What do you know about Appalachia? Fancy Gap is the debut novel by Zak Jones, and it challenges the preconceptions we might have about the region. The story follows three generations of an Appalachian family as they navigate poverty, illness, extreme religion … and the eternal struggle of finding one’s place in the world. There’s no better person to tell the story than Zak, who grew up in the region and has deep connections to its culture. This week, Zak joins Mattea to talk about his upbringing, how religion shapes the culture and why you might be wrong about Appalachia.

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• Meth and murder in rural America
• Ocean Vuong finds beauty in a fast food shift

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When Chris Kraus became fixated on a murder case in a Minnesotan town, she decided to try her hand at a true crime novel ... but the project soon evolved into something much bigger. The Four Spent The Day Together weaves together the stories of an impulsive murder carried out by three teens, a marriage torn apart by addiction and the reality of life in working class America. Much like Chris’s hit novel I Love Dick, the story and its protagonist draw heavily from her own life experiences. This week, Chris tells Mattea Roach about her interest in the crime, how addiction can shape a relationship and why she’s finally exploring her childhood in fiction.

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• When young men murder, what can we learn?
• Buffoon or genius? What makes a cult leader?

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Did the Olympics get you in the hockey spirit? If not, here’s a book that certainly will. Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard is a novel about small town life and Canada's favourite pastime … and it’s also one of this year’s Canada Reads picks. The story follows Adam, a failing sportswriter who goes back to his hometown to interview a notorious retired hockey goon. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, with one catch. The goon is actually Adam’s estranged father … and he can’t run away from his past forever. This week, Tyler joins Mattea to talk about who inspired the titular Terry Punchout, why growing up is so complicated and the warmth of small town Nova Scotia.

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• For Indigenous players, ice hockey is a ceremony of its own
• Here’s what you have wrong about teen moms

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Tamara Jong grew up going door-to-door for the Jehovah’s Witnesses … and her new memoir, Worldly Girls, is all about breaking away from the faith. For much of her life, the strict religious movement was Tamara’s only way of making sense of the world. But as she got older, Tamara began to reflect on her unconventional childhood, complicated relationships with her parents and mental health struggles. She realized that she wasn’t lost without the Witnesses — it was actually the religion that was preventing her from finding herself. This week, Tamara tells Mattea about growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, her relationship to motherhood and what it really means to be worldly.

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• Video games are radical. Not in the way you think
• Why an ADHD diagnosis had this author rethinking everything

Murder Bimbo is a new book about a sex worker-turned assassin … and it’s the debut novel by Rebecca Novack, a former priest-in-training. The story follows a sex worker nicknamed Murder Bimbo who is hired by the government to kill a right-wing politician. She does the deed, makes her escape, and tells her story in emails to a social justice podcaster. But things aren’t quite what they seem. So is she a scapegoat … or is she a liar? This week, Rebecca dives into the wild premise of the book, how she almost became a priest and the challenges of writing a political novel in fraught times.

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• Why Mona Awad gave the Bunnies a say
• Taylor Jenkins Reid is among the stars — on and off the page

If you’re worried about being lonely in the afterlife, don’t worry. Just hire a corpse bride to keep you company in the coffin! In Lindsay Wong’s new novel, Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies, a university dropout is desperate to pay off her family’s debt … so she signs her life away to the ancient Chinese tradition of corpse marriage. But as she prepares to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and locked away in a coffin forever, she realizes that running from her family’s ghosts won’t be that easy. This week, Lindsay joins Mattea to talk about the history behind death marriages, how her own life inspired the novel and why she loves to write about the grotesque.

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• How far would you go for your family?
• Three writers on the monsters that made them

Carla Ciccone was 39 years old when she was diagnosed with ADHD. That diagnosis changed everything for her ... and she shares her experience in her new memoir, Nowhere Girl: Life as a Member of ADHD’s Lost Generation. Over the past few years, the rates of adult women receiving ADHD diagnoses have risen dramatically. So why were these women overlooked for so long? And where do they go from here? This week, Carla tells Mattea about struggling with undiagnosed ADHD, understanding her childhood through a new lens and finding humour in the frustration of it all.

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• Weightlifting made Casey Johnston stronger — in muscle and mind
• Kate Gies: Reclaiming her body after years of medical trauma

If you’re feeling jaded by money, politics and modern dating … you’re not the only one. Conor Kerr’s new novella, Beaver Hills Forever, follows the everyday lives of four Métis people in Edmonton. The odds are stacked against them and life is exhausting, but each person finds meaning in the small moments and the beauty of life in the Canadian Prairies. Beaver Hills Forever is a poetic love letter to the city of Edmonton and the power of community … and yes, the perils of dating apps make an appearance too. This week, Conor joins Mattea to talk about the unique structure of the book, how he battles his own cynicism and what it really means to strive for a better life.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• For Indigenous players, ice hockey is a ceremony of its own
• Ocean Vuong finds beauty in a fast food shift