Monday, July 5, 2010

CHALLENGE: 4th Canadian Book Challenge




It's time for the 4th Annual Canadian Book Challenge, hosted by The Book Mine Set. Head over here for more details. The idea is to read Canadian books. Since we have 13 provinces, reading 13 books is considered finishing the challenge, but really, any amount of Canadian books is a win. You have until Canada Day next year, July 1, 2011.

My list of 10 favorite Canadian books that I would recommend to read are listed below, other than Anne of Green Gables - that is just understood!
  1. Random Passage/ Cloud of Bone- Bernice Morgan
  2. Mercy Among the Children - David Adams Richards
  3. The Outlander - Gil Adamson
  4. Owls in the Family - Farley Mowatt
  5. Hey Nostradamus!/ Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
  6. Clara Callen - Richard B Wright
  7. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
  8. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Stephen Galloway
  9. Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
  10. The Lizard Cage - Karen Connolley
Well, I lied. I ran out of list - it's not my list of favorite Canadian books, but it is a list of books I've loved over the years.  I don't think I could make a list of 10 favorite books - it's too hard. I left out too many, like mysteries and thrillers by Linwood Barclay and Louise Penny, the Gordon Korman and Jean Little books of my childhood, and all of LM Montgomery's listing. There is a great listing here at The Book Mine Set of all books read and reviewed from last year.

Here's some of the books in my house that I'd like to get read over the next year or so.
  • Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
  • The Calling, Inger Ash Wolf
  • The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Wayne Johnston
  • Lost Highway, David Adams Richards dnf
  • Barney's Version, Mordecai Richler(library)
  • King Leary, Paul Quarrington
  • Fear the Worst, Linwood Barclay
  • Getting Over Edgar, Joan Barfoot
  • A Tangled Web, LM Montgomery
  • Blue Castle, LM Montgomery
  • An Audience of Chairs, Joan Clark
  • What is Stephen Harper Reading?, Yann Martel(library)

The actual list of books read:
1. A Tangled Web - LM Montgomery
2. The Girls - Lori Lansens
3. February - Lisa Moore
4. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams - Wayne Johnston
5. Barney's Version - Mordecai Richler
6. The Blue Castle - LM Montgomery
7. The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
8. Room - Emma Donoghue
9. You Comma Idiot - Doug Harris
10. Fear the Worst - Linwood Barclay
11. The Murder Stone - Louise Penny
12. Gretzky's Tears - Stephen Brunt
13. What is Stephen Harper Reading - Yann Martel
14. Essex County Vol 1, Vol 2 - Jeff Lemire
15. King Leary - Paul Quarrington
16. Unless - Carol Shields
17. The Bone Cage - Angie Abdou Jan 30/11
18. The Best Laid Plans - Terry Fallis Feb 5
19. Light Lifting - Alexander MacLeod Feb 12
20. Various Miracles - Carol Shields Mar 25
21. The Brutal Telling - Louise Penny Mar 27
22. Waiting for Gertrude - Bill Richardson Apr 10
23. The Night Wanderer - Drew Hayden Taylor May 7
24. Bannock, Beans, and Black Tea - John Gallant May 8
25.

    Comments (5)

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    I'm in again for the 4th as well. That's a great idea to list your recommended favorites!
    1 reply · active 768 weeks ago
    Hi Teddy!
    It feels like cheating, since I read Canadian books all the time anyway, but it's good to help promote the challenge. I had the hardest time picking 10 books for a list. I had to make myself stop, and I left out some of my favorite books still!
    I joined onto this challenge as well (I joined in last round, and er didn't complete it). I agree with you both the Celllist of Sarajevo and Outlander were fantastic reads. I read Outlander just a few days ago. I never knew the Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson was Canadian Author/Canadian Fiction. Good luck.

    Also, I've been a lurking for a while, so wanted to finally say hi, I see I''m not the only one who signs up for hoards of challenges.
    1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
    Hi!
    Oh, joining and finishing challenges are two completely different activities!
    I have so many books I want to read, I find the challenges help me organize and make decisions as to what I want to read. The more overlap of challenge, the better!
    Good luck with the Canadian one this year!
    I've just signed up for this challenge again too. I've read six (1 2,3 7, 8, 10) from your 10 favourite list and liked them all! Haven't read any Richler yet but I loved An Audience of Chairs. And I will definitely be reading more by David Adams Richards soon. My post for the challenge is up and I've just finished my third Canadian book for the month.

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