retirement

Must-Read Books from Recent Canadian Graduates: Part 2 of The List So Far

/ Lynne Melcombe / 1 Comment

So many new authors on this list! (For comparison, see the first list here.) Congratulations to all the newly published authors (at least since the first list), to all the authors who were published long before I reviewed your books, I’m reading as fast as I can, and to all the authors who’ve been published that I still haven’t got to … I’m reading as fast as I can! And to anyone reading this, if I’ve missed anything, gotten any details wrong, or in some cases don’t know the year you graduated, please let me know. And the winners are:

(Edited to add: Apparently I missed quite a few books that should go on this list. I’ve added them at the top of the list so you won’t miss them. There have been several more deals but the books aren’t out yet and I’m unable to find complete information about them.)

Barone, Rina (class of 20??) Art Always Wins: The Chaotic World of Avant-garde Pioneer Al Hansen, (press and year?)

Jaffer, Taslim (class of 2022) with Omar Mouallem, Back Where I Came From: On Culture, Identity, and Home. Book*hug Press, 2024.

Kierans, Kim (class of 2025), Journalism for the Public Good: The Michener Awards at Fifty. Bighorn Books, 2024.

Kuzmyk, Emma (class of 2025) with Addy Strickland, This Wasn’t On the Syllabus: Stories from the Front Lines. Simon & Schuster, 2024.

McKay, Lori (class of 2020) Searching for Mayflowers: The True Story of Canada’s First Quintuplets. Nimbus Publishing, 2024.

Moore, Chris (2024) The Power of Guilt: Why We Feel It and Its Surprising Ability to Heal. HarperCollins (Canada), BenBella (US), August Books (UK), 2025.

Moscovitch, Philip (2019) Adventures in Bubbles and Brine: What I Learned from Nova Scotia’s Masters of Fermented Foods—Craft Beer, Cider, Cheese, Sauerkraut and More. Formac Publishing, 2019.

Simpson, Sharon J. (class of 2021) The Kelowna Story: An Okanagan History, 2nd Edition. Harbour Publishing, 2025.

John Larsen’s (Class of 2023 I think) book is not out yet–due in 2026 I think. 

Book cover of 'Black Cake, Turtle Soup, and Other Dilemmas' by Gloria Blizzard, featuring a colorful abstract background with wavy lines.
Book cover for 'Press Enter to Continue: Scribes from Babylon to Silicon' by Joan Francuz, featuring an image of ancient scribes on a laptop screen.
Book cover for 'The View from Coffin Ridge: A Childhood Exhumed' by Gwen Lamont featuring a black and white photograph of a corridor with scattered leaves.

Book cover design for 'The Fruitful City' by Helena Moncrieff, featuring colorful illustrations of leaves and flowers, with the subtitle 'The Enduring Power of the Urban Food Forest'.
Book cover for 'Overrun: Dispatches from the Asian Carp Crisis' by Andrew Reeves, featuring various species of fish against a light blue background.
Book cover of 'Peace by Chocolate' by Jon Tattrie, depicting the Hadhad family by the sea, highlighting their journey from Syria to Canada.

Finding Yourself in Retirement: Memoir of a Journey of Self-Discovery

/ Lynne Melcombe / 4 Comments

Sue Harper’s Winter in the City of Light: A Search for Self in Retirement (self-published, 2019, class of 2016) is about exactly what the title suggests. After years of teaching, the author and her partner retired. A talented artist, her partner knew exactly who she would be in retirement. Harper wasn’t quite so sure. 

the Eiffel Tower with the book title overlaying it

Within a few years of retiring, they went on an adventure: a winter in Paris, where Harper’s partner attended an art course at the Sorbonne. Harper imagined that, during the days when her partner was at school, she would explore the most exciting city in the world, waiting for inspiration to strike, and then withdraw to the small apartment they’d rented and churn out book manuscripts.

It didn’t work out that way. On her own all day in a strange city, Harper had to face her fears, not only about going out on her own to explore the city, but about whether the author she’d thought was inside her was struggling as hard to get out as she’d always thought. About midway through the book, Harper writes: 

When we retire, we have lots of time to doubt ourselves. While the imposter phenomenon is destructive, it’s also difficult to overcome because no one talks about it. One of the researchers who labelled this phenomenon, psychologist Dr. Suzanne Imes, says little can be done to change the imposter’s feelings about herself. She is convinced she’s the only one who feels this way and fears that if she told anyone else she was a phoney “she would meet with criticism or at least very little understanding on the part of others.” …

It’s funny. I never felt fraudulent when I was writing textbooks, teaching, or helping other teachers, even when I earned promotions at work. My doubt seems strongest when I go to school. I’ve tried to pinpoint the reason for this. Was it because I always compared myself to my brother, who scored in the ninety-ninth percentile on the university entrance exams? Or maybe I couldn’t forget my father’s comment when I showed him my 88% in music: “What happened to the other 12%?”

Ouch. 

The point is that retirement is something we do in the winter of life, but we can never forget that winter can also be a turning point in a journey back to light. And ultimately that’s what Harper’s time in Paris became. Overcoming her imposter syndrome enough to complete the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Nonfiction Writing at University of King’s College in Halifax, she also completed a book manuscript describing her own journey. 

Full disclosure: I met Harper through the University of King’s College MFA in Creative Nonfiction program and later copy edited her manuscript. I haven’t quite made it to retirement myself, but it’s likely when I get there I’ll go back and read it again to help myself face my fears and make my winter a time of new beginnings, as she did. 

Other books about journeys to self-discovery:

Run, Hide, Repeat: Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood, by Pauline Dakin.

The View from Coffin Ridge: A Childhood Exhumed, by Gwen Lamont.

Every Boy I Ever Kissed: A Memoir, by Nellwyn Lampert.

Heartbroken: Field Notes on a Constant Condition, Laura Pratt.

I Don’t Do Disability: And Other Lies I’ve Told Myself, by Adelle Purdham.

Louisburg or Bust: A Surfer’s Wild Ride Down Nova Scotia’s Drowned Coast, by RC Scott.

The Minister’s Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Doubt, Friendship, Loneliness, Forgiveness, and More, by Karen Stiller.