Partly because I am addicted to reading lists and partly because I have discovered many of my favourite writers because their names appeared on various literary prizelists (long or short or eligible), I look forward to this time of year, in hopes of discovering new favourites.
ECW Press, 2013
When I see the name of a favourite writer appear on the list, I am ridiculously pleased.
A little squeal when I learned that Carrie Snyder had been nominated for the Writers’ Trust Award because I so admired The Juliet Stories and Hair Hat. A wriggle in the seat when I spotted Dominique Fortier’s Wonder , nominated for Sheila Fischman’s translation, on the GG list. Rapid claps for Jennifer Lovegrove’s The Way We Walk on the Giller longlist. A big smile upon seeing Sweetland appear on the GG list.
But then I am disappointed when a favourite book doesn’t appear on the lists.
Because I was so swept away by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer’s All the Broken Things (2014), Dennison Smith’s The Eye of the Day (2014), Richard Wagamese’s Medicine Walk (2014), and Alexi Zentner’s The Lobster Kings (2014), I check the lists repeatedly, convinced I have simply overlooked their names.
I look, too, for Nadia Bozak’s Border novels because they were so striking, even though I am still smarting from the experience of reading them. (Orphan Love would not have been eligible obviously, as it was published in 2007, though it is the first in the trilogy.)
And I make reading lists of reading lists, determined to finish the shortlists before winners’ names are announced.
Toronto Book Award 2014
✔Anthony De Sa’s Kicking the Sky (RHC)
Charlotte Gray ‘s The Massey Murder: A Maid, her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country (HC)
✔Carrianne K.Y. Leung’s The Wondrous Woo (Inanna)
Nick Saul and Andrea Curtis’s The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement (RHC)
✔Shyam Selvadurai’s The Hungry Ghosts (RHC)
Thoughts: From Shyam Selvadurai’s bookstore scenes, to Carrianne K.Y. Leung’s transit rides, to Anthony De Sa’s rooftops, the Toronto-ness of these three novels recommends them readily for the award. The Massey Murder and The Stop are both on my shelves, but being non-fiction they haven’t lunged into my TBR stacks. I can’t decide which to read first, so I suppose it will come down to whether, in the moment, I want a thrill or a snack.
Giller Prize 2014 Shortlist:
David Bezmozgis’s The Betrayers (HC)
Frances Itani’s Tell (HC)
✔Sean Michaels’ Us Conductors (RHC)
✔Heather O’Neill’s The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (HC)
✔Miriam Toews’ All My Puny Sorrows (RHC)
✔Padma Viswanathan’s The Ever After of Ashwin Rao (RHC)
Giller Prize 2014 Longlist:
✔Arjun Basu’s Waiting for the Man (ECW)
Rivka Galchen’s American Innovations (HC)
✔Jennifer Lovegrove’s Watch How We Walk (ECW)
✔Shani Mootoo’s Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab (RHC)
✔Kathy Page’s Paradise and Elsewhere (Biblioasis)
Claire Holden Rothman’s My October (PBC)
Thoughts: Although I absolutely loved David Bezmozgis’s Natasha and Other Stories, I did not feel as impassioned about The Free World, a novel that I admired more than loved; I’ve had a copy of The Betrayers for awhile now, but it keeps getting shuffled into the stack every time it nears the top (despite my fondness for other broken plate fiction). But because the other three works that I have yet to read are of equal interest, I will likely pluck it out of the stack next, rather than settle the ‘tie’ between the other three in my reader’s mind.
Governor General’s Award for Fiction in English
✔ Michael Crummey’s Sweetland (RHC)
Bill Gaston’s Juliet Was a Surprise (PBC)
Claire Holden Rothman’s My October (PBC)
Thomas King’s The Back of the Turtle (HC)
Joan Thomas’ The Opening Sky (RHC)
Thoughts: Because Sweetland is one of my favourite reads of the year, it’s tempting to set aside the reading of the remainder of the shortlist so that I can focus on hoping for the one novel I’ve read on it so far; Michael Crummey’s work is always of great interest to me (he is on my MustReadEverything list of authors) and I find myself wanting the narrator of the novel to win this prize, to even out the losses he endured, as much as I want Michael Crummey’s writing to be recognized. But Thomas King is on my MRE list too, and I’ve been eyeing Bill Gaston’s fiction and Joan Thomas’ debut for ages. Because I’ve read so few of these titles, this list piques my curiosity.
