Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Who Live In My Country


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A Canadian flag flying on a flagpole in front of the Banff National Park mountains which are large and spectacular. There’s a large hill or maybe a small mountain between the flagpole and Banff that’s covered in fir trees. Thank you to Jennifer @ Funk-N-Fiction for submitting this week’s theme.

Here are ten books written by Canadian authors other than L.M. Montgomery or Margaret Atwood due to how well-known their books are across the globe.

There is another Canadian author I’m leaving off this list due to some terrible allegations that were made about them a few years ago. No need to give them any more attention if you ask me. 

I’d rather focus on authors with good reputations – at least so far as I know –  that you may not have heard of yet!  If you see this little asterisk symbol * it means I have read something they’ve written.  (I hope that’s the right word for that symbol. I believe it is). 

1. Cheryl Kaye Tardif

2. Margaret Laurence *

3. Jane Urquhart

5. Kelley Armstrong *

6. Michael Ondaatje

7. W.O. Mitchell *

8. Carol Shields

9. Farley Mowat

10. Richard Wagamese *

11. Robert J. Sawyer *

I’m purposefully not saying what I’ve read from the authors I have tried from this list because I don’t want to influence your opinions if you decide to give anyone’s books a shot.

(And also because in at least one case I believe I’ve read one of their books but don’t remember enough about it to have a strong opinion in any direction anymore. Don’t you hate it when that happens? 😂)

46 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

46 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Who Live In My Country

  1. It’s fun you featured some less popular authors! We all have likely heard of Montgomery so its nice to see some other names on a list like this. 🙂 Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

  2. I hate when I read something and immediately forget it 😂

  3. Oh wow I’ve not heard of a single author on this list! You did a great job, I love learning of new writers to check out

  4. A couple of these names are familiar, but the only one I’ve read is Robert Sawyer. I read him twice and both experiences were…not positive.

    Kinda curious about the author who wasn’t mentioned. Gemini suggested his initials might be SG?

  5. The only author I’ve heard from this list is Michael Ondaatje. I had no idea he was Canadian but I do have one of his books on my shelf 🙂 The only other Canadian author that I can recall off the top of my head is Jackie Lau, an Asian-Canadian romance author! Thanks for introducing me to many more new authors.

  6. L. M. Montgomery is always the first one that comes to mind for me. I’ve read books by Cheryl Kaye Tardiff and enjoyed them. Thanks for sharing these authors, Lydia.

  7. One of my fave Canadian authors is Sara Davison!

  8. I’ve read some Kelley Armstrong, didn’t realize she was Canadian!

  9. I love seeing all of this love for Canadian authors! Thank you for stopping by my blog earlier.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!

  10. Kelley Armstrong’s a favorite of mine! And Farley Mowat. Great TTT list. 😀

  11. The only author I’ve heard of on this list is Kelley Armstrong. I never read her books, but I want to.

  12. I have not heard of any of these. I have read and enjoyed books by Terrie Todd, another Canadian author…I feel like I know of a few more that live in Canada, but their names are not coming to me at the moment. Thanks for sharing.

  13. Nice list, Lydia. I also had Kelley Armstrong on my list. I forgot about Wagamese.

  14. When I was young, I was a huge Carol Shields fan. I read all her books, one after the other. Then I read a couple of them again. I’d love to read them again one day.

  15. I have read quite a lot of Kelley Armstrong’s books but it has been a long time since I read her! I must look at her more recent books and see if there is anything that catches my eye!

  16. I just finished a poetry book by Michael Ondaatje. I like his novels better.

    Thanks for this list. I am always looking to expand my reading.

  17. vidya

    I have not read books by any of these authors and only familiar with Michael Ondaatje and Carol Shields

  18. How lovely. I have read quite a few of your Canadian authors but miss my favourite: Mary Lawson.
    Margaret Laurence sounds interesting, I haven’t read anything by her. So, thanks for the introduction.

    And thanks for visiting my post:
    https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/top-ten-tuesday-authors-or-books-by.html

  19. Lol it happens to me all the time! There have so many books I’ve read that I don’t remember a single thing about! On one hand, it sucks to be so forgetful, on the other hand, I get to be surprised by the books I loved all over again! 😂

  20. Oh, how nice! I know I’ve read books by Farley Mowat and Carol Shields, but both so long ago that I don’t remember much of the specifics. Kelley Armstrong is a much more recent discovery for me (in fact, I’m reading her newest right now!!), and I’ve loved everything by her that I’ve read so far. There are a bunch of names here that I don’t know, so I’ll have to do some exploring!

  21. Farley Mowat is a writer I collect.

    So is Stephen Leacock, though he wrote some things that were neither funny nor even intelligent. (“A face so face-like that it was absolutely facial” makes up for a lot.) I can understand people not liking him though.

    I like Robertson Davies’ funny pieces. Did not like the only novel of his I’ve read so far.

    And Michael Ondaatje generally gets good reviews in the US, so I’m looking forward to his new book (poems) this week, having finally got it to open in Kindle on I think the seventh try.

  22. I like that you didn’t go with the popular, well known authors, and seem to have intentionally focused on underhyped books and authors. I’ve been meaning to read Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese and Michael Ondaatje – The English Patient sounds really good. I hope you’re feeling better.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *