The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge- 3rd Update

Three months in and we're already up to 297 books!

Congrats to Historia, Kathleen, and August for already reaching 13. That's even before we started the first edition of the challenge (the 1st started October 4th)! And to all those new folks that joined, or to those that have yet to start, last year's success shows that's it's far from too late...

Here are the standings so far (* indicates a new review).

Nunavummiut (13 Books)

August
- Cockroach by Rawi Hage*
- Rust and Bone by Craig Davidson*
- Once by Rebecca Rosenblum*
- Adult Entertainment by John Metcalf*
- Flight Paths and the Emperor by Steven Heighton*
- Dancing Nightly in the Tavern by Mark Antony Jarman*
- Red Plaid Shirt by Diane Schoemperlen
- The Girls Who Saw Everything by Sean Dixon
- Degrees of Nakedness by Lisa Moore
- The Tracey Fragments by Maureen Medved
- Exotic Dancers by Gerald Lynch
- Stunt by Claudia Dey
- A Week of This by Nathan Whitlock

HistoriaFS
- Paddle To The Arctic by Don Starkell*
- When We Were Young editted by Stuart McLean*
- The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong*
- I Married The Klondike by Laura Beatrice Berton
- After by Francis Chalifour
- Going Inside by Alan Kesselheim
- Laughing on the Outside: The Life of John Candy by Martin Knelman
- Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
- Unknown Shore by Robert Ruby

Kathleen
- Slow Lightning by Mark Frutkin*
- 13 by Mary-Lou Zeitoun*
- Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen*
- Run of the Town by Terrence Rundle West
- Volkswagen Blues by Jacques Poulin
- Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis
- An Acre In Time by Phil Jenkins
- Kiss The Sunset Pig by Laurie Gough
- Psyche's Children by Catherine Joyce
- The Lidek Revolution by James Stark
- Pure Springs by Brian Doyle
- Speak Ill of the Dead by Mary Jane Maffini
- Without Vodka by Aleksander Topolski

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians
(12 Books)

Albertans (11 Books)

Saskatchewanies (10 Books)

HistoriaSA
- The Sandcastle Contest by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko*
- Class Clown by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko*
- Just One Goal by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko*
- More Pies! by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko*
- No Clean Clothes! by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- Boo! by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- Get Out of Bed! by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Alan and Lea Daniel
- We Share Everything by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- Look At Me! by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko

JK
- Too Close To The Falls by Catherine Gildiner*
- The Underpainter by Jane Urquhart*
- The Rules of Engagement by Catherine Bush*
- Happenstanceby Carol Shields*
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
- lullabies for little criminals by Heather O'Neill
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay
- A History of Forgetting by Caroline Adderson
- JPod by Douglas Coupland
- The End of East by Jen Sookfong Lee

Yukoners (9 Books)

Nicola
- Night Runner by Max Turner*
- Getting the Girl by Susan Juby*
- Jolted by Arthur Slade*
- Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- The Horseman's Grave by Jacqueline Baker
- Newton and the Time Machine by Michael McGowan
- The Shooting of Dan McGrew by Robert W. Service and illustrated by Ted Harrison
- The Seance by Iain Lawrence

Steve
- Rockbound by Frank Parker Day*
- Roger Sudden by Thomas Raddall*
- The Mountain and the Valley by Ernest Buckler*
- The Film Club by David Gilmour
- Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner
- What Happened later by Ray Robertson
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
- The Game by Ken Dryden
- Midnight Hockey by Bill Gaston

PookerX
- Sisters of Grass by Theresa Kishkan*
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson*
- A Certain Mr. Takahashi by Ann Ireland*
- Innercity Girl Like Me by Sabrina Bernardo
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
- Beautiful Girl Thumb by Melissa Steele
- An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark
- Where The Pavement Ends by Marie Wadden
- Naomi's Road by Joy Kogowa and illustrated by Matt Gould

Paul P
- Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
- The Wars by Timothy Findley
- Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley
- As For Me And My House by Sinclair Ross
- Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen
- Pilgrim by Timothy Findley
- The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
- Effigy by Alissa York
- Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

Prince Edward Islanders (8 Books)

Wanda
- Ramasseur by Richard deMuelles*
- Passion Fruit Tea by Elenore Schonmaier
- Turtle Valley by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
- a week of this: a novel in seven days by Nathan Whitlock
- The Birth House by Ami McKay
- Baltimores Mansion by Wayne Johnston
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards
- The Skating Pond by Deborah Joy Corey

British Columbians (7 Books)

