What Canadian literature are you reading in 2017?

I'm starting the year, appropriately enough, with Mike Myers' Canada. It is a real love letter to Canada, and a trip down memory lane for readers of a certain (his and my) age. He describes it has his present for Canada's 150th.

I borrowed a book from a friend who'd recently lost her father.It's a memoir, and I quite enjoyed most of it, esp. the humour, though I tended to skim some of the longer soul-searching philosophical paragraphs. They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson

>1 raidergirl3: I might have to get that in pursuing my goal to read 50 books by Canadians for the 150th birthday of Canada.

I've read two already and I am listening to a third. Already read is Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie and Snow Job by William Deverell. The audiobook is The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. As I said above I am going to try to read 50 books by Canadians this year so that means at least 4 a month.

>4 gypsysmom:. Sounds like you're off to a great start. What a good idea of yours.

>2 ted74ca: I felt the same way about that one. She tended to lose me in her soul-searching, especially when she veered into the mystical, but I really enjoyed the parts about her parents' lives and the descriptions of the house.

>5 ted74ca: Thanks. Lots of great books by Canadians out there that I haven't read yet.

I've added a few more in the last two weeks. Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat is YA but one I had never read before. I enjoyed it but then I don't think there is a Mowat I haven't enjoyed. To add a little more recent view I got 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad from the library. It was shortlisted for the Giller in 2016 and then I read one of the stories in the collection online and I was intrigued. Awad certainly writes well and she can be quite funny but the continuous stories of the main character's obsession with body image and dieting and exercise went on too long for me.

I read 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and felt the same way. Beautiful writing but the weight obsession never seemed to stop. It was exhausting by the end.

Just finished A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny. I'd not really enjoyed the last couple in her Three Pines series, but this one held my interest a lot more. Comfort, cozy mystery reading, Canadian style.

>8 gypsysmom: ambitious goal to read 50 Canadian books! Lots to pick from - keep us updated.

I am reading Getting Over Edgar by Joan Barfoot. I bought this years ago second hand after enjoying her Exit Lines.

For many people, weight obsession is an exhausting experience...living with it, I mean. I really enjoyed 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl.

I've read a lot of CanCon this month and am hoping this trend will continue over the sesquicentennial year!

Franklin's Lost Ship, by John Geiger and Alanna Mitchell
Help Me, Jacques Cousteau, by Gil Adamson
Black River Road, by Debra Komar (a true-crime book about a murder in New Brunswick in the 1860s)
By the Way, by Gordon Pinsent

And I have Gil Adamson's other novel, The Outlander, ready for a re-read.

I'm reading Family Matters by Rohinton Misty.
I so loved A Fine Balance that since then I've read nearly all his book; FM is the last one.

I'm reading my ER book, The Most Dangerous Thing by Canadian author Leanne Lieberman.

I thought Laura Lippman was from Baltimore?

I am reading The Orenda by Boyden and liking it so far.

And yup, Lippman was born in Atlanta and raised in Baltimore.

oops...wrong author! It's Leanne Lieberman

>18 LynnB: no prob, I just thought you had some new/inside information!

I am reading Captured Hearts: New Brunswick's War Brides, by Melinda Jarrett. It is part of a NB military history series.

I've read 6 more Canadian books since I last reported so I've gotten through 12 in two months. If I could only keep that pace up I would hit my goal of 50 by September but I'm sure that's not going to happen. Here's what I've read since my last report:
Company Town by Madeline Ashby - one of the books for Canada Reads this year and it is science fiction; I really liked it
The Shape I Gave You by Martha Baillie - a letter (a very long letter) by a Canadian woman to a German woman who was the daughter of a man the Canadian woman was in love with for many years; the letter was occasioned by the death of the Canadian woman's 18 year old daughter
Against the Odds by L. M. Montgomery - a book of short stories written by Montgomery discovered after Montgomery's death
As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross - wonderfully written book about a preacher and his wife living in Saskatchewan during the 'Dirty Thirties'
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat - not sure how I missed reading this entertaining (if mostly fictional) book about studying wolves in the barren lands
Father Goose by William Lishman - another story about a man's interaction with wildlife but this one is true

>20 gypsysmom: I loved Martha Baillee's Incident Report Did you like the one you read?
Lol at Farley Mowatt!

You are doing great reading Canadian! Keep it up

>21 raidergirl3: The Shape I Gave You wasn't what I expected but it was interesting and I keep thinking about it so that shows it made more impact than I realized at the time I read it.

I'm starting on the Canada Reads books, and intend to read them all before the debates begin in the last week of March. I'm reading Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis.

I just finished Indian Horse by Wagemese and loved it. I need to read more Canada Reads books.

>23 LynnB: I want to read Fifteen Dogs too. Did you see that Alexis just won the Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes, one of the richest literary prizes in the world? The $165,000 US (approx. $215,000 Cdn) prize recognizes an author's complete body of work in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry. Very exciting for him.

Fifteen Dogs is certainly unique and very creative....but not my favourite book by a long shot. Now, I'm reading Company Town by Madeline Ashby for Canada Reads.

I'm reading Nostalgia by M.G. Vassanji in preparation for Canada Reads.

I just finished Lives of Saints and In a Glass House by Ricci. Excellent trilogy so far.

I've read a couple of Can Lit books. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence. Hagar Shipley, the narrator of the story is a bitter, stubborn old woman, and it took me a bit to get into the story, but I loved the story as I got further into it. I also read a new Can Lit book, Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang. It grabbed me right away and I really enjoyed the story.

A nice fun Canadian read for me this weekend: the latest in Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce mystery series: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd.

I'm reading Shoot! by George Bowering.

I'm reading Hope Makes Love by Trevor Cole.

I'm reading a lot of Canadian lit these days. Next up is The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall.

>29 vancouverdeb: Hagar is such a memorable character!

I just finished listening to Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, and read by the wonderful R.H. Thompson. Double dose of Canada.

>34 raidergirl3: R. H. reads it?? I've been waiting to get this audiobook from my library's electronic media site but I didn't realize he was the reader. I had a major crush on him 30 years ago when he appeared on stage at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in several plays. I even managed to acquire a picture of him that I kept on my bedside table. (I had to put it away when I got married but I still have it and get a peek at it now and then.) So, now I'm off to see how long it is going to take until I can download a copy of this.

>35 gypsysmom: lol, it appears RH Thompson has a loyal fan base! I wasn't sure if I cared to read Hag-Seed, but realizing Thompson was the reader tipped me in favour. Hope you get the audiobook soon!

>35 gypsysmom: Loved your "crush" story about R.H. I just looked him up and now know exactly who (and why) you kept a picture (long term). Good story!

>36 raidergirl3: >37 mdoris:
RH is playing Mathew Cuthbert in the new CBC series "Anne" based on Anne of Green Gables. We were off in the US when this series started so I am about 4 weeks behind. Luckily CBC has it available on the internet and since I was nursing a head cold this week I watched some of the episodes. RH has aged very well I think!

I have read a lot of Canadian books since I last posted but I won't try to list them all. There were some outstanding reads though:
Pilgrim by Timothy Findley http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7119384/
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8066885
The White Dawn by James Houston http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12169162/

I'm reading The Torontonians by Phyllis Brett Young. It's described as one of the earliest looks at how women felt stifled by life in suburbia and the consumer culture....a foreshadowing the feminist movement.

Just finished another wonderful book: Certainty by Madeleine Thien. This book was published in 2006 but I had not read anything by Thien until last year's Giller prize winner Do Not Say We Have Nothing which I thought was terrific. Certainty is equally good and I am now determined to read everything Thien has written.

I've got two Canadian books on the go:
A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay, so I am expecting a quick, suspenseful ride and
Field Notes: A City Girl's Search for Heart and Home in Rural Nova Scotia by Sara Jewell. It's a series of essays and they are quite delightful. I've been slowly reading them, a few every day.

My Canadian literature (so far) for May has been: I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid and The Landing by John Ibbitson.

I am just about finished Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan. It is the continuation of the story she started in Random Passage which is about an outport settlement in Newfoundland. CBC did a series based on these books called Random Passage about 15 years ago but I missed seeing it. My library has a DVD copy so I have just put a hold on it because I want to see it now that I have the story fresh in my mind.

>44 gypsysmom: Loved the Bernice Morgan books!

While on vacation in Halifax I read two Canadian books: Island: The Complete Stories, by Alistair MacLeod, and A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny.

I'm reading Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai.

Reading The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill

I'm reading Nightfall by Richard B. Wright.

Happy Canada Day! Thought I choose a Canadian classic: As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross.

I am starting Cat's Eye on Canada Day.
>50 LynnB: I recently read As For Me and My House and I thought it was terrific.

Latest thriller/suspense novel by a writer from Vancouver Island where I now live again Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

I'm reading Carol Shields' Susanna Moodie, a graphic novel. Includes intro by Margaret Atwood. Three strong females. I really can't get more Canadian!

Finished Cat's Eye and also another Canadian book A Soldier's Sketchbook which is about WWI and uses the writing and sketches of R. H. Rabjohn. I found it very evocative of that horrible war.

My library has a maple leaf on this book even though the author is American so I am counting it as Canadian. The book is Journey by James A. Michener and it is the tale of four British aristocrats and their Irish servant travelling through Canada to Dawson City for the Klondike Gold Rush. Michener speaks very highly of Canada and its citizens in the afterward. As well, the royalties from the Canadian sales of this book were donated by Michener to form the Journey prize given to the author of a short story published in Canada each year. I had heard of the Journey prize but had no idea it was started by James A. Michener. What a great way to help new authors.

I've read Sitting in the Club Car Drinking Rum and Karma-Kola: A Manual of Etiquette for Ladies Crossing Canada by Train by Paulette Jiles; and am currently reading The Wonder by Emma Donoghue.

I've read 65 -- so far. Do Not Say We Have Nothing is on the TBR shelves. Thanx for posting the list!

As with any list, there are some that shouldn't be there and some that aren't but should be, but I think it's great that we have such a wealth of great authors/books in our country.

I've finished Ellen in Pieces by Caroline Adderson

I just finished Funny Boy which is set in Sri Lanka during the 1980s when the minority Tamils were persecuted by the government and subjected to violence by mobs. The narrator is a young Tamil boy (7 when the book starts) who grows up in this state of affairs while also coming to terms with his homosexuality. It was chosen by Amnesty Canada for the Book Club read for August 2017. It is also on the CBC list of 100 Novels that make you Proud to be Canadian. If that wasn't enough to intrigue me I have several friends who came to Canada from Sri Lanka and I wanted to understand their country more. Great book but sadly there is still racial tension in Sri Lanka.

>61 LynnB: Very interesting book review about Sri Lanka.

Not "literature" but I'm celebrating Canada's 150th with A Number of Things: Stories About Canada Told Through 50 Objects by Jane Urquhart.

I'm reading Mister Nightingale by Paul Bowdring, a Canadian author I've not read before.

I'm reading Stone Diaries by Carol Shields right now. I read it many years ago, probably soon after it was published. My book club decided to read it for September and I decided I really had to re-read it if I was going to be able to take part in the discussion. More of it has come back to me as I read but I am in awe of how Shields has crafted this story. No wonder she won the Pulitzer Prize for it.

Even though the long list for the Giller prize won't be announced for another two weeks, you've heard it here first-Heather O'Neill will win top prize this year.

I'm almost finished the new Barbara Gowdy-the Little Sister. I was never a fan of Gowdy so I approached this one with trepidation. I really fell in love with the first half of the book but it's getting
way too complicated and tedious and I don't know if I will care for it by the end. The narrative is unusual-sort of like one of those Russian dolls wherin contain other dolls. The problem with the book is that there are so many mirror characters that you start to lose a sense of who is who after a while.

I'm about to start Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.

>68 gypsysmom: I thought that book was brilliant. Hope you like it.

Just finished off kiss me which is Andrew Pyper's writing debut. It's a book of short stories and I found them mostly unsatisfactory but you do get glimpses of what Pyper would later go on to present.

I really liked Pyper's novel about the lost girls-can't remember the title-but I found the other stuff I read by him really wretched and over-rated.

I have not long ago done a reread of No Great Mischief by Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod a lot of my favourite writers are Canadian.

>71 gypsysmom: It was called Lost Girls and it was very good. I have also liked The Wildfire Season and The Trade Mission but I found The Demonologist too much horror for my liking.

Yes it was Lost Girls and I thought it was a great deal of fun. The Wildfire Season didn't interest me at all and I read another one, I think it was about a kidnapped boy and that one didn't appeal to me either. His most recent sounds interesting.

I'm immersed in a couple of Spider Robinson's books Very Bad Deaths and Very Hard Choices. They make me remember why I love Spider's writing and make me sad that he hasn't written anything for years due to his wife's death, his daughter's death and his own heart attack. I am hoping that he is getting good vibes from my posting about these books and maybe he will get something out soon.

I'm reading A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw. I might not call it Canadian Literature but it's a fabulous historical mystery that takes place just outside of Nelson BC. It promises to be a great series!

I'm reading my ER book, The Lives of Desperate Girls by MacKenzie Common.

I'm reading Crows: Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World by Candace Savage, a little nonfiction introduction to crows. Lovely illustrations and myths throughout.

I just finished Frances Itani's latest book That's My Baby which is superb. Itani is coming to Winnipeg in a few weeks so I am very pleased that I got to read it before her appearance.

I'm re-reading The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan.

I'm reading The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys for a book club.

I am about to dip into a reread of The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt he is another of my favorite Canadian writers.

I'm reading The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart.

Disappointed in this "thriller" by BC writer Chevy Stevens: Those Girls. Not very suspenseful.

I'm about to start We All Love the Beautiful Girls by Joanne Proulx.

Stumbled across #9 in a Canadian mystery series I'd not heard of before: Lament for Bonnie by Anne Emery.

Couldn't find the first book in Anne Emery's mystery series in my local library, so read the 3rd one instead. This was better than Lament for Bonnie and is called Barrington Street Blues.

Also, must confess that I read a Linwood Barclay paperback when stuck sitting in my car for a few hours the other day: No Safe House. I buy some cheap second hand paperbacks to keep in my car for just such times.

Next Year For Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson.

I'm reading Hunting Houses by Fanny Britt which I got for Christmas.

I'm ending the year with I Am a Truck by Michelle Winters.

On Dec 31, 2017 I finished novel by a Victoria based writer and I really thought it very good. By Gaslight by Steven Price