This year, I fell for two novels on the Giller Prize (Canada) shortlist: All The Colour In The World by C.S. Richardson and Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Set largely in Toronto, Richardson’s story deploys short evocative anecdotes. Catton’s relies on lengthy episodic portraits to spin a tale set in New Zealand’s South Island. Richardson’s story is fast-paced and atmospheric; Catton’s unfolds slowly (perhaps too slowly for some). While All The Colour In The World is a paean to memory and the power of art, Birnam Wood is primarily a novel of ideas, a crucible of eco-idealism, survivalism, and human striving.

Which one would I read again? Both of them.

All the Colour in the World by C.S. Richardson
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton