The Canadian Book Challenge- 5th Update

We're rounding the bend, readers! Good job to everyone still chugging through. Incidentally, I've noticed that a few participants seem to have gone AWOL. I've decided to leave their completed books in the standings though- their reviews are still great additions to the challenge. Perhaps 13 was proving too much for some folks in such a short time. Hopefully the 2nd edition of the challenge will be a little less stressful, but more on that later...

In the meantime, congratulations to Nicola and Steve who definitely did not stall. They join Leo and August in the all-ready-completed ranks.

Here are the standings so far:

The Grosbeaks (13 Books)

Nicola
- Empress of Asia by Adam Lewis Schroeder*
- Keturah & Lord Death by Martine Leavitt*
- High Spirits: A Collection of Ghost Stories by Robertson Davies
- The Serpent's Egg by J. Fitzgerald McCurdy
- Sunwing by Kenneth Oppel
- Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock
- Kanada by Eva Wiseman
- The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy
- The Alchemist's Dream by John Wilson
- Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Gemini Summer by Iain Lawrence
- Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel
- Dust by Arthur Slade

Steve
- The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood*
- Burden of Desire by Robert MacNeil*
- King of Russia by Dave King
- Fatal Passage by Ken McGoogan
- Alligator by Lisa Moore
- Sailing to Saratanium by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Spook Country by William Gibson
- And No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat
- Uninvited Guest by John Degen
- Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
- Badlands by Robert Kroetsch
- Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop
- What's Bred In The Bone by Robertson Davies

Leo
- Garcia's Heart by Liam Durcan
- October by Richard B. Wright
- Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles
- The Bone Sharps by Tim Bowling
- Helpless by Barbara Gowdy
- The Culprits by Robert Hough
- The End of The Alphabet by CS Richardson
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
- The Reckoning of Boston Jim by Claire Mulligan
- Coureurs De Bois by Bruce MacDonald
- As Good As Dead by Stan Rogal
- Woman in Bronze by Antanas Silieka

August
- Fits Like A Rubber Dress by Roxanne Ward
- Flesh and Gold by Phyllis Gotlieb
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- Home Movies by Ray Robertson
- In The Place of Last Things by Michael Helm
- The Dakest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Love of A Good Woman by Alice Munro
- Dead Man's Float by Nicholas Maes
- Where Is The Voice Coming From? by Rudy Wiebe
- Fat Woman by Leon Rooke
- The Republic of Love by Carol Shields

The Canada Geese (12 Books)

The Snowy Owls (11 Books)

Framed
- Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather*
- I Married the Klondike by Laura Beatrice Berton*
- Salamander by Thomas Warton
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards
- Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
- The Story Girl by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Birds in Fall by Brad Kessler
- The White Dawn by James Houston
- Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
- Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast Pillow Book by Bill Richardson
- Latitude of Melt by Joan Clark

The Green Loons (10 Books)

The Osprey (9 Books)

The Kingfishers (8 Books)

John
- The National Dream by Pierre Berton*
- The Birth House by Ami McKay
- The Time In Between by David Bergen
- Love: A Book of Remembrances by bpNichol
- Out of the Sea by Victor Kendall and Victor G. Kendall
- Uncommon Prayer by Susan McMaster
- One Woman's Arctic by Sheila Burnford
- Harpoon of the Hunter by Markoosie

Raidergirl
- All in Together Girls by Kate Sutherland*
- Lorelei by Lori Derby Bingley*
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
- Hockey Dreams by David Adams Richards
- A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews
- The Lost Salt Gift of Blood by Alistair MacLeod
- The Inuk Mountie Adventure by Eric Wilson
-Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam

The Polar Bears (7 Books)

Corey
- The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland*
- Punch Line by Joey Slinger*
- At a Loss For Words by Diane Schoemperlen*
- Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- Big Man Coming Down The Road by Brad Smith
- Houdini's Shadow by Leo Brent Robillard
- The Culprits by Robert Hough

Pooker
- Icefields by Thomas Wharton*
- Sitting in the Club Car Drinking Rum and Karma-Kola by Paulette Jiles*
- Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast by Bill Richardson
- Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
- Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
- Effigy by Allisa York

Lisa
- The Little Country by Charles de Lint*
- The Alberta Fact Book by Mark Zuehlke*
- The Garneau Block by Todd Babiak
- Timbit Nation by John Stackhouse
- Kanada by Eve Wiseman
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
- Curling For Dummies by Bob Weeks

The Loons (6 Books)

Court
- Spanish Fly by Will Ferguson*
- Along The Shore by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- A Secret Between Us by Daniel Poliquin
- Rick Mercer Report: The Book by Rick Mercer
-The Hunter's Moon by Orla Melling
-Against The Odds by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Historia
- Consolation by Michael Redhill*
- Rene Angelil Unauthorized Biography by Jean Beaunoyer
- Starting Out by Pierre Berton
- A Nurse's Story by Tilda Shalof
- One Red Paper Clip by Kyle MacDonald
- Miss O by Betty Oliphant

