March 20, 2011
Canada Reads Indies: The Winner is….
It was the tie that refused to stay broken, and I’ve just decided to accept it. This year, of our five deserving Canada Reads Independently Picks, all of which received their fair shares of love in the poll, the two picks that shared the largest share of the sharing were Lynn Coady’s Play the Monster Blind, and Thomas King’s Truth and Bright Water.
One reader wrote, “Play the Monster Blind is the one that has stayed with me the most deeply and that made me say, ‘I want to write sentences like that’ – always a good sign. Coady is my pick!” Another wrote, “But it was Truth and Bright Water that resonated with me when I read it and it still does. Kind of like the dog who hangs his head out the car window and gets all excited when he smells his home territory.” And I know exactly what she means.
Thank you to everybody who read along and sent in a vote for your favourite– especially those of you who I didn’t quote here, but whose pitches were no less fervid than the two above. Thank you to the CBC for the marvelous Canada Reads format whose slight deficiencies have allowed us our own independent fun. Thank you to Sheree Fitch, Nathalie Foy, Chad Pelley, Carrie Snyder and Robert J. Wiersema for providing us with a spectacular line-up, and so many hours of unabashed reading enjoyment. That was fun.
Often times, when faced with difficult choices, I find myself thinking that it’s the combination that really works well; it might seem like a lame way of avoiding conflict, but I think there’s truth in it too. The assortment of titles for this year’s CR Indies was exceptionally good: great recommendations from all the contributors!