IFOA2014 Reading (partial list)
Kamal Al-Solaylee, Linwood Barclay, Renné Benoit,
David Bergen, David Bezmozgis, Jared Bland,
Joseph Boyden, Nadia Bozak, Dionne Brand,
Catherine Bush, Claire Cameron, Michael Crummey,
Nick Cutter, Jeffery Deaver, Farzana Doctor,
Emma Donoghue, Krista Foss, Steven Galloway,
Sheila Heti, Linda Holeman, Aislinn Hunter,
Ghalib Islam, Frances Itani, Andrew Kaufman,
Thomas King, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Laila Lalami,
Yan Li, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Lee Maracle,
Peter May, Eimear McBride, Mark Medley,
K.D. Miller, Lorrie Moore,
Shani Mootoo, Susin Nielsen, Grace O’Connell,
Heather O’Neill, Carol Off, Katrina Onstad,
Kathy Page, Alison Pick, Tom Rachman,
David Adams Richards, Ray Robertson,
Claire Holden Rothman, Karen Russell,
Diane Schoemperlen, Johanna Skibsrud, Carrie Snyder,
Ania Szado, Lynn Thomson, Kim Thúy,
Miriam Toews, Christos Tsiolkas, Colm Tóibín,
Rebecca Upjohn, Priscila Uppal, Richard Wagamese,
Russell Wangersky, Sarah Waters, Ruby Wiebe,
Kathleen Winter, Alissa York, Alexi Zentner
Thoughts: The IFOA is my favourite literary event of the year. In recent years, I have been much more excited about the Canadian authors and less invested in the international appearances, but this year I am really looking forward to seeing Christos Tsiolkas, Colm Tóibín and Sarah Waters (who is also on my MRE list of authors). And oh my, hasn’t it been forever since Diane Schoemperlen had a new book? (She’s on that MRE list too.) And how much did I love Annabel? Enough to buy Kathleen Winter’s Boundless in hardcover at Toronto’s Word on the Street last month. And even though I think the event with Susin Nielsen is intended to be for young readers, I would love to attend it too. It looks to be another great year at IFOA; I’m counting the days.
Rogers Writers’ Trust Shortlist
André Alexis’ Pastoral (Coach House Books)
K.D. Miller’s All Saints (Biblioasis)
✔Steven Galloway’s The Confabulist (RHC)
Carrie Snyder’s Girl Runner (House of Anansi)
✔Miriam Toews’ All My Puny Sorrows (RHC)
Thoughts: Girl Runner is the novel on this list which I am most excited to read (see my gush-y Spelling It Out post about The Juliet Stories), but I have been collecting André Alexis’ books for years and yet have only read short pieces (from Beauty & Sadness), so I’m looking forward to Pastoral too. Even though I’ve enjoyed other collections from Biblioasis (like Nancy Jo Cullen‘s and Cynthia Flood‘s), I wasn’t particularly keen on the idea of K.D.Miller’s collection, but I thought the first story was unputdownable (as the best character-driven tales can be), so I’m looking forward to it as well. I really loved the layering in Steven Galloway’s The Confabulist and Miriam Toews’ writing consistently impresses me with her skillful handling of difficult themes the voice of All My Puny Sorrows is beautifully drawn. I anticipate being torn when it comes to choosing a favourite here.
If you could give an award to one book you’ve recently finished reading, to which book would you grant it?
Are any of your favourite writers/books on the lists here?
Are you watching any awards lists this season?
[…] Autumn Prize Lists and Reading Projects @ Buried in Print […]
Well, and then there’s Murakami’s new one. It’s kind of…cute! I want it!
I got to meet Miriam Toews and Kathleen Winter at the Wordfest book festival last week. Gosh it was great to hear them speak and read from their books. I look forward to Kathleen’s Boundless book. So many great writers were there this year.
That sounds like such a great festival: you’re lucky to be able to attend! But, oh, yes, how such events DO add to one’s TBR stacks and lists. Enjoy!
I am, but not only because of price (though at almost $40 a pop these days, it’s too steep for me—even though it’s worth it, considering all the work that goes into a book) but also because I find them more comfortable to read. Sometimes, as beautiful as some of them are, I wish they’d just dispense with hardcovers.
