The Next Chapter with Antonio Michael Downing

Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and author Billy-Ray Belcourt are bringing rural Alberta authenticity to Canada Reads. Tailfeathers will be defending Belcourt’s novel A Minor Chorus. It follows a queer Indigenous doctoral student who steps away from his dissertation to write a novel, feeling caught between his childhood on the reservation, and the newest chapter of his life. They'll get into the upcoming debates, and why Tailfeathers believes this is the story Canada needs now more than ever.

Books discussed on this week's show include:
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
I am Woman by Lee Maracle
Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway
In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Toronto Sceptres players Claire Dalton and Raygan Kirk share a love of reading, so they decided to start a team book club. They join the show to discuss how the club works, balancing meetings with a busy PWHL schedule and what they're currently reading. Plus, writer and critic Jason Guriel on what makes the perfect book blurb and Canadian legend Fefe Dobson shares which book has been inspiring her lately.

Books discussed on this week's show include:
The Secret Lives of Murderer's Wives by Elizabeth Arnott
God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon
Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs by Annie Leibovitz and Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Hockey internet personality Steve "Dangle" Glynn says that Tyler Hellard's Searching for Terry Punchout picked him. The pair meets for the first time to discuss Tyler's book, which follows a lost sportswriter's journey home to reluctantly rekindle his relationship with his estranged father, a legendary retired NHL enforcer. They'll talk about Canada's relationship to the game, applesauce, and the invisible string that brought them together for Canada Reads.

Books discussed on this week's show include:
Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

The new Wuthering Heights adaptation is stirring up a lot of opinions. It’s a story of burning passion and intensity against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. Our columnist Mirian Njoh and romance reading expert joins the show to give us her opinion on its transition from page to screen. Plus, author and UNICEF ambassador Tara Moss talks about her latest book and recommends two companion reads.

Books discussed on this week's show include:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
The Italian Secret by Tara Moss

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

The countdown has begun leading up to Canada Reads. The books have been picked, the panelists are strategizing and, every week, The Next Chapter will help you get to know the new author and panelist pairs. The first powerhouse team includes popular BookToker and podcaster Morgann Book, and debut romance author Joss Richard. Morgann will champion Joss’s book, It’s Different This Time. Plus, former Canada Reads author Samantha M. Bailey answers the Proust Questionnaire.

Books discussed on this week's show include:
It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard
Hello, Juliet by Samantha M. Bailey

Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks