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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

10 (+1) Alternative Toronto Reads

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Kenk: A Graphic Portrait (Richard Poplak & Nick Marinkovich)
A biography in comic book form tracing the life and career of Toronto’s most notorious bike thief.

 

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Imagining Toronto (Amy Lavender Harris)
Is Toronto a multicultural mecca, a city haunted by its ravines, truly ‘the city of neighbourhoods’? York professor and regular Spacing contributor Harris looks closely at our city’s literary heritage.

 

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The Edible City: Toronto’s Food from Farm to Fork (Christina Palassio & Alana Wilcox [Eds])
An incredibly fun look at how food is produced, consumed, and distributed across the GTA.

 

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Spiders of Toronto: A Guide to Their Remarkable World (City of Toronto)
Includes ‘A Chronology of the Toronto Spider Year’ and a handy checklist for keen spider-spotters

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The Man Who Stayed Afloat (Fraser Sutherland)
It’s not clear how much longer Captain John’s Harbour Boat Restaurant will be afloat, but the life story of the Captain, aka Ivan Letnik, lives on.

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Faces on Places: A Grotesque Tour of Toronto (Terry Murrary)
Toronto architecture means modernism to many, but this cutely sized guide proves we have our own gothic history.

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Toronto Street Names: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins (Leonard Wise & Allan Gould)
This well-researched book includes the history of over 300 Toronto streets and plenty of historical photos.

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Studies in Canadian English: Lexical Variation in Toronto (Adam Bednarek) 
Goes beyond Trawnha vs. Torono vs. Toronto to look at how the GTA’s diversity influences speech.

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GreenTOpia (Alana Wilcox, Jonny Dovercourt & Christina Palassio [Eds])
Another great effort in Coach House’s uTOpia series, this well-organized essay collection tackles dozens of 21st century sustainability issues.

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Great Country Walks Around Toronto & Great Cycling Around Toronto (Elliott Katz)
We couldn’t choose between these two pint-sized gems that highlight walks and bike rides accessible by TTC.

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