The 10 Best Books Of 2019

In this bitingly smart, often funny, consistently challenging collection, the Tuscarora writer Alicia Elliott tells her own story alongside that of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. She comes at matters of trauma, racism and reconciliation with dazzlingly fresh perspectives. A piece about the killing of Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan, for instance, links surprisingly to the discovery of dark matter. In another piece, she looks at the exclusion of First Nations writers from the Canadian literary canon through the lens of the Indian Act. Each one is candid and compelling, simmering with an underlying call for change.