14th Canadian Reading Challenge FAQ

Welcome to the 14th year of the Canadian Reading Challenge! Here are the most common questions people have along with answers. If you have other questions, put them in the comment section and I'll do my best to answer them.

1. What is the Canadian Book Challenge? 

Created by John Mutford at the Book Mine Set and hosted by him for its first 10 years, and then by Indextrious for two years, and now by me, the Canadian Book Challenge is an annual online reading challenge in which participants from Canada and around the world aim to read and review 13 or more Canadian books in a one year span: Canada Day to Canada Day eve. Reviews must be posted online and participants are asked to share links to their reviews with other participants. More on reviews below. (It's also a lot of fun and collectively we've read and reviewed thousands of Canadian titles)

2. How do I join? 

Use the Mister Linky on the annual signup post to add your information, including the link to your sign-up post if you have one. As soon as July hits, and I get your first link (see below), I'll add your name to the participant list on the sidebar of this blog.

3. Oh no, it's past July 1st, can I still join? 

Of course! In the past people have joined even in the very last month. If you think you can realistically read and review 13 books in the time remaining, then why not? To join, just follow the exact same instructions as above.

4. What constitutes a Canadian book? 

Canadian books can include any genre or form (picture books, poetry, novels, non-fiction, plays, anthologies, graphic novels, cookbooks, etc), can be written by Canadian authors (by birth or immigration) or about Canadians. Ultimately, participants must decide for themselves whether or not something fits the description of Canadian: however, if it isn't clear in your review as to WHY you are counting your read as a Canadian one, please add a line or two to explain :) You can find literally thousands of reviews from previous challenges both at The Book Mine Set and at the Indextrious Reader as well as on this blog.

5. Do I need to know ahead of time which books I'll be reading? 

No. But by all means, if you want to plan ahead, do so. Some people find it's more of a challenge to do it this way, and others prefer to find their next book as it comes. If you do make a list and decide to alter it along the way, that's fine. And if you do make a list, feel free to share it!

6. Do I need to have a theme? 

No. The original concept was to read at least one book from each province and territory (it's the whole reason 13 has become the goal number). In the past, some of the themes included deceased authors, mysteries, indigenous authors, poetry, small presses, or rereads. In other years we've had people choose books solely by a particular author or province. The options are yours to decide. Certainly a theme could make the challenge more difficult, but then again, it could also make it more fun. In any case, the majority of participants opt to have no theme at all, just pushing for 13 random Canadian books. They feel they can still read what they want, when they want and aren't too confined by restrictions. The choice is up to you.

7. What if I don't reach 13 books or if I do? 

If you don't, but you've had fun, it's still good. Your reviews will still be read by other participants. And you'll have a chance again when the next edition comes around. Some people ask if it's okay to fill up the remainder with children's books since they're shorter. I personally think children's books (picture books) are just as valid and need to be read and discussed as much as novels. Others think that it's a challenge, and as such, shouldn't be easy. Again, this is a participant's decision to make. If you do reach 13, you may stop, or keep going. Remember, it's 13 -- or more. I love to see how many I can squeeze in. There are no prizes for reading the most. I want to stress that this is not a competition against other people. However, for all those that do meet the requirement of 13 or more, your names will be put in for a random draw for a prize at the end of the challenge.

8. Can my books count towards other challenges? 

Of course! That's half the fun! I read some this past year that I counted in the some of my other challenges as well as the Canadian Book Challenge.

9. I don't live in Canada and am finding it difficult to get my hands on Canadian books. Any recommendations or solutions? 

It'll probably be easier to find some of our "big names"  or genre writers at your library (Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields, Linwood Barclay, Lawrence Hill, Louise Penny, are just some). Of course, you can always order online and check out the digital book market. And if you ask nicely enough, Canadian participants have been known to ship books far and wide to help out.

10. What if I read a book and don't have time to review it? 

Sorry, that's the key action in the Canadian Book Challenge: it doesn't count until it's reviewed. By all means, feel free to read 13 Canadian books, but the reviewing part is an equal component of the challenge. I want the books talked about even if you didn't enjoy it. While I say "review" I don't mean anything necessarily lengthy and I don't mean necessarily a review as much as I mean your thoughts on the book, questions about why an author said something, memories it stirred up. Anything, just something.

11. What if I don't finish a book, can I still review and count it? 

It's entirely your choice. If you feel that it's the book's fault that you didn't finish it, that could be worthy of noting. If you just left the book at the beach and haven't found another copy, probably not. 

12. I don't have a blog, how do I post a review online? 

Most Canadian Book Challenge participants are bloggers, but not all. Book reviews can also be posted on other sites such as GoodReads, Bookcrossing, Indigo, Amazon, and more. However, please note these few requirements: i. Participants wishing to read your reviews should not need a membership or sign up to do so. For instance, anyone can read a review at Indigo, so it's fine. However, a review posted on Facebook would be out since not everyone has a Facebook account and would not be able to access it. ii. When you share a link make sure it's directly to your review and participants do not have to go searching endlessly to find it. For instance, if you blog, link to your posts, not your entire blog. (For example: Review NOT Blog) If you link from, say, Goodreads, after you write and publish your review, you will be be able to click on "see review" at the bottom of your review, which will provide your link in the URL bar. (For example: Review NOT Book page)

13. How do I share links to my reviews? 

Each month, there will be a monthly roundup post here at Canadian Bookworm, in the same way that it has always appeared on the Book Mine Set over the first decade and at The Indextrious Reader over the last couple of years. This year I'll once again be using a link sharing tool. Whenever you finish writing a review, just head to my blog and click on the "Share your link" icon. Add your name and in parentheses the title of the book you just reviewed, then provide the link. I'll also ask that in the comment section of that post that you bring us up to speed on your progress so far (ex. 6/13 read). 

14. Will there be prizes? 

 At this point, anyone who has finished the challenge with 13 or more books read and reviewed will have their names entered into a draw. Should publishers or authors want to donate books as prizes, they can contact me at shonnaf (at) rogers [dot] com to arrange the details. And if there are no prizes this time around, let's let finishing the challenge be its own reward.

15. What's up with the logo? 

Like last year, I chose a picture from my own photos of a classic Canadian scene. This was taken along in Newfoundland near Twillingate and the man in the distance is my husband. This year marks the 14th year of the challenge, and the United Nations marked 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health, so I've decided to choose the official provincial and territorial flowers. Here's a link to a list that has images of them as well.

16. Besides the logo, anything new with the 14th edition? 

We will also continue to track themed participant progress in the sidebar of my blog. In the past for instance, if you've read 1 book or 7 books so far, you may have been charted as having reached certain Canadian mountain peaks or popular Canadian food. This year's progress labels will be posted in early July. Like Canadian Book Challenges of years gone by, this one, too, shall be a work in progress. Stay tuned throughout the year to see new features...

17. How can I help?

By joining, reading and reviewing, obviously. And sharing links to your reviews. It is also helpful to promote the Challenge more widely, so please share the information with your friends, on your blog, or in other ways. Use the logo image on your related posts or in your sidebar. For Twitter and Instagram users, you can use the hashtag #CanBookChallenge.