Country singer George Canyon will defend the memoir From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle on Canada Reads 2020.

The Métis-Cree writer's first book describes how he transformed his life — from being homeless and struggling with addiction to winning top awards in academia. Thistle is now a professor at York University and a national bestselling author.

Canada Reads 2020 will take place July 20-23.

At a live event on Jan. 22, 2020, Canyon talked about Canada Reads and From the Ashes.

"Books take you somewhere nothing else can. You get to see a movie in your head that nobody gets to experience. When I was read my very first book — Mrs. Nichols read Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf in Grade 4 and there's a lot of adult content in that book so a lot went over our heads — what I got to see when I heard those words was beyond anything I had ever experienced, including music. I was elated to be asked to be part of this."

"I do a lot of reading. Never has a book had this effect on me. Ever. At some points I was laughing. At some points I was ugly crying — and trust me I'm frickin' ugly when I cry. Then at other points I was yelling at the book. I've yelled at the TV, but I've never yelled at a book. It isn't words on a page. It's an experience. Reading this book was an experience.

"It was like sitting down with your buddy and having a coffee and he's telling you the story of his life. There were points where I put the book down and felt guilty because I was interrupting him telling me this story."

George Canyon's comments were taken from a live Canada Reads event with all the panellists and authors, hosted by Here & Now's Gill Deacon.