Sure, Toronto has its quirks. In this latest heat wave, it’s hot and humid, and sticky and smelly, and has us craving some fresh air, some forest, and some better scenery. But Toronto is also a vibrant city, full of love, life, and so many people. We’ve got great places to eat, great art and culture, and some truly iconic places to visit.

Last year, we shared with you 11 book recommendations based on your favourite Toronto landmarks, and this year, we wanted to do it again, with some different places we love in Toronto. So read on for some book recommendations, and if you haven’t yet, consider visiting the places on this list.

Casa Loma – The War of the Roses by Warren Adler

Casa Loma is one of my favourite Toronto landmarks — with its hidden passages, its storied history, and its multitude of events. Classy and grand, with a gorgeous interior, the castle holds some dark history, including the family’s brush with financial ruin, as well as rumours of a haunting by a mysterious woman in white. It only makes sense to pair this grand landmark with an iconic and just as storied book.

Often called “the original divorce drama”, Warren Adler’s The War of the Roses is a funny, smart, and sharp “classic” about love unravelling into chaos.  Jonathan and Barbara Rose seem like the perfect couple — with an idyllic home full of antiques, loving children, and promising careers. When Jonathan experiences what is presumably a heart attack, and Barbara confronts the lack of love between them, their picture-perfect marriage soon devolves into mutual hatred, and chaos. Read this before you watch the new film adaptation The Roses, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Allison Janney, Andy Samberg, Ncuti Gatwa, and Kate McKinnon.

The Distillery District – The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien

Toronto’s Distillery District is a picturesque locale, and home to Canada’s most visited holiday market. Around 20 years ago, a group of developers decided to turn a derelict collection of Victorian Industrial buildings that were named a historical site, into an exciting place that combines European vibes and history with trendy shops, restaurants, and experiences, resulting in a delicious combination of old and new. It’s only fitting that we pair this setting with another iconic novel that also plays around with the concepts of time (and space)… Madeleine Thien’s The Book of Records. 

“The Sea” is a sprawling, mysterious building complex that serves as a receiving area for migrants from everywhere, as well as a place outside of normal time and space. Here, adolescent Lina cares for her ailing father. They came here with only what they could carry by hand, and Lina grew up with nothing but three books to read — three volumes in a series about the lives of famous “voyagers” from the past. She soon discovers three eccentric neighbours who have their own stories to share, and bear surprising resemblances to real historical figures. As she grows up, she spends much time listening to their fascinating stories, but it’s only when her father tells her how they came to reside in The Sea that she understands the cost of the betrayals in her own life. Adventurous, sweeping, and grand, this is the perfect book to take with you and read on a patio on your next trip to the Distillery District.

Riverdale Farm – A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

I have so many memories of visiting Riverdale Farm as a kid. My mom would gather my siblings and I up, load us onto the TTC, and take us to the farm, where we could look at animals, drink cider, and run around until we tired ourselves out. Because of this, I always think of the place with a lot of nostalgia, and a lot of love. It’s a wonderful place to take the family, or to get a little country action for city people. 

So, I thought it made sense to recommend a little yee and a little haw, like you can find in Rebekah Weatherspoon’s A Cowboy to Remember. Now, I know, the cover’s not exactly trendy, but it’s a nostalgic echo of the types of book covers that are the backbone of the romance book industry. Plus, it’s ROMANTIC.  It follows a hotshot almost celebrity chef (Evie) who ends up in the hospital with no memory of who she is. Her assistant contacts the only “family” she has left — close friends who run a luxury dude ranch in California. She has no memory of them, until former rodeo champion Zach Pleasant walks into her hospital room, and Evie realizes that his handsome face has been showing up in her dreams. They have a history that she doesn’t remember, and he’s determined to do things differently this time. This is a sweet and romantic second-chance romance that you’re going to DEVOUR. 

The Gardiner Museum – Still Life With Bones by Alexa Hagerty

The Gardiner Museum is a stunning space dedicated to showing ceramic arts, clay, and pottery. It has a beautiful permanent collection, as well as an exciting roster of special exhibits, events, and more. Here you can visit the collections, or take cool classes in arts, including wheel throwing, pottery, and more. It’s only fitting to pair one work of art with another, so if your favourite iconic Toronto landmark is The Gardiner Museum, we think you’d love Alexa Hagerty’s Still Life With Bones.

This was one of the best books I read last year, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. It’s a gorgeous and devastating memoir that speaks to the importance and ability to tell a history through fragments. Our author is a forensic anthropologist, tasked with the devastating challenge of exhuming and identifying the bones of those killed in two genocides in Latin America (Argentina and Guatemala) — in order to prove what happened. It’s a brilliant, haunting, and beautiful book about the stories we leave behind, and how they can shape our present, and our future.

The Toronto Reference Library – Babel by R. F. Kuang

The Toronto Reference Library is Canada’s largest public reference library, with a huge collection of books, documents, and more. It offers books, computers, work stations, 3D Printers, and more. More than that though, it is also GORGEOUS. There’s a reason it’s the most visited branch of the Toronto Public Library. 

From one gorgeous ode to academia and study to another, the book I’d recommend to people who love the Toronto Reference Library is R.F. Kuang’s Babel. It’s an epic historical fantasy set in 1928, following a young Chinese boy, Robin Swift, who is orphaned by cholera and then brought to London by the mysterious British Professor Lovell, preparing for the day he’ll enroll in Babel, the world’s centre for translation and most importantly, magic. Silver-working — using the meanings lost in translation in order to enchant silver bars — has given the British empire unparalleled power in their quest for colonialism. Robin soon realizes that serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, he finds himself caught between Babel, and a shadowy society dedicated to combatting imperial expansion. Babel is one of my favourite books of all time, and I hope you love it as much as I do.

Stackt Market – Arcana Academy by Elise Kova

I love Stackt Market! It’s a collection of stores and pop-up spaces built out of shipping containers, and it comes ALIVE in the summer. With great food, great brews, and a dedicated romance book store, it’s a great place to visit and spend a few hours wandering through its shops and offerings. 

I think it’s only fair to pair Stackt Market with a trendy and fun romance book, like Elise Kova’s Arcana Academy. The first in a gorgeous new romantasy series, Arcana Academy follows a woman who (illegally) wields magical tarot cards, landing herself in a fake engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious and dark magical academy. Thrust into a world of arcane magic, royal politics, and intrigue, where the slightest step could send her back to prison (or worse), Clara soon learns that the prince she’s determined to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him the power she can wield?

The Powerpant Contemporary Art Gallery – Audition by Katie Kitamura

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a cool FREE public gallery full of gorgeous and eye-catching contemporary art. Located in the Harbourfront Centre, the gallery features powerful work by some incredible artists, devoting its space to contemporary art, ideas, and conversations. For one of the most Cool Girl ™ venues on our list, I wanted to suggest a Cool Girl book. Enter Katie Kitamura’s Audition. 

A fast and gripping novel that I’m still not entirely sure I fully understood, this is a gorgeously written story. We open with two people meeting for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. She’s an elegant, accomplished actress who is rehearsing for an upcoming premiere. He’s attractive and young… young enough to be her son. Who is he to her, and who is she to him? This book draws out two competing narratives, that make you rethink everything. Smart, strange, and so much fun to read, this is the perfect read for someone who loves unique and interesting art (found in unique and interesting places).

Those Giant Teeth in the Don Valley – The River Has Roots by Amal El Mohtar

If you’ve ever driven on the Don Valley Parkway, chances are you’ve seen those big grey sculptures (that look like giant teeth). This is actually a functional art installation by Noel Harding, called Elevated Wetlands Sculpture, which helps purify and filter polluted water from the Don River. But to my childhood imagination? These were the teeth of giants, long forgotten. I thought it was only fitting to recommend a book as full of wonder and whimsy. 

 From one of the co-authors of This Is How You Lose the Time War comes Amal El Mohtar’s The River Has Roots. It’s a gorgeous, lyrical fable about love, sisterhood, magic, and song. Set in a small town on the edge of Faerie, this book follows Esther and Ysabel — two sisters who love each other and love the ancient trees that they sing to in exchange for their magic. However, when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favour of a mysterious lover from Faerie, things take a turn, putting the sisters’ lives, as well as their bond, at risk.  

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Ameema Saeed (@ameemabackwards) is a storyteller, a Capricorn, an avid bookworm, and a curator of very specific playlists and customized book recommendations. She’s a book reviewer, a Sensitivity Reader, a book buyer at Indigo Books & Music, and the Books Editor for She Does the City, where she writes and curates bookish content, and book recommendations. She enjoys bad puns, good food, dancing, and talking about feelings. She writes about books, big feelings, unruly bodies, and her lived experiences, and hopes to write your next favourite book one day. When she’s not reading books, she likes to talk about books (especially diverse books, and books by diverse authors) on her bookstagram: @ReadWithMeemz