Books to inspire your Ottawa-area road trips

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Looking for something new to read? Check out these books about or set in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais and Montreal, and get set to travel without leaving home! Whether you’re looking for novels set in Ottawa, books about Eastern Ontario history, travel guides, books by local authors, or Ontario cookbooks and gardening guides, you’ll find something here. I’ve even included a few books set elsewhere but written by authors from our region. Happy browsing.

Disclosure: Several of the authors below are friends and/or clients of mine.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I’ll earn a wee commission from Indigo if you buy a book after following a link here. If you choose to do so, thanks very much for helping to support this website! And if you’d rather support your local independent bookshop, that’s great, too, and I totally understand.

Photo at the top of the page: Hatice Yardım on Unsplash.

Gardening, cooking and other hobbies

Best Garden Plants for Ontario, by Liz Klose and Alison Beck

Whether you’re sketching out garden designs in the dead of winter or off on a road trip to your local nursery, Best Garden Plants for Ontario will point you to perennials, annuals, herbs and more that will grow in our region of the province.

The Great Canadian Cottage Colouring Book, by Paul Covello and Leor Boshi

If you’re yearning to be by a lake on a summer night, The Great Canadian Cottage Colouring Book might just transport you there. Grill some burgers, pour yourself a refreshing beverage and get out your markers.

Ottawa Cooks, by Anne DesBrisay

Ottawa Cooks is a beautifully illustrated cookbook featuring 80 recipes from 41 noted Ottawa chefs—including restaurateurs, food truck entrepreneurs and home cooks.

Toronto Star Cookbook: More Than 150 Diverse and Delicious Recipes Celebrating Ontario, by Jennifer Bain

Written by former Toronto Star food and travel editor Jennifer Bain, the Toronto Star Cookbook is a great way to take some virtual culinary road trips through Ontario. From comforting classics like apple crisp and pan-fried pickerel to multicultural dishes like a Mexican soup and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, there’s something in here for just about every palate.

Travel, nature and outdoors (and some history)

A Guide to Hiking Trails in Ottawa and Region, by Girls Gone Good

Victoria at the Girls Gone Good website knows her stuff. I mean, really, really knows her stuff. If you like to hike, I can’t recommend her small but incredibly detailed guide strongly enough. It includes everything from notes on trail elevation and dog friendliness to driving times from Ottawa and admission fees. Plus, she donates 40% of the proceeds to Boots on the Ground, a mental health organization for first responders, and another 40% to the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust. You can buy it directly from her website (which is also an excellent resource for all things outdoors in Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais).

Escale à Ottawa et Gatineau, by Ulysse

If you’re looking for a good French-language guide to our region, Escale à Ottawa et Gatineau may just be the ticket. Montreal-based Ulysse is well known for its comprehensive, photo-packed guidebooks.

Hiking Trails of Ottawa, the National Capital Region and Beyond, by Michael Haynes

This detailed yet backpack-sized book is a great guide to 50 trails throughout Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais with something for just about every hiker. Hiking Trails features urban routes in the capital as well as trails in and around Gatineau Park, Alexandria, Calabogie, Kemptville, Chaffeys Locks, Brockville and more. It’s currently being updated, with a new edition coming out in April 2021.

Historical Walks: The Gatineau Park Story, by Katharine Fletcher

West Quebec author (and Ottawa Road Trips contributor) Katharine Fletcher has a deep love for the region’s history and natural areas, which comes through on every page of her classic guide, Historical Walks: The Gatineau Park Story. Learn about the park’s past while exploring many of its fascinating trails.

Promenades historiques à Montreal, by Collectif

Drawing on more than 100 archival photos of the city, Promenades historiques à Montreal lays out a series of self-guided walking tours that illuminate Montreal’s history.

Rivers of the Upper Ottawa Valley: Myth, Magic and Adventure, by Hap Wilson

Rivers of the Upper Ottawa Valley provides detailed information for paddlers interested in exploring the Barron, Coulonge, Petawawa and other rivers in the Upper Ottawa Valley. Note that it was published in 2004, so it might be best used as a starting point for additional research.

Secret Montreal: An Unusual Guide, by Philippe Renault

Seen the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts? Done the Atwater Market? If you think you’ve explored all there is to see in Montreal, Secret Montreal will make you think again. Until you’ve surfed the St. Lawrence River, visited the dentistry museum and strolled a hidden street lined with opulent mansions, have you really seen Quebec’s largest city?

A Taste of Prince Edward County: A Guide to the People, Places & Food of Ontario’s Favourite Getaway, by Chris Johns

Chris Johns is known primarily as a food writer, and A Taste of Prince Edward County does give you a wonderful behind-the-scenes peek into the County’s wineries, restaurants, and other food and beverage purveyors. But true to the title, it’s also a great guide to shops, accommodations, sights and more. Fabulous phots by Johnny C.Y. Lam, too.

