The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge- 9th Update

9 months down, and 791 books have been collectively been read for the 2nd Canadian Book Challenge!

Congrats to Jo, Raidergirl and me for finishing their 13 books in March.

Welcome to PeachyTO and Charlotte who joined us this month. Peachy may have just joined, but she brings 12 reviewed books with her, read since the challenge began last July. We also welcome GeraniumCat who is on the board with her first pick this month.

Some highlights this month include:
- a review of Marian Engel's last published work
- an even more negative review of The Clockmaker than mine
- a review of the Portuguese translation of Kate Jacobs' The Friday Night Knitting Club
- this month's Gargoyle reviews brought to you by Sandra, Aaron and PeachyTO
- a collection of French Canadian fairy tales
- an expose of the pet food industry
- an encounter with author Geoff Heinricks and Al Purdy's publisher, all in a single post
- a ridiculously long title by Leanne Shapton
- the first time a journal has been reviewed for the challenge

Some authors new-to-me this month include Stephen McGregor, Margaret Buffie, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Pat Capponi and John Brady. Thanks for introducing me to their books!

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful reviews. Keep those conversations happening!

Nunavummiut (13 Books...or more!)

John
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler*
- Mother Raven Nursery Rhymes by Peter Redvers and illustrated by Don Harney*
- What Became of Sigvald, Anyway? by Mark Fremmerlid*
- I thought elvis was italian by Domenico Capilongo*
- Tom Three Persons by Yvonne Trainer*
- Louis Riel: A Comic Biography by Chester Brown*
- Fifteen Days by Christie Blatchford*
- Grandmother by Elaine Woodward*
- It's A Good Life, If You Don't Weaken by Seth*
- Visiting Hours by Shane Koyczan*
- House of The Wooden Santas by Kevin Major and carvings by Imelda George*
- Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa*
- To The Top Canada by Chris Robertson*
- Wolf Tree by Alison Calder*
- Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems by Randall Maggs*
- Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets edited by Zachariah Wells*
- Weathers by Douglas Lochhead*
- Hand To Hand by Nadine McInnis*
- The Retreat by David Bergen
- Big Rig 2 b Don McTavish
- The Clockmaker by Thomas Chandler Haliburton
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- Beatitudes by Herménégilde Chiasson
- The Anachronicles by George McWhirter
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
- The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton
- Beneath The Naked Sun by Connie Fife
- A Theft by Saul Bellow
- Arctic Migrants/ Arctic Villagers by David Damas
- White Eskimo by Harold Horwood

Raidergirl
- Remembering The Bones by Frances Itani*
- No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards
- Too Close To Home by Linwood Barclay
- High Spirits by Robertson Davies
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
- 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
- Fruit by Brian Francis*
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards*
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill*
- Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston*
- Rotten Apple by Rebecca Eckler
- The Retreat by David Bergen
- Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- Watching July by Christine Hart
- The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- The Game by Teresa Toten

Framed
- Waiting For Gertrude by Bill Richardson
- The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
- Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
- Dragonflies and Dinosaurs by Kate Austin
- Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp
- Still Life by Louise Penny
- The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
- Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
- The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
- Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
- Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson
- Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan
- Niagara, A History of The Falls by Pierre Berton

Monica
- X in Flight by Karen Rivers
- Flight of the Hummingbird by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
- Y in the Shadows by Karen Rivers
- Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa
- For Now by Gayle Friesan
- First Time by Meg Tilly
- Getting The Girl by Susan Juby
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
- 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

Tara
- The Birth House by Ami McKay*
- Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden*
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregant by Michel Tremblay
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
- Fruit by Brian Francis
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay
- Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
- Not Wanted On The Voyage by Timothy Findley
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
- Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
- Lullabies For Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
- Living Room by Allan Weiss
- Elizabeth and After by Matt Cohen

Joanna
- The Lost Highway by David Adams Richards
- The Ravine by Paul Quarrington
- The Retreat by David Bergen
- Icefields by Thomas Wharton
- No Such Creature by Giles Blunt
- Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
- No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
- Good To A Fault by Marina Endicott
- The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton
- Claudia by Britt Holmstrom
- The Only Snow in Havanna by Elizabeth Hay
- The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
- Wolf Tree by Alison Calder

Teena
- Food Pets Die For by Ann N. Martin*
- New Rules For Retirement by Warren MacKenzie and Ken Hawkins*
- War Brides by Melynda Jarratt
- The New Retirement by Sherry Cooper
- Nova Scotia Drink-O-Pedia by Graham Pilsworth
- Write About Dogs by Keith Ryan
- Notes on a Beermat: Drinking and Why It's Necessary by Nicholas Pashley
- Here For A Good Time by Ra McGuire
- Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Tommy Chong
- Before I Wake by Robert J. Wiersema
- 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

PookerX
- Good To A Fault by Marina Endicott*
- The Tracey Fragments by Maureen Medved*
- Fifteen Days by Christie Blatchford
- The Cure For Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
- Children of the Day by Sandra Birdsell
- The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life by Camilla Gibb
- Frogs and Other Stories by Diane Schoemperlen
- 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

PookerY
- Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey*
- Grass, Sky, Song by Trevor Herriot
- Fruit by Brian Francis
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards
- The Christmas Tree by David Adams Richards
- Sparrow Nights by David Gilmour
- Precious by Douglas Glover
- Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
- Phantom Lake: North of 54 by Birk Sproxton
- This Business With Elijah by Sheldon Oberman
- More by Austin Clarke
- 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

Sandra
- No Such Creature by Giles Blunt*
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway*
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richard*
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson*
- What We All Long For by Dionne Brand
- The Museum Guard by Howard Norman
- Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
- Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel
- Red Dog Red Dog by Patrick Lane
- The Retreat by David Bergen
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- The Boys In The Trees by Mary Swan
- The Letter Opener by Kyo Maclear
- The Lizard Cage by Karen O'Connell
- Alligator by Lisa Moore
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay
- 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
- Ex-Cottagers in Love by J. M. Kearns

Wanda
- Coventry by Helen Humphries*
- Belle Moral by Ann-Marie MacDonald*
- Bookweird by Paul Glennon*
- The Friends of Meager Fortune by David Adams Richards
- Down The Coaltown Road by Sheldon Currie
- You Went Away by Timothy Findley
- Mostly Happy by Pam Bustin
- The House of Wooden Santas by Kevin Major
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
- The Divine Ryans by Wayne Johnston
- Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
- 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

Richard
- Malahat Review #165 by various contributors*
- The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland*
- Vancouver Matters editted by Jamse Eidse, Mari Fujita, Joey Giaimo, Lori Kiessling, and Christine Min*
- Saudade by Anik See*
- Pathways Into Mountains by Ken Belford
- Interwoven Wild by Don Gayton
- Little Hunger by Philip Kevin Paul
- Almost Green by James Glave
- The Flight of the Hummingbird by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
- The Perfection of the Morning by Sharon Butala
- lan(d)guage by Ken Belford
- Medicine River by Thomas King
- ecologue by Ken Belford
- A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright
- The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- 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

Kailana
- Only In Canada, You Say by Katherine Barber
- Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
- Cats I Have Known and Loved by Pierre Berton
- Santa Claus: A Biography by Gerry Bowler
- I Was A Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein
- The Gargoyleby Andrew Davidson
- Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
- Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa
- What They Wanted by Donna Morrissey
- Conceit by Mary Novik
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- Jolted by Arthur Slade
- Coventry by Helen Humphreys
- 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

