Q

A first glimpse at Canada Reads 2019

Ali Hassan returns for a third year as the host of Canada Reads, CBC's annual battle of the books. Today, he reveals the books that made the longlist for 2019.
A bald man in a pink suit jacket gestures towards a studio audience.
Ali Hassan greets audiences and panellists as the host of Canada Reads 2018. (Peter Power/CBC)

Canada Reads is CBC's annual battle of the books. Five panellists each pick a book they believe the entire country should read, fiercely debate, and then, without mercy, vote each other off one by one. Ali Hassan is back for a third year as the host of Canada Reads. He joins Tom Power to discuss the books that made the longlist for 2019.

The 2019 Canada Reads longlist is:

  • Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, translated by Rhonda Mullins
  • Homes by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung
  • Brother by David Chariandy 
  • By Chance Alone by Max Eisen 
  • Corvus by Harold R. Johnson
  • The Boy on the Beach by Tima Kurdi 
  • That Time I Loved You by Carrianne Leung 
  • An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim 
  • Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
  • The Crazy Game by Clint Malarchuk, Dan Robson
  • Life on the Ground Floor by James Maskalyk 
  • All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai 
  • The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary by Andrew Westoll 
  • The Woo-Woo by Lindsay Wong

To learn more about the books on the Canada Reads 2019 longlist, visit CBC Books. The final five books and the panellists who will be defending them will be revealed on Jan. 31, 2019. The Canada Reads debates will start on March 25, 2019.

Produced by Jean Kim

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