Wandeca Reads: Canada Reads

It was bound to happen... The first book voted off was:

From the Fifteenth District was selected for Canada Reads by Lisa Moore.

Here's the blurb (taken from the publisher's site):

Set in Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War, the nine stories in this glittering collection reflect on the foibles and dilemmas of human relationships. An English family goes to the south of France for the sake of the father’s health, and to get away from an England of rationing and poverty. A displaced person turned French soldier in Algeria now makes a living as an actor in Paris. A group of selfish English expatriates on the Italian Riviera are incredulous that Mussolini and the Germans may affect their lives. A great writer’s quiet widow blossoms in widowhood, to the surprise and alarm of her children, who send a ten-year-old grandson to Switzerland to keep her company one Christmas. Full of wry humour and penetrating insights, this is Mavis Gallant at her most unforgettable.

I wonder which one will be next?

In honour of Canada Reads, I'm going to start my own (personal) challenge. I'm going to read the entire list of books. But here's the beauty of my challenge, I don't have a time limit. I'm hoping that I'll be able to read at least two books a month.

Here are the books:

Canada Reads 2002:
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
In The Skin Of A Lion by Michael Ondaatje
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood *** Completed March 4th, 2008
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence *** Previously read
Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke

Canada Reads 2003
Life of Pi by Yann Martel *** Read and posted on July 28th, 2010
Next Episode by Hubert Aquin
Sarah Binks by Paul Hiebert
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys

Canada Reads 2004
Barney's version by Mordecai Richler
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
The Heart is an Involuntary Muscle by Monique Proulx
The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro

Canada Reads 2005
Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen
Rockbound by Frank Parker Day
No Crystal Star by Mairuth Sarsfield
Volkswagen Blues by Jacques Poulin
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood *** Previously read

Canada Reads 2006
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews **Completed on January 16th, 2009
Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets by Al Purdy
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Deafening by Frances Itani
Cocksure by Mordecai Richler

Canada Reads 2007
Children of My Heart by Gabrielle Roy
Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis
Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor
The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill

Canada Reads 2008
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
From the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant
Icefields by Thomas Wharton
King Leary by Paul Quarrington ** Completed on June 19, 2008
Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley **Completed on March 22, 2008

Canada Reads 2009
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill **Completed on July 21, 2009
The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay
Fruit by Brian Francis **Completed on June 20, 2009
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
The Outlander by Gil Adamson Completed on March 1st, 2010

Canada Reads 2010

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott

Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner

Generation X by Douglas Coupland *** Previously Read

The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy

Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald *** Previously Read