Long weekend reads: Canadian fiction bestsellers

There’s no better way to show your patriotism than by reading one of BookNet’s top five Canadian fiction titles (for the two weeks ending June 24).

Click on the thumbnails to read Q&Q‘s reviews:

94801 Q&Q reviewer <a HREF=http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7288>Cori Dusmann writes</a>: The debut novel from Toronto writer D.J. McIntosh “ the first book in the Mesopotamian Trilogy “ is a far-reaching, ambitious endeavour that links the dark underside of international art dealing and the brutal looting of historic sites and museums in war-torn Iraq following the 2003 invasion. Called an ˜antiquities thriller,' The Witch of Babylon, which won the 2008 Arthur Ellis Award for best unpublished crime novel, combines ancient and modern political, religious, and art history in a fast-paced plot that spans several countries and cultures. <a HREF="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Title/book-XggRkImlDEKk5ti_mMqw7Q/page1.html?utm_source=linkshare_ca&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_ca&siteID=d7SG.5zLbGE-5bUDvaIy1Kx3ubEPXDxIXQ ">Kobo</a> The Witch of Babylon, D.J. McIntosh (Penguin Canada, $26 cl, 9780143175728) https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/witch-90x90.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/witch.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/witch.png 400 600 [] https://quillandquire.com/bestsellers/2012/06/29/long-weekend-reads-canadian-fiction-bestsellers/slide/witch/ witch 0 0

94800 Vincent Lam made a literary splash when his first work of fiction, the story collection Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, won the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Following his short biography of Tommy Douglas, Lam turns to his family's history as part of the expatriate Chinese community in Vietnam as subject matter for his debut novel, writes <a HREF=http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7626>Q&Q reviewer Piali Roy</a>. In The Headmaster's Wager, Lam has created a genuine page-turner. <a HREF="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Title/book-aWG2jRsmQkOccPlvY84Jpw/page1.html?utm_source=linkshare_ca&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_ca&siteID=d7SG.5zLbGE-Un43qwpZ28erIF8oDF8_1w ">Kobo</a> The Headmaster's Wager, Vincent Lam (Doubleday Canada, $32.95 cl, 9780385661454) https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/wager-90x90.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/wager.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/wager.png 403 600 [] https://quillandquire.com/bestsellers/2012/06/29/long-weekend-reads-canadian-fiction-bestsellers/slide/wager/ wager 0 0

94799 <a HREF=" http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Title/book-l-Dr4oEn60i9SayatIUMvA/page1.html?utm_source=linkshare_ca&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_ca&siteID=d7SG.5zLbGE-3kDWPKk_oI3z._nonKy7GQ">Kobo</a> Secret Daughter, Shilpi Somaya Gowda (HarperCollins Canada, $10.99 mm, 9780062203960) https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/sdaughter-90x90.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/sdaughter.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/sdaughter.png 397 600 [] https://quillandquire.com/bestsellers/2012/06/29/long-weekend-reads-canadian-fiction-bestsellers/slide/sdaughter/ sdaughter 0 0

94798 Certain experiences are galvanizing and become indelible, shaping a life, writes Q&Q's Ami Sands Brodoff in a <a HREF="http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7364">starred review</a>. Such is true of the sea voyage at the heart of Michael Ondaatje's sixth novel, a story so enveloping and beautifully rendered, one is reluctant to disembark at the end of the journey. <a HREF="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Title/book-FI1Am2tOtECKrWuX3tXZVg/page1.html?utm_source=linkshare_ca&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_ca&siteID=d7SG.5zLbGE-DDOVBcGPpFAzfvKNt6DjuA">Kobo</a> The Cat's Table, Michael Ondaatje (McClelland & Stewart, $32 cl, 9780771068645) https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/catstable1-90x90.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/catstable1.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/catstable1.png 408 600 [] https://quillandquire.com/bestsellers/2012/06/29/long-weekend-reads-canadian-fiction-bestsellers/slide/catstable-3/ catstable-3 0 0

94797 Guy Vanderhaeghe's first book, the 1982 short story collection Man Descending, won the Governor General's Literary Award, as did his 1996 novel, The Englishman's Boy. His latest novel, the third in a loose trilogy comprising The Englishman's Boy and The Last Crossing (2002), might well land a third, suggests Michael Bryson in <a HREF=http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7368>Oct 2011 review</a>. Set in the late-19th century in the areas now known as North Dakota and Saskatchewan, A Good Man is a rollicking story as large as the prairie is wide. <a HREF="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Title/book-SJ1M3JnwnUmrxFM2cJijmA/page1.html?utm_source=linkshare_ca&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_ca&siteID=d7SG.5zLbGE-0Ql4k2_FKZva6UlVgn.tFA ">Kobo</a> A Good Man, Guy Vanderhaeghe (M&S, $22 pa, 9780771086083) https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/AGoodMan-90x90.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/AGoodMan.png https://quillandquire.com/wp-content/uploads/AGoodMan.png 400 600 [] https://quillandquire.com/bestsellers/2012/06/29/long-weekend-reads-canadian-fiction-bestsellers/slide/agoodman-2-2/ agoodman-2-2 0 0

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