Alberta Beach Reads

There are a lot of definitions floating around for “Beach Read” but we define it as any book that keeps us so entertained as we soak up the sunshine that we forget to reapply our sunscreen and get horribly sunburnt. Throw one of these Alberta-published books in your tote bag the next time you head to the beach…or lake, since this is Alberta… but be wary of how captivating they are.

Roost by Ali Bryan

Claudia, single mother of two young children, pines for her past independent life. Her ex, after all, has moved on to a new wardrobe, a new penchant for lattes—new adult friends. But in Claudia’s house she’s still finding bananas in the sock drawer, cigarettes taped to wrestling figures, and doodles on her MasterCard bills. Then Claudia receives the unexpected news that her mother has died. Shared through the hilarious, honest, and often poignant perspective of a single mother, Roost is the story of a woman learning about motherhood while grieving the loss of her own mother. And as she begins to mend, she’s also learning that she might be able to accept her home—as it is.

Roost

Ali Bryan

Published: Apr 01, 2013 by Freehand Books
ISBN: 9781554811373

Rose Addams by Margie Taylor

Rose Addams is hitting her sixties, but these days it feels like they’re starting to hit back. Rose’s daughter, Morgan, has ditched her thesis program and moved back home to Vancouver, while her son Jason’s partner has never seen eye to eye with his mother. Her husband Charles has decided to take early retirement from the university to work on his long-gestating book, and his rakish best friend Garnet has a new mistress who is way too young for their social circle. When Rose encounters a young man panhandling outside of her library office though, a chain of events is set in motion whereby Rose will have to confront all the facets of her rapidly-complicating life…

Rose Addams

Margie Taylor

Published: Apr 15, 2023 by NeWest Press
ISBN: 9781774390696

King Warrior by Jay Bulckaert, Erika Nyyssonen and Lucas Green

King Warrior is the story of a young hero trying to find his path forward while struggling with family relationships. A story spanning the globe both imaginary and real, King Warrior celebrates the turbulent glory of childhood while encouraging the reader to reconnect with that rich inner palace of youthful imagination that ultimately holds the key to our freedom.

King Warrior

Jay Bulckaert , Erika Nyyssonen

Published: Sep 14, 2022 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781989754146

Pawns and Phantoms by Misha Handman

Todd Malcolm is just a bouncer, part-time detective’s assistant, and brawler who does his best to get by on the mean streets of 1950s Everland, relying on a keen eye and a quick temper that gets him into trouble as often as out of it. When Todd gets mixed up in an arson one night and gets fingered for the crime, he’s thrown in over his head. With Basil Stark, Everland’s premiere detective, caught up in his own problems, Todd is going to have to rely on an eclectic collection.

Pawns and Phantoms

Misha Handman

Published: Sep 22, 2022 by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
ISBN: 9781770532106

Hekate’s Daughter by Mirjam Dikken

Knowing what people think feels more like a curse than a blessing to Kathy van der Laan. After all, how do you deal with discovering your employer is a pervert, your father’s replaying scenes from the car accident that killed your mother, and suspecting the guy ahead of you in the department store to be the reason for the latest amber alert? Unable to explain the source of her knowledge, Kathy reduces her interactions, sends anonymous tips to police and tries not to remind her father about a loss they both can’t get past. Then she receives an offer from the Syndicate, a shadowy organization which purports to shape policy within the EU, and where she discovers her mother worked till her death. To find out more about her mother, can she risk joining a group that seems to know too much about her dangerous gift?

Hekate's Daughter

Mirjam Dikken

Published: Jun 01, 2024 by Stonehouse Publishing
ISBN: 9781988754581

How to Clean A Fish by Esmeralda Cabral

Offered the opportunity to live in Costa da Caparica for an extended period, Esmeralda Cabral jumped at the chance to return to the country of her birth. Together with her Canadian-born husband, children, and Portuguese Water Dog, Maggie, Cabral makes new and nostalgic discoveries—a labyrinth of cobblestone alleys and beautiful painted tiles, a delicious bica and pastel de nata, a classic fado concert, the gentle ribbing of local fishmongers, a damaging high tide—translating words and emotions for her family along the way.

How to Clean a Fish: And Other Adventures in Portugal

Esmeralda Cabral

Published: May 10, 2023 by University of Alberta Press
ISBN: 9781772126556

Happy Sands by Barb Howard

Ginny Johnson, her husband Martin, and their two kids, Alistair and Ruby, spend a week at Happy Sands Resort every summer. And it’s always perfect. Mostly perfect. It could be perfect. Probably. This year, Ginny’s expectations are dashed again. A series of elaborate beach pranks unfolds, and Ginny, alone and annoyed, starts drinking earlier in the day, lets her caustic wit run free, and picks up massage therapy work even though she’s supposed to be on vacation. This intimate access to the other residents of Happy Sands provides both a much-needed distraction from the slow death of Ginny’s postcard holiday and a lens into the eccentric inner lives of the seasonal residents of the resort.

Happy Sands

Barb Howard

Published: Sep 15, 2021 by University of Calgary Press
ISBN: 9781773852164

Shadow Matter by S. W. Mayse

The war is lost. Seren Qasri is on her way home, her memories of the final days of the war a disturbing blur. Her occupied homeworld of Claer is in ruins, her mother is missing, and her lost love Teak Kuhan survives only as an avatar. All Seren knows for certain is that she must report in with her data—information that could force a renegotiation of the peace treaty and free her homeworld. But Seren’s commanding officers aren’t the only ones who want that data or knowledge of the events buried in her memory. Pursued by ruthless killers, Seren doesn’t know who she can trust. As her memories of a diplomatic courier’s murder return in fragments, Seren strikes a truce with Tas Damou, the freelance who once betrayed her. They detest each other, but only Damou can help Seren stay alive long enough to carry out her task … and prevent another war from engulfing human space.

Shadow Matter

Alberta Beach Reads