Pumpkin spice? Meh. Here are some real treats to warm up to this October.
Sisters of the Jungle: The Trailblazing Women Who Shaped the Study of Wild Primates
Keriann McGoogan
Douglas & McIntyre
Jane Goodall and her mother felt too sick to journey to see a doctor when they fell ill with (probable) malaria in 1960, during Goodall’s first foray into Tanzania to study chimpanzees. When Goodall returned to work, she became the first primatologist to observe chimpanzees using tools and eating meat.
Until her death in September 2025, Goodall worked as an observer, writer and champion for biodiversity and conservation. She was an inspiration to many, including author Keriann McGoogan, who studied lemurs in Madagascar and howler monkeys in Belize.
Goodall was the first of three women whose field work was sponsored by archeologist Louis Leakey in the 1960s and 1970s. Leakey was open to pitches from Goodall, Dian Fossey (who studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda) and Biruté Galdikas (who studied orangutans in Borneo).
McGoogan ponders the question of why the science of primatology is dominated by women and looks at their effect education and conservation.
Agent of Change: My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies and Institutional Racism
Huda Mukbil
McGill-Queen’s University Press
For a time, Huda Mukbil was the only Arabic-speaking intelligence officer in the Counter Terrorism branch of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). In 2002, she was the first Black Arab-Canadian Muslim woman to join the agency. She spoke four languages and was “a uniquely valuable asset.”
CSIS was lucky to have her. But after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she was treated as a threat. She and some colleagues became whistleblowers, calling out racist, sexist, homophobic and Islamophobic discrimination that they believe undermined national security.
Mukbil sheds light on the job, her experience with systemic bullying and the need for institutional change.
The Race to the Starting Line: What You Need to Know About the Accessible Canada Act for Making a Barrier-Free Society
Max L. Brault
Initiate Marketing
“The truth is there are only two types of people in this world: those who have a disability and those who some day will,” author Max Brault writes. “Pain, hearing or vision loss, mobility issues, you name it. That’s life.”
Brault, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is an activist and former federal civil servant who was instrumental in creating the Accessible Canada Act. He’s also created an engaging book aimed at inspiring Canadians to break down barriers. Conversational in tone, it’s available in digital, hardcover and paperback editions at MaxBraultSMAFoundation.ca.
A Capital Mystery
Edited by Bernadette Cox and Mike Martin
Ottawa Press and Publishing
A dark night, a river covered in thin ice and a woman who is desperate to be free of the ex-husband she’s meeting on a secluded path. What could go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out, in the opening short story and in 20 more twisty mysteries in this anthology presented by Crime Writers of Canada.
Every story is set in Ottawa, but each is unique. You’ll recognize some of the authors’ names — Katie Tallo (Dark August), Barbara Fradkin (Shipwrecked Souls) — and you’ll remember a few others for future reference.
