All published in the season which would make them eligible for this year’s Giller Prize, the kaleidoscope of covers for 2016 is now available on Pinterest, a text-based collection here.

They had me at list-making, but also there are prizes, for lucky list-makers (rules, here). The URLs below link to my review here, on BuriedInPrint.

My first list for this year was based on the titles on this year’s Crazy for Canlit List which I’ve read, which I can recommend.

This list is based on the titles which are on my TBR list because I’ve read and enjoyed another of that author’s work.

Twenty-three = one for each year of the Giller Prize.

Andre Alexis DespairAndre Alexis’ Hidden Keys (Coach House Books)
Because his short stories were strangely captivating and this new cycle is such an interesting exploration

Kelley Armstrong’s Betrayals (Random House Canada)
Because the first two volumes, Omens and Visions, were so intriguing

Linwood Barclay’s Far From True (Doubleday Canada)
Because reading  A Tap on the Window made me want to read ten more of his novels

George Elliott Clarke’s The Motorcyclist (HarperCollins)
Because I don’t even have words for how much I loved Whylah Falls

Whylah FallsEmma Donoghue’s The Wonder (HarperCollins)
Because even though I didn’t love Room, I did love Kissing the Witch

Terry Fallis’ Poles Apart (McClelland & Stewart)
Because he’s made me smile before, say with No Relation

Darren Greer’s Advocate (Cormorant)
Because his novel Still Life with June is a real favourite

Ian Hamilton’s Princeling of Nanjing (House of Anansi)
Because there is muh to enjoy about Ava Lee’s adventures, as with The Water Rat of Wanchai

Happiness Economics Shari LapenaMaureen Jennings’ Dead Ground in Between  (McClelland & Stewart)
Because her early Murdoch mysteries were satisfying from many angles

Shari LaPeña’s The Couple Next Door (Doubleday)
Because I love a good thriller and Economic Happiness was just great

Kathy Page’s The Two of Us (Biblioasis)
Because the stories in Paradise and Elsewhere were fascinating

House of Anansi, 2013

House of Anansi, 2013

Chad Pelley’s Four-Letter Words (Breakwater Books)
Because his first two novels engaged me from the start, Every Little Thing and Away from Everywhere

Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Simon & Schuster)
Because despite full-hearted resistance, I was totally drawn into The Truth about Luck

David Adams Richards’ Principals to Live By (Doubleday)
Because even when I try to stop reading his sad stories, I keep reading another, like Crimes Against My Brother

Edward Riche’s Today I Learned It Was You (House of Anansi)
Because he made me smile with Easy to Like

Floating Dead ThanhNicholas Ruddock’s Night Ambulance (Breakwater Books)
Because The Parabolist kept me turning pages

John Steffler’s Geman Mills (Gaspereau)
Because The Afterlife of George Cartwright was so fine

Yasuko Thanh’s Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains (Hamish Hamilton)
Because her debut short story collection, Floating like the Dead, was very accomplished

Richard Van Camp’s Night Moves (Enfield & Wizenty)
Because he’s one of my MRE Authors, beginning with Godless But Loyal to Heaven

Great Plains Publications - Enfield & Wizenty, 2012

Great Plains Publications – Enfield & Wizenty, 2012

M.G. Vassanji’s Nostalgia (Doubleday)
Because from No New Land to And Home Was Kariakoo, he tells such good stories

Russell Wangersky’s The Path of Most Resistance (House of Anansi)
Because I still remember some of the stories in Whirl Away

Richard B. Wright’s Nightfall (Simon & Schuster)
Because Clara Callan is an ATF and Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard stood out

Alissa York’s The Naturalist (Random House Canada)
Because Fauna was one of my favourite books of that reading year

McClelland & Stewart, 1991

McClelland & Stewart, 1991

Next time: another list, a shorter one, on Pinterest, with a surprise theme.

Are you Crazy For Canlit? What’s on YOUR list?