Recommendations based on Medicine Walkby Richard Wagamese

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Indian Horse

    by Richard Wagamese
    A story of survival, resilience, and redemption as an Indigenous Canadian boy finds his own path in life.

    In 1961, the Indian Horse family—an Ojibway family consisting of eight-year-old Saul, his grandmother Naomi, and his Christian parents John and Mary—live in the wilderness of Northern Ontario , ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Three Day Road

    by Joseph Boyden
    Two Cree snipers fight in WWI, one returns home addicted to morphine, the other lost to the war.

    It is 1919, and Niska, the last Oji-Cree woman to live off the land, has received word that one of the two boys she saw off to the Great War has returned. Xavier Bird, her sole living relation, is ... (Goodreads)

  3. Fifteen Dogs

    by André Alexis
    A group of dogs gain human intelligence and experience the highs and lows of life.

    Over drinks at Toronto's Wheat Sheaf Tavern, Hermes and Apollo get into a debate about whether animals could live happily if they had the same cognitive and speech abilities as humans. , They decide ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Orenda

    by Joseph Boyden
    An exploration of the spiritual bonds between a small Huron tribe and their European invaders.

    In the remote winter landscape a brutal massacre and the kidnapping of a young Iroquois girl violently re-ignites a deep rift between two tribes. The girl’s captor, Bird, is one of the Huron Nation’s ... (Goodreads)

  5. All My Puny Sorrows

    by Miriam Toews
    A heart-wrenching story of two sisters as one battles depression and the other struggles to keep her alive.

    The novel recounts the tumultuous relationship of the Von Riesen sisters, Elfrieda and Yolandi, the only children of an intellectual, free-spirited family from a conservative Mennonite community. ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Mountain Story

    by Lori Lansens
    Four strangers are stranded on a mountain and must work together to survive. A gripping tale of survival and self-discovery.

    “Lori Lansens has created a heart-pounder of a book that is every bit as much of an emotional roller-coaster as an adventurous one” ( New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult). In New York ... (Barnes & Noble)

  7. A Fine Balance

    by Rohinton Mistry
    A gripping story of four unlikely lives intertwined in the tumult of India's caste system.

    The book exposes the changes in Indian society from independence in 1947 to the Emergency called by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . Mistry was generally critical of Indira Gandhi in the book. ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Break

    by Katherena Vermette
    A young Indigenous woman's exploration of family and community, in the face of tragedy.

    2016 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize finalist When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Invention of Wings

    by Sue Monk Kidd
    A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.

    Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Best Laid Plans

    by Terry Fallis
    A political satire about a hapless engineer who becomes a Member of Parliament. Hilarity ensues as he tries to navigate the world of politics.

    A burnt-out political aide quits just before an election — but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock — an engineering professor ... (Goodreads)

  11. The Marrow Thieves

    by Cherie Dimaline
    A dystopian future where Indigenous people have the power to dream, and the government is trying to steal it.

    In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Sisters Brothers

    by Patrick deWitt
    A unique western, following two brothers on a quest to find and murder a prospector.

    In 1851, Eli and Charlie Sisters, a pair of assassins of minor repute, are hired by a wealthy businessman known only as "the Commodore" to travel from Oregon City to California in order to murder a ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Virgin Cure

    by Ami McKay
    A young girl in 19th century New York City is sold into prostitution and must navigate the dangerous world of sex work to survive.

    From #1 international bestselling author Ami McKay comes The Virgin Cure, the story of a young girl abandoned and forced to fend for herself in the poverty and treachery of post-Civil War New York ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. Through Black Spruce

    by Joseph Boyden
    A journey of reconciliation, to uncover the truth and find peace.

    A haunting novel about identity, love, and loss by the author of, Three Day Road, Will Bird is a legendary Cree bush pilot, now lying in a coma in a hospital in his hometown of Moose Factory, ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Book of Negroes

    by Lawrence Hill
    A gripping tale of resilience and courage, tracing the life of a woman kidnapped in Africa and sold into slavery in North America.

