- Jamaica Inn, by Daphne DuMaurier

- Sloppy Firsts, by Megan McCafferty
- The Other Side of The Bridge, by Mary Lawson
- Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre
- Crazy in Alabama, by Mark Childress
- The Romantic, by Barbara Gowdy
- The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
Historical Fiction

- Diana Gabaldon
1) Outlander
2) Dragonfly in Amber
3) Voyager
4) Drums of Autumn
5) The Fiery Cross
6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes
- The Josephine Bonaparte Collection, by Sandra Gulland
(Including: The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B; Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe; The Last Great Dance on Earth)
- North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell
- Enemy Women, by Paulette Jiles
- The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel

Science Fiction

- The Martian Chronicles, “Usher II”, by Ray Bradbury
- The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham
- The Passion of New Eve, by Angela Carter

Poetry

- The bp Nichol Reader, ed. Michael Ondaatje
- Grapes by Raymond Knister
- Poems for the Pornographer’s Daughter by John B. Lee
- Touch the Dead by Mary Ann Mulhern
- The Penguin Book of War Poetry edited by George Walter
- Self-titled, by Geoffrey Brown

Non- Fiction

- Confederates in the Attic, by Tony Horwitz
- The Dictators
- Boring Postcards, USA, by Martin Parr
- My Story: The War Years, by Herbert C. “Bert” Saunders
- Stanley Park, by Timothy Taylor
- The Can-Lit Foodbook: From Pen to Palate – A Collection of Tasty Literary Fare, Edited and Illustrated by Margaret Atwood
- Love and Sweet Food, by Austin Clarke
- An Anthropologist on Mars, by Oliver Sacks
- The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, by Oliver Sacks
- Up North: A Guide to Ontario’s Wilderness from Blackflies to the Northern Lights, by Doug Bennet and Tim Tiner
- A Year in the Merde, by Stephen Clarke
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, by Peter Ackroyd
- The Lonely Planet Canada
- Modern Publishing’s Unauthorized Biography of Vanilla ice
- A Glossary of Literary Terms, by M.H. Abrams “The purple edition”
- From Chivalry to Terrorism – War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity, by Leo Braudy
- Vintage Knits, by Kim Hargreaves, Kaffe Fassett, Martin Storey, and Sarah Dallas
- Stich and Bitch, by Debbie Stoller
- Denim People, by Kim Hargreaves, Martin Storey, Louisa Harding, and Leah Sutton
- Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe
- Viral Sale, by Mari-Lou Rowley
- Sounding Difference, Conversations with Seventeen Can. Women Writers, by Janice Williamson
- Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, by Ben Gadd
- Vimy, by Pierre Berton
- The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War by Andrew Bacevich
- Genome by Matt Ridley
- Saqiyuq, by Nancy Wachowich
- The Violent Friendship of Esther Johnson, by Cole Morgan
- Other People’s Love Letters, ed. Bill Sharpiro
- What we All Long For, by Dionne Brand
- Audition, by Barbara Walters
- An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943

Children’s / Young Adult

- The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
- The Balloon Tree, by Phoebe Gilman
- The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
- Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, by Louise Rennison
- Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
- Read-Aloud Classics for Young People
- The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende
- Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chills Your Bones, by Alvin Schwartz
- Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs
- The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
- The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, by mo willems