Canada Reads Top 40

Have you looked at the Top 40 for Canada Reads 2014? Have you voted for the top 10 yet?

http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2013/10/canad-areads-top-40-vote-for-the-top...

Being a CanLit fan, I was surprised to see so many books I haven't read or even heard of on this list. In fact, I've only read 12 of them! I better start reading.

There are 15 that I'm unfamiliar with. And I've only read 5, although I have another 6 on my TBR pile.

I've read three and am interested in two others for sure.

I read through all of the summaries of the books I haven't read. There are a few that don't interest me at all but I have picked out several that sound promising.

Which one are you interested in reading Nickelini and rabbitprincess?

I've read: Year of the Flood, Through Black Spruce, and The Stone Carvers.
and I want to read: The Orenda and October 1970.

I loved The Orenda and I would like to see it as finalist. There are vivid descriptions of torture but the same vivid writing style that makes the torture so stomach turning also makes me feel like I'm in the longhouse with the characters, eyes stinging of smoke and the feel of a beaver skin under my hand. Or paddling along a river that cuts through the pristine forests of the Canadian Shield.

October 1970 is one on my to read list too. I don't know a whole lot about that series of events so reading about it in the form of a novel appeals.

I've read Anil's Ghost (an all-time favourite), Annabel (liked it), The Disappeared (didn't like it), Fugitive Pieces (had its moments but didn't like it), Year of the Flood (loved it).

I own but haven't read yet: Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, The Orenda, The Cellist of Sarajevo, Fifth Business, & Galore

I would like to read: Going Down Swinging, The Good Body and maybe October 1970.

I've read Anil's Ghost, Annabel, Fifth Business, Fugitive Pieces, Headhunter, Monoceros, Natural Order, The Orenda, The Stone Carvers, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, Sweetness in the Belly, Through Black Spruce and Truth & Bright Water.

My book club is reading The Headmaster's Wager for December. Y is on the TBR shelves.

Now, what to vote for???????

You get to vote for 10 - you only have to cut 3 from your list.

Isn't the search for the book that can change Canada? Does that question help you choose or just confuse you?

I try not to vote for what I've read because, as the saying goes, there are so many books and so little time! But I made an exception for The Orenda as it is a book that could change Canada.

I also voted for: Accusation, Y, Truth & Bright Water, The Headmaster's Wager, Matadora, Monoceros, October 1970, The Shore Girl and Six Metres of Pavement.

Of the 40, I've only read 10 (including, recently, the 5 finalists!) I've been working my way through the 2010 top 40 for Canada Reads and I have a few left of those too. There is some overlap, but not as much as I expected.

Galore by Michael Crumey overlaps AND it is my choice for my local reading group so I'm excited to get to that one. Also: Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb overlaps and that is someone else's choice in my reading group this season. Yay!The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart is another as is The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (one of the final 5!) and Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

I may have missed some but these are the ones I've discovered. Since it is a great satisfaction to me to cross off a book on TWO lists, I'll probably catchup on those ones first.