49th Shelf

1 month ago | 49thshelf.com | Kerry Clare |Vanessa Westermann |Trevor Corkum

The magical imagery of birds is unparalleled in Dare to Bird, and Melissa Hafting helps the reader to understand why—as she believes—birds have the power to both save and heal us amid many of life’s challenges. ***** Excerpted from Dare to Bird: Exploring the Joy and Healing Power of Birds, by Melissa Hafting. Copyright © 2025. Published by RMB: Rocky Mountain Books. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.

1 month ago | 49thshelf.com | Trevor Corkum |Gabrielle Drolet |Robert Wiersema |Tahmina Afshar

Our Children's Librarian columnist, Julie Booker, brings us a new view from the stacks every month. **** If You Give a Girl a Bike, by Hayley Diep, illustrated by Canadian Braden Hallett, is reminiscent of Laura Numeroff’s classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. It follows a daring female protagonist riding her bike, shredding down hills and mountains. When she falls, she doesn’t stay down for long. A skateboarder comes along and off she goes on four wheels, tackling tricks.

1 month ago | 49thshelf.com | Trevor Corkum |Julie Booker |Tahmina Afshar |Robert Wiersema

Like most authors, I’ve spent most of my life dreaming about my first book. It was going to be a novel; I was going to write it in my master’s program; it would be published by the time I was 25. Now, finally, my first book is out—and it’s far from the one I intended to write. At 23, as I was working on that novel I’d always planned, I developed a chronic and disabling nerve condition that spread pain throughout my upper body.

1 month ago | 49thshelf.com | Genevieve Graham |Heidi Wicks |Trevor Corkum |Elinor Florence

An excerpt from new memoir Fallosophy: My Trip through Life with MS (Douglas & McIntyre). Fallosophy: My Trip through Life with MS is one of our marvellous giveaways running through May 2025. Head to our giveaways page for your chance to win, and to check out everything up for offer right now. *****How many times have I asked myself “how will I?” and answered “I just will”? Being diagnosed with MS is a big fucking deal, and from time to time I deserve to pay tribute to that.

1 month ago | 49thshelf.com | Jim McEwen |Miriam Toews |Matthew Hollett |Trevor Corkum

Here, my new book of interconnected short stories, explores community: how we relate to one another, how the troubled layers of our past affects our present lives, the heartaches that define and defy us. It’s “an ode to place, love, and collective care,” according to Maggie Burton’s kind words.  As a Newfoundlander and Labradorian, I am both fiercely protective and equally critical of my home. And so, many of the selections on this list are written by Newfoundland and Labrador authors.