Joy
- The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny*
- Runaway by Alice Munro*
- Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood*
- Gallows View by Peter Robinson*
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
- Charley's Web by Joy Fielding
- Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Teena
- The Canadian Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Sherry Torkos*
- Down The Coal Town Road by Sheldon Currie*
- The Story So Far... by Sheldon Currie*
- Lauchie, Liza & Rory by Sheldon Currie*
- I've Got A Home In Glory Land by Karolyn Smardz Frost*
- The War On Women by Brian Vallee
- Truth and Rumors: The Truth Behind TV's Most Famous Myths by Bill Brious

Richard
- Spook Country by William Gibson*
- Pear Tree Pomes by Roy Kiyooka*
- The Witness Ghost by Tim Bowling
- Forage by Rita Wong
- Slash by Jeannette Armstrong
- Ontological Necessities by Priscilla Uppal
- Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer

Northwest Territorians (6 Books)

Corey
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews*
- Entitlement by Jonathan Bennett*
- Cockroach by Rawi Hage*
- Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by John McFetridge
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- The Order of Good Cheer by Bill Gaston

Sandra
- At A Loss For Words by Diane Schoemperlen*
- Mister Sandman by Barbara Gowdy*
- Twice Born by Pauline Gedge*
- Quintet by Douglas Arthur Brown*
- Coventry by Helen Humphreys*
- Remembrance of Summers by J. M. Kearns*

Raidergirl
- Exit Lines by Joan Barfoot*
- The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
- The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
- Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
- Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
- The Birth House by Ami McKay

Jo-Ann
- Hero of Lesser Causes by Julie Johnston
- Lisa by Carol Matas
- Ticket to Curlew by Celia Barker Lottridge
- Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Thumb In The Box by Ken Roberts
- Dippers by Barbara Nichol and illustrated by Barry Moser

Manitobans (5 Books)

Kailana
- Extraordinary Canadians: Lord Beaverbrook by David Adams Richards*
-The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews*
-Don't Lets Go The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
-Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
-Traveling Music by Neil Peart

Traveler One
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill*
- Random Passage by Bernice Morgan
- Kiss The Joy As It Flies by Sheree Fitch
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay
- The Mountain and The Valley by Ernest Buckler

Violette
- Burden of Desire by Robert MacNeil*
- Barrington Street Blues by Anne Emery*
- Black Ice by Linda Hall
- Blood Lies by Daniel Kalla
- Bone To Ashes by Kathy Reichs

PookerY
- Murmel, Murmel, Murmel by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko*
- Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner*
- The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- Consolation by Michael Redhill

Sam
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp*
- Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs
- Consumption by Kevin Patterson
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod

Monica
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
- Conceit by Mary Novik
- Forage by Rita Wong
- Porcupine by Meg Tilly
- The Alchemist's Dream by John Wilson

Shereadsbooks
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- The Wars by Timothy Findley
- Great Canadian Short Stories edited by Alec Lucas
- The Fire Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
- The Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro

New Brunswickers (4 Books)

Ariel
- Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx*
- The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
- At A Loss For Words by Diane Schoemperlin
- The End of East by Jen Sookfong Lee

Melanie
- Blasted by Kate Story*
- The Brutal Heart by Gail Bowen*
- Prarie Bridesmaid by Daria Salamon
- Saltsea by David Helwig

Ripley
- Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen*
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- The Line Painter by Claire Cameron
- Indigenous Beasts by Nathan Sellyn

John
- Beneath The Naked Sun by Connie Fife*
- A Theft by Saul Bellow*
- Arctic Migrants/ Arctic Villagers by David Damas
- White Eskimo by Harold Horwood

Nathan Smith
- Belle Moral by Ann-Marie MacDonald*
- The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong*
- A Secret Between Us by Daniel Poliquin
-The Wars by Timothy Findley

L.Hill
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
- As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
- A Bird In The House by Margaret Laurence

Remi
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- Fast Forward and Other Stories by Delia de Santis
- The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland
- Selected Poems (1972) by Al Purdy

Teddy
- Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Look for Me by Edeet Ravel
- Horseman's Grave by Jacqueline Baker

Joanna
- Clauda by Britt Holmstrom
- The Only Snow in Havanna by Elizabeth Hay
- The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
- Wolf Tree by Alison Calder

Elizabeth
- Kit's Law by Donna Morrissey
- Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark
- A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay
- The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe

Nova Scotians (3 Books)

Tara (find reviews in her sidebar)
- Lullabies For Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill*
- Living Room by Allan Weiss*
- Elizabeth and After by Matt Cohen*

