11 Canadian books to get the music lover this holiday season

Books make great gifts for everyone! Here's a list of 11 Canadian titles that should hit the right notes with music fans.

Stories I Might Regret Telling Youby Martha Wainwright

In her memoir, Martha Wainwright reflects on her tumultuous public life, her competitive relationship with her brother and the loss of her mother. She writes about finding her voice as an artist, becoming a mother herself and making peace with the past.Stories I Might Regret Telling Youoffers a thoughtful andpersonal look into the life of one of the most talented singer-songwriters in music today.

• The rebirth of Martha Wainwright

Wainwright is a Canadianmusician and artist. She is the daughter of folk legends Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and sister of singer Rufus Wainwright. She lives in Montreal.

LISTEN | Why Martha Wainwright is sharing her story:

The Sunday Magazine28:55Martha Wainwright is turning the page on her family's story

Singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright isn't afraid to go there. In her new memoir, Stories I Might Regret Telling You, Wainwright the daughter of folk musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III offers a candid look at her life growing up in a family full of famous musicians and making her own path in the business. In The Sunday Magazine's first in-studio interview, Wainwright opens up about things that she says don't get talked about enough, from abortion and divorce to motherhood and living with grief. She tells Piya Chattopadhyay why she's compelled to share so much of herself and treats listeners to a pair of musical performances.

Who by Fireby Matti Friedman

Who by Firerecounts the time Leonard Cohen spent in Israel in October 1973 during the chaos and bloodshed of the Yom Kippur War. With access to material written by Cohen himself, along with dozens of interviews and rare photographs, Matti Friedman paints a portrait of an artist and the young people who heard him sing in the midst of combat.

• Matti Friedman on his favourite font and taking criticism

Matti Friedman is a Canadian Israeli journalist and writer. His other books includeSpies of No Country, which won the history category for the 2020Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature, andPumpkinflowers,which won the history category for the 2017 Vine Awards.

Modern Heartthrobs by Melody Lau

Music fans know Tegan and Saraas the wisecracking twin-sister duo with the catchy tunes who are committed to LGBTQ representation in the music industry and pop culture at large. Modern Heartthrobsdelves deeper into the indie-pop pair's nearly 25-year career, interrogating the sometimes sexist and homophobic media coverage in their early daysbefore their rise to becoming fan favourites who carved out a path to musical successpurely on their own terms.

• Pop stars Tegan and Sara take centre stage in Melody Lau's book Modern Heartthrobs

Melody Lau isa writer and producer withCBC Music. She has been covering Canadian music since 2009, first on her own music blog The Singing Lamb, and later as an online writer for MUCH and a contributor to Exclaim! Magazine. Her work has also been featured in Pitchfork, Billboard and Nylon Magazine.

LISTEN | Why Melody Lau wrote a book about Tegan and Sara:

My Country by George Canyon

George Canyon is one of Canada's biggest country music stars.In his memoirMy Country,Canyonrecounts his musical journey from small town Nova Scotia to the big city of Nashvilleand how his life came full circle when he returned to Canada this time, to the wide plains of Alberta. He opens up about his childhood diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and the years of hard work and sacrifice touring dive bars across the country and working multiple jobs to carve out a career as a musician.

• George Canyon's memoir My Country is about hard times, hard work and good music

George Canyon is a Canadian country music star. He has won countless accolades and awards, including Juno Awards, CCMA Awards and ECMA Awards. His hit records includeJust Like You,I Believe in Angels,Daughters of the Sun,I Want You To Live,Slow Danceand more.

LISTEN | Why George Canyon is sharing his story:

Leonard Cohen: Playing The Favourite Game

61 years ago

Duration 12:20

Leonard Cohen defends the 1963 work he says is "a third novel disguised as a first novel."

Hearts on Fire by Michael Barclay

Hearts On Firedocuments the Canadian music scene during the pivotal years from 2000 to 2005. Through research and interviews, the nonfiction book explores the Canadian music industry and reveals how the national scene became prominent on the international stage.

• Michael Barclay's Hearts on Fire is the historical deep dive every Canadian music fan deserves

Michael Barclay is a Canadian journalist, editor and music critic. He is also the author ofThe Never-Ending Presentand co-author ofHave Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 198595.

