Happy Canada Day!



Today is Canada Day and I thought I would share my favourite Canadian books. Now, I'm a very proud Canadian (I even have a red maple leaf tattoo) and I love all things Canadian, but I will admit that when it comes to reading I have not read much of our literature. I decided to change that this year and have challenged myself to read at least 20 Canadian books this year, and so far I have read 11. I'm glad I've done this. Even though we all came from somewhere else at some point, Canadians make up a unique identity that is evident through our literature and from that identity we get some incredible stories.

My three favourite Canadian books are:

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (the title of this book in the US is Someone Knows My Name)
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Some other great books:

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
More by Austin Clarke
How to be Canadian by Will Ferguson
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Of course there are many more fabulous Canadian books out there, but these are the ones I have read and can recommend. Hopefully by next Canada Day that will be a much longer list.

What are your favourite Canadian books?

Comments

  1. Joy Tamsin DavidJuly 1, 2010 at 9:22 AM

    I love the Anne of Green Gables series! Happy Canada Day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LindyLouMacJuly 1, 2010 at 12:52 PM

    I am ashamed to say I have only read three titles on that list.

    Happy Canada Day, a country I really would love to visit one day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KimJuly 1, 2010 at 1:20 PM

    I love Robertson Davies' "Fifth Business" and Jane Urquhart's "The Stone Carvers".

    ReplyDelete
  4. TammyJuly 1, 2010 at 5:32 PM

    Happy Canada Day Shannon!

    Hey - did you do your signature from my tutorial? :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ordinary ReaderJuly 1, 2010 at 9:26 PM

    I loved "Ragged Islands" by Don Hannah and "Ivor Johnson's Neighbours" by Bruce Graham. They were both a joy to read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ShanJuly 2, 2010 at 7:45 AM

    Thanks for sharing your favourite books everyone, now I have more to add to my to read list!

    Tammy - I did learn from your tutorial, I was always wondering how people got those signatures!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jess // Curating StyleJuly 3, 2010 at 1:47 PM

    Happy (belated) Canada Day! I definitely agree with Anne of Green Gables. Such an amazing series. I unfortunately haven't read much Canadian literature, so I'll have to check out some of your recommendations! I hear there are a lot of great Canadian mystery authors, too.

    Anyway, thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm a new follower. Have a great weekend. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 4, 2010 at 4:57 AM

    Happy Canada Shan! Margaret Atwood's my favourite Canadian author - I adore the Blind Assassin and the Robber Bride. Hope you have a great weekend.
    Lyndsey

    ReplyDelete
  9. John MutfordJuly 6, 2010 at 8:04 PM

    I really like the Atwood and Hill books, but really don't like Ondaatje. Your runners up list is quite good, too, but I haven't read the Clarke book. My favourite Canadian books include Wayne Johnston's Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Mordecai Richler's Barney's Version, Jeff Lemire's Essex County, and Allistair Macleod's No Great Mischief.

    ReplyDelete

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