Agreed that some (*looks at Eleanor Catton’s latest*) are just awkward physically. But they seem to hold their spines straighter a couple decades after purchase at least.
It’s lovely to read everyone’s comments. I get so verklemmt when the passion and excitement come through. 🙂
Kelsey: will check out The Opening Sky. So many books to buy… I’m getting very tempted to not wait till they’re out in paper, when they’re cheaper!
Hop on a train: we’ll go book-shopping together and excuse each other’s need to purchase in hard cover!
Yes, when it comes to buying books, I’m definitely a paperback person…
I love this post! Like you, I love finding out which books are on all the lists, which ones I’ve read, which ones I’ve never heard of. Also, like you, I love Michael Crummey’s books, and am hoping Sweetland wins something! The others I have read are The Confabulist, All My Puny Sorrows, and Kicking The Sky. There are so many I want to read – I wish I had time for them all. I am going to take some of your recommendations into account as I choose my next bunch of books.
Isn’t Sweetland just gorgeous? It was one of those books that I fell for, hard and fast. In only a few pages, I was completely hooked. And that was something of a surprise because I so, oh-so, adored Galore that I might just as easily resented Sweetland for not-being-Galore (which, yes, would have been unfair, but it happens sometimes, when a particular attachment to a book takes hold). At this point, I have to hope that I don’t love one of the others as much, as that will interfere with my hoping for it to win, but Kelsey’s rec of TOS makes me think that could happen!
I’ll put Sweetland on my list now! 🙂
You’re amazing! I can definitely recommend Joan Thomas’s The Opening Sky. I really loved it.
The Girl Who Was Saturday Night is very high up on my TBR, and I’m hoping to fit in a few others too!
Did you read Reading by Lightning too? I have been wanting to read it for ages. (Curiosity too, actually.) Your recommendation has nudged TOS to the top of the stack!
I did recently read Reading by Lighting (after reading The Opening Sky, I wanted more!). I liked The Opening Sky better, but Reading by Lightning was memorable. I want to read Curiosity now too!
That is an impressive list! I haven’t read any of them, but several are here in my TBR somewhere. I look forward to seeing what you think of them. Enjoy seeing all those authors!
I bet you’d like Miriam Toews, if she’s one of the writers lurking in your TBR stacks. Though perhaps A Complicated Kindness would appeal to you more than All My Puny Sorrows. I think you’d enjoy the voice in her The Summer of My Amazing Luck too, although it’s her first novel and perhaps less likely readily available to you overseas as ACK.
WOW. You’ve read so many! I love the excited tone of this post, too.
Of all of these lists, I’ve read only The Hungry Ghosts, All My Puny Sorrows, Watch How We Walk, and Girl Runner. Wasn’t crazy about The Hungry Ghosts, and devoured the latter three. Well…I didn’t devour AMPS. I feel like I did but I actually had to read this book slowly. It was difficult because it affected my mood so much, but at the same time irresistible because it’s so deep and beautiful and honest.
Of these lists, I’d like to read Thomas King’s newest, Bill Gaston’s stories, Crummey’s Sweetland and De Sa’s Kicking the Sky, both of which I have, and Heather O’Neill’s GWWSN. I need to start Medicine Walk again; about three times I’ve put it down for something else, and I have no idea why.
I’ve read a few of the new books from authors on the IFOA list, and that is some amazing list. Times like this I really wish I lived much closer to TO!
I have to admit that I don’t read award lists; I use them only to call my attention to books I may not have heard of.
This is a great comprehensive post, and I envy you the number of books you’re fitting in!
PS. You should install a share plugin, so it’s easy to tweet or FB your posts. 🙂
This feels like an exceptionally good year for Canlit, but I think I have a habit of saying that! I had that stop-start experience with The Confabulist, but then raced through when I got the timing right. Medicine Walk is, IMO, a novel best read in a burst too, so that you can walk alongside the characters in a relatively short span of time. I hope it sticks for you eventually; if you are looking for incentive, the interview with him by Shelagh Rogers on “The Next Chapter” was so good that I listened to it three times (and cried each time too)!
(Thanks for the heads-up that the Share plugin wasn’t working on individual post pages. I’d selected larger-sized icons to be displayed and because they weren’t displaying properly in that size, the buttons weren’t showing up at all and I wasn’t aware because I’m always on the home view myself. Which I mention in case any other WP users might have the same issue, unbeknownst to them!)