I'm done compiling my list. A little extra time prior to voting for everyone to do some perusing.
Choosing Canada as a theme is absurd, but I am doing it anyway. It is a big list; it is a big country. There are many regions from which to pull stories. There are many omissions. Canada is a gigantic mess of a country where saying you are Canadian is akin to saying you have no real defining characteristics. I’m sorry, that’s how we are.
I’ve tried to be fair and pick books that are reasonably available. I also wanted this to be a relatively modern list. I checked Amazon (.ca, .co.uk, .com.au, .com) for eBook availability and I checked Book Depository for paper availability considerations. There are a few books not readily available within Australia and the United Kingdom as eBooks and maybe one title that is difficult to find at all with The Grey Islands. But its availability should be good around mid-February when a new edition is being released. I removed a few titles for availability and made some additions as well for that reason. I was a little saddened. Trying to paint a picture of such a large country in such a short list is absurd.
Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
February by Lisa Moore
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
A Good Man by Guy Vanderhaege
The Grey Islands by John Steffler
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Kamouraska by Anne Hébert
Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richard
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacCleod
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
Sanaaq by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan