I wrote about reading local last year, and why I think it’s important. I don’t know if there’s an exceptional crop of Edmonton books out this season, or if I’m just paying more attention, but I’ve got a short list that could rival any hoity-toity book award. Here are my most anticipated #yegbooks for Fall 2013. Which ones are on your To Be Read list?

1. Love Letters to the Angels of Death by Jennifer Quist

The basics:

• Release date: August 3, 2013
• Goodreads
• I received a review copy from the publisher, Linda Leith, but assure you it was my most anticipated book before that happened.

Why I want to read it:

• I love Jennifer’s blog. Every post has me nodding my head in agreement. She’s a beautiful writer.
• She got a great review in the Montreal Review of Books.
• The novel is about a happy marriage. I like to read about dysfunction so much that maybe I need to change things up.
• A personal connection. The set up is the death of the main character’s mother just before his wife gives birth. My husband lost his father just weeks before our first baby, and I didn’t deal with it very well. I’m looking forward to a fresh perspective on life and death (yep, my expectations are pretty high!)

2. The Dilettantes by Michael Hingston

The basics:

• Release date: September 10, 2013
• Appearances: September 14, 2:oopm, Audreys. I’ll be there!
• Goodreads
• Check out Michael’s blog for lots of book-related goodies.
  

Why I want to read it:

• Michael is so good at Twitter that I wish he tweeted more. He also introduced me to David Foster Wallace when I won his contest for a copy of the biography Every Love Story is a Ghost Story. 
• The Dilettantes got a great blurb from Patrick DeWitt. That’s hardcore.
• I get the sense that this is very much a Millennial novel, and I hope to challenge my preconceptions about that generation. Is it weird that I’m worried about a generation gap between me and a writer who’s only five years younger than me? Don’t answer that.

3. Come Barbarians by Todd Babiak

The basics:

• Release date: September 24, 2013
• Goodreads

Why I want to read it:

• That title!
• That cover! Nice to see a man with his back turned for once.
• Todd’s blog is hilarious
• But…I don’t know if this is the best introduction to his work. I’m contemplating reading one of his lighter/funnier books first.

4. Pilgrimage by Diana Davidson

The basics:

• Release date: September 17, 2013
• Book launch September 25th, 7:00pm at Audreys
• Goodreads

Why I want to read it:

• The blurb got me. This is classic CanLit: “Set in a brilliant northern landscape, Pilgrimage is a moving debut novel about journeys, and women and men trying to survive the violent intimacy of a small place where two cultures intersect.”
• I haven’t read much about the Aboriginal experience. Time to change that.

5. 40 Below, edited by Jason Lee Norman

The basics:

• Release date (expected): November 1, 2013
• Goodreads

Why I want to read it:

• 40 Below is a collection of stories by Edmontonians about Edmonton in winter. I submitted a story late last year. It was terrible and I didn’t make the cut. Jason was very kind in his rejection though.
• I really enjoyed his short story collection Americas (my review.)
• This might be the only book written by local authors about Edmonton on the list.

Bonus! My local reads over the past year or so:

• From Away by Michelle Ferguson (my review)
• Americas by Jason Lee Norman (my review)
• Everything is Perfect When You’re a Liar by Kelly Oxford. Not so local anymore, but much of the book is set in Edmonton. (my review)
• Rosina, the Midwife by Jessica Kluthe (Goodreads. Review coming. It was fantastic.)
• First (Wrong) Impressions by Krista D. Ball (Goodreads. Review coming. I have some reservations, but the story won me over in the end.)