Nicola
- The Golden Phoenix: Eight French-Canadian Fairy Tales by Marius Barbeau and retold by Michael Hornyansky, illustrated by Arthur Price*
- Otherwise by Farley Mowat
- Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography by Chester Brown
- The Meanest Doll In The World by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin, Illustrated by Brian Selznick
- The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin, Illustrated by Brian Selznick
- The Line Painter by Claire Cameron
- Too Close To Home by Linwood Barclay
- The Great Karoo by Fred Stenson
- Coventry by Helen Humphries
- The Ruby Kingdom by Patricia Bow
- The Prism Blade by Patricia Bow
- Red Dog Red Dog by Patrick Lane
- All The Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
- Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help by Douglas Anthony Cooper
- My Name Is Number 4 by Ting-Xing Ye
- The Shadow of Malabron by Thomas Wharton
- Bookweird by Paul Glennon
- 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

Joy
- Big City Bad Blood by Sean Chercover
- Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock
- Sabine's Notebook by Nick Bantock
- The Golden Mean by Nick Bantock
- Forty Words For Sorrow by Giles Blunt
- Hate You by Graham McNamee
- 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

HistoriaSA
- Up, Up, Down by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- Playhouse by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko
- 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

Steve
- The Channel Shore by Charles Bruce
- Barometer Risingby Hugh MacLennan
- The Clockmaker by Thomas Haliburton
- My Famous Evening by Howard Norman
- 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

JK
- Changing Heaven by Jane Urquhart*
- Beyond The Horizon by Colin Angus*
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay
- Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
- The Romantic by Barbara Gowdy
- Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McCelland editted by Sam Soleki
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- An Imperfect Offering by James Orbinski
- Look For Me by Edeet Ravel
- Cereus Blooms At Night by Shani Mootoo
- Fruit by Brian Francis
- Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clark
- The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan
- Silver Salts by Mark Blagrave
- Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler
- A History Of Reading by Alberto Manguel
- The Wars by Timothy Findley
- 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

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
- The Tattooed Woman by Marian Engel*
- Our Lady of the Lost and Found by Diane Schoemperlen
- Moonbeams From the Larger Lunacy by Stephen Leacock
- First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women by Eric McCormack
- Firewing by Kenneth Oppel
- Mud City by Deborah Ellis
- Jeux D'adresseseditted by Julie Huard, Michel-Remi Lafond, and Francois-Xavier Simard
- 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)

PeachyTO
- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay*
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson*
- Fruit by Brian Francis*
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards*
- Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill*
- The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood*
- Generation X by Douglas Coupland*
- The Landing by John Ibbitson*
- Rhymes With Useless by Terence Young*
- An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark*
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen*
- Acceleration by Graham McNamee*

Albertans (11 Books)

Barefootheart
- Your Loving Anna by Louis Tivy*
- Beaver Tales by Audrey Tournay*
- Beavers Eh to Bea by Lil Anderson*
- The War at Home: An Intimate Portrait of Canada's Poor by Pat Caponi*
- Last Stop Sunnyside by Pat Caponi*
- The Corpse Will Keep by Pat Caponi*
- Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson*
- The Courtship by Budge Wilson*
- A Fool and Forty Acres by Geoff Heinricks*
- Rooms For Rent In The Outer Planets: Selected Poems 1962-1996 by Al Purdy*
- Ragged Islands by Don Hannah

Splummer
- Detective by Arthur Hailey*
- Airborn by Kenneth Oppel*
- Someone Else's Ghost by Margaret Buffie*
- Spook Country by William Gibson
- Mister Sandman by Barbara Gowdy
- The Dark Garden by Margaret Buffie
- By The Time You Read This by Giles Blunt
- Golden Girl and Other Stories by Gillian Chan
- A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
- The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
- The Ideal Wife by Mary Balogh

MelanieO
- Clockmaker by Thomas Chandler Haliburton*
- The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy*
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill*
- Mercy Among The Children by David Adams Richards*
- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay*
- Fruit by Brian Francis
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
- As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
- Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock
- Over Prairie Trails by Frederick Philip Grove
- Such Is My Beloved by Morley Callaghan

