READ-EH-THON TBR

On July 1st (Canada Day!) Lala at BooksandLala is hosting a Canada-based read-a-thon along with a few other hosts. Of course, as a Canadian myself, I had to hop on! In the spirit of read-a-thons, I figured I'd share my TBR a bit early to help anyone who might be struggling to build theirs.
There are five challenges to help us along:

1. Read a book with red on the cover.
2. Read a book by a Canadian woman.
3. Read a book with "E" and "H" in the title. 
4. Read a book by an Indigenous author.
5. Read a book set in a province you've never visited. 

The TBR I've put together is a bit much for just a week, but I always find that read-a-thons like this are a great way to get me reading a lot, so we'll see how it goes! Below each read, I've put which challenges the novel will fulfill if I read it. You may notice that the challenge "Canadian woman author" is not under any of the Indigenous women authors I've picked. This is because, in my experience, Indigenous people do not consider themselves Canadian, as Canada is the colonizer, and they are not part of the colonizers.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Madeleine Thien

This novels follows a family from China, who have immigrated to British Columbia. It is a generational story and follows both those who lived through Mao's Communist Revolution and their children, who went through the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations. Now, I don't know much about either of those things, and I've read a few chapters of this novel already, so I think I'm going to look into the history before I continue reading to avoid confusion. A lot of this novel also takes place in Vancouver as a safe space to put the pieces of the family's generation together. 

Challenges completed:

1. Red on the cover. 

2. Canadian woman.

3. "E" and "H" in the title.

5. Province you've never visited.

Son of a Trickster, Eden Robinson

I read Robinson's novel Monkey Beach for class last year and it was amazing. So naturally, I'm both excited and nervous to pick this up because Robinson's novels are nothing short of heartbreakingly tragic. This one follows Jared as he tries to understand his family, sort out his life, but also figure out why he is the way he is. If this novel is anything like Monkey Beach, I think there will be some hints of Haisla and/or Heiltsuk culture and their beliefs around spirits. 

Challenges completed:

4. Indigenous author.

5. Province you've never visited.

The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline

Like Do Not Say We Have Nothing, I've already read some of this book (this time for a class). But I loved what I read, and everyone else seems to as well, as evident by the awards stacking up on its cover. If you didn't already know, this is a dystopian where everyone but Indigenous people have found themselves unable to dream. So now, Indigenous people are being hunted for their bone marrow, being put back into what mirrors Residential Schools, and are on the run to prevent their bone marrow from being stolen. 

Challenges completed: 

3. "E" and "H" in the title. 

4. Indigenous author. 

AND! If there's time...

Please Remain Calm, Courtney Summers

This is a novella sequel to This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers, a novel about a zombie apocalypse, where a group of teens are forced to take refuge in their high school. The ending is a bit open-ended, so I'm curious where the Summers envisions the characters going. 

Challenges completed: 
1. Red on the cover.

2. Canadian woman. 

Hear Berries, Terese Marie Mailhot

This is Terese Mailhot's (a Nlaka'pamux woman) memoir that maps out her life as she deals with her trauma and reconciliation with her abusive father. I've heard fantastic things about this memoir since it came out recently, but I do plan on skipping introduction by Sherman Alexie since several sexual assault allegations came out about him. I hope the publisher will consider removing his introduction from further printings of this memoir, especially because it's written by and about someone who has lived through abuse.
Challenges completed:

1. Red on the cover.

4. Indigenous author. 

And if you're still having trouble with your own TBR, here's some other Canadian authors I'd recommend! 

• Eric Walters (Camp X is a fantastic series!)
• Thomas King (Who is Cherokee. I haven't read a lot of his work, but I love what I have read.)
• Alice Munro (Her short stories are a great way to read a lot for a read-a-thon!)
• Morgan Rhodes (I've only read the first Fallen Kingdoms novel, but a lot of people love the rest of the series. Just not my cup of tea!) 
• Dionne Brand (A fabulous poet!!)
• Katherena Vermette (The Break is heartbreaking, but shows how women can hold each other up instead of shaming each other.)

This past year I've read a lot of Canadian fiction for several classes, if you want to see my want-to-read, read, and tbr-pile books that are Canadian, I also have a Canadian shelf on my goodreads. If you want to find more Indigenous lit, I have a shelf for that too.

What are you reading for Read-Eh-Thon? Have you ever made it a point to read Canadian or Indigenous authors?