The Thousand Islands, by George Fischer

Dreaming of heading to Rockport, Gananoque, Brockville, Kingston or Alexandria Bay and hopping into a boat? The Thousand Islands is a beautiful little book by photographer George Fischer packed with full-colour images of the scenic St. Lawrence River region. Pictures of boats, bridges, kayaks, sunsets, Boldt Castle, docks lined with Muskoka chairs and more bring the islands (of which there are actually 1,864) to life.

Island of Biodiversity, by Aleta Karstad, Frederick W. Schueler and Candice Vetter

Island of Biodiversity really deserves a category all on its own, and the topic couldn’t be more local or more relevant. Artist Aleta Karstad and biologist Fred Schueler have worked together on a joint portrait of the landscapes and wildlife of the Red Shale Hill in North Russell, with the collaboration of local writer/editor Candice Vetter.

Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide, by Laura Byrne Paquet

Yes, I wrote Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide! It’s packed with detailed information on all sorts of destinations within 100 kilometres of Parliament Hill, including neighbourhoods and communities in Ottawa-Gatineau (the Glebe, Westboro, Manotick, Aylmer) and places further afield (Merrickville, Vankleek Hill, Arnprior, Perth). From cycling routes and bakeries to historical rascals and forest skate trails, it’s full of tips to inspire your next day trip—in the city or beyond.

Fiction and poetry

Dark August, by Katie Tallo

Dark August is the debut novel by Ottawa author Katie Tallo. Set in Eastern Ontario, it tells the story of a 20-year-old who sets out to solve the cold case that may have led to the death of her detective mother. The novel garnered a shoutout from The New York Times.

Asylum, by Andre Alexis

Asylum, an Ottawa-set novel of political machinations during the Mulroney era, came highly recommended by a reader. It tells the story of a quixotic quest to build a perfect prison, with linguistic twists, thoughtful ruminations and memorable characters along the way.

The Devil to Pay: An Inspector Green Mystery, by Barbara Fradkin

Local author Barbara Fradkin’s Inspector Green series got high marks from the reader who sent me the recommendation. The Devil to Pay, the 2021 instalment in the series, sees Michael Green and his daughter Hannah, a rookie patrol officer, digging into the case of a disappearing lawyer, a mountain of debt and a couple of bodies.

The Outer Wards, by Sadiqa de Meijer

The Outer Wards by Kingston poet and essayist Sadiqa de Meijer is a poetry collection exploring themes of motherhood and illness.

Garbo Laughs, by Elizabeth Hay

Set in Old Ottawa South during the 1998 ice storm, Ottawa author Elizabeth Hay’s Garbo Laughs features a main character obsessed with movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The book was a finalist for the Governor-General’s Award.

Gwynneth Ever After: An Ever After Romance, by Linda Poitevin

In gently charming Gwynneth Ever After, Gatineau author Linda Poitevin answers a question that has likely bedevilled many an Ottawa singleton: What would I do if a hot Hollywood star came to Ottawa and asked for my phone number? (If darker stories are more your speed, Poitevin also writes romantic suspense novels, such as Shadow of Doubt, and gritty urban fantasy novels under the pen name Lydia M. Hawke.)

Deadroads: A Novel of Supernatural Suspense, by Robin Riopelle

In Deadroads, Ottawa author Robin Riopelle has crafted the tale of a fractious Louisiana family whose members can see beyond the spectral plane and guide wayward spirits into the next world. When a tragedy brings them together, they have to battle angels, demons and sprites–while sparring with each other.

Emancipation Day, by Wayne Grady

Kingston-based author Wayne Grady is a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction. Emancipation Day, while not set in Eastern Ontario, is a thoroughly Canadian novel exploring issues of racism and self-deception in 1940s and 1950s Newfoundland and Southern Ontario.

The Treasure of Stella Bay, by Doug Jordan

It’s 1961, and 12-year-old Alex Jorgensen is the new kid in the village of Stella on Amherst Island, just west of Kingston. The Treasure of Stella Bay, by local author Doug Jordan, is a treasure hunt blending elements of Tom Sawyer and the Hardy Boys with lots of nostalgia for the coming-of-age days of the Baby Boomers.

Old Bones, by Brian R. Lindsay

Author Brian R. Lindsay is based in Kitchener, but his Gilmore House mysteries (of which Old Bones is the first) are set in the Rideau Lakes area of Eastern Ontario. In this first book in the series, retired insurance investigator RJ Harrison takes up a second career as an innkeeper—and finds a literal skeleton in the attic.

