Well, it’s that time of year again! I listened to the broadcast of the launch on the 25th of November, subscribed to the RSS feed on the CBC website, and put all the Canada Reads books on my Christmas wishlist. I’m very interested in the entire slate of books this year (with the exception, perhaps, of Fruit—I’m a little turned off by the whole “talking nipple” thing; seems so juvenile). Only one in the mix that might be considered a proven “classic” though (The Fat Woman Next Door of course.), which is unfortunate. And only one female author, which is also unfortunate.

But anyway, I’m all geared up and ready to begin, just as soon as I’m finished my current read (Roughing It in the Bush). I’ll be reading The Book of Negroes first, as it is the longest of them, and the only one I currently have in my possession. I’m not sure about the order for the remaining books. Perhaps I’ll read them in diminishing order (or perhaps the order in which they arrive from Chapters…).

Some people on BookCrossing have already “signed up” to read this year’s selection with me, and I imagine we’ll have a lively debate as time advances on toward the March 2-6 broadcast of the debates.

This year, I’m planning to do as much of the blog work as I can in advance, so I’ll only have to do the actual “reviews” as I go, so I’m really hoping to succeed in keeping up and being prepared for all of the debates this year.

The 2009 Canada Reads books are:
Nicholas Campbell: The Outlander by Gil Adamson
Jen Sookfong Lee: Fruit by Brian Francis
Sarah Slean: Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Anne-Marie Withenshaw: The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay
Avi Lewis: The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill