The 2017 Contenders Are:

Five Canadians - an actor, a musician, a comedian, a performer and a veteran - will battle it out to become the next Canada Reads champion beginning March 27, 2017.

Over four days, the five defenders will bring their diverse perspectives to answer the question: What is the one book Canadians need now?

The contenders and their chosen books are:

Chantal Kreviazuk defending The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Humble The Poet defending Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
Tamara Taylor defending Company Townby Madeline Ashby
Candy Palmater defending The Break by Katherena Vermette
Jody Mitic defending Nostalgia by M.G. Vassanji
The Canada Reads debates, which take place from March 27 to 30, 2017, will be hosted by Ali Hassan from CBC's Laugh Out Loud.

What do you think of these selections? How many have you read? I've read The Break, and wasn't planning to read Fifteen Dogs, but I will now.

I've not even heard of any of them! But then, I usually listen first, then decide which ones I want to read later.

>1 LynnB: Didn't Fifteen Dogs win the Giller prize? And other prizes? I want to read it one day, but it won't happen this year. Otherwise, I'm all ears to listen to the debates.

yes, Fifteen Dogs won the Giller and the Writers' Trust prizes. Not sure the subject will appeal to me...I prefer human characters to animals and gods....but we'll see.

Fifteen Dogs is fantastic! I haven't read the others though.

I've read three of them: Fifteen Dogs, The Break and Company Town. They are all excellent and I am rooting for Company Town because it is science fiction and I would love for more Canadians to read that genre and appreciate the great sf writers we have. However, I think that The Break will win since it is about the issues facing urban aboriginal women and we all know how timely that is. Since Katharena Vermette is from Winnipeg and it's been 11 years since a Manitoban has won it is probably also our turn.

>6 gypsysmom: Well now I gotta read Company Town... damn book bullets... :)

>7 Yells: I would apologize but I've been sucked in my your posts in the past so I think it is only fair.