By JK, on February 8th, 2011
Sorry for the late post, readers. Attending the debates live plus a busy workday means I’m not quite as quick off the mark as I used to be. Anywho, we’ve reached Day 2 of the Canada Reads debates. Yesterday Julie and I caught the show live (and posted our thoughts on the day’s goings-on) and today we headed back to the studio, where we reassumed our positions over Jian’s right shoulder. Sadly, America has now reclaimed my temporary blogging ally, but Julie’s added in her insights via email. Here’s what I thought of day 2:
The Good:
Lorne gave his strongest defense to date in his 30-second pitch. He hit the right notes discussing loss and her skill as a wordsmith, including “A great ability to take the mundane and illuminate it.” Later, he earned more points by touching on the under-represented female voice in literature. I must say, I am enjoying that this book has a male defender. Even later in the show he noted that Shields writes about “the fragility of our lives,” really nailing a key aspect of the novel.
Holla to Georges for praising Larry’s Party, which is a stellar Shields novel. (Possibly my fave after [...]
By JK, on February 7th, 2011
Hey remember Canada Reads? It’s that competition that comes after Civilians Read. And today my favourite librarian, Julie (an American more Canadian than many Canadians) attended the live taping. (You can see us here, right over Jian’s right shoulder.) Since I couldn’t be blogging away in studio, Julie and have assembled a few thoughts on today’s goings on.
The Good:
Debbie Travis’s argument for how The Birth House is still relevant as an example of a rapidly changing society, dealing with issues that are re-emerging as relevant issues (that cyclical Lady Moon at work no doubt).
Sara Quin calling Essex County haunting was perfect word choice, as I think this is one of the essential words to describe it. I also enjoyed her noting that it “reframes the lives of Canadians in a contemporary form.” She was well-prepared and quite eloquent, though I would have liked to have seen a little more focus on the content of the book, rather than the form.
Georges Laraque threatening that if they don’t like the chosen book, “They will never read again!” Doooom! Doooooom!
Jian almost having to physically separate Sara and Ali during the iPod Essex County debate. That’s some impassioned discussion.
Ali Velshi tying The Best Laid [...]
By JK, on November 2nd, 2010 . . . but this time I did it on the radio! Or at least the internet radio.
KIRBC co-conspirator/CBC Associate Producer Erin Balser invited me and two wonderful people I greatly admire, Kerry Clare of Pickle Me This and Ron Nurwisah of the National Post, to talk about the changes to the Canada Reads format and give us an advance look at the Top 40 (Yes, friends, I sat on this hot list for about 16 hours.) You can listen to our seven minutes of fame here, or download/subscribe in iTunes (if you don’t do it to listen to us, do it for the jaunty theme music!)
You’re not going to hear me say anything particularly surprising, because I think the Top 40 was a pretty great way to celebrate 10 years and get Canadians involved in the competition on a whole new level. In fact, my only real beef is that previous winners qualified again. Now, I wish we could just skip this whole top 10 voting business and let the panelists choose from what I think is a fairly robust list, but I’m going to stay optimistic that the top 10 will be as promising as the top 40. [...]
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