Civilians Read 2011: The Line-up

So two days ago the CBC dropped their Canada Reads panelist/book bomb, and that was all very exciting, but this year I knew the announcement marked the beginning of something even more exciting: Civilians Read! Not familiar? Here’s the deal: I’m a big fan of Canada Reads, but I think it’s unfair only celebs get to play. Because I know lots of smart, literary types who could make great debaters, and I love to hear them talk about books. So last year I thought, why not give them a crack at it? I organized a parallel competition, where we used the same format and similar questions as Canada Reads. I had some questions I wanted to investigate: Would fervent readers and book biz insiders have the same discussion as people who liked books, but had dedicated their lives to other pursuits? Would they decide on the same book? How much does the panelist factor matter? Could I even produce a radio show?

Turns out I can produce a radio show (hey, I didn’t say a good one). And we did pick the same book (Nicolas Dickner’s Nikolski). But the discussion was different enough to validate having bookish people talk about books (shocking, I know). And hey, we had fun. So much that everyone wanted to do it again this year. Sadly we lost Erin Balser to the legitimate Canada Reads enterprise, but I think we’ve found a great replacement (and now we have a Civilian on the inside – muhahaha). And so without further delay, your 2011 Civilians and their chosen titles:

Jen Knoch (@jen_knoch) is the principal blogger here at the KIRBC online, and is also the founder and ringmaster of the Keepin’ It Real Book Club, which, like this competition, supports thrusting your reading tastes upon unsuspecting friends. You can also see her yell about books and make bad puns on Books in 140 Seconds — her bi-weekly book club blitz with Erin Balser.  By day, Jen is an Associate Editor at ECW Press. For the Civilians Read competition, she’ll be your host with the most, trying to keep the peace and out Jian Jian..

Nic Boshart (@NicBoshart) is the Digital Services Manager for the Association of Canadian Publishers. He’s also co-founder and coordinating editor of the indie firm Invisible Publishing and an executive member of the CanBPA, a professional development and social group for publishers. In his spare time he works on www.FTPubW.com, a blog about publishing. Nic (last year’s Civilians Read champion) will be defending Angie Abdou’s The Bone Cage.

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Natalie St. Pierre is known variously as freelance editor, associate literary agent, and runner-up of Civilians Read 2010 for which she defended Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees. This year, she will be carrying the hopes and dreams of southwestern Ontario on her shoulders as she champions Essex County by Jeff Lemire.

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Sarah Labrie (@SarahLabrie) is the Marketing and Publicity Coordinator at Hachette Book Group, an executive member of the CanBPA, a KIRBC veteran and conspirator at the Keepin’ it Real Book Club blog. In her other life, she enjoys a daily yoga practice, baking Martha Stewart cookies, guitar hero and yelling at TV. She really, really loves books.  Sarah will be championing The Birth House by Ami McKay.

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Ashleigh Gardner (@AshleighGardner) is the Content Manager at Kobo and an executive member of the CanBPA.  For Civilians Read, Ashleigh will be championing Unless by Carol Shields.

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And introducing the fresh meat, our newest Civilian, lured over from last year’s Canada Also Reads and bearing a convenient resemblance to Ali Velshi:

Ron Nurwisah (@boyreporter) is an online producer at the National Post. He co-founded and helps edit the Afterword, the Post’s books blog. He grew up in Vancouver, B.C. but now calls Toronto home. Ron will be defending Terry Fallis’ The Best Laid Plans.

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So that’s the team and their books, and they’re already book swapping and smack talking. Nic has a title to defend. Ron enters with wild card status and something to prove, Natalie’s taking on the graphic novel challenge, Ashleigh switches gears from Coupland to Shields, and Sarah gets to shed her Saskatchewan-in-winter handicap (though she’s trading it for early rural Nova Scotia in the past — the girl likes a challenge).

Starting in January, we’re going to bring you updates, interviews, and maybe even some killer MS-paint creations until our debates start on January 31st. To tide you over in the meantime, check out last year’s competition: You can still stream episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. We’re also open to new ideas for this year’s show: what would you like to see us try or see/hear more of? Can we pull off a show with a live audience without it descending into anarchy? (We’re charming, but unruly.) As always, we encourage involvement from fellow civilians — after all, by choosing this year’s solid Canada Reads titles, you’ve got more street cred then ever.

And there you have it, your Civilians Read 2011 team (Ron’s never looked so good):

Special thanks to Troy Cunningham for engineering this masterpiece. Office hours have never been used so well.