Three days into my Canadiana Reading Challenge and my Goodreads account tells me that I already have 239 Canadian books to choose from in my to-read list. Wow! I’ll try to work my way through that list as best I can, and I’m always open to more suggestions of what else I should read!
Now, I wonder: How many of my Canadian to-read books are short story collections? I just read about The Short Story Reading Challenge run by Kate of Kate’s Book Blog and, being a lover of the genre, figure that I might as well add another challenge to my existing one! To help make the challenge accessible for all, Kate’s provided potential participants with a range of different options on how to complete the challenge, and I’m planning on going with options 3 & 4:
Options 3 & 4: If you’ve got a bit more time to devote to this endeavour, you can commit to reading between five and ten short story collections over the course of 2010. Again, if you’re a short story novice, the world is your oyster as far as selection is concerned. But if you’re a seasoned short story reader, you’ll want to choose collections by writers whose short stories you have not yet encountered.
As of yet, I’m not 100% certain of what collections I’ll be reading, but I can guarantee that they’ll all be Canadian! And I can also guarantee that I will be sure to include Emily Schultz’s Black Coffee Night, Anik See’s Postcard and Other Stories, Rhonda Waterfall’s The Only Thing I Have, and Rebecca Rosenblum’s Once. Anyone have any other suggestions of must-read Canadian short stories? Some of my favourite Canadian collections include John Gould’s Kilter 55, Pasha Malla’s The Withdrawal Method, Vincent Lam’s Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, and Annabel Lyon’s Oxygen.
Interested in joining The Short Story Reading Challenge? Comment on Kate’s post to let her know. And be sure to stick around here for my short story reviews throughout the year! Also, I’m almost finished up with my first book of 2009, so expect a review of Cordelia Strube’s Lemon sometime this week.
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I just rejoined this challenge as well. I’ll look forward to your reviews!
One collection I read in the last couple years that I really liked is Sarah Klassen’s Feast of Longing, and one of my all time faves is Diane Schoemperlen’s Forms of Devotion. (But I agree with you that Kilter 55 was fascinating).
Awesome – I’ll look forward to your reviews as well then! And thanks for both the recs! They both look very interesting, especially Forms of Devotion. I’ll definitely be checking that out.
You’ve got some great options there! My Canadian favourites include Michael Winter’s “One Last Good Look,” Bonnie Burnard’s “Women of Influence,” Caroline Adderson’s “Pleased to Meet You,” Guy Vanderhaeghe’s “Man Descending,” and Alexandra Leggat’s “Animal.”
Ah. So many books; so little time. LOVE short stories – such an under-rated and difficult genre. I can’t embark on any challenges right now but I’m happy they exist. Hurrah for the short story and Canlit (ok and Glee).
I am curious about Lemon so look forward to the review.
Kate: Thanks so much for the suggestions! “Animal” is already very high on my to-read list, and I can’t believe I forgot it when listing in my post. Hadn’t heard of any of the others but they’ve now all been added to my list ’cause they look great!
Harriet: Hooray for short stories, CanLit, and Glee! Here’s the plan: You can live vicariously through my challenges by reading along on my blog, and I’ll follow you along with your pics and tales of your adorable baby boy.