Heather
- Two Trails Narrow by Stephen McGregor*
- The Manitous: The Spiritual World of The Ojibway by Basil Johnston*
- April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton
- Furious Observations of a Blue-Eyed Ojibway by Drew Hayden Taylor
- Devil In Deerskins: My Life With Grey Owl by Anahereo
- The Curse of the Shaman by Michael Kusugak
- The Man Who Ran Faster Than Everyone: The Story of Tom Longboat by Jack Batten
- One Native Life by Richard Wagamese
- All My Relations: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Native Fiction editted by Thomas King
- Medicine River by Thomas King
- Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway

Ragdoll
- The Sad Truth About Happiness by Anne Giardini
- Once by Rebecca Rosenblum
- The Almost Archer Sisters by Lisa Gabriele
- A Hard Witching by Jacqueline Baker
- The Boys In The Trees by Mary Swan
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- Whetstone by Lorna Crozier
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
- Quick by Anne Simpson
- Runaway by Alice Munro
- Away by Jane Urquhart

April
- Summer of My Amzing Luck by Miriam Toews
- Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
- The Time In Between by David Bergen
- Can You Hear The Nightbird Call? by Anita Rau Badami
- Simple Recipes by Madeleine Thien
- The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
- The Art of Salvage by Leona Theis
- Crows: Encounters With The Wise Guys of the Avian World by Candace Savage
- The Order of Good Cheer by Bill Gaston
- The Birth House by Ami McKay
- The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart

Corey
- The Town That Forgot How To Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey
- Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey
- Blackstrap Hawco by Kenneth J. Harvey
- Fruit by Brian Francis
- Brother Dumb by Sky Gilbert
- 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

Saskatchewanies (10 Books)

Melanie
- Heave by Christy Ann Conlin*
- The Hatbox Letters by Beth Powning
- Plainsong by Nancy Huston
- The Valley by Gayle Friesan
- Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner
- the Retreat by David Bergen
- Blasted by Kate Story
- The Brutal Heart by Gail Bowen
- Prarie Bridesmaid by Daria Salamon
- Saltsea by David Helwig

Sam Lamb
- The Line Painter by Claire Cameron*
- Sweetness In The Belly by Camilla Gibb*
- What It Takes To Be Human by Marilyn Bowering
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
- The Body's Place by Elise Turcotte
- Streak of Luck by Richelle Kosar
- Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
- The Given by Daphne Marlatt
- A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart

HistoriaABM
- Gifted to Learn by Gloria Mehlmann*
- Daring to Dream by Diane Dupuy*
- Thumbs Up by Elizabeth Manley*
- The Storyteller by Anna Porter
- Hope & Despair by Monia Mazigh, translated by Patricia Claxton and Fred Reed
- Mila by Sally Armstrong
- Flight of the Dragonfly by Melissa Hawach
- Time and Chance by Kim Campbell
- The Fight of My Life by Maude Barlow
- Farley: The Life of Farley Mowat by James King

Gypsysmom
- Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood*
- A Carra King by John Brady*
- The Difference Engine by William Gibson
- Murder in Montparnasse by Howard Engel
- The Lyre of Orpheus> by Robertson Davies
- The New Ancestors by Dave Godfrey
- Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies
- Itsuka by Joy Kogowa
- Since Daisy Creek by W. O. Mitchell
- Prospero's Daughter by Constance Beresford-Howe

Scribacchina
- The Friday Night Knitting Club (O Clube de Tricô de Sexta à Noite) by Kate Jacobs and translated into Portuguese by Isabel Alves*
- A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King and illustrated by William Kent Monkman
- What's The Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses? by Richard Van Camp and illustrated by George Littlechild
- Medicine River by Thomas King
- Canadian Stars by Maxine Trottier
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
- By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept by Elizabeth Smart
- The Actual by Saul Bellow
- The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani

Mark
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- Cricket In A Fist by Naomi K. Lewis
- Wolf Pack by Edo van Belkom
- Lone Wolf by Edo van Belkom
- Cry Wolf by Edo van Belkom
- Wolf Man by Edo van Belkom
- In Tongues of the Dead by Brad Kelln
- Wake by Robert J. Sawyer
- Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott
- Too Close To Home by Linwood Barclay