Lara
- Jacob Two-Two Meets The Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler*
- Stolen by Kelley Armstrong
- Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Bookfool
- Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland*
- The Best of Robert Service by Robert Service
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Mary Ellen
- The Impact of a Single Event by R. L. Prendergast*
- The Whirlpool by Jane Urquhart
- Margarita Nights by Phyliss Smallman

Chris
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson*
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp*
- Loyalists and Layabouts by Stephen Kimber

Tracy
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews*
- Rollbackby Robert J. Sawyer*
- The Birth House by Ami McKay

Gypsysmom
- Itsuka by Joy Kogowa*
- Since Daisy Creek by W. O. Mitchell
- Prospero's Daughter by Constance Beresford-Howe

Bybee
- Anne of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Unless by Carol Shields
- Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Sam Lamb
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
- The Given by Daphne Marlatt
- A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart

Scott
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Icefields by Thomas Wharton

Nan
- Nova Scotia by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
- Tottering in My Garden by Midge Ellis Keeble
- The Pioneers of Inverness Township by Gwen Rawlings

Quebecois (2 Books)

Linda/CT
- Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart*
- Caedman's Song by Peter Robinson*

Laurie
- Sailor Girl by Sheree-Lee Olson*
- What We All Long For by Dionne Brand*

3M
- Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie MacDonald*
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood*

Scribacchina
- The Actual by Saul Bellow*
- The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani*

Framed
- Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan*
- Niagara, A History of The Falls by Pierre Berton

Lesley
- The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson
- Open Secrets by Alice Munro*

April
- The Birth House by Ami McKay
- The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart

Stacy
- My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
- All-Season Edie by Annabel Lyon

Orchidus
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lee
- Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
- The Droughtlanders by Carrie Mac

Joanna
- Claudia by Britt Holmstrom
- The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou

Claire
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Song of the Paddle by Bill Mason

Monodon
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- The Cure For Death by Lightning

Lillian
- Memories Are Murder by Lou Allin
- Pandemic by Daniel Kalla

Gautami
- Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop
- The Time In Between by David Bergen

Jo
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- The Game by Teresa Toten

Ragdoll
- Runaway by Alice Munro
- Away by Jane Urquhart

Ontarians (1 Book)

Lizzy
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay*

Cheryl
- Honour Among Men by Barbara Fradkin*

Lisa
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Tanabata
- How To Be a Canadian by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson

Kayleigh
- Alice, I Think by Susan Juby

DebbieS
- An Imperfect Offering by James Orbinsky

Literary Mom
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay

Jake
- Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler

Stephanie
- Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

Mrs. Peachtree
- Stella Fairy of the Forest by Marie-Louise Gay

(If these standings are not correct, please let me know. I suspect I've made many blunders with this one. I've been extremely busy lately and haven't had as much time to dedicate. My apologies!)

The first of this month's prizes is inspired by a piece of sad news I first heard via Historia. According to Robert Munsch's website, dated August 28th, 2008, he has suffered a stroke that "affects [his] ability to construct sentences." Apparently he is recovering, but it will take a long time. So, since one of this month's donated prizes is a children's picture book, I'm asking that you make a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation in honour of Robert Munsch. You don't need to tell me how much but if you do donate just let me know in the comment section and I'll enter your name in for a draw for 13 Ghosts of Halloween by Robin Muller and illustrated by Patricia Storms. Thanks to Patricia for donating and autographing this book. I will be drawing a winner on October 7th to get the book out before Halloween.

The next two prizes come from a relatively new publisher on the scene, Clark-Nova Books. According to their website, their raison d'etre is to "showcase the best young literary talent that Canada has to offer." Most interesting, under their submission guidelines, their authors must be "under thirty years old upon publication." (Looks like I need to find a new publisher for my memoirs!) Two of their young authors are James Cummins and James Sandham, the authors behind the next two prizes:

In Ambrosia: About A Culture, Cummins investigates electronica and how it "brought an entire generation together in peace and revolutionized the entertainment business, all without ever waking up before noon."

Sandham's The Entropy of Aaron Rosclatt is a novel about "the confrontation of youth's crisp idealism with reality".

To win these two books, look at the new reviews posted above (marked by *). Tell me one non-fiction book and one that you'd consider a coming-of-age story. Email your answers to jmutford (AT) hotmail (DOT) com. I'll be drawing a random winner on October 14.

There's also some prizes being offered up over at Kathleen's place.

Last month's winners of Cheryl Kaye Tardif's Whale Song, Divine Intervention and The River were Wanda, Lara and Gypsysmom respectively. Congratulations!

Until next month, have fun celebrating, promoting and exploring Canadian Books.