Canadian literature is having a banner year in 2022, with bookstores packed with stunning new works covering everything from historical fiction to short stories. What Canada reads, Canada is also listening to. Check out these luscious listens, audiobooks to watch out for, book award-winners, finalists, and longlist champions. From Montreal to Vancouver, these are the top Canadian audiobooks of 2022.
Narrated by Marvel star and stuntman Simu Liu, We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story tells the tumultuous tale of Liu’s journey from Harbin, China, to Mississauga, Ontario. Not the easiest of transitions, that’s for sure, and We Were Dreamers pulls back the curtain on life as an immigrant in modern Canada. The contradictions of exterior success and inner turmoil punctuate this fascinating listen, brilliantly narrated by the author.
We Were Dreamers isn’t your usual audio autobiography. It thrusts the listener into an Ontario that is difficult to understand, a rollercoaster of a journey packed with ups, downs, struggles, and successes. Of course, this journey leads Simu Liu to mainstream success as an in-demand movie stuntman, but the real dangers lay on the road there. Undoubtedly a tremendous Canadian audiobook,* We Were Dreamers* is a genuinely universal listen and nonfiction at its most gripping.
A fabulously intricate audiobook, Sea of Tranquility is undoubtedly one of the best Canadian books of 2022. Emily St. John Mandel has been a star since the release of her novel and HBO series Station Eleven. However, Sea of Tranquility might be the British Columbia writer at her very best.
Stunningly narrated by a rounded cast featuring John Lee, Kirsten Potter, and more, Sea of Tranquility is troublingly prescient, built around a cast of characters that includes the author of a book about a fictional pandemic. But that is only the tip of the iceberg, as Sea of Tranquility reveals layer upon layer with every passing chapter. This audiobook weaves multiple stories within each other with the grace of a dancer, creating historical fiction that is so easy to fall in love with.
2022 is the year of romance, no matter what the cynics say. You can’t beat a charming piece of romantic fiction, but Lily Chu’s The Comeback takes what a love story is expected to be and ramps the passion up to 11.
Voiced by American Broadway actress Phillipa Soo (Hamilton), The Comeback tells the story of Ariadne Hui, a career-obsessed lawyer working her way to the top of the most prominent law firm in Toronto. No time for love, right? Wrong. With the arrival of her roommate’s cousin, Ariadne’s life is about to get a lot more complicated, and she finds herself in the middle of a love and work balance that is threatening everything.
