CanadianContent discussion

Hi everyone - May is Canadian Classic Month and to spice up the challenge, try to incorporate these 3 books into your classics:

M - A Canadian Mystery

A - A Book by Margaret Atwood

Y - A Canadian Young Adult novel

I have added the challenge to our homepage so if you are interested in participating with the group and tracking your books please set up a shelf and join in the fun!!

@May - this challenge is in your honour!!!

Cool challenge Susan!

Sounds like a good month for me to read Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and also knock off two squares on the Bingo. Just need to come up with a YA novel.

It'll be easy to read Atwood, I have a few of them. Mystery and YA classics are a bit trickier but I did have a few books I thought I'd read including a Mordecai Richler and maybe something by Michael Ondaatje. I've just read Handmaid's Tale and am reading Rockbound at the moment. It's a good idea, though, I'll see what I have and what I can find that would be considered classic.

@Susan, it is my birthday month and thank you!! This should be a fun monthly challenge as I have books by Linwood Barclay and Ian Hamilton :)

Cool challenge! Anyone have ideas for the YA book?

UPDATED: Found this! http://www.cbc.ca/books/books100ya.html

Obasan by Joy Kogawa is on it. I never thought of it as YA. Did anyone else??

Allison wrote: "Cool challenge! Anyone have ideas for the YA book?

UPDATED: Found this! http://www.cbc.ca/books/books100ya.html

Obasan by Joy Kogawa is on it. I never thought of it a..."
I raided my son's copy of Airborn :)

I'm guessing Obasan is taught in schools, so maybe that's where the YA thinking comes in?

I gave Little Brother to my nephew for Christmas one year and he really enjoyed it. He was around 14 at the time. I've not read it.

The only Atwood book I have left to read is MaddAddam. Maybe I'll revisit The Handmaid's Tale
I need a YA suggestion too! I'll check out that link. Thanks!

I was hoping to finally dig into Alias Grace if I get the time.

I have only read tow of the YA's on the list, but have a few on my TBR, Nobody Cries at Bingo or Skim are ones I would like to get at sooner rather than later.

oh man, I've only read two on that list! I'm going to try and read Nobody Cries at Bingo for this challenge.

I will always recommend Lucy Maude Montgomery, especially Anne of Green Gables for a YA (and classic choice).

I have also recently read Optimists Die First (which was my YA Bingo square this year and a new release that I won as a goodreads giveaway) and On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light: A Novel (Strube came to the Grimsby Author Series). These would be good YA suggestions too!

Allison wrote: "Cool challenge! Anyone have ideas for the YA book?

UPDATED: Found this! http://www.cbc.ca/books/books100ya.html


Thanks for the link Allison! I didn't realize Lesley Livingston was Canadian. I have one of her books The Valiant which I will use.

Just noticed that This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! is on the list. I loved Gordon Korman books when I was a YA!! I still have mine and none of my kids have been keen on reading them! I put some extra copies in the LFL and they have been slow to move from there also.

❀ Susan wrote: "Just noticed that This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! is on the list. I loved Gordon Korman books when I was a YA!! I still have mine and none of my kids have been..."

Sadly, my kids aren't keen on the few Korman books we have around here either. My hubs is always telling them to go for it, but they just reach for something else when it comes down to it. Too bad! I remember them as great, as a kid.

Allison wrote: "Cool challenge! Anyone have ideas for the YA book?
]

http://orcabook.com/seven/about.php ..

Eric Walters asked six other well-known Canadian children’s authors to each contribute a novel to a series of seven linked books. The stories would be connected by a grandfather’s love of his seven grandsons. These are Canadian authors but not all settings are in Canada. It started with the 7 in the series, then there are 7 prequels and 7 sequels.

Cool Mary Anne, thanks!

I"m going to read The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje which *could* qualify as YA since it's from the POV of an 11 year old though not really written for YAs. I will definitely read a Margaret Atwood. Maybe 2. I don't know what "classic" might qualify as a mystery.

I'm going to do this challenge, but my choices wouldn't qualify as classics. The aim is to double up on bingo books, so I'm planning to read A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny for the mystery, Bodily Harm for the Margaret Atwood book (also conveniently published in my birth year), and The Nest by Kenneth Oppel for the YA.

As I mentioned before, I'm sort of participating, sort of not. I'm commenting here but not signing up for the official challenge as the I don't consider my chosen books to be classics.

I finished THE NEST by KENNETH OPPEL last night, which was my YA pick. Holy moly, that book is creeeeeepy. I saw it in a bookstore in the middle grade section, but it would scare the living daylights out of my nine-year-old if I let him read it. Maybe in a few years, but not right now.

