But it is surprising and impressive that one of the selected books this year is a serious work of political history co-authored by a history prof, When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance by Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel with Sean Carleton (he's the prof). It's published by BTL Press, which must be delighted by the sales prospects.
The lore of Canada Reads is that because the contestants are playing to win, the advocates of the weaker titles will generally gang up to eliminate the books with the strongest reputations first. Since Canada Reads is mostly for fiction readers, it might be that a serious title like When the Pine Needles might be allowed to go forward for awhile. I'm not promising to listen, however.
Update, January 12: I'm informed that only the longlist has been announced, so not this is not among the contenders yet. Given the extreme rarity of nonfiction works at Canada Reads, I would not be confident it will be in the contest.
Update, January 28: Three novels and two memoirs, one by a novelist, make the 2025 Canada Reads shortlist.
Also, a note from critic Brian Busby from January 10 that I neglected to post earlier:
I very much enjoyed today's post on the Canada Reads longlist. I continue to listen - shaking my head, rolling my eyes, sighing and grunting - if only to keep up on this game show. I liked it enough at first, but believe it took a bad turn ten or eleven years ago. I also believe it is being less than honest with its listeners.
I don't know if you caught my now six-year-old piece for CNQ. If not, I thought you might be interested. I think you'll be struck by CBC Books' instructions back then that nonfiction titles be limited to "memoirs, biographies and other narrative nonfiction."
Anyway, if interested, here's the link to the article in full:
No Country for Old Books at Canadian Notes and Queries.
