2024 Alumni Book List
Looking for a good read for your book club? We’re excited to share this fantastic list of 2024 book releases by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) alumni. From business to romance, sustainability to mental health and Indigenous stories, this list provides much to enjoy and learn from.
Dancehall Rebel
Author: Stacey Robinson, Publishing ’13
Release: February 2024
Dancehall Rebel is a groundbreaking novel portraying a Caribbean Canadian teen challenging the ongoing legacy of homophobia in her musical and cultural community. Dancehall music and culture is undergoing a large shift. This book is a smart and savvy tale of a teen finding the confidence and voice to be an agent of change in her musical culture—and with her family.
Everything I Couldn’t Tell You
Author: Jeff D’Hondt, Social Work ’03
Release: February 2024
Everything I Couldn’t Tell You is a potent reminder of the healing and rehabilitative power within Indigenous languages.
Podcast or Perish
Author: Lori Beckstead (opens in new window) , Radio and Television Arts ’96, Ian M. Cook, Hannah McGregor
Release: February 2024
The growth of scholarly podcasting engenders radical possibilities for how we conceive of knowledge creation and peer review. By investigating the historical development of the norms of scholarly communication, the unique affordances of sound-based scholarship and the transformative potential of new modes of creating and reviewing expert knowledge, Podcast or Perish is the call to action academia needs, by asking how podcasting might change the very ways we think about scholarly work.
Rogers vs. Rogers
Author: Alexandra Posadzki, Journalism (MA) ’13
Release: February 2024
A riveting, deeply reported account that takes us inside the dramatic battle for control of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, and paints a broader picture of the cutthroat telecom industry, the labyrinth of regulatory and political systems that govern it, and the high-stakes corporate games played by the Canadian establishment.
Bury the Lead
Author: Elizabeth Renzetti, Journalism ’88
Release: March 2024
In Bury the Lead, the third book by Elizabeth Renzetti (in collaboration with Kate Hilton), a big-city journalist, Cat Conway, joins the staff of a small-town paper in cottage country and finds a community full of secrets … and murder. Can Cat solve the mystery of legendary actor Eliot Fraser’s murder before she loses her job or becomes the next victim of a killer with a theatrical bent for vengeance? You’ll have to read it to find out!
The Master Plan
Author: Michael Healey, Theatre Performance ’85
Release: March 2024
In this biting comedy about the failure to build a smart city in Toronto, Michael Healey lampoons the corporate drama, epic personalities, and iconic Canadian figures involved in the messy affair between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto. Based on the bestselling exposé, Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy by Josh O’Kane, Journalism (MA) ’12, The Master Plan exposes the hubris of big tech, the feebleness of government, and the dangers of public consultation with sharp wit and insightful commentary.
Maya’s Laws of Love
Author: Alina Khawaja, Literatures of Modernity (MA) ’22
Release: March 2024
A bride-to-be convinced she’s cursed in romance finds her luck changing—at exactly the wrong time. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love—she’s sure of it. Except, a chance meeting with a cynical lawyer could take her somewhere totally—and wonderfully—unexpected.
Really Cute People
Author: Markus Harwood Jones, Sociology ’17
Release: March 2024
The newest book from Harwood-Jones introduces readers to Charlie Dee and an out-of-the-city work trip escape that turns out to be anything but! Really Cute People is a queer polyamorous romance that reminds readers what it means to truly feel at home.
Behind You
Author: Catherine Hernandez, Theatre Performance ’99
Release: May 2024
Catherine Hernandez’s most gripping and affecting novel yet. Behind You is a moving story of one girl’s resilience into adulthood and a chilling portrayal of the insidiousness if rape culture. It daringly turns the Whodunit genre on its head by asking the question “Who hasn't done it?” As in, who has not been complicit in sexual harm?
Cut and Thirst: A Short Story
Author: Margaret Atwood, Honorary Doctor of Letters ’12
Release: May 2024
Three women scheme to avenge an old friend in a darkly witty short story about loyalty, ambition, and delicious retribution by Margaret Atwood, the #1 bestselling author of The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Downloaded
Author: Robert Sawyer, Radio and Television Arts ’82
Release: May 2024
In the newest novel by Robert Sawyer, Canada’s top science fiction writer, two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario. One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth’s first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison. But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction.
How We Gather Matters: Sustainable Event Planning for Purpose and Impact
Author: Leor Rotchild, Business Management ’00
Release: May 2024
Events can help educate, inspire, and connect us to our community, but all too often they escalate into resource-intensive glorifications of excess and exclusivity. How We Gather Matters is an invitation to reimagine the modern events industry as a powerful vehicle for profound change.
Never Been Better
Author: Leanne Toshiko Simpson, Professional Communication ’16
Release: May 2024
My Best Friend's Wedding meets The Silver Linings Playbook in this offbeat, heartfelt comedy about a seaside wedding reunion where no one can stay afloat. Never Been Better revels in the heartache and hilarity of falling in love when you haven't quite figured out how to live with yourself.
The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits
Author: Ben Berman Ghan, Literatures of Modernity (MA) ’20
Release: May 2024
The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits is a gorgeously complex work of literary fiction. With elements of science fiction and horror dropped in amongst stunning literary prose, the debut novel spans centuries, covering humanity’s colonization of the moon, a war with alien beings, AI minds governing Canada, and a giant spacefaring whale. The end result is an ambitious debut that leaves the reader contemplating many amazing possibilities for the future of our world.
This Summer Will Be Different
Author: Carley Fortune, Journalism ’06
Release: May 2024
From best-selling author Carley Fortune, This Summer Will Be Different introduces readers to Lucy, a tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.
