8 books for the cottage-readers on your holiday list

Tiny Homes on the Move: Wheels and Water

Can the tiny house movement gain any more momentum? Apparently, yes: Kahn profiles nearly 100 homes around the globe—some cozy, some crazy, all nomadic—and the folks who live in them. More info: Shelter Publications

Bitter Lake

There’s a reason it’s not called Joyful Lake: Bad memories and family tension rocket to the surface when pregnant Zoe returns to her childhood home, in this first novel from an Alberta writer. More info: The Porcupine's Quill

Birding with Yeats

“I never once thought to myself, here is a good mother-son hobby. It just naturally evolved into something we did together,” writes cottager Thomson in her memoir, about learning to connect with a teenage son. More info: House of Anansi Press

Paddlenorth

Kingsley, a Cottage Life contributor (and a wicked paddler—good to know!), describes her at-times perilous 54-day trip along Canada’s wild Back River. More info: Greystone Books

Casting Quiet Waters: Reflections on Life and Fishing

A dozen essays from Annie Proulx, Charles Gaines, plus MacDonald and other Cottage Life contributors, a.k.a. some of “North America’s most respected literary writers.” More info: Greystone Books

This One Summer

A young-adult graphic novel following cottage buds Windy and Rose during one tumultuous, coming-of-age summer. More info: Groundwood Books

Beerology

Canadian brew expert Amato is a Certified Master Cicerone (a beer sommelier of the highest level— there are only seven in the world). Happily, she’s written a few important things down for us. More info: Random House

Mating for Life

Marriage, relationships, and a cottage setting are central to this novel, which follows sixtyish Helen and the love (or lovelorn) lives of her three girls. More info: Simon & Schuster Canada