Since its debut in 2002, Canada Reads has become Canada’s most popular literary competition. Held annually each March, the event features five celebrity defenders who debate the merits of five Canadian-authored books, eliminating one title each day until a champion is crowned.
This year, the longlist features 15 outstanding books, which will be narrowed down to five finalists on January 23. The debates for these top five titles will take place from March 17-20. Two books from Vancouver-based indie publisher Arsenal Pulp Press are featured on the list:
Dandelion by Jamie Chai
Photo credit: CBC Books
Dandelion is a novel about family secrets, migration, isolation, motherhood and mental illness. When Lily was a child, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family and was never heard from again. After becoming a new mother herself, Lily is obsessed with discovering what happened to Swee Hua.
She recalls growing up in a British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families and how Swee Hua longed to return to Brunei. Eventually, a clue leads Lily to southeast Asia to find out the truth about her mother.
All Our Ordinary Stories by Teresa Wong
Photo credit: CBC Books
In the graphic memoir All Our Ordinary Stories, Teresa Wong uses spare black-and-white illustrations and thought-provoking prose to unpack how intergenerational trauma and resilience can shape our identities. Starting with her mother’s stroke a decade ago, Wong takes a journey through time and place to find the origin of her feelings of disconnection from her parents.
Explore the full list of titles on the 2025 Canada Reads longlist here.
