CANADIAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2017 - GENERAL THREAD

ILANA'S SELECTIONS FOR 2017

January : Anne Michaels & Robertson Davies

February : Madeleine Thien & Rohinton Mistry

March : Anne Hebert & Alistair McLeod

April : Magaret Atwood & Guy Vanderhaeghe

May : Louise Penny & Leonard Cohen

June : Heather O'Neill & Dan Vyleta

July : Carol Shields & Wayson Choy

August : Ruth Ozeki & Douglas Coupland

September : Lori Lansens & Steven Galloway

October : Alice Munro & Arthur Slade

November : Gil Adamson & Guy Gavriel Kay

December : Donna Morrisey & Wayne Johnston

GALLERY OF CANADIAN AUTHORS

GALLERY OF CANADIAN BOOKS

Whilst waiting for our dear lady to finish her deliberations here is something from our sponsors!





Banff National Park Alberta

Thanks so much for putting this up Paul! Computer is computing... ;-)

>6 Smiler69: Artistry for you my dear......drudgery for me it is not as I enjoy setting this up for you (and the group).

Well Ilana has made her choices which I will fill out above.

She has decided to reprise three of the Canadian icons for a second year to give those who missed them a chance or who have a shelf full of their books an excuse to take one of them down. So Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro will make the list again.

She has tried to create (and succeeded I think) to create a diverse list. A few tears from me that MG Vassanji is omitted but hey there is always 2018!

>8 PaulCranswick: Paul, you know, I have Vassanji on the tbr, so I'll be just as happy if you decide to swap someone out in there. I was finding there wasn't enough diversity in my list yet. But it must be said: talent knows no skin colour!

>9 Smiler69: No, No, Ilana - it is your list my dear - I am happy to follow and administrate. xx

I tried as much as possible not to let the contents of my own shelves determine what authors would make the final cut. For full disclosure, I should mention that I do have the three 'iconic' Candian authors well represented in my personal stacks, but certainly haven't read nearly enough by any of them, and there is always so much more to discover, and yes, it is my personal agenda to make sure that they are most likely to be read by our participants. Alice Munro is our one and only female Nobel Prize winner in literature, which reminds me, Saul Bellow will just have to be included in the 2018 lineup... I now sort of feel badly I didn't put him up there right away, but such is life.

When I look back at my BAC picks, Ilana I always feel that I should have included so and so or how could I leave out a personal favourite or an icon. I will always include a favourite or two as I like to introduce them to those less familiar and I do include one or two I particularly want to read. I do also try purposely to choose authors I haven't read or would be unlikely to do so. China Mieville, Diana Wynne-Jones are examples of this over the last couple of years and I usually pleasantly surprise myself.

I think yours is a good and well balanced list. xx

Looks like a great variety of authors, Ilana! In fact a totally excellent choice of authors. Something great for everyone. I can imagine the anxiety that goes into preparing such a list, but you have done a great job. Thanks Paul for adding on the gallery of authors and Canadian Book covers!

:-)

>13 vancouverdeb: Dodgy gallery was mine Deb; the Book Covers was Ilana's handiwork!

I will be reading Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels which has been far too long on my shelves.

Good to see the CAC thread up. Thanks Ilana and Paul.

I've put a hold on Fugitive Pieces at my local library. Dodgy gallery, Paul! Nonsense :) Great job with the book covers, Ilana. I have the worst time with anything fancy like a picture on my threads. I can " create ' the picture of the one book I am reading at a time, but that is about it.

Thanks for your hard work.

>4 PaulCranswick: Paul, I'll send you the image once I've updated the book collage with those authors we're covering this year. Great job... the thread is looking good!

>13 vancouverdeb: I'm really pleased you like the selection, Deborah! It seemed really daunting at first, but having done all that work on the lists and reading over new suggestions from this year, the ingredients were all there already. Paul is responsible for the pairings, which I left in his capable hands.

>15 PaulCranswick: Paul, just to be clear, that book cover collage up there is not by me. I just saw it online and thought I would do one similar with the authors we've picked for 2017. It's a great placeholder in the meantime!

>16 PaulCranswick: I've owned that one for far too long as well. Have it on audiobook, too (what else?!)

