Review: Ballads predominate on ABBA’s comeback album

Free Press literary editor picks noteworthy Canadian fiction and non-fiction titles to watch for this fall

For many book lovers, summer means relaxing at the beach, in the backyard or at the cottage with fun, warm-weather page-turners — easy-going romance novels, gripping thrillers or even a dishy biography.

And some may long for the summer months to slow down, fall books season always offers up some of the most compelling reads for bookworms.

Here are 10 works of fiction and 10 non-fiction titles from Canadian authors slated to be published in the coming months — from Olympians to separatists, draft dodgers, plutocrats, prime ministers, bird-men and beyond, the characters in these forthcoming titles run the gamut.

FICTIONEliza Sunshine

Bombers offence stalls in 22-19 loss to Elks

It was a microcosm of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season to this point: a first half that burned bright only to be doused in cold water.

The Bombers began the first leg of their mid-season gauntlet with a 22-19 loss to the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium in the Alberta capital on Friday night.

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo orchestrated an eight-play, 54-yard drive that set up a 40-yard game-winning field goal by Vincent Blanchard that snuck inside the left upright with zeros on the clock.

The drive, which was plagued by poor tackling by the Bombers defence, came after Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo tied the game at 19-19 on a 53-yard boot with 1:41 remaining in the contest.

Five Things: PM Carney explains why Canada left the U.S. negotiating table

OTTAWA - Canada is preparing to hit the U.S. with dollar-for-dollar tariffs in response to new 50 per cent duties on $28 billion worth of Canadian products that took effect when talks between the two nations collapsed as negotiations neared the finish line. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney was quiet publicly during the final days of negotiations, but now has now explained his rationale for telling the Canadian negotiating team, led by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette, to leave the table.

Restrictions on further trade deals

"The U.S. Introduced at the last hours, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals. You heard me say a moment ago, what we've accomplished in the past year, 20 new deals, economic and security partnerships, the prospect of doubling our market access because we believe in free trade. We're the partner of choice in many respects for countries around the world and the Americans wanted to restrict that. They had language that what they wanted to restrict that, unacceptable," Carney said during a press conference on Parliament Hill.

Executive exodus continues at Shared Health with three recent departures

Manitoba’s provincial health authority is looking for its fourth chief financial officer since 2023 and additional replacements after the recent departures of three executives.

ER wait times have hit all-time highs in Winnipeg and are impacting nearly all aspects of hospital operations

On most days at Health Sciences Centre’s adult emergency department, all 58 treatment beds are filled with sick patients. Another dozen or so brought in by ambulance line the hallways on stretchers, with only one nurse to look after them.

Out in the waiting room, about 30 or 40 people — sometimes more — are slouched in chairs in pain or discomfort, waiting hours to see a doctor. Most have been assessed by a triage nurse, but many will have to wait 10 to 20 hours to be examined by a physician because there’s no room for them in the treatment area.

Some patients leave because they can no longer tolerate the excruciating wait, only to return days later, sicker than they were before.

Welcome to the emergency department at Manitoba’s largest hospital, where some of the highest-acuity patients seek medical care but now face delays that were unimaginable a few years ago.

Frustration mounts as drug raids sweep problems out of downtown, into West End

West End business owners say their neighbourhood has been under siege for months, and some believe downtown police drug sweeps have made things worse by pushing more street disorder in their direction — and pushing customers away.