Canada Reads 2023

    The panelists have spoken and a Canada Reads winner has been crowned for another year.  After a week of debates and voting, Kate Beaton's Ducks came out on top in a tight 3-2 win.  Ducks was championed by Jeopardy champion Mattea Roach.

     "Roach is the most successful Canadian competitor in Jeopardy! history. In the spring of 2022, they won a record-setting 23 games. They appeared in the 2022 edition of Jeopardy!'s tournament of champions and will star in the Jeopardy! Masters spin-off. They are also a writer and podcast host. They are originally from Halifax, but currently live in Toronto.

    The Canada Reads 2023 winner was a strong defender of Ducks throughout the debates, arguing for the advantages of the graphic memoir medium while also acknowledging the merits of the other books in contention. Ultimately, they put an effective case forward for why Beaton's book should be the one every Canadian reads right now.  "It's the story of an industry we use every day," they said during the finale." (Canada Reads CBC website)

    "With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie Beaton heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush--part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in their hometown. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed. This is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people."

The four other finalists included:

Runner Up Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Actor, director and choreographer Michael Greyeyes championed the novel. 

In third place was Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah, which was championed by Bhangra dancer and viral video star Gurdeep Pandher.

Fourth place was Michael Christie's Greenwood, championed by actor and filmmaker Keegan Connor Tracy.

And finally, horror novel Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was eliminated on Day One having been championed by TikTok creator Tasnim Geedi.

To place Ducks on hold, click here.