Canada Reads

CBC radio has a great program on the called Canada Reads. For our reader friends and family out there -- we thought you might be interested in what Canada is reading. Plus, for us it's a great way to learn more about this country and culture. The books are all written by Canadian authors and set in Canada. If you can access the radio program on the Internet -- the discussion are great. Sort of like a radio book club. While the books are in English (some may have been translated from French) it's always interesting to read books with different spelling of the language we share. One of our favourite things -- although it's making spelling difficult for Louis at times!

Canada Reads

Five great Canadian books. Five celebrity panelists. One week of passionate debate about CanLit, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. Canada Reads 2009 is officially underway. The debates start Monday and run till Friday (March 2-6) on CBC Radio One at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. (2 and 8 p.m. NT).

The Book of Negroes
by Lawrence Hill
defended by Avi Lewis
Lawrence Hill’s gripping novel features a woman on an amazing journey in the 1700s and 1800s. Although her life is shaped by slavery, Aminata Diallo survives and even transcends adversity.

The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant
by Michel Tremblay
defended by Anne-Marie Withenshaw
Michel Tremblay’s heart-warming
novel is a tribute to the neighbourhood he grew up in, Plateau Mont-Royal. Over the course of a single spring day in 1942, an entire world comes to life.

Fruit
by Brian Francis
defended by Jen Sookfong Lee
Peter Paddington isn’t having a good time. The Sarnia teenager has too few friends and too many oddball family members. He’s also carrying way too many pounds. Luckily, he has a great sense of humour.

Mercy Among the Children
by David Adams Richards
defended by Sarah Slean
David Adams Richards’ brilliant examination of good and evil is set in his beloved Miramichi region of New Brunwswick. A boy makes a pact with God to always turn the other cheek, and his whole family pays the price.

The Outlander
by Gil Adamson

defended by Nicholas Campbell
The Outlander is a suspenseful, picaresque tale of survival in early 20th-century Canada. A desperate young woman flees alone across the west after she becomes a widow “by her own hand.”

Happy Reading!

www.cbc.ca