I'll admit I'm a little torn now on the mystery book, because my original choice "The Calling" isn't a classic. Anyone have any suggestions?

For YA I chose W.O.Mitchell's "How I Spent My Summer Holidays".

My Atwood novel, of course, will be "The Handmaid's Tale".

Atwood: The Edible Woman
YA: Airborn and maybe Ann of Green Gables
Mystery: I have Forty Words for Sorrow on my Kobo. It's on the list of 100 novels that make you proud to be Canadian. This will be my book from Giles Blunt.
Let's see how this goes.

Natasha wrote: "I'll admit I'm a little torn now on the mystery book, because my original choice "The Calling" isn't a classic. Anyone have any suggestions?..."

Does the Mystery selection have to be a classic? I'm intending to read Still Life by Louise Penny. I've never read her before, so it's about time!

I'm assuming Allison. I have the Giles Blunt book on an eBook hold from the library, but I really wanted to read "The Calling" by Inger Ash Wolfe.

PS Allison: "Still Life" was fantastic!

Natasha wrote: "PS Allison: "Still Life" was fantastic!"

Oh good! I'm actually going on a cruise on Friday (yippeee!!!) and so I've packed the first two Louise Penny books for the vacation. Glad to hear you liked it, Natasha!

@Allison, enjoy your cruise! Still Life is on the CBC 100 novels list too, so it's going to be a classic at some point :)

I didn't love STILL LIFE @Allison, but I do see the potential in the series and I'm planning to continue. There were just too many characters coming at me in STILL LIFE. I'm hoping this was just the foundation for all the novels that follow.

@Allison Have a fantastic time!

I"m going to read a few classic Canadian books though probably not all related to the offical three suggested genres. I will definitely read an Atwood, and am reading MIchael Ondaatje's Cat's Table at the moment and Margaret Laurence's Diviners. I had tried to read that last time when it was a monthly book club choice but my digital copy was so messed up I couldn't decipher half of it and gave up. This one is a Library Overdrive and is much easier to read. There's a Hugh McLennan I want to read for Bingo, so that will fit in here as well.

Thanks, everybody! This cruise is well timed for me -- I need a vacation!! -- and so I'm quite excited. I have packed the first two Penny books, so hopefully, Allison, the second is a little better...??

@Allison I think you'll like it. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

I'm planning to read the second this month too @Allison. We can discuss! Enjoy your cruise!

I'll do the same if that's okay with you both. :)

Of course, that's okay, Natasha!! Haha! Actually, this reminds me of something I've been meaning to suggest -- Buddy Reads. I'll post it elsewhere.... Thanks for the reminder!

I think Still Life will be a great cruise read. Have a great time, Allison!

I'm going to skip this month's challenge officially but will be playing along somewhat in the background. I'm still battling my way through a few books that are taking forever, and then library holds came in at the same time on some new releases. But I'm hoping to reread The Handmaid's Tale and focus on some bingo reads after that.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone will be reading!

I just realized The Cat's Table was only written in 2011. I guess that doesn't really classify it as a classic but I have also started The Edible Woman and I might fit in another classic this month as well. (including The Diviners that I'm reading now, too)

@ Diane - In the Skin of a Lion was written in 1987 if you haven't read it or are looking for a Michael Ondaatje book although it looks like you've got lots of options.

I was thinking In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton might qualify as a YA Classic. It was first published in 1983 and not a lot of Aboriginal literature was widely published until more recent times.

@ Allison - Louise Penny's Three Pines or Inspector Gamache books get better with each book. The characters get developed more and build on the previous books so you actually look forward to meeting up with them again in the next book. Enjoy your cruise!!

I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood for my Atwood title; I've chosen Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery, which was released in 1923. Definitely a classic, and I've never read it, so I'm looking forward to the experience. I'm still torn on a classic mystery, but I guess Giles Blunt Forty Words for Sorrow will fulfill the challenge requirement.

My Atwood book is Alias Grace. I have wanted to read this one for a long time, but was always daunted by its length, but now is the time to sink my teeth into a big chunky book.

When I get finished that, I would love to join the buddy read with A Fatal Grace

May sure did go by quickly!!!

out of 7 participants with a goal of reading 19 books, 17 books were completed!

I admit that I was not successful in all 3 categories. I did finish: The Handmaid's Tale and right in the nick of time, Rainbow Valley which had been on my list to finish for a long time in my quest to complete the Anne of Green Gables series (one more to go)!

What did you all think of the challenge?

I got three out of four finished. The Edible Woman, The Diviners and The Cat's Table which is probably borderline "classic" as is the one I"m about 60% through, Barney's Version.

I read three: M - Forty Words for Sorrow
A - The Handmaid's Tale
Y - Emily of New Moon