Read Alberta
Enjoy these books set in Alberta or written by Alberta authors that reflect the landscape and story of our home.
The battle of Alberta : the historic rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames
Spector, Mark, author
2015
Bucking conservatism : alternative stories of Alberta from the 1960s and 1970s
2021
"Highlights the individuals and groups who challenged Alberta's conservative status quo in the 1960s and 70s. Drawing on archival records, newspaper articles, police reports, and interviews, the contributors examine Alberta's history through the eyes of Indigenous activists protesting discriminatory legislation and unfulfilled treaty obligations, women and lesbian and gay persons standing up to the heteropatriarchy, student activists seeking to forge a new democracy, and anti-capitalist environmentalists demanding social change. This book uncovers the lasting influence of Alberta's noncomformists--those who recognized the need for dissent in a province defined by wealth and right-wing politics--and poses thought-provoking questions for contemporary activists."-- Provided by publisher.
Ghosts in a photograph : a chronicle
Kostash, Myrna, author
2022
Award-winning nonfiction writer Myrna Kostash delves into the lives of her grandparents, all of whom moved from Galicia, now present-day Ukraine, to Alberta at the turn of the twentieth century. This memoir is not just a personal story, but a public one of immigration, partisan allegiance, and the stark differences in how two sets of families survive in a new country. Kostash uses her remarkable acumen as a writer and researcher to craft a probable narrative to interrogate the idea of straightforward and singular-voiced pasts and the stories we tell ourselves about where we come from.
The Inquirer : a novel
Dawn, Jaclyn, 1984- author
2019
When an accident jeopardizing the family farm draws Amiah Williams back to Kingsley, Alberta, population 1431, she doesn't expect her homecoming to make front-page news. But there she is in The Inquirer, the mysterious tabloid that is airing her hometown's dirty laundry. Alongside stories of high school rivalries and truck-bed love affairs, disturbing revelations about Amiah's past and present are selling papers and fuelling small-town gossip. As the stakes get higher, Amiah must either expose the twisted truth behind The Inquirer or watch her life fall apart again.
The last woman in the forest
Les Becquets, Diane, author
2019
An endangered wildlife protector on assignment in northern Alberta falls in love with her brilliant mentor before a tragic accident and disturbing inconsistencies trigger her suspicions about his possible role in four murders.
Letters to Singapore
Kaur, Kelly, author
2022
Growing up in Singapore, Simran always knew what was expected of her: to learn how to be a good mother and wife. The only problem? Simran has no interest in any of this. After a close escape (almost at the altar!), Simran earns a reprieve to attend the University of Calgary in Canada. Letters exchanged back home to her mother, sister and friends reveal that no matter which path women take, traditional or independent, life is fraught with conflict, hilarity and peril. Simran's experience as a brave and hopeful young woman and a new Canadian will touch your heart; her thoughtful determination to chart her own course will inspire you.
Light on a part of the field
Holowack, Kevin, author
2021
"Lightning-struck and pregnant, Ruth feels her husband slipping away after they--and unborn Gayle--miraculously survive the bolt out of the blue. Nineteen years later and stuck on the farm her husband bought before abandoning the family, painting is the only activity invigorating Ruth as the days slowly pass. That is until--without warning--Gayle finds herself love-struck and runs off to Edmonton, where she contends with poverty, illness, her shattered childhood, and the longstanding mystery of her father's disappearance. Meanwhile, farm-bound Ruth frantically paints through her increasing loneliness and disarray. In his stormy and evocative debut novel, Kevin Holowack introduces us to a family grappling with artistic ambition, mental illness, and rifts that may not be possible to mend."--Publisher.
Little wet-paint girl
Younsi, Ouanessa, 1984- author.
2022
"Born to a French-Canadian mother and Algerian father, Ouanessa Younsi is a bold and unique voice in modern Francophone poetry. In this intensely personal recitation on identity and ethnicity, Younsi takes the reader on a surreal odyssey through a liminal world of belonging and unbelonging, absence and presence, mind and body. Her visionary work, first published in French and translated here by Rebecca Thompson, is unsettling, riveting and guaranteed to leave readers contemplating the existential mysteries of 'self.'"-- Provided by publisher.
Mauled : lessons learned from a grizzly bear attack
Cotton, Crosbie, author
2022
In August 2017, 32-year-old Jeremy Evans endured multiple ferocious attacks by a protective female grizzly bear while hunting in the Alberta wilderness. Jeremy's miraculous recovery and life lessons learned when so close to death show that human determination can defy the greatest of odds, and that setting small goals along the road to recovery can lead to remarkable achievements. Despite the traumatic stress the encounter produced, Jeremy holds no animosity toward the bear and still enjoys spending time in the backcountry.
The melting queen
Cinnamon, Bruce, 1991- author
2019
"Every year since 1904, when the ice breaks up on the North Saskatchewan River, Edmonton has crowned a Melting Queen-a woman who presides over the Melting Day spring carnival and who must keep the city's spirits up over the following winter. But this year, something goes wrong. A genderfluid university dropout called River Runson is Named as Melting Queen, and the city tears itself in two as River's reign starts to expose the dark underbelly of the city's century-old traditions. River is betrayed by their best friend, has their mind ripped apart by intrusive memories from past Melting Queens, and ultimately brings an end to the city's grand traditions-only to start something new."-- Provided by publisher.
My heroes have always been Indians : a century of great Indigenous Albertans
Voyageur, Cora Jane, 1956- author
2018
Take me outside : running across the Canadian landscape that shapes us
Harris, Colin, author
2021
You'd think starting a non-profit organization aimed at getting young people to spend less time in front of screens and more time outside would be difficult enough. But with a decrepit support vehicle housing two dogs that despised each other, a good friend who left after five months, a lot of peanut butter, and a hope to inspire thousands of students, Colin Harris decided to start this journey by running 7600 kilometres, the equivalent of 181 marathons, across Canada. And to ensure this was a truly Canadian venture, he started in the bleak and snowy month of January.
What's so funny about Alberta? : a guide to the wild and wacky in Wild Rose Country
Kerr, Michael, 1962- author
2010
Wild roses are worth it : reimagining the Alberta advantage
Van Tighem, Kevin J., author
2021
A timely collection of provocative, personal, and thoughtful essays for an Alberta in transition. This selection of works by naturalist, hunter, conservation activist, and outdoors journalist Kevin Van Tighem will remind us of what is best about the Alberta spirit, and offer the possibility of a more sustaining relationship with our place and with one another. He reminds us that Alberta's stories were always meant to be about much more than oil.