Dimitri Nasrallah Recommends
The War You Don’t Hate by Blaise Ndala : (translated from the French by Dimitri Nasrallah) : This novel, which will publish in April, follows two rehabilitating child soldiers in post-war Congo, and their vendetta against a Canadian filmmaker who has made an Oscar-winning documentary about the atrocities they committed. Originally published in 2017 as Sans capote ni kalachnikov, Ndala’s second novel won Radio-Canada’s Combats des livres.
Our Lady of Mile End by Sarah Gilbert : An assured debut collection of short stories all based around the historic and gentrifying Mile End neighbourhood in Montreal.
Erasure by Percival Everett : I read this book a few months before its film adaptation, American Fiction, hit screens this past December. The film captures some aspects of the storyline, and none of the author’s inventiveness with narrative. Read it for how Everett writes!
Read a Likes for Hotline
If you like books that examine the immigrant experience, try reading:
On Earth we’re briefly gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
The field guide to the North American teenager by Ben Philippe
If you like stories with a strong sense of place, try reading:
Heroine by Gail Scott
Butter honey pig bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Roaming by Mariko Tamaki (graphic novel)
We, Jane by Aimee Wall
If you enjoy reading books by diverse authors, try reading:
Crook manifesto by Colson Whitehead
The covenant of water by A. Verghese
My sister, the serial killer by Oryinkan Braithwaite
The circle by Katherena Vermette
If you’re feeling nostalgic for the 80’s, try reading:
Lucien & Olivia by André Narbonne
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Persepolis: the story of a childhood by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel)
Juno loves Legs by Karl Geary