CanadianContent discussion

Coming soon - January 11

The Short list and contenders are out -
https://www.cbc.ca/books/meet-the-can...

Not at all what I expected! Fortunately my library either has copies already or has them on order, so I've put my holds in.

I was really hoping for The Innocents to make it, as I own that and it would push me to read it, but on well, guess I'll just have to read it anyways.

Woo hoo!!! I just read Denison Avenue on the weekend it was fabulous

I just bought them all on Kindle - except for The Future - It was the only one I already had.

My library in Bermuda had none of these.

I was lucky to be gifted the Future by Wanda this Christmas and enjoyed it. Heather O’Neill will be a great contender for this gritty book!!!

❀ Susan wrote: "I was lucky to be gifted the Future by Wanda this Christmas and enjoyed it. Heather O’Neill will be a great contender for this gritty book!!!"

I was so psyched when I saw her as a contender.

I’m very happy with the books as I haven’t read any of them, but am interested in reading all of them. Well, most. Shut Up You’re Pretty is a short story collection, which I seldom enjoy.

As for the contenders, Heather O’Neill is the only one that I know. I like the idea of an acclaimed author championing a book. I’d like to see an edition Canada Reads with all contenders being authors. That would be cool.

Happy reading!

It was also publicized a few months ago that Harry and Meghan are working with Netflix on an adaptation of Meet Me at the Lake. I guess this is relevant here now that the book is officially a Canada Reads contender!

I have reached out to Tara to see if they will be hosting an in studio audience and to ask about tickets for a group. Fingers crossed!

I can't find The Future by Catherine Leroux on
goodreads?

EDIT:Never mind I found it once I translated to FrenchThe Future

I had to use the French version when tracking that book on Goodreads.

So excited for Canada Reads this year and hoping that a studio audience will return next year so we can get a group together again.

I start my new job on March 4 so am hoping next year it will be in person and I will be able to go :-)

Congrats on your new job and fingers crossed that we will see you in 2025!!

❀ Susan wrote: "Congrats on your new job and fingers crossed that we will see you in 2025!!"

Thank you - I am moving on from from 15 years at my current company as an EA, Office Manager, and support Specialist to a new company as Business Manager (role is Chief of Staff) - I am so excited.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone next year - bummed that I won't be able to see them in person or live on YouTube and will have to wait till I get home from work.

I’ve only read Shut Up You’re Pretty, which I liked. It’s more a novel in stories than a true short story collection, Allison, so maybe it won’t be so bad for you. :-)

I’m going to start with Meet Me at the Lake because that one seems most outside my comfort zone.

Susan wrote: "I’ve only read Shut Up You’re Pretty, which I liked. It’s more a novel in stories than a true short story collection, Allison, so maybe it won’t be so bad for you. :-)"

Thanks Susan. I don't mind the sound of that. I enjoy short stories one at a time, but I sometimes find it disorienting jumping from story to story when reading a collection.

Denison Avenue is a graphic novel, right? I'm debating if I should order it.

No - it is a novel but then has historical and current sketches of the area at the end. I read it on my kobo so am interested to see the actual book.

❀ Susan wrote: "No - it is a novel but then has historical and current sketches of the area at the end. I read it on my kobo so am interested to see the actual book."

Thanks for clarifying Susan! I'm on hold for the eBook from the library so I'll wait for that.

I was late to this party, but excited to see the short list. How it has changed in twenty years!! A different feel in books AND in champions. I'm excited for Heather O'Neill, and Naheed Nenshi will bring a great energy, I bet! I don't know the other champions.

I don't know any of the books, although I'm about 1/3 of the way through Meet Me at the Lake. I NEVER read romances, and I am kind of reminded why. I was going to give up on it if it didn't make the short list, but I'll keep going now. It's a bit cheesy for my palate, but hey...

I'm actually next in line at the library for Bad Cree via audio, so I'll get to that soon!

Kinda most excited by Denison Avenue.

It's Canada Reads time of year!! I'm SUPER hopeful that we can go in person again this year, although without Rainey we'll lose our celebrity status a bit!

Allison wrote: "I was late to this party, but excited to see the short list. How it has changed in twenty years!! A different feel in books AND in champions. I'm excited for Heather O'Neill, and Naheed Nenshi will..."


Awww

Agreed - I feel like there is such rich diversity and learning from the books and the contenders. I have read Dennison Road (loved it), shut up, you’re pretty (linked short stories, gritty and raw) and the future so far. Have a borrowed copy of bad Cree and waiting on the library for Meet Me…

Sadly - no in person this year.

good morning all - I just noticed that Meet Me at the Lake and Bad Cree are for sale on bookoutlet.com for less than $10 each

so far, I have read 4 and it strikes me that the importance of connection, of family or chosen family, is an important theme in the 4 I have read. The support of others, has helped characters in each of these 4 to be resilient and to move forward through challenging experiences.