>17 Familyhistorian: You are more than welcome.

>18 vancouverdeb: Again, no no, that isn't my image. It's a good one, but the resolution is awful, plus it doesn't represent the authors we've picked for this year. Easy enough for me to create another.

>19 Smiler69: I'll do one then Ilana. The authors gallery covers the first six months of the year. I have the book gallery cover the other six months.

January thread will be up soon too.

xox

It is a little bit of a task today as the LT touchstone and picture generators keep crashing. I am having to put up pictures one at a time. Hopefully the glitches will be sorted soon.

It's looking great! I need to be in bed. Three hours ago... g'night all. 2016 is almost over...

I'll be in this year. I found much more authors available thaan in 2016.

Ilana and Paul....you folks are the best! Good job on the selection, the thread and the communication! It all looks very good too.

So many of my favourite authors! I know they are my favourites because in the case of Lori Lansens, Carol Shields, Alistair MacLeod, and Louise Penny, I've read all their novels. I only have one more of Rohinton Mistry's novels to read, so February is the perfect opportunity.

One of my goals this year is to read more nonfiction, so I plan to tackle some of Carol Shields' and Wayson Choy's nonficiton in July.

My library has a DVD called Reading Alistair MacLeod that I am looking forward to borrowing. I also found a book at my library called Stories About Storytellers subtitled 'publishing Alice Munro, Robertson Davies, Alistair MacLeod, Pierre Trudeau, and others' which seems like a perfect book for sometime this year.

May I just put links here to the January and February threads?

Anne Michaels and Robertson Davies, January

Thien and Mistry, for February

>27 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you Linda.

I have put the links previously on my thread.

>28 PaulCranswick: Paul, I think it's important that you put the link of the monthly challenge also here on the the general thread. Not everybody is visiting your personal thread. Thanks so much for understanding it.

>29 Ameise1: As you know I keep records of most things, Barbara, and I could tell you which group members have posted on my thread and how many times each in 2017 but I won't bore everyone with such stats! It also certainly proves that "not everybody is visiting my thread'! :(

So as requested (and quite correctly so) as I am merely assisting Ilana and have no claims on being Canadian (except that I adore maple syrup and Rachael MacAdams):

The CANADIAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE for March is also up:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/250122

Anne HEBERT & Alistair MACLEOD

Thanks so much, Paul.

>30 PaulCranswick: Thanks from me too, Paul! I do visit your thread, but I get very far behind much of the time. I really need the Challenge Threads to keep me pointed in the right direction.

THE APRIL THREAD IS UP :

http://www.librarything.com/topic/254167

MARGARET ATWOOD & GUY VANDERHAEGHE

Canny selections from Ilana.

Atwood often looks into the future with an agued eye.
Vanderhaeghe usually looks into the past with a sympathetic one.

The May Canadian Author Challenge Thread is up:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/256328

Louise Penny & the late, great Leonard Cohen

Is there a thread for June?

>35 laytonwoman3rd: OMG, It is mid June already and I haven't yet done it! Sorry all for my oversight - I have been rather distracted so far this month. Coming, coming, coming.

Anyway better late than never :
http://www.librarything.com/topic/259742

June is Heather O'Neill and Dan Vyleta

Sorry all.

And now it's July! *poke, poke*

Sorry Linda, I did put it up today but forgot to put it here too.

Following a wee burst of energy, the Canadian Author Challenge thread for July is up:

Carol Shields and Wayson Choy.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/260931

I am mortified that I got Choy's name wrong on the thread title!

>39 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. Linkage is my lifeline---I hate to miss out on new threads!

>40 laytonwoman3rd: I have been quite remiss in the last few months in keeping up with things. Will do better in the second half of the year. xx

>41 PaulCranswick: "keeping up with things" is a relative term, Paul. I know you've had a great many other things to keep up with lately!

>42 laytonwoman3rd: I have broken the back of my recent woes, Linda, I think. So no excuses for not putting up the threads on time!

August 2017 thread is up

http://www.librarything.com/topic/266446

Ruth Ozeki and Douglas Coupland

Note to self: PLEASE START READING