It's easy to be overwhelmed by literary awards season, with a different shortlist announced every week, so that it's even easier to miss what's so great about these lists: the incredible books they bring attention to. This year in particular, jurors have made such surprising and exciting choices.
We've highlighted many of these books and authors on 49th Shelf, and we're pleased to share these highlights below: links that will take you deeper into the big books that Canadian readers have been celebrating in 2015.
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Fifteen Dogs, by André Alexis
Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, a finalist for the 2015 Toronto Book Awards, a finalist for the 2015 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
Trevor Corkum recently interviewed Alexis as part of his new 49th Shelf series, "The Chat."
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Arvida, by Samuel Archibald
Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Don't miss Archibald's interview on "The Chat."
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John Paizs' Crime Wave, by Jonathan Ball
Winner of the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award at the 2015 Manitoba Book Awards
Learn more about Crime Wave in Paul Corupe's Talking History Piece, "The Unkindest Cut."
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Boundary Problems, by Greg Bechtel
Winner of the Book Publishers Association of Alberta Trade Fiction Book Award for 2015
Read "The Concept of a Photon," an excerpt from Boundary Problems.
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A Siege of Bitterns, by Steve Burrows
Winner of the Best First Novel Prize at the 2015 Arthur Ellis Awards, shortlisted for the 2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
Check out Steve Burrows' terrific guest post, "Birds and Books: The Stuff of Life."
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How You Were Born, by Kate Cayley
Winner of the Trillium Book Award, a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Fiction
Don't miss Kate Cayley's 2011 interview with Julie Wilson about making the jump from stage to page
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Eating Habits of the Chronically Lonesome, by Megan Gail Coles
Winner of the BMO Winterset Award, shortlisted for the John and Margaret Savage First Book Award, Atlantic Book Awards
Check out Megan Gail Coles partaking in our roundtable, The State of the Short Story in 2015.
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Starting from Scratch, by Sarah Elton and Jeff Kulak
Shortlisted for the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Nonfiction
Sarah Elton's piece on the history of Canadian farmers' markets appeared in our Talking History series last fall, and in 2013, she talked with Julie Wilson about how analysis and storytelling can go hand in hand.
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Dolphin SOS, illustrated by Julie Flett, written by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki
Shortlisted for the Marilyn Baililie Picture Book Award, winner of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize
Don't miss our amazing interview with Julie Flett on her own work and on the exciting things happening in First Nations literature today.
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Stowaways, by Ariel Gordon
Winner of Manitoba Book Award, Lansdowne Prize for Poetry
Ariel Gordon shared the story behind the how-to poems in her book in this guest post, which also includes the text of her poem, "How to Write a Poem."
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His Whole Life, by Elizabeth Hay
Shortlisted for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
Hay's list from 2011, Six Books I'm Rereading, reveals a wealth of literary treasures waiting to be (re?)discovered.
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The Winter Family, by Clifford Jackman
Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Fiction
We love Jackman's humdinger of a historical fiction list, putting his own book in excellent company.
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What We Hide, by Marthe Jocelyn
A finalist for the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award
In 2013, we had Marthe Jocelyn and her picture book collaborator (and daughter!) Nell Jocelyn interview each other about their creative process.
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All the Broken Things, by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
A finalist for the Toronto Book Award
We love this post by Kuitenbrouwer that asks, "Does the mythic proceed from the lived experience or does lived experience drive myth?"
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Getting to Yum: The Seven Secrets of Raising Eager Eaters, by Karen Le Billon
A finalist for the 2015 Taste Canada Awards
Julie Wilson talked to Karen Le Billon in 2012 about turning picky eaters into healthy eaters.
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Forest Prairie Edge, by Merle Massie
Winner of a 2015 Saskatchewan Book Award
In a guest post, Massie explains how her book reconsiders our sense of Saskatchewan as a geographical location.
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Book Cover Asbestos Heights
Asbestos Heights, by David McGimpsey
A finalist for the 2015 Quebec Writers' Federation Awards
McGimpsey's work was included on the League of Canadian Poets' Food and Poetry list, which we published earlier this year: "McGimpsey definitely has cornered the poetic supermarket in terms of poems about food and pop culture."
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Us Conductors, by Sean Michaels
Won that little prize called the Giller in 2014, and in 2015 was a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award
Read his guest post for us on New York City nightlife in the 1920s and '30s—and automats!
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Detachment: An Adoption Memoir, by Maurice Mierau
Winner of a 2015 Manitoba Book Award and the 2015 Alberta Book Publishing Award for Trade Non-fiction
Check out Mierau's piece for us on Family, Adoption and Memoir.
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Red Jacket, by Pamela Mordecai
A finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
We really love Pamela Mordecai's recommended reading list, Novels of the Caribbean.
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Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel, by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk
Winner of Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher at the 2015 Manitoba Book Awards
Read an excerpt from Sanaaq on our blog.
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Daydreams of Angels, by Heather O'Neill
Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, a finalist for the Quebec Writers Federation Award, nominated for the Frank O'Connor Short Story Award.
In his new series, Trevor Corkum asks O'Neill some excellent questions about her latest book.
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The Pull of the Moon, by Julie Paul
Winner of the 2015 City of Victoria Book Prize
Now is the perfect time of year to check out Paul's recommended reading list on autumns and falls.
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Between Gods, by Alison Pick
Winner of a 2015 Canadian Jewish Literary Award, nominated for the 2015 OLA Evergreen Award and the BC National Award for Non-Fiction
Pick's list of recommended memoirs offers rich and compelling reading suggestions.
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What I Want to Tell Goes Like This, by Matt Rader
Nominated for the 2015 Frank O'Connor Short Story Award
Late last year, Sean Cranbury spoke to Rader about his collection.
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Based on a True Story, by Elizabeth Renzetti
Shortlisted for the 2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
In June 2014, Renzetti told us about an idyllic "Red Letter Day."
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Pedal, by Chelsea Rooney
A finalist for the 2015 Amazon First Novel Award
Rooney's list of books on sexuality and gender offers great reading suggestions, and is an excellent read in itself.
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Playing With Matches, by Suri Rosen
Winner of a 2015 Canadian Jewish Literary Award
Check out her guest post on writing YA and making the possible...possible!
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Buffy Sainte-Marie: It's My Way, by Blair Stonechild
Buffy Sainte-Marie is winner of the 2015 Polaris Music Prize
In 2012, we interviewed Sainte-Marie's official biographer, Blair Stonechild, about his book and its fascinating subject.
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Martin John, by Anakana Schofield
Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Schofield spoke with Trevor Corkum for "The Chat," and we also have a real affinity for her 2012 list of "Books that Made Me Turn Off the Vacuum."
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Gatherings: Bringing People Together With Food, by Jan Scott and Julie Van Rosendaal
A finalist for the 2015 Taste Canada Awards
Last year we featured an excerpt from Gatherings, "Hosting a Successful Open House."
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Family Meals, by Michael Smith
Winner of the 2015 Taste Canada Awards
We were pleased to feature a recipe from Family Meals on our blog, "Sweet Potato Chickpea Stew."
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The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires
A finalist for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
In 2012, Julie Wilson interviewed Spires about what was next as she concluded her Binky the Space Cat series. Nice to know it's all turned out so well!
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Giving Up, by Mike Steeves
A finalist for a 2015 Quebec Writers Federation Award
We loved Steeves' Giving Up and/or Coming Of Age reading list from earlier this year.