Traveler One
- Swing Low: A Life by Miriam Toews
- Easton by Paul Butler
- Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
- Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
- Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp
- 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

Yukoners (9 Books)

Claire
- Last Stop Sunnyside by Pat Capponi*
- Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson*
- Nine Planets by Edward Riche*
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
- Jalna by Mazo de la Roche
- Ten Thousand Lovers by Ravel Edeet
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Song of the Paddle by Bill Mason

Ariel
- The Meaning of Puck: How Hockey Explains Modern Canada by Bruce Dowbiggin*
- Fruit by Brian Francis*
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- What We All Long For by Dionne Brand
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
- 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

Violette
- Sundowner Ubunto by Anthony Bidulka
- House Report by Deborah Nicholson
- The Chinese Alchemist by Lyn Hamilton
- Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields
- 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

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)

Remi
- Important Artifacts and Personal Property From The Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewellery by Leanne Shapton*
- Selected Poems by Alden Nowlan
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
- 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

Sam
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
- 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

Becky
- Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of Avonleaby Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Rainbow Valley by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of Windy Poplars by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Jo-Ann
- Sindbad in the Land of Giants retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman
- Some of the Kinder Planets by Tim Wynne-Jones
- 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

British Columbians (7 Books)

Claire
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway*
- Away by Jane Urquhart*
- Ex-Cottagers In Love by J.M. Kearns*
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
- Red Dog Red Dog by Patrick Lane
- Barnacle Love by Anthony de Sa
- Stunt by Claudia Dey

Gautami
- The Murder Stone by Louise Penny*
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- Larry's Party by Carol Shields
- The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
- Sir Cook, The Knight? by Erik Mortensen
- Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop
- The Time In Between by David Bergen

Callista
- The Bite of The Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland*
- In Your Face: The Culture of Beauty and You by Shari Graydon
- Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
- Dear Toni by Cyndi Sand-Eveland
- Leslie's Journal by Allan Stratton
- The Reading Solution by Paul Kropp
- Pact of the Wolves by Nina Blazon and translated by Sue Innes

Bybee
- Rainbow Valley by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
- Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
- Anne of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
- JPod by Douglas Coupland
- Anne of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Unless by Carol Shields
- Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Mary Ellen
- The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
- Apologize, Apologize by Elizabeth Kelly
- Not Guilty by Debbie Travis
- Still Life by Louise Penny
- The Impact of a Single Event by R. L. Prendergast
- The Whirlpool by Jane Urquhart
- Margarita Nights by Phyliss Smallman

Lesley
- The Museum Guard by Howard Norman
- Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark
- Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
- The Girls by Lori Lansens
- The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
- The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson
- Open Secrets by Alice Munro

Northwest Territorians (6 Books)

Chris
- Getting Over Edgar by Joan Barfoot
- Anne's House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Negotiating With The Dead by Margaret Atwood
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
- Loyalists and Layabouts by Stephen Kimber

Ripley
- The Slow Fix by Ivan E. Coyote
- Scarlet Rose by Julia Madeleine
- Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen
- The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
- The Line Painter by Claire Cameron
- Indigenous Beasts by Nathan Sellyn

3M
- A Certain Mr. Takahashi by Ann Ireland
- Anne of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
- Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie MacDonald
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Nathan Smith
- Otherwise by Farley Mowat
- Bookweird by Paul Glennon
- Belle Moral by Ann-Marie MacDonald
- The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
- A Secret Between Us by Daniel Poliquin
-The Wars by Timothy Findley

Lara
- Broken by Kelley Armstrong
- That Scatterbrain Booky by Bernice Thurman-Hunter
- Ontario Murders by Susan McNicoll
- Jacob Two-Two Meets The Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler
- Stolen by Kelley Armstrong
- Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Lynda
- Sugarmilk Falls by Ilona Van Mil
- From Ink Lake: Canadian Stories Collected by Michael Ondaatje
- Life by Drowning: Selected Poems by Jeni Couzyn
- Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
- New Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English editted by Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver
- The Birth House by Ami McKay

