London Reads releases 2010 candidates

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By Heather Travis
Friday, November 13, 2009
Ragged Company, Good to a Fault and The Outlander will be getting Londoners reading, having been chosen as the three books for the 2010 edition of London Reads.
 
Promoting Canadian authors and the importance of literacy, the seventh annual London Reads (formerly Western Reads), invites the entire London community to read along with and engage local celebrity panelists as they consider and debate the merits of various works of Canadian fiction.
 
Ragged Company, Good to a Fault and The Outlander are the selections for the 2010 edition of London Reads.
 
 
Organizers decided to pare down the program this year to three books, rather than the usual five, to keep readers engaged.
 
“After great debate and pondering, the three partners of the program felt it was time to shorten the duration of our series and do our very best to continue to make the program impactful, inspiring and invigorating,” says Trista Walker, associate director of programs and events at Alumni Western.
 
The three books selected for the new season share a common theme of the different ways humanity takes its course, adds Carolyn Young, communications manager for The Book Store at Western. The authors are all emerging writers.
 
As with years past, familiar faces at Western have been paired up with celebrity readers from across the city to facilitate the monthly book events held from January to March in different locations throughout the city.
 
“The goal of London Reads is to promote literacy and Canadian authors ... it’s a voyage of discovery,” says Young. “It’s an interesting way for people to get to know our stories and writers.”
 
Rather than encouraging readers to vote for their favourite title, this year the program will be celebrating all three works and all three featured authors will attend the grand finale in April 2010.
 
Kelly Hunt, a well-known blogger and graphic design assistant for Graphic Services at Western, will be managing the London Reads Facebook and Twitter pages. Those unable to attend the book events can receive updates on the program through its social media channels.
 
Video highlights from each book event will also be posted on the website.
London Reads is presented by Alumni Western, in partnership with The Book Store at Western and the London Public Library.
 
“We want the community to get closer to each other because they are reading the same books and they are going on the same voyages. But, what they discover about these books is, as always, going to be different for every person,” says Young.
 
While specific dates, times and locations for the monthly book events have yet to be determined, the following is a list of the selections and the recommended reading order:
 
January
 
Ragged Company by national newspaper award-winning writer Richard Wagamese. Celebrity readers include Kevin Switzer, Chair of the London Chamber of Commerce, and Gitta Kulczycki, Western’s Vice-President (Resources & Operations).
 
What happens when four homeless people find a cigarette package containing some unsmoked cigarettes, three $20 bills, and a winning lottery ticket for $13.5 million? Just one catch—none of them can claim the money for lack of proper identification.
 
February
 
2008 Giller Prize shortlist nominee Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott. Celebrity readers include Jane Roy, Co-Executive Director of the London Food Bank, and Western History professor Jonathan Vance.
 
What do we owe in this life, and what do we deserve? This compassionate, funny and fiercely intelligent novel looks at life and death through grocery-store reading glasses: being good, being at fault and finding some balance on the precipice.
 
March
 
2007 Amazon.ca First Novel award winner The Outlander by Gil Adamson.
Celebrity readers include Rogers Television News Director Bob Smith and Western’s Writer-in-Residence Penn Kemp.
 
In 1903 a desperate young woman flees alone across the west, one quick step ahead of the law. Why? She has just become a widow by her own hand.
 
Initially launched as Western Reads, London Reads was started as part of The University of Western Ontario’s 125th anniversary celebrations in 2003. The program was modeled after CBC Radio’s Canada Reads to promote Canadian authors and literacy. The program has featured 30 books to date.
 
Past Winners of Western/London Reads include:
2008-09 William Neil Scott, Wonderfull
2007-08 Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road
2006-07 David Bergen, The Time in Between
2005-06 Robert McGill, The Mysteries
2004-05 Douglas Coupland, Hey Nostradmus!
2003-04 Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief

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