This morning, I feel like I’m sliding into home base. June was definitely a sprint around the bases…and I’m not much of a runner! Thankfully, I’m only speaking figuratively and the Blue Jays aren’t looking for a replacement, but here we are on the last day of the month, halfway through 2026.
Today, I’m recovering from a super-quick trip to Toronto to see a concert Sunday night, dedicating my day to work before Canada Day tomorrow. That’s when the local service club volunteers put on a BBQ in the park and the vintage cars club sets up next to the ball field. We walk over with our lawn chairs to meet my extended family, where we eat burgers and hot dogs, chat with neighbours, and watch the kids run through the splash pad. Tomorrow, with a heat wave promised, the kids may be joined in the sprinklers with the adults, methinks.
In this issue of The Book Case, I’m bringing back my semi-annual Top 3 Book Picks feature, where I invite book coaching colleagues to share their favourite books. Today, on the eve of our national holiday, we’re focused on Canadian books. I’m here with Nicole Bross, book coach and co-author of A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers. Her book offers strategies and tools for the neurodiverse writer’s most common challenges, including focus, motivation, organization and consistency. I recommend it for any writer working through a long project.
![In this image, we see a cover of the book "A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers", co-authored by Nicole Bross, who is pictured to the right, a woman with glasses and long hair. Nicole Bross is a book coach for neurodiverse writers who are working on novel-length projects.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zlKK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd52aa9a5-b18b-4153-af9b-71169442a009_6912x3456.jpeg "In this image, we see a cover of the book "A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers", co-authored by Nicole Bross, who is pictured to the right, a woman with glasses and long hair. Nicole Bross is a book coach for neurodiverse writers who are working on novel-length projects.")
Below, Nicole and I took on the tough task of choosing only three books each, but we managed to narrow down our choices and I think just about everyone will find something to read this summer in our Top 3 Canadian Book Picks for 2026. Check it out!
PS. I have openings in July for nonfiction coaching, editing, and writing. You can read more about my services on my website and get in touch if we’re a good fit.
PPS. I just got word that my second ghostwriting project will be published soon — I can’t wait to see the book in print, and I’m so thrilled for the author! It was a privilege and honour to accompany him to the finish line on this project.
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Nicole is an ADHD-informed coach for genre fiction writers who struggle to finish their books so they can achieve their dream of authorship.
Coaching specialty: Adult and YA genre fiction | 🌐 Visit Nicole’s website
1️⃣ The Cure for Drowning, by Loghan Paylor
The winner of the CBC Reads competition this year, The Cure for Drowning is set in WWII-era Canada and England. The two queer protagonists caught in a complicated love triangle pulled me in from the first page and the story never flinches at the realities of war, or what it was like to be LGBTQ+ 80 years ago. Not a lot of books can bring me to tears, but this one did.
🔗 Booksellers.ca | Bookshop | Indigo | Find it in a library
2️⃣ Seasons of Glass and Iron, by Amal El-Mohtar
This collection of speculative short stories is so wildly creative I found myself repeatedly thinking, “Where do ideas like this COME FROM?” I love short story collections because they offer the perfect bite-sized reads for the end of a long day, and this is one I can absolutely see myself picking up again for a re-read of my favourites.
🔗 Booksellers.ca | Bookshop | Indigo | Find it in a library
3️⃣ The Bewitching, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Two things that will always make me pick up a book to read: 1. Witches; 2. Multi-timeline POVs. The Bewitching has both, on top of spooky vibes in spades and a mystery that three generations of women strive to solve. I couldn’t put it down!
🔗 Booksellers.ca | Bookshop | Indigo | Find it in a library
🍁 Find out more about Nicole Bross at https://manuscriptalchemy.com. You can also view Nicole’s profile on our Book Coaches Canada page.
Dinah helps people with deep experience transform what they know into books that matter – books that readers understand, trust, and use.
Coaching specialty: Nonfiction & memoir with a message | 🌐 www.dinahlaprairie.com
1️⃣ The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien, by Brit Griffin
Monsters, mining, memory, and magic. Modesto O’Brien arrives in Cobalt, Ontario during the silver rush of the early 1900s. The Northern landscape is already ravaged by desperate prospectors, and some of them are set on revenge, at least one of them apparently unhuman. Part Western fun, part horror, part commentary on the pillaging of the landscape.
🔗 Booksellers.ca | Publisher | Indigo | Find it in a library
2️⃣ Like Water for Weary Souls, by Liisa Kovala
I call the author a friend and colleague (she’s my co-host of Rekindle Creativity Women’s Writing Retreats), so call me biased, but my book club loved Liisa’s historical murder mystery novel set within the Finnish-Canadian community of Sudbury, Ontario. It explores the push and pull of family ties in first-generation Canadians and how powerful—and dangerous—promises can be when we’re trying to get ahead.
🔗 Amazon | Bookshop | Kobo | Find it in a library
3️⃣ A New Season, by Terry Fallis
While I usually turn to Terry Fallis’ books for his humour, this one has stayed with me for its sentimentality and hopefulness. Jack, newly navigating the loss of his wife, leaves behind his ball-hockey team in Toronto and heads to Paris. It’s about midlife friendship, love, and what we need as we age, and I loved hearing about it from a modern male perspective.
🔗 Booksellers.ca | Amazon | Indigo | Find it in a library
🍁 Find out more about Dinah Laprairie at www.dinahlaprairie.com. You’ll also find her coach listing on the Book Coaches Canada Substack page.
What’s on your summer reading list? Add your comment with your own Top 3 Canadian Book Picks.
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