CanLit Challenge discussion

What was your favourite book by a Canadian author that you read in 2010? What was great about it? We all want to know. :)

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. It was a great companion to Oryx and Crake.

I don't even have to think about this. The one that really stood out for me was Good to a Fault. It's a book that makes you think about life, death, connections, losses, and what it all means.

I really enjoyed Fifth Business by Robertson Davies.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood was my best of the year.

One that really stood out for me was Michael Crummey's Galore. (You can read my gush here.) I was also tremendously impressed by Cynthia Flood's The English Stories (response here) and Hiromi Goto's Half World (response here). There was lots of good Canlit in my 2010.

Mine was Light Lifting by a mile. I'd say it was my favorite Canadian read of the last 3 or 4 years.

Mrsgaskell, I really enjoyed Good to a Fault too. It was my favorite Canadian read last year. We're discussing it in my RL bookclub this year and it'll be interesting to hear what they think of it.

I will have to give you four

Biography/History

"Memoir of a Less Travelled Road- A Historians Life" by Trudel Mercel, a recipient of the Order of Canada.
I've read John English's excellent biography of PE Trudeau, and Charlotte Grays'Nellie McClung this year, but Mercel gave me a perspective of Quebec which was completely different. A perspective from a historian who tried to improve the history programs in Quebec and the country to bring us closer together.

Non-Fiction -Other

"A History of Marriage" by Elizabeth Abott. It is not a comprehensive book on the history of marriage but more an outline. However it also discusses all the current issues gay marriages,marriage and race, adoption, etc. She was Dean of Woman at Trinity College at the UoT for a few years. She makes the point the we discuss what marriage should be but not many of us are very informed what marriage used to be.

Fiction Before I was born.

Anne of Green Gables by M. Montgomery. Even though I have seen the play and have been to PEI three times I had not read the book before this year. To start, she brings the beauty of PEI to the reader. I'm sure all the Japanese that visit PEI are not dissapointed. Most of us can relate closely or at least understand one of the characters at a personal level. The author depicted the male characters with the same sensitivity as the women. You all know the story, so I don not have to go into any detail. The author was dealing with important issues like equal opportunity, acceptance, belonging, and of course love.Personally , it did not feel dated to me like some older novels I have read. It was much better than my expectations.

Newer novel

"The Golden Mean" by Annabel Lyon.

Having the courage to write a novle about Aristotle and Alexander impressed me to start. I thought her earthy story was well written and thought provoking.