LISTEN | Michael Barclay reflects on the early 2000s Canadian music scene:

Black & Blueby Stanley Pan, translated by David Homel

InBlack and Blue, author and radio personality Stanley Pan retells the history of jazz music. He explains the misunderstandings surrounding the genre, such as how Jean-Paul Sartre mixed up Black Canadiansongwriter Shelton Brooks with Jewish American artist Sophie Tucker. Pan also educates readers on the intersection of hip-hop with jazz, the sad ends of various jazz greats and the inclusion of jazz in Hollywood and European cinema.

Pan is the author of eight novels and seven short story collections, includingLe tumilte de mon sang,Zombi bluesandBizango. He's been the host ofQuand le jazz est lon ICI Musique for the last 13 years.

David Homelisa writer and translator based in Montreal. He is the author of eight novels, includingElectrical Storms, The Speaking CureandThe Teardown,one memoir,Lunging into the Underbrushand five novels for younger readers with co-writer Marie-Louise Gay. He has also directed documentary films, worked in TV and radio.

LISTEN |Stanley Pan discusses his book and the origins of jazz:

The Longest Suicideby Jason Schneider

The Longest Suicideis a tribute to Art Bergmann, an unheralded Canadian singer-songwriter, who has been dominating stages for half a century, From helping build Vancouver's punk scene with the K-Tels, to his solo work in the 1980s and 1990s, to being named to the Order of Canada, this book chronicles every twist and turn in Bergmann's life.

Jason Schneider is the author ofWhispering Pines: the Northern Roots of American Musicandthe novel3,000 Miles, and is the co-author ofHave Not Been The Same: the CanRock Renaissance 1985-1995. He has written for Exclaim,the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Paste andAmerican Songwriter.

Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte Marie, illustrated by Julie Flett

Still This Love Goes Onis a picture book aboutthe power of love and of Cree traditions. It is an artful look at how love will always live on, across time, geographyand generations.

Still This Love Goes Onis for ages 3 to 8.

• Julie Flett is reclaiming Indigenous themes of community and language through her children's books

Cree singer-songwriterBuffy Sainte-Marie's long career includes an expansive catalogue of music, art and work in activism.Hey Little Rockabyewas her first children's picture book, published in 2020.

Julie Flett has illustrated several picture booksincludingRichard Van Camp'sLittle YouandWe Sang You Home,Monique Gray Smith'sMy Heart Fills with Happinessand David A. Robertson'sOn the Trapline.She also is the creator behind the picture bookBirdsong.

LISTEN | CBC hasa new podcast all about Buffy Saint Marie:

A Ballet of Lepersby Leonard Cohen

A Ballet of Leperswas created by the late Leonard Cohen sometime between themid-1950s to 1960s in Montreal and Greece.The titular novel,A Ballet of Lepers, is a look at fear and insecurity, while the accompanying 15stories andplay scriptprobe the inner demons of his characters, many of whom could function as stand-ins for the author himself.

• 82 reasons to love Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen is a legendary figure in the world of music and literature. The late Montreal artist released 14 albums over the span of nearly 50 years, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. His books include the novelBeautiful LosersandSelected Poems 1956-1968,for which he won and declined a Governor General's Literary Award. Cohen died on Nov. 7, 2016 at the age of 82.

WATCH | Leonard Cohen in the CBC archives:

Occasionally Pettyby Michelle Lietz

When Michelle Lietz heard that Tom Petty died, she felt a piece of her past break away. Using lyrics from Petty's songs, Lietz launches an exploration on nostalgia, adolescence and her mixed Yaqui, European and Middle Eastern identity in the collectionOccasionally Petty.

Michelle Lietz is an Indigenous American author of mixed Yaqui, European and Middle Eastern descent. Her writing has been published in Prairie Fire's NDN City issue.

Radiolandby Matt Cahill

Radiolandis a thriller novel set in Toronto. A series of murders around the city's bustling music and nightclub scene has people on edge. A web of intrigue surrounds two characters, Kris and Jill, as they explore their past, their connection with music and ways to navigate their world.

Matt Cahill is a Toronto writer and psychotherapist. Cahill's debut novel,The Society of Experience, was published in 2015. His short stories have appeared with Found Press, The Quarantine Review and Fusion Fragment.

LISTEN | Matt Cahill discusses Radioland: