BookTok star Morgann Book brings her bookish DNA to Canada Reads
Canada Reads will air April 13-16 on CBC TV, CBC Radio and CBC Books
BookTok star Morgann Book is championing It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard on Canada Reads 2026!
On Canada Reads, five Canadian celebrities each pick one book that the whole country should read. They debate their choices over the course of four days, voting to eliminate one every day. The last book standing is the winner.
This year's edition will take place on April 13-16. The show’s theme is one book to build bridges.
The Canada Reads 2026 contenders are:
- Filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers champions A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve “Dangle” Glynn champions Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard
- Musician and writer Tegan Quin champions The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
- Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz champions Foe by Iain Reid
- BookTok star Morgann Book champions It's Different This Time by Joss Richard
The Canada Reads 2026 debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will broadcast each day at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. AT, 1:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio, with a live audio stream and podcast recap on CBC Listen. Watch live at 10 a.m. ET/ 7 a.m. PT on CBC Gem, CBCbooks.ca and YouTube, or at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. AT, 2:30 p.m. NT) on CBC TV.
You can tune in live or catch a replay on the platform of your choice.
From ice cream to books
Morgann Book is one of Canada's biggest book content creators, with 2.6 million followers on TikTok and nearly 140,000 on Instagram.
Her first viral TikTok video, posted when she was 16 and working at her parents’ Dairy Queen, was of her making and decorating an ice cream cake.
From there, she continued to share the inner workings of the ice cream shop. But her followers were also responding to the voiceovers about her life, her studies and, true to her last name, her love of books.
As reading content became more popular on TikTok, Book realized that BookTok is where she wanted to take her career next.
Now, the 22-year-old from Ancaster, Ont. has made a name for herself as a literary enthusiast, creating social media content and hosting the author interview podcast Off The Shelf.
Book is also the founder of Bookish Media, a production company that develops and creates book-related media. She’s the curator of The Bookish Club, a global monthly book club, and was recently announced as part of Reese Witherspoon's 2026 talent incubator.
A romance novel about a second chance
While Book started her career talking mostly about romance and fantasy novels, in the past year, she's branched out into thrillers and other genres.
For her Canada Reads pick, however, she went back to her romance roots with It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard.
It's Different This Time is a novel about an actor named June Wood. When June’s television show gets cancelled, she's got no excuse not to follow up on the mysterious email that invites her back to the New York City brownstone where she lived before moving to Los Angeles. It’s a house that was left to her and her former roommate, Adam, by the previous owner.
The charming property will soon be theirs — they just have to live together for four weeks while they finish the paperwork. One catch: June and Adam haven't spoken in five years and left things pretty rocky.
As they spend more and more time together, they’re reminded of what they once had, and how much it had once hurt to leave it all behind.
“I loved the romance in it,” said Book. “I love a roommate, close-proximity book more than anything.”
Spotlighting a debut author
It’s Different This Time was actually on Book’s radar long before she was selected to be on Canada Reads — she had previously received an early copy of the novel for an interview she was doing with Richard.
“When I was asked to choose a book, I was like, ‘This could be it,’” said Book.
And though she kept her options open and read other books, “none of them came close to it,” she said.
It’s Different This Time is Richard’s first novel, another reason why Book is looking forward to championing it on Canada Reads.
“I'm excited to put a debut novel on this pedestal, especially one that I have loved so much,” said Book.
Richard is a Toronto-born, Los Angeles-based writer and editorial and social media director. She's worked at companies like Reese's Book Club and Netflix. She created and hosts the podcast Three's Company, Too and has won a Daytime Emmy Award.
“It’s the first novel I’ve ever written and I started writing it ultimately for me,” Richard told CBC Books in an email.
“I wrote it as a challenge to myself — and as a gift to a younger me who wanted to see this story come to life.”
From friends to something more
Richard also wanted her novel to explore the theme of second chance romance.
"I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of two people who didn’t get it right, reuniting and seeing if things could be different," Richard said.
"I wondered if time heals, if we really do get wiser, and if love is something that ever really goes away.”
The power of friendships blooming into love was also something that resonated with Book.
“I found it very refreshing, in this book, that two people could platonically live together and eventually fall in love because they had that foundational friendship,” she said.
It was also the way the characters grew throughout the novel that made their rekindling possible. For Book, June’s narrative arc is a testament to embracing the messiness of life and chasing your dreams.
“She hits her rock bottom very early on in this book, when her show gets cancelled and she's in LA and she has to go back to New York,” Book said.
June doesn’t know where she’s going to live or where her next source of income will come from, but she takes the leap and returns to the site of her hurt.
“Having a dual timeline allows you to see character development in two different dimensions, which is really awesome,” Book said.
Having a dual timeline allows you to see character development in two different dimensions, which is really awesome.- Morgann Book
“You got to see her coming into herself and figuring out her passion … coupled with her going from the ground up again and figuring out what she wanted to do with her life and work in the theatre.”
As someone who worked hard to make her own dreams come true, Book related to June’s strong sense of determination.
“I think I resonated with the main character's passion overall for something, not necessarily the musical theatre part, but just that she wanted something and she was going after it.”
An escape grounded in reality
Above all, Book says she is thrilled to bring It’s Different This Time to Canada Reads because it’s an engaging and feel-good novel that offers a cozy world to get lost in.
“There's a lot going on in the world right now and I think people are realizing that books are an incredible hobby to go back to and to escape to,” she said.
More people should try reading romance novels for this reason, said Book — especially ones like It’s Different This Time — because the characters feel so grounded in reality.
“While you are escaping into this beautiful romance world, you are reading about characters who just got fired and don't have their life together,” she said.
“I think so many people … can relate to these kinds of people while still feeling good about this romance and escaping into this beautiful New York setting.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
