The Giller Prize Longlist announcement is just around the corner and it has me thinking of all the CanLit I have on my shelves – on the Kobo and the physical books I own. Also, the Eden Mills Literary Festival is coming up very soon and I had hoped to have read as many of the many, many amazing authors they have lined up this year! (Just look at that lineup!)
Going a little off track of what I want to list here, but I have read some of the books their authors will be reading at Eden Mills already. I’ve already read Dual Citizens, by Alix Ohlin, Provisionally Yours by Antanas Sileika and I’ve just finished reading today, Crow by Amy Spurway! I’m keen on hearing readings from Alix and Amy and I so hope I can get to everyone I want to hear from on Sunday. The one problem (what a problem to have!) is too many that I want to hear from are scheduled to speak at the same time, sometimes on the other side of the festival grounds too! I’ll have to be strategic and map out my day beforehand.
Anyway, what I wanted to say is that I have a large number of CanLit books on the Kobo and on my shelf, and some are pretty recent so I’m hopeful they’ll appear on the Giller list this year?
I’ve plenty of older titles on my Kobo too, but I’ve been on a shopping spree recently and bought some new ones, so this had me looking through to see how much Canlit I own. I should be devoting a month or more to reading it all. Now what I’m listing here today doesn’t cover everything on my shelves, it’s just what I’ve obtained recently. ;-)
And honestly, the library seems to have been reading my mind because today two new CanLit titles came in for me, and since I’ve just finished reading Crow, my CanLit focus seems to be well on track already!
Getting back to the upcoming Eden Mills Festival, the other books I’d like to read from the lineup are, Watching You Without Me by Lynn Coady (I have this one!), Every Little Piece of Me by Amy Jones (I have this one too and our book club is reading it for our October meeting!), Crow Winter by Karen McBride and The Difference, Marina Endicott…The Wake, by Linden MacIntyre, truly the list is long and wide this year!
Outside of this festival I have a huge pile sitting on my shelf right now!
Books I’ve Bought:
| Title | Author |
| Madame Victoria | Catherine Leroux |
| Suzanne | Anais Barbeau-Lavalette |
| St. Urbain’s Horseman | Mordecai Richler |
| Aria | Nazanine Hozar |
| Season of Storms | Susanna Kearsely |
| Twin Studies | Keith Maillard |
Books Sent by Publishers
| Broken Man on a Halifax Pier | Lesley Choyce |
| Fog | Rana Bose |
| Exile Blues | Douglas Gary Freeman |
| A Beckoning War | Matthew Murphy |
| Hideaway | Nicole Lundrigan |
| The Little Fox of Mayerville | Eric Mathieu |
These four have moody covers don’t they? A Beckoning War sounds like the perfect read for a Remembrance Day book, Broken Man on a Halifax Pier is coming from Lesley Choyce – I loved and adored his The Unlikely Redemption of John Alexander MacNeil so I’m anticipating the same feelings for this one. The Little Fox of Mayerville sounds great and is translated by Peter McCambrige. He translated the fantastic novel Songs for the Cold of Heart, and I’m already hearing wonderful things about The Little Fox!
Books on my Kobo
Okay so I have a TON on my Kobo, but the two I’ve most recently purchased are:
| Making it Home | Alison DeLory |
| We Were the Salt of the Sea | Roxanne Bouchard |
I also have even more on hold at the library:
Books On Hold at the Library
| Red Oblivion | Leslie Shimotakahara |
| Worry | Jessica Westhead |
| Five Wives | Joan Thomas |
| Crow Winter (noted above) | Karen McBride |
| The Difference (noted above) | Marina Endicott |
So, I have plenty of Canadian books to read don’t I? It’s a good thing I’m Crazy for CanLit! September 2nd is quickly approaching with the Giller Longlist announcement and the Eden Mills Festival is that weekend after so I’ll be well immersed in great Canadian books (mainly fiction)!
So many on here I want to read! Several that I’ve already read are Crow, Every Little Piece of Me, Little Fox of Mayerville, Madame Victoria, Suzanne, and A Beckoning War – all of them very good! Enjoy the festival!!
Excellent news Naomi! I’ve only read Crow so far!