2025: The Top Weekend Reads

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If you’re an avid reader of The Walrus online, you will have noticed one of the big milestones we hit this year. In 2025, we extended our publishing to Saturday. From poignant memoirs to historical mysteries, celebrity power to political humour that pulls no punches, we’ve offered a wide range of stories for some leisurely reading. Here are our most popular Weekend Reads this year:

 

Book Banning in Canada Is Quiet, Systemic, and More Effective than Ever BY IRA WELLS Our libraries are being purged in the name of protecting kids

I Lost My Son to Addiction. No, Privilege Didn’t Protect Him BY SCOTT OAKE He had a loving family, financial support, and the best treatment. He fell victim to an overdose anyway

How I Solved the Century-Old Mystery of a Miraculous Shipwreck Survivor BY EVE LAZARUS In a disaster worse than the Titanic, it was believed a young man swam over six kilometres to safety. It didn’t add up

When John and Yoko Came to Ontario to Figure Out How to Change the World BY PETER GODDARD

Waking up Americans about peace was a goal, Lennon said. That meant setting up shop not far from the border

Have You Heard the One about Kevin O’Leary, Wayne Gretzky, and Danielle Smith Walking into Mar-a-Lago? BY MARK CRITCH It’s a joke that ends with three Canadians helping Trump meddle with our sovereignty

John Candy Was Selling Paper from His Car When a Chance Meeting Changed His Life BY PAUL MYERS “I finally realized I’m not doing anything else, I’m gonna stick with acting”

What Working in Alberta’s Oil Boom Taught Me about Power BY DON GILLMOR The rigs were loud, the nights long, and the money real

My Father Was Found in a Residential School Incinerator When He Was an Infant BY JULIAN BRAVE NOISECAT Being the son of a death-defying trickster led me to confront what Canada tried to burn away

Whiteouts, Ice Roads, and Wolverines: What Working at a Diamond Mine in the Far North Is Like BY JEREMY THOMAS GILMER In minus forty, even a twisted ankle can turn deadly if no one knows where to find you

I Was the First Transgender Player in Professional Hockey. Then I Had to Walk Away BY HARRISON BROWNE, WITH RACHEL BROWNE The sports world is the newest battleground for true equality

My Father Could Have Changed the World. Instead, He Changed Mine BY CHYANA MARIE SAGE He embodied the traits of our great ancestors—but ended up a drug dealer who broke his family

What Christian Pop Taught Me about Salvation and Shame BY JOELLE KIDD Knockoff bands offered catchy hooks with sex-free lyrics and a vision of a holy life The post 2025: The Top Weekend Reads first appeared on The Walrus.