Canada Reads American Style

About Canada Reads American Style

Two friends -- one American, one Canadian -- who share a love for CBC’s Canada Reads and Canadian literature! https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads (https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads)

Publisher

Canada Reads Inspired

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

9 May 2021

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

212 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Interview - Aga Maksimowska and Becalming

   Tara welcomes Canadian author Aga Maksimowska, whose latest novel, Becalming, Dundurn Press (2026), is a coming-of-age story about premature sexual development and the fall of Communism in Poland. Her stories and essays have been published in Brick, The New Quarterly, Humber Literary Review, White Wall Review, The Globe and Mail, Today’s Parent, and longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize. https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459756038-becalming "Gosia, a high school chemistry teacher, travels to her native Poland to visit her estranged father. Back in Canada, meanwhile, her father-in-law — who has been more of a dad to her than her own — is dying of cancer. Away from her routine, Gosia questions everything in her life, including her long-term boyfriend, Peter. She feels stuck in the terrifying time of early adulthood, in her first grown-up job while managing student debt, monogamy, and existential dread. Is this really it, she wonders?Gosia’s time in Poland gives her the chance to examine her life, and she finds herself pulled homeward to Canada, where she faces the fact that Peter’s father — like her own — is far from perfect. Can she love despite betrayal? Can she find hope in her fiery, complex love for Peter? Is there something more to this life that she didn’t even realize she had?Becalming tells the story of two people realizing that happily ever after is not something to be but something to continue to explore, through adversity and outrage, tragedy and inspiration, and love." https://maksimowska.ca/ https://www.instagram.com/agamaksimowska/ Recommended titles: Summerland by Helen Humphreys The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery A Little Annihilation by Anna Janko

2. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Book Chat 36

   Rebecca and Tara are winding down their summer reading with historical fiction, poetry, memoir, a graphic novel, short stories, and horror. Rebecca: The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager Kill Not the Butterfly by Ken Wyder If I Must Die by Refaat Alareer Solito by Javier Zamora Looking for Frank Wills by Wesley Brown The Choir by Carol M. Cram Unnamed Bones by Lora Senf Tara: The Collected Stories of Carol Shields The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt Becalming by Aga Maksimowska The Woods by Jessica Hamilton The Lilac People by Milo Todd Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to share with Rebecca and Tara or you are interested in joining their monthly virtual book talk, please email them at craspod2019@gmail.com

3. 

   12 Aug 2026

   Interview - Erin Singer and Dangerland!

   Tara welcomes Canadian author Erin Singer to the podcast and they share a lovely chat about romance and family ties in her first novel, Dangerland!  Erin also divulges that she has seen Carrot Top in suburban Las Vegas, which is, apparently, a thing! https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Erin-Singer/234549770 "Nora Ephron meets The Hangover in this screwball romantic comedy and family drama with a big, beating heart, set in the sun-bleached neon of Las Vegas.Kurt Richter has been in love with Eugenie Zepp since he was eight years old. Now he’s in his fifties, twice divorced, a father of four. The entire neighborhood is suing him, and he’s been estranged from Eugenie for a decade.In other words: perfect timing to declare himself to her.Kurt and Eugenie grew up in Vegas among the glamour and the grit, slot machines in pharmacies, off-Strip tiki bars, all night poker games, shimmering desert heat. They’ve spent a lifetime orbiting each other, building families and making a beautiful mess of them while trying to decide if what they share is destiny or disaster.Now their adult children are back in town with grudges, heartbreaks, and schemes of their own. As secrets surface and loyalties shift, will this be the right time for Eugenie and Kurt, after everything they’ve been through?In this delicious, darkly funny, romantic comedy, everyone is looking for love in all the wrong places and gambling on the biggest games in life—but in Dangerland, there’s always one more chance to win." Reading Recommendations: Tough Love by Tajja Isen (March 2027) Yellow Pine; Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

144,664

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 68 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

70

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

81

Contact Canada Reads American Style

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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