    The Book of Negroes (based on the novel Someone Knows My Name) will be BET's first miniseries. The star-studded production includes lead actress Aunjanue Ellis (Ray, The Help), Oscar winner Cuba ... (Goodreads)

  16. Unsheltered

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    Two families, living in different centuries, struggle to survive in a crumbling house and a changing world. A poignant exploration of family, community, and the human condition.

    21st century: 19th century (some modelled on real persons): Writing in the New York Times , Meg Wolitzer , says this book "lures us into" this story about a house and the two different families that ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Underground Railroad

    by Colson Whitehead
    An escaped slave's daring escape to freedom, fighting against the brutality of slavery.

    The story is told in the third person, focusing mainly on Cora. Scattered single chapters also focus on Cora's mother Mabel, the slavecatcher Ridgeway, a reluctant slave sympathizer named Ethel, and ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Secret Daughter

    by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
    An Indian woman's journey to find her daughter and redeem her past.

    Somer's life is everything she imagined it would be — she's newly married and has started her career as a physician in San Francisco — until she makes the devastating discovery she never will be able ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Cat's Table

    by Michael Ondaatje
    A young boy's journey of self-discovery, exploring the world and its people.

    A spellbinding story - by turns poignant and electrifying - about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage. ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Alice Network

    by Kate Quinn
    Two women in WWI join forces to unravel secrets of a spy network in search of a missing girl.

    The plot follows pregnant American college student Charlie St. Clair in the aftermath of World War II , as she travels around France looking for her missing cousin, Rose. Her story intersects with ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Left Neglected

    by Lisa Genova
    A woman's struggle to find balance and acceptance after suffering a traumatic brain injury.

    Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children - ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Light Between Oceans

    by M.L. Stedman
    A lighthouse keeper and his wife make a heartbreaking decision that has lifelong repercussions.

    Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found, here, Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse ... (Goodreads)

  23. Rush Home Road

    by Lori Lansens
    A woman's journey through life, love, and loss as she takes in a young girl and confronts her own past.

    Sharla Cody is only five, but has already lived a troubled life – only to find herself dumped on an elderly neighbor's doorstep when her mother takes off for the summer. Although Sharla is not the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. Orphan Number Eight

    by Kim van Alkemade
    A historical fiction about a Jewish orphan seeking revenge on the doctor who experimented on her at a Jewish orphanage during WWII.

    New York Times and USA Today Bestseller In this stunning new historical novel inspired by true events, Kim van Alkemade tells the fascinating story of a woman who must choose between revenge and ... (Barnes & Noble)

  25. Euphoria

    by Lily King
    Three anthropologists in the 1930s study a tribe in New Guinea, leading to a complex love triangle and ethical dilemmas.

    A New York Times Bestseller,Winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize,Winner of the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction,A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award,A Best Book of the Year for:,, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  26. Flight Behavior

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A woman's struggle to reconcile her faith and environmentalism as she faces a mysterious ecological disaster.

    Dellarobia Turnbow is a 28-year-old discontented housewife living with her poor family on a farm in Appalachia . On a hike to begin an affair with a telephone repairman, Turnbow finds millions of ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Swimming Lessons

    by Claire Fuller
    A woman disappears, leaving behind letters to her husband hidden in his books. Her daughter tries to uncover the truth about her mother's disappearance.

    Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When ... (Goodreads)

  28. 419

    by Will Ferguson
    A Nigerian email scam spirals into a global web of deceit, revealing the dark side of the internet and human nature.

    A startlingly original tale of heartbreak and suspense A car tumbles down a snowy ravine. Accident or suicide? On the other side of the world, a young woman walks out of a sandstorm in sub-Saharan ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Luminaries

    by Eleanor Catton
    A complex mystery set in New Zealand's gold rush era, as a web of secrets and lies unravels.

    The story begins with one of the book's protagonists, Walter Moody, arriving in the smoking room of the Crown Hotel after having encountered a horrific sight on his boat trip to Hokitika . There, he ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Americanah

    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    An exploration of race, identity, and belonging as two Nigerian immigrants experience life in America and beyond.

    Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to ... (Goodreads)