There is so much good stuff in past episodes of Top Shelf, the series where we compile great lists and posts on 49th Shelf, that this episode provides a guide. If there's not a book for you here—nay, ten!—well, we guess there isn't but it would be very, very strange. Enjoy!
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Episode 1: Canadian Books You Need to Read—Okay, that's a bit presumptuous and prescriptive but ... you do. Just some (of several dozen) of the authors you'll find by following this link: Isabelle Huggan, Bronwen Wallace, Alistair MacLeod, Bill Gaston, Joan Thomas, Cassie Stocks, Miriam Toews, Trevor Cole and yes, Ondaatje, Atwood, Lawrence, and Findley.
Episode 2: Kids' Books for Any Kid You Can Think Of—We set ourselves a challenge: could we assemble a bunch of lists and blog posts that would yield a book for just about any kind of kid? The answer was a resounding YES!
Episode 3: Gateways Into Books You'll Love—Lists include Great Immigrant Writers, Couldn't Put It Down, One Dozen Super Sophomore Efforts (by Chad Pelley), Books That'll Mess You Up Good (by Suzanne Sutherland), and Great First Lines in Canadian Books.
Episode 4: Book Therapy—Something wrong? There's a book for that. In the spirit of bookish self-medication, we've got lists for the following ailments: in need of a laugh; bedridden; confined to a bus, train, or plane; wanting to kickstart writing; missing Canada; and in a bar, in need of backup. Lists courtesy of Kathleen Winter, Marina Endicott, Loren Edizel, Jill Sooley, and John Vigna.
Episode 5: Peeking Into Authors' Bookshelves:—Some of the best episodes of Shelf Exposure, Julie Wilson's amazing audio-visual series with authors that celebrates books, bookshelves, backlist, eclectic tastes, and the joy and brilliance of nerd-dom.
Episode 6: Books and Characters That Explain Us to Ourselves—A collection of guest-contributed lists whose books explore identity via compelling characters. The stories are so good we may forget the questions at their heart, but the questions persist long after the last page. What is male? What is female? What is queer? What is changing? And, what does it mean for me? Lists courtesy of Garth Martens, Caroline Adderson, Stacey May Fowles, Bob Armstrong, and Zoe Whittall.
Episode 7: The Year in Awards—This, friends, is your central clearinghouse for all the big lit awards of 2013. We've got your Giller, your Writers' Trust, your GGs, your Griffin. Your CCBC, ReLit, IMPAC, Sunburst, Frank O'Connor, Stephen Leacock, BC National, and more.