I am not sure if the same will be true with meet me at the lake?

Actually, Susan, I'd say that actually does apply to Meet Me at the Lake. I'm about 50% through. Yes, I'd say to some degree that theme applies!

You're rockin' it! You're well ahead of schedule to get them all done in time!

Thanks Allison - I had a head start since I had received The Future before Christmas (thanks Wanda). canada reads is always inspiring!!

Finished the short-list and here is my ranking (although I do know that the best book does not always win):

1. Denison Road
2. The Future
3. Bad Cree
4. Shut Up You're Pretty
5. Meet me at the Lake

I wish Denison will win.

Any guesses as to which book will be eliminated first tomorrow? I am going with either Meet Me at the Lake or The Future.

I pressed pause on The Future but am willing to be persuaded by the discussion to return to it. My order of enjoyment:

Shut Up You’re Pretty (4 stars)
Denison Avenue (4 stars)
Bad Cree (3.5 stars)
Meet Me at the Lake (3 stars)
The Future (haven’t finished)

I am ever successful in my predictions but my order of preference from most to least enjoyed is:

Denison Avenue
Bad Cree
The Future
Shut Up You're Pretty
Meet me at the Lake

I think Meet me at the Lake should be eliminated but we all know that there is strategy and the best book does not always win!

looking forward to watching tomorrow!

I only got through one - Meet Me at the Lake. I’ll try to catch some highlights at the end of the day but won’t be able to watch in real time.

I wish I had my CR mojo back! Maybe this’ll do it for me.

I haven't read Denison Avenue yet (just checked, and my library has it in transit to me, so yay!)

So, of the four I've read I agree with Susan that it's likely Meet Me at the Lake or The Future. I think the argument against Meet Me at the Lake is that it's not substantive enough, and the argument against the Future is that it's too odd. But I'm interested to see what the panelists think of it and what the defence of it is like.

Unfortunately, I forgot to set my PVR, so I'll have to watch online today and get them taping for the rest of the week.

Day 1 is complete.... STOP Reading if you don't want a spoiler...

was anyone surprised? it was a fairly unanimous vote against Meet Me At the Lake but I love that this book might have brought in more listeners and exposed readers to new genres and new books. this is why I love canada reads... I may not have read any of these books without this show.

Any thoughts for today?

I was impressed by Heather O'Neill... so academic in her comments and very measured thoughts. I think Dallas struggled to get his thoughts shared but love that he shared his challenges with dyslexia and that he listened to most of the books. it was interesting to think that 25% of book sales are romance novels!

I wasn't surprised it was the first book to go. I think the genre does face a lot of pre-conceived biases. Even with a relatively well-written one like this is, I had the sense for the discussion there was an underlying belief it didn't belong there. But the defender made some good points. I also watched the debate on YouTube, and enjoyed the extra feedback on the day 1 vote after the other broadcasts ended.

I am very much enjoying the defense of "Bad Cree" and "Denison Avenue" as well.

I enjoyed Day 1 and wasn’t surprised that Meet Me at the Lake was eliminated. I knew the genre thing would work against it. I really liked the guy defending Denison Avenue.

@Natasha - I think it is great that Canada Reads brings forward all kinds of books but have to admit that romance is not my genre... I found the descriptions so tedious and wish that the author had expanded on her commentary about anxiety and depression, which she added at the end of the book, within the story. that being said, we all need a palate cleanser or beach read sometimes and everyone should just read whatever they like so this might expand viewers.

@Susan - I didn't know any of the defenders except for Heather O'Neill and think this is a very positive group and liked how they all gave some positive comments about each book.

I'm also not surprised, while I thought that Mirian did a great job defending it, bringing up some very valid points about why it should be under consideration as a legit contender.

And I agree that this is a positive group, and that's nice (I remember a few years when watching became uncomfortable because of how much some of the panelists went after other's books), but I almost feel like the pendulum has swung a little too far - I didn't have a sense of why anyone voted against it (other than the default assumption of 'because it's a romance') and it would have been nice to hear some critiques articulated. Maybe that's just because it's Day 1 and they have a lot to do.

I know Naheed mentioned them launching the books on Commotion - does anyone here make a practice of listening to the panelists talk about their books other than on the debates? If so, does it enhance your experience?

I did like the panelists. Dallas was quite entertaining, although I can see his whole routine getting a little old over time. We'll see with the next few eps!