Manitobans (5 Books)

Scott
- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
- The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Icefields by Thomas Wharton

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)

Daibhin
- Island by Alistair MacLeod*
- The Ladies' Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer*
- Looking for Anne of Green Gables by Irene Gammel
- A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

Aaron
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson*
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill*
- The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay*
- Fruit by Brian Francis

Laurie
- Unless by Carol Shields*
- All Families Are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland
- Sailor Girl by Sheree-Lee Olson
- What We All Long For by Dionne Brand

Orchidus
- Obasan by Joy Kogawa
- The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tanabata
- Lighting The Dark Side by William R. Potter
- Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock
- Dingo by Charles de Lint
- How To Be a Canadian by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson

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

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

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)

Barbara
- The As It Happens Files by Mary Lou Finlay
- The Retreat by David Bergen
- Tales From Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry

Mrs. Peachtree
- The Singing Stone by O.R. Melling
- An Earthly Knight by Janet McNaughton
- Stella Fairy of the Forest by Marie-Louise Gay

Miriam
- By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Giles Blunt
- Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
- DeNiro's Game by Rawi Hage

Cheryl
- A Victim of Convenience by John Ballem
- Six Seconds by Rick Mofina
- Honour Among Men by Barbara Fradkin

Lizzy
- Helpless by Barbara Gowdy
- Catholics by Brian Moore
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay

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

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

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)

Jen
- Broken by Kelley Armstrong
- Burning Chrome by William Gibson

Jules
- The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
- The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro

Reader Rabbit
- Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
- Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year by Amy Bleason and Jacob Osborn

Paul R
- The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
- Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

DebbieM
- The Sky Is Falling by Kit Pearson
- Dressing Up For The Carnival by Carol Shields

Kimiko
- Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ontarians (1 Book)

GeraniumCat
- Still Life by Louise Penny*

Susan
- Wolf Moon by Charles de Lint

Carla
-Coventry by Helen Humphreys

Wayne
-Beaverbrook: A Failed Legacy by Jacques Poitras

Lisa
- Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

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

(If these standings are not correct, please let me know. As well, if you've missed the explanation of the provincial/territorial headings and can't figure out why you're listed under a particular province, please refer to this post.)

This month's Shout-Out comes from Newfoundland actor, writer and comedian (add controversial to any of those), Andy Jones. You may remember him from Codco and his roles in such films as Rare Birds, Random Passage and Young Triffie's Been Made Away With. Unlike Richard Van Camp last month who had trouble limiting his recommendations to 13, Jones feels that one will suffice: Folktales of Newfoundland (The Resilience of The Oral Tradition) by Herbert Halpert and John Widdowson. I'm assuming this text may have helped Jones along in his decision to adapt a traditional Newfoundland tale in his latest book, The Queen of Paradise Garden, illustrated by Darka Erdelji.

This month prize, generously donated by Johnna, is a black pack:

From Newfoundland, it's Kenneth J. Harvey's Blackstrap Hawco. From Random House: "Fifteen years in the making, this book is the one Canada’s “heavyweight champ of brash and beautiful literature” was meant to write. An epic masterwork about Newfoundland’s working class, Blackstrap Hawco spans more than a century in gorgeous and widely varied prose, reminding us that even when writing about the degradation of identity and language, Harvey does it magnificently."

And...



From Victoria, British Columbia, by way of Saskatchewan, it's Craig Boyko's Blackouts. From McClelland and Stewart: "This exhilarating first book of fiction introduces Craig Boyko as a writer of astonishing range, inventiveness, and vision. Infused with a razor-sharp wit, Boyko’s stories illuminate those pivotal moments in every life when we discover how difficult it is to be true to ourselves — and to the people who think they know us best."

To win Blackstrap Hawco and Blackouts, tell me three books reviewed for the challenge with the word "black" in the title. I'll pick and post the winner on April 12th. Contest is open to everyone, but entries from Canadian Book Challenge Participants will count as two.