Crazy for CanLit
I’ve started reading from the books listed on the Crazy for CanLit page in preparation for the Giller Prize Longlist announcement. I’m barely into it, but have already read two excellent books I think we might see on the Longlist. The other I read only a little bit of, because the more I read, the more I realized it had low possibility of being on that list. So I returned it to the library. (Libraries are a true gift aren’t they?)
In the photo featured above, the top two are library books and the rest are ones that I own and/or were sent to me by the publishers. These all feature on the Crazy for CanLit list of eligible books for the Giller Prize. I’ve already returned Five Little Indians to the library. Two I have on my Kobo are Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo and Aubrey McKee by Alex Pugsley. I bought those two for my Kobo thinking they could very well be strong contenders for the Longlist.
The books I own? Ridgerunner by Gil Adamson, The Brideship Wife by Leslie Howard, The Kissing Fence by Thomas Peter, Daughters of Smoke and Fire by Ava Homa, The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, A Roll of the Bones by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole, The Electric Baths by Jean-Michel Fortier and Broken Man on Halifax Pier by Lesley Choyce.
Have I read any of these yet? No. Come on now, you all know me better than that! ;-) I will however be starting many of them now. There are a pile at the library too, so I put some on hold that I think have potential.
I went through the “Crazy” list and searched the library and quickly put a hold on every title that was listed. Many are “on order” so I’m first in line for most. But that doesn’t mean I’ll get them in my hands before the Longlist announcement. If any of them do make the Longlist, I’ll have to make a decision to either purchase them or wait to see if they make the Shortlist.
What titles did I put on hold? These are the ones that my library will have coming in, or already have:
- You Are Not What We Expected by Sidura Ludwig
- The Company We Keep by Frances Itani
- The Certainties by Aislinn Hunter
- Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
- Aftershock by Alison Taylor
- Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez
- The Good German by Dennis Bock
- Songs for the End of the World by Saleema Nawaz
- Forest Green by Kate Pullinger
- Good Citizens Need Not Fear by Maria Reva
Will I be able to read them all? Unlikely, and that is because they probably won’t be available on time. There are a whole slew of other books on the Crazy list too that have potential – there are soooo many books! What a tough job it is to narrow down to 12 out of this whole bunch!