Remi
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington*
- Adultery by Richard B. Wright*
- The Torontonians by Phyllis Brett Young
- Lost In The Barrens by Farley Mowat
- Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing by Tomson Highway
- Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop

Teddy Rose
- The End of The Alphabet by CS Richardson*
- The Time In Between by David Bergen*
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
- Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
- Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa

Melanie
- La Sagouine by Antonine Maillet
- The Island Means Minago by Milton Acorn
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- A Hard Witching by Jacqueline Baker
- Smuggling Donkeys by David Helwig
- Covenant of Salt by Martine Desjardins

The Coats of Arms (5 Books)

Susan
- Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay*
- Widdershins by Charles de Lint*
- By The Time You Read This by Giles Blunt
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
-A Touch of Panic by L.R. Wright

Bybee
- Fall On Your Knees by Anne Marie MacDonald*
- Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle*
- All Families Are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland*
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews*
- Scoundrels and Scallywags by Brian Brennan

Ragdoll
- After River by Donna Milner*
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- I Married The Klondike by Laura Beatrice Berton
- Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
- My Name is Bosnia by Madeleine Gagnon

Nan
- The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton
- The Morningside World of Stuart McLean
- A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
- Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast by Bill Richardson
- Them Times by David Weale

Bookgal
- Still Life by Louise Penny*
- Swann by Carol Shields
- Unless by Carol Shields
- The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
- The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Booklogged
- The Wild Wood by Charles de Lint*
- Random Passage by Bernice Morgan*
- Birds In Fall by Brad Kessler
- Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark
- The Word For Home by Joan Clark

The Caribou (4 Books)

Jen
- Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock*
- Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
- The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
- No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod

Raych
- The Butterfly Plague by Timothy Findley*
- Voyages of Hope by Peter Johnson
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Geranium Cat
- Selected Tales by Ouhanderfoule Jacques Ferron*
- The Honeyman Festival by Marian Engel
- A Deathful Ridge by J. A. Wainwright
- Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark

Brown Paper
- The Solitudes of Emperors by David Davidar*
- The Assassin's Song by M. G. Vassanji
- No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
- Obasan by Joy Kogowa

Lesley
- The Birth House by Ami McKay*
- The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
- Wonderful Strange by Dale Jarvis
- The Long Run by Leo Furey

Sam Lamb
- The Tree Tattoo by Karen Rivers*
- An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark*
- Consumption by Kevin Patterson
- The Extraordinary Garden by Francois Gravel

Chris
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews*
- Larry's Party by Carol Shields
- Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The Long Stretch by Linden MacIntyre

The Bluenoses (3 Books)

Callista
- Smart-Opedia by Maple-Tree Press*
- There Will Be Wolves by Karleen Bradford*
- The Library Book by Maureen Saw

Ripley
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington*
- Atonement by Gaetan Soucy
- The Big Why by Michael Winter

3M
- Sitting Practice by Caroline Anderson*
- Mad Shadows by Marie-Claire Blais
- The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

Julia
- Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine
- Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood
- Not An Easy Choice: Re-Examining Abortion by Kathleen McDonnell

Kimiko
- Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Dorothy
- Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
- Kanada by Eve Wiseman

The Beavers (2 Books)

Sharon
- Piano Man's Daughter by Timothy Findley (No review)*
- Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Melissa
- Not Wanted On The Voyage by Timothy Findley*
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood*

Gautami Tripathy
- Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Dahlia and Balu
- Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
-Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The Maple Leaves (1 Book)

Aaron
- Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland*

Emily
-Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

Rebecca
-Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

(*Indicates new reviews. If this update is not accurate, please let me know in the comment section and I'll edit it.)

Now, it's prize time! This time it's Bruce MacDonald's Coureurs De Bois. Author and Canadian Book Challenge participant Leo Brent Robillard reviewed this one back in December and had plenty of good things to say about it. If you wish to decide for yourself, I have a copy kindly donated by Cormorant Books up for grabs. This time, I'll drop the pretence of a quiz and simply ask you to comment on someone else's review. Then simply copy your comment and leave it in my comment section below, with a note on where you left it. Please try to pick different blogs! (And for those blogs that don't allow comments, simply leave a few words for the owner here.) Open to non-challenge participants.

Now may I propose the Canadian Book Challenge 2008-2009 edition? The premiere edition has proven very popular and successful but since it was late to begin, some people expressed reluctance to attempt 13 books in 9 months. The 2008-2009 edition will span from Canada Day 2008 to Canada Day 2009. 13 books in 12 months should be much more manageable. If you are interested in participating, let me know. As well, a large part of the success of the first one has been the generous prizes donated by authors and publishers. Therefore, I'm requesting any help in this area as possible. If you can help spread the word, pull a few favours, anything, I'd be very grateful.