And, as mentioned above, I still don't have my hands on Denison Avenue, but even the book trailer for it on the show made me get a little misty - clearly I'll need to have Kleenex handy when I do read it.

@Joanna - I had not heard of Commotion.

Day 2 begins shortly... any predictions? I am thinking that Bad Cree might go (although it was my second choice) as it feels like that defender is very kind and needs a bit more time to share his thoughts? I also wonder about The Future, although I enjoyed it, it is a dense read and Heather may be a bit intimidating to the other defenders with her strong academic approach. thoughts?

Commotion is a new CBC Radio Program, usually in Panel format, that takes a deep dive into pop culture daily for a half hour at 11:00 a.m Eastern Time.

I loved the way Naheed defended Denison Avenue AND his thoughtful insights on the others. I'm so disappointed that his book got voted off. He is just so darned eloquent. Just wanted to get that out there. I had only read one of the books on the short-list (Denison Avenue) .... I'll actively be looking for copies of the others, especially Shut Up, Your Pretty and The Future.

I was surprised by how today turned out. Naheed was such a good defender, I thought he was headed to the finals. I wondered if there was some strategic voting today.

As an aside, I rolled my eyes when I saw Mirian’s outfit.

Good morning - I agree... Naheed just seems like the guy next door who you would like to have a coffee with. I can see his work as a community builder shining through in all of his comments and his thoughtful, calm approach.

there was definitely strategic voting as imho, this was the best book but there is always the dynamic of the game show part of Canada Reads so the best book does not always win.

lol @Susan - MN is definitely dramatic and I was a bit surprised she changed her vote today after voting for The Future yesterday. I feel like she is likely to be the one to add controversy to the remaining days as I am not sure that KR appreciated her comments today about SUYP being a "niche" book.

I was surprised too... and disappointed. While I love her writing I thought that Heather O'Neil sounded a bit academic and cold; one of the other women (sorry can't recall the name) spoke so fast I could hardly follow her spiel; and poor Dallas was really struggling to find words to convey his thoughts. Oh well. All the books being featured this year are intriguing and well worth reading .... but I would have thought Denison Avenue would have had a longer run....

Reflecting back over the past 9 years since I started really following Canada Reads... never once has my favourite book won but regardless all the books are winners and gain a huge audience because of this program and it is so much fun to be a part of as a viewer... or even better in the studio audience (fingers crossed that we can be there next year)!

Couldn't agree with you more. I've been listening to Canada Reads since it inception and have been exposed to so many terrific novels because of it. Come to think of it, my favourites rarely win either.

❀ Susan wrote: "@Natasha - I think it is great that Canada Reads brings forward all kinds of books but have to admit that romance is not my genre... I found the descriptions so tedious and wish that the author had..."

I said the same thing in my review - and I yelled in agreement when one of the panelists said they wanted more of Peter's story! Yes!! Me, too. I guess I wanted more character development because while Fern met Will on the verge of a turning point in her life, I never really bought the instant connection. But I'm cynical about this in particular, and this is NOT my favourite genre. So take that into consideration when reading the comment. LOL

Oh my favourites never win. I'm disappointed in the outcome of today's vote and I went back and watched the last few segments again, and I'm still not sure how they ended up here. Agree that MN is a bit of a dark horse and appears to be taking her "free agency" seriously, I just wish I understood more about her motivations. But still loving the largely respectful and thoughtful debate, and I'm looking forward to more insights from Naheed now that he's also free to express more opinions about the remaining books. I haven't warmed completely to Heather O'Neill's debate style yet. This is likely just me, but she gives an impression of vague condescension. It could be the obvious intelligence. I'm not sure. She's an undoubtedly gifted writer. I just don't know if this extra exposure is going to result in me liking her. I know that's not important. LOL Just an observation.

I just picked it up today so can't comment content-wise, but I definitely agree that it may have been strategic as Naheed seemed to be the strongest defender.

Also thought Mirian's outfit was a little over the top, but as she said, I guess it's for fun. Was also surprised by her final vote, given as Susan said, she voted against The Future yesterday.

I also agree with Ellen's take on the other defenders - Kudakwashe just keeps rushing, rather than picking her strongest points, Dallas doesn't seem well-organized, and Heather's... a little abstract. I'm most disappointed with her because I had said going in that I thought The Future was the one that a good defence would be able to improve my opinion of. But I don't feel like she's offered any great insights about the book.

And I guess shows me to be careful what I wish for, because yesterday I asked for more critique, there was much more today and I didn't always enjoy it, there were a few "piling on" moments!