Adult bestsellers:
First Snow, Last Light by Wayne Johnston: An epic family mystery. The hush before the first winter storm in 1936. Fourteen-year-old Ned Vatcher walks home from school to find the house locked and the family car as well as his parents gone.
Glass Houses by Louise Penny: Three Pines. One cold November day a mysterious figure appears in the village wearing a mask, making the villagers as well as Armand Gamache first curious then wary. Even in the rain and sleet the figure stands unmoving, staring straight ahead. Gamache, now Chief Superintendent, suspects that it has a dark purpose. But what can he do except watch and wait? That is until a body is discovered and the figure vanishes that night.
A Reckoning by Linda Spalding: Author of The Purchase, Winner of the Governor General's Award. In the spring of 1855, the Dickinson family is brought to the edge of ruin by a reckless brother who has squandered the family's resources. Their enslaved workers are encouraged to flee to Canada. The family decides to escape as well.
A Casualty of War by Charles Todd: A Bess Crawford mystery. A novel about the impact of World War I on all who endured it: officers, soldiers, doctors and battlefield nurses.
Lost in September by Kathleen Winter: While still a soldier in his twenties, the young man who would become General James Wolfe was granted a short leave to travel to Paris to study three of his passions, poetry, music and dance. But in 1752, Britain abandoned the Julian calendar for the Gregorian to align itself with the rest of Europe. As a result, every British citizen lost eleven days that September, days that were scheduled as Wolfe's planned leave. Seven short years later, he lost his life in battle on the Plains of Abraham on that anniversary.
Adult fiction:
The Secret of the Blue Trunk by Lise Dion: Based on a true story. A young nun from Quebec, Armande Martel, is arrested by the Germans while she’s staying in Brittany. She spends the war years in a concentration camp, returning to Canada to resume her life as best she can. The blue trunk that she kept locked was finally opened after she passed on, revealing the mystery of her earlier life.
Uncommon type: some stories by Tom Hanks
The Water Beetles by Michael Kaan: On the Shortlist for The Governor General's Award. Based loosely on the diaries and stories of the author's father. In December of 1941, the Empire of Japan invades Hong Kong and for the Leung family, that ends a life of luxury and the security they have known. The youngest boy, twelve-year-old Chung-Man along with his siblings escapes, travelling deep into the countryside. The territory is unfamiliar. He encounters friendship then betrayal, is taken captive and put into prison. Surviving the war, he moves to America.
Adult non-fiction:
A Bold and Dangerous Family: the remarkable story of an Italian mother, her sons, and their fight against Fascism by Caroline Moorehead
Junior fiction:
Innocent Heroes: stories of animals in the First World War by Sigmund Brouwer