The Glow Code: A Cheat Sheet for Feeling, Looking, and Being Your Best at Any Age
Author: Michelle McIvor, Journalism ’05
Release: June 2024
The Glow Code provides all the answers you need to feel, look, and live better in midlife and beyond. Rich in advice from top scientists, psychologists, makeup artists, fitness and nutrition authorities, and others, this book offers strategies and tips for better fitness, friendships, sex, creative practices, and more. And to make sure it works, McIvor tested it all — with sometimes hilarious results.
A Lethal Lady
Author: Nekesa Afia, Journalism ’17
Release: July 2024
Louise Lloyd is finally living the quiet life she’d longed for, working in a parfumerie by day and spending time with her new friends every night at the Aquarius club in Paris. When a desperate mother asks for help locating her artist daughter, Louise initially refuses to keep her hard-won but fragile peace intact. But the woman comes with a letter of introduction from an old friend in Harlem, and Louise realizes she has no choice but to do what she can to find the missing young woman.
Unwashed
Author: Daniel Maluka, English ’18
Release: July 2024
Unwashed is a deeply personal collection of poetry centering on themes of growing up, a loss of innocence, the immigrant experience, love, and alienation. The title of the collection is a reference to the urgency of the work. These are not romantic or quiet poems; they are loud and in-your-face. They speak directly to the collective anxieties of urban life and reflect the author's unique experience as an immigrant to Canada, his family background, and the diverse urban setting of Toronto. All these factors combine to create a tapestry of image-rich and intense poetry.
Everything and Nothing at All
Author: Jenny Heijun Wills, Journalism ’03
Release: August 2024
From Hilary Weston Prize-winning author Jenny Heijun Wills comes a new collection of piercing, breathtaking essays on beauty, identity, and language—as well as the grey zones that exist between and within these notions of self. Everything and Nothing At All weaves together literary criticism, cultural context, and personal history into a staggering tapestry of knowledge.
The Knowing
Author: Tanya Talaga, Honorary Doctor of Laws ’21
Release: August 2024
The Knowing is the unfolding of Canadian history unlike anything we have ever read before. Award-winning and bestselling Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of this country as only she can—through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother Annie Carpenter and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide. Deeply personal and meticulously researched, The Knowing is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today.
Sex Work in Popular Culture
Author: Lauren Kirshner, Communication & Culture (PhD) ’19
Release: August 2024
Sex Work in Popular Culture delves into provocative movies, TV shows, and documentaries about sex work produced in the last decade — a period of debate and change around the meaning of sex work in North American society. From Oscar-winning films to viral YouTube videos, and from indie documentaries to hit series — many of which are made by women — the book reveals how sex work is being recognized as real work and an issue of human rights.
The Berlin Apartment
Author: Bryn Turnbull, Professional Communication (MA) ’12
Release: September 2024
Bryn Turnbull’s fourth novel, The Berlin Apartment, is a sweeping love story that follows a young couple whose lives are irrevocably changed when they’re separated overnight by the construction of the Berlin Wall.
Battle of Britain
Author: Ted Barris, Radio and Television Arts ’71
Release: September 2024
Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in their Finest Hour is a must for enthusiasts of military and aviation history. Bestselling military historian Ted Barris tells the riveting story of their crucial role in this do-or-die-battle: how they accounted for 130 German aircraft destroyed, another thirty probably destroyed and more than seventy damaged, with twenty pilots dying in action and twelve awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses.
Dotted Lines
Author: Stephanie Cesca, Journalism ’02
Release: October 2024
Abandoned as a child, Melanie Forsythe seeks stability and belonging after her mom’s boyfriend is left to raise her. Despite her raw deal, Melanie grows up to have a good head on her shoulders and a strong bond with her stepdad. But her dream of having a family of her own is shattered when she suffers tragedy and betrayal. Finding herself at an unexpected crossroads, Melanie must rely on the lessons given to her by someone who owed her nothing but gave her everything.
Homing
Author: Alice Irene Whittaker, Theatre Performance ’09
Release: September 2024
Braiding together her personal journey with the stories of others who are tending to the Earth, Alice Irene Whittaker has crafted a lyrical, relatable memoir about regeneration and moving from a life of despair to a life of care. Searching for the spaces between the sorrow of wildfires and the beauty of wildflowers, Homing is about returning home to our bodies, geographies, communities, and place, all as a part of nature.
The Kids Who Bought a Lemonade Stand
Author: Nunzio Presta, Business Management and Entrepreneurship ’12
Release: September 2024
Tim and Lily dream big and love helping others. When they find a lemonade stand for sale, they decide to buy it instead of starting from scratch. With creativity, hard work, and community support, they transform the stand into a thriving business. This inspiring story shows young readers that you don’t have to create something new to achieve your entrepreneurial dreams—you can take something that already exists and make it even better!
The Grey Wolf
Author: Louise Penny, Radio and Television Arts ’79, Honorary Doctor of Letters ’21
Release: October 2024
A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading “this might interest you”, a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching. Coming off her ninth #1 New York Times bestseller, A World of Curiosities, The Grey Wolf is the nineteenth book in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series.
Johnny Delivers
Author: Wayne Ng, Social Work ’88
Release: November 2024
It is 1977 and Eighteen year old Johnny Wong’s family is in debt to his Aunt who has links to the newly arrived Triad in Toronto. Johnny tries to make sense of his chaotic life by having conversations with his idol, Bruce Lee, who died four years ago. Johnny begins selling drugs through the restaurant until his Aunt catches up with him, culminating in a mah jong battle for Johnny’s future.
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