Murder in Abstract: A Charley Hall Mystery, by Brenda Gayle

Murder in Abstract is the fifth of author Brenda Gayle’s post-Second World War mysteries featuring Charley Hall, a reporter for the fictitious Kingston Tribune. In this one, Charley—despite her post-war demotion from the city beat to the women’s page—starts investigating a murder involving rival art thieves.

The Stray and the Strangers, by Steven Heighton

One of the latest books by widely published Kingston poet and novelist Steven Heighton, The Stray and the Strangers is a children’s story about a stay dog and his encounters with the struggling residents of a refugee camp.

Ragged Lake, by Ron Corbett

Ragged Lake is the first of a series of three mystery novels (so far) by Ottawa author Ron Corbett that feature Detective Frank Yakabuski. In this one, Frank needs to figure out the gruesome murder of a family in a deserted northern cabin.

Amusement Park of Constant Sorrow, by Jason Heroux

Amusement Park of Constant Sorrow, by Kingston poet laureate Jason Heroux, is an unsettling novella that brings a hidden past and a world of magic realism to a Canadian suburban doorstep.

The Best Laid Plans, by Terry Fallis

Terry Fallis has spent much of his career as a political aide and consultant, so the satire in The Best Laid Plans—the funny tale of a man who almost accidentally becomes a member of Parliament—is based solidly in reality. Later made into a TV series, this book earned Fallis the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. The author’s latest book is Albatross, about a high school student who somewhat accidentally becomes a golf legend.

Rabbit Foot Bill: A Novel, by Helen Humphreys

Kingston author Helen Humphreys’ latest novel, Rabbit Foot Bill, is based on a true story of a small-town Prairie crime in the 1940s. In it, a lonely young boy makes friends a drifter—only to see him sent to prison. Years later, they connect in a psychiatric hospital famed for its LSD experiments.

The Nightmare Schematic, by Kyle Bentley

The Nightmare Schematic, which came out in 2021, is Ottawa author Kyle Bentley’s first novel. The sci-fi book tells the story of Connor, a young inventor tormented by dreams of terrible, impossible machines, and the conviction he could build them. It’s available on the author’s website and from Amazon.

The Sky Pilot, by Ralph Connor

Although largely unknown today, Ralph Connor was a Really Big Deal at the turn of the 20th century. The Sky Pilot, his second novel, made him an international sensation when it was published in 1899. Like many of his novels, it is set in the Canadian West. So what’s the Eastern Ontario connection? Connor—a pen name for a minister named Charles William Gordon—was born and raised in Glengarry County. If you can manage to find them, several of his other books—including The Man from Glengarry and Glengarry School Days—are set in our neck of the woods. And writing chops must be in the genes, as two of his grandchildren (Charles Gordon and Alison Gordon) became journalists.

More history

Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, by Andrew Waldron

If you’ve ever wondered about the stories behind various buildings in Ottawa and Gatineau, Exploring the Capital is a photo-packed guide that gives you the most interesting points without going into overwhelming detail. Both heritage and new structures are included, and the listings are handily grouped by neighbourhood.

Lost Ottawa, by David McGee

Lost Ottawa and its sequel, Lost Ottawa Book Two, are fascinating compendiums of archival photographs and stories from Ottawa’s distant—and not so distant—past, based on author David McGee’s popular Lost Ottawa Facebook page.

The Last Guide: A Story of Fish and Love, by Ron Corbett

First published in 2007, The Last Guide profiles Frank Kuiack, the last of Algonquin Park’s old-style fishing guides. As well as getting to know Frank’s life story, you will learn about the history of Ontario’s beloved wilderness park.

Ottawa Rewind: A Book of Curios and Mysteries, by Andrew King

Cartoonist and author Andrew King is intrigued by the unexplained remnants of history all over the capital. In this first book in his compulsively readable Ottawa Rewind series, you’ll learn about a long-lost tiki bar, shipwrecks in the Ottawa River, secret symbols carved into the Parliament Buildings and all sorts of other cool stuff.

Tales from the General Store: The Untold History of Bishop’s Mills

Local author Tom Graham, who spent seven years behind the counter of the Bishop’s Mills general store, has collected all sorts of tales about this Eastern Ontario village—everything from a cheese factory explosion to a devastating 1943 fire. Tales from the General Store: The Untold History of Bishop’s Mills is available on his website and at the B&H Grocery in Kemptville.

Weather Bomb 1913: Life and Death on the Great Lakes, by Bruce Kemp

Merrickville author Bruce Kemp’s meticulously researched tale of a catastrophic storm might not exactly inspire a boating outing on the Great Lakes, but Weather Bomb 1913 will certainly encourage visitors to treat our mighty freshwater lakes with respect.

And a deal

If you join Indigo’s Plum Plus membership program using the link below, you’ll receive 8,500 Plum points (which you can use to buy $20 worth of Indigo merch).

Join plum PLUS and receive 8,500 plum points (that’s a $20 value)

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As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.